by Tee, Marian
I heard him chuckle at my actions, but I didn't care, and only good manners had me ignoring the urge to run past him and slam the door on his face. I'm just going to thank him, I told myself, and that's it. But just as I lifted my gaze to his, I saw that his head was already lowering---
Nooooo----
I was about to rear back to avoid his kiss, but in the next second, I felt his lips brush against my ear as he whispered, "Kalinychta, Schulyer mou."
And then he was walking away, leaving me to stare dazedly at his back. Reverse psychology at work, I couldn't help thinking, and it certainly proved successful, with his almost-kiss constantly trying to ruin my focus on work.
What if he really had tried to kiss me? And what if I had let him? What if...aaaaaargh!
By the time I gave up trying to work and folded my iPad keyboard shut, I had only written two pages' worth of game script, and I still had four hours left to kill.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I threw myself on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Somewhere in this plane, a beautiful, dark-haired guy was supposed to be attracted to me. He was also supposed to be an alpha, too...so why hadn't he just kissed me against my will, dammit?
My body started to ache for his touch, but stubborn pride held me back. I briefly considered answering the unopened messages in my phone, some of which were from Clay and Kazuya, but it just didn't feel right. I thought about using Tinder, just for the hell of it, but in the end, that didn't feel right either.
Every inch of my flesh was burning now, and I was already wet between the legs...
OH.
My legs slowly went slack before gradually falling open against the mattress.
I could do that.
And my fingers slowly drifted down as my eyes closed.
Ioniko's image once again flashed in my mind, but this time I welcomed it eagerly. I imagined Ioniko taking his clothes off as I started to stroke myself. Imagined the heavy, powerful weight of his beautiful body pressing down against mine, and my fingers started moving faster. Imagined how it would feel if his mouth were to latch on to my breast...
Aaaaaah.
My other free hand started massaging my aching breast---
Oh God. I could just see him now, sucking...
And I started pinching my nipple until it was exquisitely swollen.
Yes, God, yes. In my mind, Ioniko's hand had also started to move, pushing my legs open, and it had me thrashing restlessly. God. Oh God. I imagined his long, brown fingers finding my wet and quivering mound, and a cry escaped me when I reached for my throbbing clit.
"Aaaaaaah."
I tried to keep my mouth shut even as my hips started moving up and down and I was rubbing my clit faster and faster---
God. Dear God.
If Ioniko were really here, he would probably be eating my pussy by now---
And...that...was...iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
My body arched as I reached my orgasm, and I bit my lip hard to keep myself from crying out as pleasure threatened to consume me from within. It was so good. God, it was so, so good, and my body fell limply against the mattress as the last tremors of my release slowly faded.
I fell asleep as soon as I set my alarm and woke up three hours later feeling wonderfully good because...you know. After taking a fresh pair of underwear from my hand-carry, I pampered myself with a hot shower in the en-suite and took my time fixing my hair and even applying makeup.
When I was finally done, I felt even better because...you know.
I opened the door, and Ioniko was already waiting outside.
I started to smile and greet him...until I saw his smirk, which said everything.
A squeak escaped me. Oh my God. It can't be. It couldn't be. He couldn't possibly know---
But just like before, it was as if he could read my mind as the billionaire murmured, "I wish you had let me join you, koukla mou."
* * *
Athens was a magical at night, with moonlight bringing to life the exquisite contrast between the ruins of Ancient Greece and the marvels of the modern world. Even though we were hidden behind the tinted windows and bullet-proof doors of the billionaire's limousine, it was no hardship imagining how the whispers of forgotten deities merged with the pulsing, heart-thudding beats of the music streaming out from the nightclubs we drove past.
It was a city like no other in a nutshell; it was just too bad I was still so lost in my embarrassment I couldn't fully appreciate it.
"Just tease me and get it over with," I pleaded. He knew. We both knew he totally knew that I had made it to the mile-high club all on my lonesome, and he most likely knew as well what his contribution to it was.
He knew, dammit, and the sooner he teased, taunted - anything was better, dammit, than his oh-so-polite way of dealing with it.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, koukla mou."
"I hate you."
He only had to smirk in response, and I realized too late that I had just ended up embarrassing myself yet again. Of course he wouldn't believe I seriously hate him, duh. After my solo exhibit earlier, I might as well have the words Ioniko Vlahos Owns Me tattooed on my forehead.
We reached his penthouse apartment a few minutes later, and while his place was also a sight to behold, I was still too caught up in my embarrassment to appreciate it.
"I want to go home," I told him mulishly as soon as his bodyguards left, and we were all alone in his balcony.
But Ioniko only grinned. "So you become childish when you're embarrassed."
"I want to go home now, dammit!"
"How adorable, koukla mou---"
"I'm not joking," I growled. "I don't want to stay..." The sound of my phone buzzing and playing out its new message alert cut me off.
Ioniko found my phone first, which I had left on the coffee table. "Here---" He suddenly stopped speaking, and when I saw his face harden, all thoughts of embarrassment were forgotten.
"Ioniko---"
He dropped my phone into my hand. "A man named Clay texted you." His voice was cool and impersonal. "He's asking if you're free for dinner this weekend."
"I---"
"Obviously, that's a no since you're here in Athens with me."
"Uh---"
"But I have back to back meetings on Monday. You can meet him then."
"Um---"
"My bedroom is the last door to the right. All other rooms are yours to use. Please make yourself at home. I need to make a few calls for work, so if you'd excuse me..." Ioniko didn't even wait for me to reply as he walked away, and I nearly jumped a foot as the door to the study slammed shut behind him.
Shit!
A part of me wanted to go after him, but the other half of me was just fine the way things were. Ioniko was pissed, and if he stayed pissed long enough, then he'd eventually give up on me. And that was what I wanted. Right?
Right, I told myself, and I fell asleep trying to convince myself of this. But when the next day came, I woke up feeling not a little pissed myself, and reading Ioniko's text just pissed me off even more.
Ioniko: Apologies for leaving early. I have a meeting scheduled at eight. If you require anything, I've instructed the staff to attend to your needs.
I angrily clicked Delete on his text without bothering to reply.
Whatever.
But the more time passed, I just kept feeling more and more irritated, and the next thing I knew I was on one of the lounge chairs in the balcony, venting and ranting while on a video group chat with my friends. "Did he think I swallowed my pride and came all the way here just to have "the staff" take care of all of my needs? I took care of my needs on the plane just fine, didn't I?"
Sara's screen showed her doubling over in laughter while Ioniko's sister was choking and sputtering so bad that some of her pink-colored detox whatchamacallit juice splattered over her screen and turned her face into a fuzzy image.
"Schuyler Anne Mathers," Kat gasped out when she was finally coherent. "I never thoug
ht you could say something like that!"
"I can," Sara dryly piped in. "Schuyler's all shy and cute most of the time, but she goes crazy like this once a month."
Her meaningful tone at the end wasn't lost on Kat, and the other girl winced on my behalf. "How bad is it today?" she asked me.
"Since I've just told you guys about the last time I masturbated---"
Another round of choking and chortling ensued.
"How bad do you think it is?"
Sara and Katya exchanged a look, and then the two girls said at the same time, "Really bad."
They burst into laughter right after, and I couldn't help smiling a little despite the ongoing hell taking place within my belly. I had only introduced the two girls thirty minutes ago, but since they were both charmingly outspoken, they had hit it off right from the start and now acted like they had been best friends for years.
"Ioniko isn't really the type to be moody," Kat told me, "but he also isn't used to having women reject him or - even worse - having women tell him to his face that he's not going to be the only man in their lives."
"Hmph."
"Does he know what the Clay guy looks like?" Sara interjected.
"He does," Kat answered before I could. "I sent him all the photos of that Schuy swiped right---"
"I did no such thing," I protested.
"You might as well have done," Kat countered with a shrug, "since you thought they were all cute."
"Send them to me, too," Sara said eagerly. "I wanna see."
I sputtered in protest even as Kat said, "Sure thing." A moment later, Ioniko's sister flashed me a mischievous smile, and almost on cue, we heard Sara's phone start beeping.
"Oh, come on," I groaned out. But the two girls didn't even hear me, busy as they were comparing notes on my series of swipe-rights. Unbelievable. Tossing my phone on the side table, I pulled my knees up and tucked them under my chin while staring moodily at the gorgeous views afforded by the billionaire's penthouse apartment. Sunlight had bathed Athens in gold, but I had no energy at all to explore its golden roads, partly because of my stupid period but also because, well...
"I miss him."
Sara and Kat stopped speaking.
Tears stung my eyes, and I angrily wiped them off. "I don't want to miss him, but I do. Why can't he see this is the only way I can protect myself? And it's not like I asked to sleep around, dammit. I just need to protect myself, and I need it even more now because I really miss him, and it's so scary---"
"Schuy," I heard Kat try to interrupt, but I was on an emotional roll, and I just found myself blabbering on.
"I've never missed a guy before! Never---"
"Schuy..." It was Sara this time, but I was already too worked up to pay her any heed.
"And I don't want to. I hate myself for it. But I just can't help it. I miss him so much---aaaah!"
In a blink, I found myself swept up in Ioniko's arms and staring straight into his green eyes.
"I missed you, too."
* * *
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself on a date with a billionaire. Imagine flying halfway across the world to spend the weekend with him. Whatever it is you see in your mind, it would probably be something wildly exciting, something out of this world. Wouldn't it?
Mine...was different. Nothing outrageously extravagant, nothing exotic or adventurous. But at the same time, for someone who concocted game-based happy-ever-afters for a living, I found myself unable to imagine anything better than reality.
A one-sentence text from Kat - Congratulations, big bother: abandoning a woman on her (monthly) time of need is the surest way to lose her - had Ioniko finishing his meeting in a hurry and his driver breaking speed limits in order to get his master back to my side in record time.
And the billionaire hadn't come unprepared either, having subjected himself to a Google-aided crash course on periods and PMS. In moments, he had me cocooned under the thickest and warmest covers, my belly buried under heat pads, and in case those weren't enough, he also had one of the staff on standby to provide me with a series of heat compresses.
Lunch consisted of all of my favorite food (thanks to a tip from Sara), and afterwards the painkillers had me sleeping like a log. When I woke up, I found myself in a luxuriously custom-fitted van and seated...on a massage chair.
"Oh my God, this is bliss." Why had no one ever told me that massage chairs could do so much in alleviating the aches and pains of dysmenorrhea? I stretched and snuggled, folded and unfolded my limbs - I contorted my body in all sorts of ways until I found the perfect position to keep the cramps at bay.
When I finally remembered I wasn't alone, it was to see Ioniko holding his phone up, since apparently he had recorded the entire thing.
"Nooooo!"
"Too late," he said with a smirk even as he pocketed his phone back.
"Get rid of it," I pleaded.
"Not on your life, koukla mou. It was a joy watching you play Goldilocks in your seat."
"Shut up."
But Ioniko's eyes only gleamed. "So they weren't joking. You speak your mind more when you have your monthly visit."
I giggled despite myself. "Monthly visit? Could you sound any more archaic?" A flush stained Ioniko's high-boned cheeks at my words, and the sight had giggling me some more.
"The other terms do not feel right," the billionaire said stiffly.
"Like period?"
His lip curled.
"Menstruation?"
He blanched.
"That time of the month? You can't get any simpler---"
Ioniko glared at me. "Stop it."
He looked like he was willing to strangle me if that was the only way to shut me up, and I completely lost it, laughing so hard even as it worsened the cramps. "Oh my God." I laughed and winced at the same time. "You're too cute for words." Laugh, cramp, laugh, cramp. "You're..." But this time, the pain completely overwhelmed everything else, and I ended up whimpering.
"What's wrong?" Ioniko demanded right away.
"Hurts," I whispered. "To laugh."
A moment later, he leaned back into his seat. "Serves you right."
The words were so incredibly petty, so not at all like the oh-so-mature Ioniko Vlahos, billionaire extraordinaire, that I couldn't help laughing just one last time. And lived to regret it in the next second, and this time tears stung my eyes. It hurts so bad.
"Dammit, Schuyler." But he was already reaching for me and I found myself unceremoniously dumped on his lap. I tried to wriggle in protest, but his hold on me only tightened. "Shut up and stay still."
Hmph. But I did as asked, being too tired to argue, and my eyes simply closed as I felt Ioniko carefully adjusting his hold. It hurt so damn bad. Hurt so damn bad. So damn....oooh.
My eyes flew open when he started rubbing my belly. "How did you know..."
"Google."
My eyes widened, and when I opened my mouth---
"Don't laugh," he warned. "It's only going to hurt you more."
"Then don't say anything funny." This had the billionaire snorting, but I decided to forgive him for it since he was currently doing a really good job on getting rid of the pain. "Can you do it harder?"
"Like this?" I could feel him smiling against my hair.
"Yeeeeeeees." My eyes started to droop. "It feels so good," I mumbled. "Almost as good as touching myself. But probably not as good when we finally have sex..."
"They told me about this, too."
The wicked pleasure in his tone wasn't lost on me, but I was just feeling too good to mind. It was almost like I was floating even, and I could only snuggle closer to him.
"It's true," I told him drowsily as his hands continued to work their magic on my belly. "It's like I'm extraordinarily susceptible to painkillers, and they make me spill my deepest and darkest secrets...oooh." His fingers had somehow found a magic pressure point within my belly that I never knew existed, and the way he was rubbing it was just...
"You're soooo gooo
d aaaaat thiiiiiis."
His chest rumbled in silent laughter against my cheek.
"Really good." My voice came out a little slurred now, and I could no longer pry my eyes open. "Who knew you'd turn out to be some kind of Period Whisperer?"
"Indeed." The billionaire's tone was dry. "Who knew?"
"I'm not going to tell anyone else though."
"Oh?"
"Because then everyone's going to make them want you to rub their bellies," I said with a pout, "and I don't want that."
"Ah."
"So promise me, okay? No belly rubbing with other women."
"I promise."
When I woke up, at least an hour had passed, but it was more than enough for the painkillers to kick in, and I was feeling much better. Ioniko had transferred me back to my seat, and it felt so wonderfully warm under the covers.
"Feeling better?"
I turned to his voice. "Thank you," I whispered.
"We haven't even started though."
"Start what?"
I watched him push a button that had all the window blinds folding open, and I gasped when I realized that our van was parked right across one of Athens' most iconic landmarks.
And that was how our private van tour started, with Ioniko actually managing the unthinkable and allowing me to explore the city without having to leave the comfort of my seat. Even better, Ioniko acted as my tour guide, and it was wonderful, just sweet, wonderful bliss, listening to his accented English as he spoke of the sights the van slowly drove past. The Parthenon. Acropolis. Hadrian's Arch. The Ancient Agora of Athens.
Afterwards, a half-hour's drive from the city took us all the way down to the Athenian Riviera, and although I insisted that I could maybe start walking again, Ioniko would have none of it and had one of the fancy riverside restaurants deliver our food to the van instead.
Another pill had me sleeping all the way back to the city, and when I woke up again, it was morning the next day. Ioniko had already left for work, the cramps were gone, but I still hurt.
Yesterday was perfect, and he...he was just as perfect.
Everything was perfect...except me, and that said it all, shouldn't it?
