by Rowan Shaw
"How can I make it up to you?"
I looked at him pointedly. "Oh, I think you know."
Raphaël slid his fingers under the buckle of my belt. "I'm going to make you come so hard, you'll never want to fuck anyone else again in your life."
I grinned at him, lust raging through my core as he got to his knees with fire in his eyes.
"I love you," I let out without thinking, the words freezing him.
He raised his head to look at me. "Can you say that again?"
"I love you. I have for a while."
Raphaël stood to meet my gaze and leaned into me for a kiss so hard, he took my breath away.
"I love you too," he whispered against my cheek before drawing kisses along my jaw, soon reaching my ear. "I love you, and I don't know what to do about it."
I pulled away, my eyes running up and down his handsome face as I cupped his cheeks to kiss him and walk him backward toward the exit, heading straight for my bedroom.
Chapter 57
RAPHAËL
"How is everything going?" I asked Adrien, holding out a flute of champagne to him. We'd been working on this vernissage for two months. It'd been a lot more organization than I expected, but the day of the opening was finally here.
Adrien grabbed the glass and gulped the champagne down in one shot.
"Okay, you're nervous," I assessed.
The art gallery he was renting on a tiny street close to our apartment was packed full with people. Some of them had joined to see Noah the famous YouTuber or to spot some of the stars rumored to be attending the opening, but it didn't matter why they were here as long as the event was a success. The party was exclusive. Most people were included by invitation only. The others had won their tickets by participating in a lottery organized by Noah online.
Marion believed that the more restricted the event was, the more attention it would attract. It worked. Adrien had already sold ten paintings, though it seemed to be his erotic charcoals that attracted people the most. That promised more clients for him in the future.
He looked around anxiously and talked to me from the side of his mouth so no one could hear. "What if this fails?"
I scrunched my face at him. "Are you nuts? Look at this crowd. Do you know how many original charcoals you've sold tonight already, without counting the prints?"
He shrugged.
"Yeah, well, you may want to check the numbers and ask Daniel how it's going. This is even better than I thought it would be."
When Marion walked up to us, her hand in Noémie's, she kissed Adrien on the cheeks, then me. I spotted Charlotte by the entrance door, holding her new boyfriend's hand while chatting with Noah.
"Congratulations!" Noémie squealed at Adrien, clapping her hands, startling me with her loud shout.
Adrien gave a real smile for the first time tonight.
"We're going to miss you so much," she added.
"We're still friends," Marion cut Noémie off, rounding her eyes at her, throwing me a quick glance to make her message clear that Noémie needed to shut up.
"Yes, I know," Noémie said. "But still..."
When Marion tilted her head toward me discreetly, Noémie seemed to finally get it. I couldn't tell what she said next because of the music and everyone talking so loudly, but someone caught Adrien's attention right then. He kissed me on the cheek and walked away, leaving me alone with Marion and Noémie.
"I cannot begin to thank you enough," Marion said close to my ear.
I looked at her, puzzled. If anyone should be thankful, it was me. She had helped market this evening free of charge. Adrien had insisted upon paying her, but she said it was for all the times he had gone the extra mile.
"He's changed so much since he met you," she continued. "I can tell he's happy."
I knew Adrien would hate to hear this. He didn't think people should rely on others to make them feel better.
I disagreed with him wholeheartedly. We were social creatures, after all. Those we surrounded ourselves with were bound to affect how we felt.
"Adrien doesn't believe in all that," I told her.
"Well, I know what I see, and what I see is a man who's desperately in love with you."
I cleared my throat. "Does it bother you? That he won't be working anymore?"
She shook her head. "I enjoyed our time together. It was great. But I do care about him. I understand why he needs to do this. Time passes by, and everything changes. That's how it is."
"I know he misses his job. He hasn't worked in two months. He gets restless sometimes."
"Of course he does. Everyone misses work when they have to leave a job they love. He needs time, that's all."
"Is it selfish of me that I asked him to stop?" I knew it was; I was just hoping for someone to tell me otherwise. I had to crane my neck toward her to hear her voice over the classical music and people chatting around us.
She inhaled deeply and pondered my question. "It isn't selfish to want him to thrive at something he's good at or to want him to be happy. He may have loved his other job, but Adrien is an artist. If he had to choose between the two, he would choose his art. He can't focus on creating if he's doing the other job full-time too."
"How do you know?"
Her smile filled with sorrow. "My mom was an artist, a musician. She worked as a secretary to help provide for us, but I knew it was a sacrifice for her. She would have let herself starve if it meant living her passion. She didn't because she had kids, and Adrien is the same. He never let himself go there because he was too worried about money, but now that he has found the freedom to create, I doubt he'll want to turn back."
I nodded. Her words comforted me and alleviated some of my guilt. I looked at him walking back toward me. When he reached my level, he leaned into me to whisper salacious words in my ear.
"I need Raphaël for something," he told Marion with an innocent smile and led me toward the back of the room.
Chapter 58
ADRIEN
When we reached the empty hallway, the music wasn't as loud, and people’s voices melted into a murmur in the background. I dropped Raphaël's hand. "I heard a rumor. Apparently, no one has christened the bathroom yet."
Raphaël shook his head at me. "There are many people here. I doubt no one's used it."
"I didn't mean to pee." I wriggled my eyebrows.
Raphaël stared at me until the words clicked, the revelation illuminating his face. "We shouldn't. Everyone is here for you. They'll wonder where you are."
I quickly scanned the crowd. Everyone seemed busy enough. "Nobody cares."
I pulled him down the hall, then sneaked him into the bathroom before checking under each door. No one was using the stalls or the urinals. I sized Raphaël up, my gaze rolling over his body, and slammed him against the door, kissing him, my tongue sliding inside his warm mouth. I kissed him until he was fully aroused and panting against my chest.
Without unlocking our mouths, I pulled him to a stall, pushed the door open to get in, then nailed him against it, locking it behind us. I had my hands at his belt before I knew it, unbuckling it fast before I got to my knees and swallowed him whole.
"Ah," he inhaled a sharp breath. "Not so fast, you'll make me come too quickly."
Yes, exactly. I bobbed my head until he couldn't stifle his pleasure anymore, moaning while biting on his fist.
"Yeah, like that," he gasped. "Don't stop."
I took that as an invitation and slid my finger in my mouth to wet it before pushing it up his ass slowly.
"Oh mon Dieu!" he exhaled just as the main door to the bathroom opened.
"Adrien, are you in there?" Noah asked in his soft voice.
At that point, Raphaël was soaring too much from pleasure to keep quiet. I never stopped giving him head, even when I knew Noah could hear us.
Noah cleared his throat. "Okay. I get it. Well, come out when you're done. There's someone here who wants to see you." He waited a second and added, "And wash your mo
uth before you come out."
I grinned against Raphaël's crotch. I wasn't sure if it was Noah's presence in the room that turned him on or what, but before Noah could leave, Raphaël let out a groan and released in my mouth.
"Ah!" he gasped, coating my tongue with his cum, thrusting in and out slowly until he was completely done.
"Nice," Noah commented. "You guys could have waited till I was out to continue. Now I have to go back there with a semi-boner, thanks."
He slammed the door, and Raphaël started laughing while I swallowed. I rose to my feet to kiss him so he could tell how good he tasted.
I was hard, but I wouldn't do anything about it even though Raphaël offered. I let him put his pants back on, then grabbed his wrist to lead him out to the sinks where we washed our hands. One look at him told me he was still high from his orgasm. He had the goofiest smile on his face, his skin flushed and warm. I licked my lips and winked at him before slapping his ass when we left the bathroom for the gallery.
I forced my way through the throngs of people to look for Noah's blond hair and froze. Someone was standing right there looking around—someone I wasn't expecting at all. She turned her head and looked at me, her eyes equally wide as mine. Then she blinked against her rising tears and rushed toward me, elbowing her way through the crowd. I didn't know what to do. I met her halfway, and against all expectations, she clutched my sweater and drew me into a hug so tight, I couldn't breathe.
"How did you get here?" I croaked. "Do your parents know?"
She looked up at me. "No, our parents don't know."
My sister's girlfriend approached us cautiously. "Céleste is supposed to be sleeping at my place tonight," she said. "My parents know we're here, don't worry." She looked at my charcoal drawings hanging from the walls. "I do not regret coming either."
I tilted my head. "Not sure how I feel about this. My art isn't the most appropriate."
"We're not kids. We've had sex already. It's nothing we haven't seen," she replied, to which Céleste slapped her arm.
"Inès!" She rounded her eyes at her girlfriend, who laughed out loud.
"Your brother draws erotica for a living. I think he can handle anything I have to say," Inès shot back.
I bit my lower lip. If she only knew...
"So all those years, huh?" Céleste said, turning to me. "All this time, I saw you at that café, and you never told me who you were. I noticed you long before my friend even talked to you. You're kinda hard to miss, you know?" She curled her lips. "All this time, I had to listen to my friend Corinne gush over the hot artist at the café. I never knew you were my brother. Now it makes me feel gross to think she has the hots for you."
I let out a tiny chuckle that dried in my throat upon her next question. "What happened with Mom and Dad? Why did you leave?"
"What did they tell you?" I asked, deflecting.
She shrugged. "That you left without a word one day."
I clenched my teeth. "That's only half the truth."
"Why did you leave me?" she asked, her voice cracking. I was mad at myself for hurting her so much. All those years, I thought she'd forgotten me. She was so little when I left.
"Your parents don't like the fact that I'm queer. Father dragged me through hell," I deadpanned.
Her anthracite eyes slit in anger. "Is it true? What did he do?"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"It matters to me, Adrien."
I tried to calm her down. "If you have a good relationship with them, I don't want to interfere with that. What they did to me has nothing to do with you. I just want you to be safe."
"You're not going to leave me again, are you? Now that I found you?" The despair in her voice shattered a part of me.
I pulled her in my arms and held her as tightly as I could. My eyes welled up, but I blinked the tears away. "Your parents can't find out you've seen me."
"They're your parents too," she said, raising her face to look at me.
"You're the only family I have, Céleste. Your parents are no longer mine. They lost that right ten years ago when I left and disowned them."
She nodded reluctantly, her expression a mixture of sadness and growing rage. I wasn't sure if the anger was directed at me or them.
"Can you keep this meeting between us?" I asked. I didn't want this reunion to screw everything up.
"Will I see you at the café?" she asked.
I smiled. "Anytime you want."
"Can I come visit you?"
I looked at Inès, who was hanging on to our every word, then my eyes shifted back to my sister. "As long as they don't find out."
Céleste nodded firmly. "That's a deal."
I had to turn my head to hide my emotions. When Raphaël had talked about this project, I never considered that it might include getting closer to Céleste as well.
"How did you find me here?" I asked, my eyes gearing toward Raphaël.
He raised his hands. "This time, I had nothing to do with it."
"I saw you on YouTube with Noah and recognized you from the café. When Noah said your name was Adrien, I started adding things up. It took me a bit of time. I snooped through our parents' old photo albums to make sure. And well, I hate to say this, but you look a lot like dad."
I almost shuddered. "I definitely do not."
"You could be his younger brother. I mean, you did look familiar at the café, but I never imagined it was you."
So Noah was the one who'd sent her an invitation. I searched the crowd for his blond hair, but I didn't see him anywhere.
"I need to know what happened with Mom and Dad," she insisted.
"She seems as stubborn as you," Raphaël whispered in my ear with a tiny laugh.
"Maybe some other time," I told Céleste. "Do you want anything to eat? There's a buffet over there in the back of the room." I pointed at it over my shoulder.
"Sure." Céleste grabbed her girlfriend's hand and passed by me just as Noah and Hugo joined us.
"Where were you?" I asked, noticing his wild, tousled hair.
He gave a smirk but didn't reply. I should have guessed he'd sweet-talk Hugo into joining him in the bathroom after finding me there with Raphaël. He and Hugo were both dressed in black suits, black shirts, and black ties, the only flashing color being Noah's turquoise blue eyes.
"I sure hope you washed your mouth before talking to your sister," he said, his eyebrow arched at me.
"Don't be gross," I shot back.
"Gross? I wasn't the one on my knees in that bathroom. Who knows how many germs you collected?"
"Right. You're one to talk..."
Noah hid none of his complacence. "I don't see why you should be the only one having fun around here."
When his gaze landed on someone else, he waved at them. Before I could even thank him for inviting Céleste, he was gone, taking Hugo along with him.
The rest of the evening unfolded the same, with glasses of champagne, more amuse-bouches, a bunch of people coming over to discuss my art, some of them buying prints they would pick up the next day.
Céleste came to wish me goodnight and give me her email address before following Inès out. Then Marion left with Noémie, followed by Daniel, whom I'd barely talked to all evening because he was too busy handling all the transactions, then Noah and everyone else was gone.
When everything grew quiet, I turned to Raphaël and pulled him into my arms. "Have I told you how much I love you?"
"You told me this morning, actually. But it never hurts to hear it again."
"Yeah?" I pushed him toward the entrance door that I locked behind him, then whispered in his ear, "I never got my share earlier."
Raphaël's eyes drew every line of my face, lingering on my lips. "It's not professional to have sex at your workplace."
I laughed. He'd apparently forgotten who he was talking to. "I'd like to try my new art studio."
"You like it? It's nice, right?"
I gave a nod against his neck before kissin
g his soft skin. "I miss you when I'm here, though."
"You've barely started."
"So?" I looked at him, then dragged him to my studio that was twice the size of the one at home. "I hope this whole art thing works out because the rent here isn't cheap."
"You've got money in savings," Raphaël reminded me. "Stop worrying so much."
I nodded against his earlobe, then dragged him to the floor, where I made love to him slowly, kissing him the entire time as he laced our hands together, moaning in my ear in between I love yous.
Epilogue
RAPHAËL
I watched Adrien laugh while helping my mom prepare lunch for Easter. Her recovery had taken some time, but she seemed to be doing so much better now. It was almost as if nothing had happened, but for her limp that would be permanent. She was resplendent today in the boubou my dad had brought back from his short trip to Senegal, the long dress falling down to her feet.
It had been a few months since Adrien opened his gallery. In spite of the successful opening, his sales sank a bit before picking up again, but he seemed satisfied and peaceful enough for now. I could only hope it would last.
Céleste came to our apartment once a week—without telling her parents, of course. We were still living in the same place in spite of the outrageous rent. Adrien insisted. Daniel was still in charge of his affairs, except Adrien was now selling erotic art, not sex.
I couldn't believe how fast time had flown by. It took Adrien some time to adapt to monogamy, and I wasn't convinced he was completely satisfied with having just one lover, though he assured me he was. I did my best to make up for what he was lacking, which wasn't all that difficult. I was nuts about him.
I gazed at him when he grabbed some litchis from the fridge and laid them out on a platter around some mangoes and other exotic fruit my mom had bought from the market. Adrien must have felt my eyes upon him because he gave me a long, scorching look before grabbing the platter and asking my mom where to put it.
"How about you leave this on the counter for now?"
"Do you want us to set the table?" he asked.
"Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you."
Adrien grabbed the fancy Limoges plates my mom had taken out, and he sent me a meaningful stare as he walked out. I followed him to the dining room, where he left everything on the white tablecloth, then pulled me to him with a soft peck on my lips.
