** Adult Content This Chapter**
It couldn't be.
How could it be?
Alexios's thoughts careened in his head like bumper cars while he stared down into Sydney's face. She was so hot-looking, so sassy and sexy, how could she be a virgin? He blinked and swallowed. Had been a virgin, Ace. You took care of that discrepancy with one greedy thrust.
Shit, she must be aching down there, was his next thought. He'd been so eager to get inside her he hadn't held back one bit. After all, he'd figured she was as experienced as he was. But then he'd felt her tear as he'd blazed his trail, not realizing until too late that he was the first. Christ, could a woman hemorrhage from a rough partner?
He didn't know. He hadn't been with a virgin since high school, when he'd been one as well. They'd fumbled together until the act was completed, and then repeated the deed as often as possible from then on. Shit, he thought again, forcing himself to look her in the eyes.
And that's when he saw the teardrop, a tiny bead of moisture leaking from the corner of Sydney's eye, and he felt fifty times the monster. Damn it, he'd hurt her so badly he'd made her cry! Without another thought he reached out, tenderly wiped at the tear with his thumb. Held her watery gaze and brought his thumb up to his mouth to lick the dampness from its pad.
"Why didn't you tell me, glykia mou, sweetheart? I could have made it good for you if I had known. I could have gone slower, more gently. You wouldn't have felt but the slightest tug."
She blinked rapidly up at him and shook her head, looked toward the window with its garish display flashing at them in taunting gaiety. "I...I was afraid you would turn me down. That you wouldn't want an inexperienced partner; that you would find me boring. And...and I wanted to be with you so much. I still do."
He hardened inside her at those innocent words, and saw her eyes widen as she registered his response. At least she didn't seem to be in pain anymore. And by her own admission she still wanted this: him inside her, filling her to capacity because she was so tight.
If she'd thought he'd leave her after finding out she was a virgin, she didn't know men. Or at least, this man. He hadn't lied when he'd told her earlier this evening that he was hot for her. That feeling didn't even come close to what he felt now when he knew he was her first. There were no shadow lovers, no past romantic ghosts that he needed to compete with or banish from her memory. He could claim her tonight, and from this moment on make sure she enjoyed every second.
He looked down into her anxious expression, and felt that odd tenderness steal over him again. And chalked it up to his remorse for nearly splitting her in two, as well as the fact that he was about to initiate her into his style of lovemaking. His heart began to pound faster in anticipation.
He reached out and tucked some golden strands of hair behind her ear with a gentle finger.
"You know I want you." He emphasized his point by thrusting inside her just a little. She blinked up at him and he couldn't resist smiling. "Your secret only makes you more desirable to me, kardia mou. I don't know how you remained a virgin until now, but it is a gift I will always mourn for treating roughly--"
"You didn't know," she raced to his defense, and he couldn't hold back his smile. Nor could he remember feeling this lighthearted during lovemaking. He always went after a mutual climax with intensity. There hadn't been room in his relationships for sweetness. Inventive bedroom prowess had always been the goal. Yet here he was, grinning like a fool while she, the injured party, stood up for him against himself. He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose.
"You are too forgiving, sweet Sydney. I acted like a raging bull and plowed into you with the sensitivity of one, all because I couldn't take my eyes off you the entire night. But here we are, and somehow I haven't turned you off. Since we are both where we want to be, why don't I attempt to erase my current poor standing?"
He'd closed the distance between their mouths while he spoke, until there was just a hare's breadth of space separating their lips. She nodded and he heard her breath hitch. It was all the response he needed. Reining back his impatience, he kissed her, softly at first and then with more force. She reacted likewise, sighing into his mouth as if she'd been waiting for this moment.
She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. He grunted at the feel of her breasts squashed against him. She was so soft yet so eager, and he ran a hand down her side, loving the satiny feel of her skin. He reached her bottom and squeezed it. She giggled and his lips curved upwards against hers.
"Are you ticklish?" He asked between pecks on her mouth.
"I don't know. You tell me." She kissed his chin while he brought his hand back up to caress her breast. She inhaled sharply when he found her nipple and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger.
"Ah, a challenge. But one we will have to save for another time. I'm getting hungry for dessert." He lowered his mouth to her already taut nipple and sucked. She bucked and her eyes rolled back as he continued. He began to rock against her.
"Tell me if it hurts, agape mou."
"Please, don't stop," was her only answer, and he swallowed his triumphant grin, returning to that most responsive peak to nibble and lick some more. She arched her back, and he withdrew from inside her slightly. She whined, and he returned.
Damn, but she was tight, and it was the most awesome sensation to feel her closing around him. He continued his retreat and advance, inching deeper with every thrust until she began to move in time with him, clumsily at first. Her innocence was so erotic he had to fight to keep from slamming into her like before.
"Oh, oh, oh my god," she began to chant, her hands grabbing his head and pulling it toward her. She latched onto his lips as she began to unravel, and he picked up the pace, could feel her climax already coming on. She was incredibly responsive, and now he had to hurry to catch up.
In and out, in and out he pumped, and still she called on God between wet, frantic kisses that urged him to go faster. His arms were trembling now in the effort to control the pace, to make this good for her. Her fingers clutched the hair at the back of his head, and "Yesss!" and "Please!" joined her frenzied litany. Just before he thought he'd be snatched bald by her grip, he felt her inner muscles tighten around him like a fist. He was a goner.
There was a roaring in his ears, the thunder of his heartbeat, while from a far distance he heard her continue that high-pitched keening. His vision began to blacken around the edges. He lost control, plunged into her, deeper, harder, stronger. He didn't know where he was; what time it was, or how long they'd been together. He only existed where their bodies joined.
At last, when he was sure he would spiral into a dark oblivion, the climax rolled over him, a tsunami of sensations so exquisite, so rare that he arched back at its intensity. He held himself motionless as wave after wave of pleasure engulfed him. Fireworks exploded against the backs of his eyes. He wanted the moment to go on forever. It lasted longer than anything he'd experienced, but eventually the tremors faded from his body, though not from his memory. He feared they never would.
Heavy breathing filled the silence in the aftermath.
Eventually he opened his eyes. He'd clenched them so tightly shut the movement hurt. His arms remained braced, fists sunk into the bed on either side of Sydney's shoulders. With effort he bent his head so that he could see her. His pulse skipped at the sight.
Her hair fanned out around her head on the pillow, a gilded halo for a most-definitely-fallen angel. She lay beneath him, arms spread like a scarecrow's without stuffing, her eyes closed, the lashes stark against her flushed face. Her lips were swollen from his bruising kisses. He saw scrape marks along her neck where his whiskers had abraded her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly with each of her breaths, drawing his attention to her breasts, where the same whisker burns and darkening love bites marred their creaminess.
Miraculously, he felt himself stir buried deep inside her, and she opened her eyes lazily in response. And smiled.
"You're alive then, my sweet?" He asked, but his voice came out more like a croak. He cleared his throat. She raised her hands and smoothed them over his pecs while nodding sleepily. His eyes drifted shut from her sensuous massage.
"Barely."
He chuckled, lowering himself to rest upon her, loath to separate their bodies. He slid an arm under her and wrapped her tightly in his embrace. She sighed again. He could feel her heart against his, hammering just as rapidly.
"Why did I wait so long for that?" She mumbled, burrowing into his body even though their skin burned on contact. He laughed again.
"Because you'd only get that result from me." His arrogance was rewarded with one of her sexy-as-hell giggles.
"Confident, aren't you?" She nuzzled his chest over his heart, and then kissed him there. He strengthened his grip around her. If he'd thought her snugness had milked him dry, he was wrong, for he definitely responded inside her. Amazing.
"Just stating a fact, Ma'am. Though I do know why you didn't want to be in the penthouse with my family. You screamed the roof off." She blushed bright red, and wouldn't meet his eyes.
"It was your fault," she muttered, and he laughed outright, kissing her forehead. When she kept her face hidden in the crook of his neck, he pulled back until he could see her expression, though her eyes remained downcast. She really was embarrassed!
"Hey. Don't be shy, sweet Sydney. You're right. It took both of us to make you scream. And I would gladly repeat that. In a soundproof room, that is."
He got the reaction he was looking for when she reared back and glared at him. And then a conniving look crossed her face. What was she plotting, he wondered. The possibilities were endless.
"Can we, then?"
She'd shot him a sideways glance, and was now drawing a forefinger along his left pec. His skin shivered at the erotic contact, and he lost the thread of the conversation. Please, use your tongue...He shook his head and asked in distraction, "Can we what?"
Oh, damn, she must be a mind reader, for that pink tongue poked out between those plump lips and she licked his chest. His dick jumped inside her. Their eyes met. Hers were calculating. She tasted him again, with the same response.
"Can we make love again?" She ground herself into him to emphasize her words. Now it was his turn to entreat God, though only in his head. He had to remember she was a virgin, and he'd been rough with her. She may want more now, thank all the saints and God above that she did, but her body would object tomorrow. Though of course he had an idea...
"I suggest we take a break; assess the damages from my boorish behavior."
An immediate pout marred her features, and he struggled not to laugh.
"I feel fine. Don't I?" She grabbed one of his hands and brazenly placed it over her breast. Its nipple was pebble-hard. He groaned, and snatched his hand away. In an attempt to put space between them he got out of bed, moved away while surreptitiously discarding the condom with a Kleenex. When he faced her he nearly dropped to his knees. She lay sprawled where he left her, all pink and naked and willing amidst the rumpled sheets. Where the hell was her modesty now?
But then he saw the blood, the evidence of her innocence, and remorse gripped his heart. He'd done that to her, like an uncaring pig, and he could have sworn aloud. He knew his face had gone dark with self-loathing, for her expression became wary, and her hands searched for the sheet to cover herself. To hell with that.
He reached out and shoved his hands under her, lifted her into his arms.
"What--?" She began, but he shushed her, striding toward his bathroom.
"I made you bleed and now I'm going to bathe you. Any objections?"
She started in his arms, glanced over his shoulder at the bed. And he felt her body stiffen. Of course she saw the blood, though he'd tried to hurry into the white marble and chrome bathroom. God, that evidence of her virginity was like a beacon announcing his clumsiness, reminding him of his shortcomings. He wouldn't blame her if she shook her head and told him No more. Even if he had made her scream in ecstasy...
He placed her feet on the plush white rug, and then opened the shower door. He knew he moved with jerky awkwardness, but he couldn't help it. Any second now she would turn and leave the room, pick up her clothes and tell him, "Thanks, but no thanks." And he wouldn't blame her.
He was in the middle of adjusting all the spray nozzles when she wrapped her arms around his waist, her front squashed to his back. He froze in mid-stretch and jolted when he felt her lips against his back.
"Stop beating yourself up, Alexios. I wanted this. All of it. The reason I b...bled is because I didn't tell you I was a virgin. You need to get over it. I have." She kissed him again and he turned in her arms, stepped back into the shower while drawing her with him.
The water pelted them from all angles, warm and gentle like a summer rain. He tilted her face up to his and kissed her, long and slow and thorough, as if he could gain her absolution through their joined mouths.
At last he broke it off for some much-needed air. She leaned toward him and he smiled. "I'm sorry for hurting you. I wish I could do it all over again. I'd be so gentle..."
She reached up and hushed him with a finger to his lips.
"Don't. It was everything I wanted. You were everything I'd hoped for. But it wasn't nearly enough." Once more she crowded him, ran her hands over his chest. He put out a hand against the tile behind him to steady himself. And sucked in a deep breath. Jesus, she was making it difficult to keep from slamming into her like before. He gulped more air and then banged the back of his head against the shower surround when her mouth closed over one of his nipples.
"Christos," he swore as she continued to lap at him under the spray of water. His erection strained toward her and he began sifting his hands through her wet hair restlessly, leaning his aching head against the tile. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the sensations.
And then she shocked him by taking his arousal into her hands.
"Shit!" He blurted, eyes snapping open. He could barely see her through the steam coiling around them in the glassed-in enclosure. "You're supposed to be shy." He hated how his voice squeaked, but damn! He hadn't expected her to just grab hold of him and start...massaging!
She tilted her head and looked at him coyly through the rivulets of water running down her face. She was driving him nuts with her amateur maneuvers. He could already feel the tingles starting at the base of his spine. He should stop her, he really should, but...ah, it felt so good...
"I've had twenty-eight years to be curious. Can I help it if I have a good imagination? After all, if I like it, I figure you will, too." She presented her lips to him and he wasted no time in taking them in a searing kiss, cupping her face with unsteady hands as she continued putting those slender bartender's hands to good use.
***
He woke sometime before dawn, though it could have been noon with the blackout curtains pulled as they were, and reached across the bed for Sydney like he had done numerous times during the night. This time he found her side empty.
Figuring she was in the bathroom, he flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Assessed the fact that he already wanted her again, burned with a need that shouldn't be so consuming after the night they'd spent.
They'd been imaginative with their lovemaking so she wouldn't be too sore, and he was amazed at how responsive she'd been every time. As well as how noisy. He grinned in the dark. Sydney couldn't climax quietly even when she tried. She screamed, she prayed, she moaned. And all at the top of her lungs. The fact made him laugh right up to the point of his own release. Which was strange. He was always silent during sex, focusing on his skills with his partner as well as on his own pleasure. He might occasionally whisper or groan, but it was all very civilized.
Not with Sydney. She was so spontaneous in her reactions that he couldn't help but respond likewise. Her noisiness urged him to make her scream louder, longer, and when he accomplished that, he found his own climax was all the more magnificent.
But all this thinking about sex was only making him hornier, and he glanced toward the bathroom again. No light under the door. He began to worry. Could she have left? Just picked up her things and tiptoed out? Had that final bout of lovemaking been the last straw? It had been rather...unusual...
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, paused to consider the possibility of her leaving. That had never happened to him before. His dates always zonked out after sex, but then, they weren't Sydney. She followed her own set of rules.
Unable to find his briefs in the tangle of bedclothes, he padded nude to the bathroom door and knocked gently. Unlatched, it swung open.
A relieved breath that he hadn't even known he'd held whooshed from his lungs. Sydney hadn't left him. She stood before the full-length wall mirror stark naked, looking at her reflection in the shadowy light. She turned her head as he entered.
"I was worried when you didn't come back to bed, agape mou. Are you alright?"
She gave him a half-smile that didn't assuage his concern and then turned back to her reflection. "I was looking for the difference, but I can't find any."
He frowned and stepped up behind her, clasped his hands on her shoulders. And looked at the two of them in the mirror, his darker skin tone and hair contrasting with her overall goldenness.
Unable to resist, he bent his head, nosed her hair aside and kissed her neck. She leaned back into him.
"You are more different than anyone I've ever met," he supplied, kissing along that slim column right up to her ear. He felt her shiver.
"Not that type of different. I'm not a virgin anymore. I know what sex is like now. I know what being with a man is like. I know what you like, what I like, and it feels so...so freeing that I must be able to see the change. Does that make sense?"
Not really, he thought idly, running his palms up and down her arms simply because he couldn't stop touching her. But he could tell by her expression that she was serious, so he tried to answer her with the same gravity.
"I think it's more a matter of feeling different than looking different, glykia mou. You have lost that innocence you once had. There is no unknown anymore."
"Is that bad? Because I don't feel sad at all."
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. And nuzzled her neck. God, she smelled like soap and sex and aroused female, and he fought like hell to stay on track with the conversation. But their reflection was so provocative he was having a devil of a time doing so.
"You shouldn't be sad. You made your choice on your own terms and I was the surprised but grateful recipient." He turned her in his arms so that she faced him, chest to chest, eye to eye. She'd lost that quizzical look she'd worn when he'd first entered the room, and now was gazing up at him expectantly.
"You're right, on both counts. I made my own decision on when, and with whom. And I couldn't be happier." She looped her arms around his waist and pressed the side of her face against his heart. He squeezed her tight, stunned by the amount of relief coursing through him. He never worried about hookups. Until now, it seemed.
Uncomfortable with that discovery, he hid his consternation with innuendo, his stock in trade. Swaying with her in his arms, he lowered his voice and said in her ear, "All this introspection has left me wide awake. And I can think of only one way to pass the time. Are you game?"
She gave a throaty giggle that reached his groin, signaling her agreeability. Quickly he swung her into his arms and strode back into the bedroom, placing her in the center of the bed and then lowering himself on top of her. Her giggles faded as he began to kiss every inch of her skin.
A/N: At long last! Is it love? Can Alexios give up his playboy ways and love one woman? We're going into the last four to five chapters, so anything is possible. I hope you enjoyed this, and let me know with comments, votes and follows! BTW, music was suggested by the lovely DarlingDevil. Perfect!