Doukas by Demetra Georgiou

Chapter 15

 

“Doukas, please say something,” I plead as he parks his car in the underground garage of his family estate.

The moment Alcaeus got down from that roof and instructed Doukas to take me home, he sprang into action, and in no time, I was in the Mercedes getting away from my taverna at alarming speeds.

Once again, he remains silent and gets out of the car. I don’t wait for him to open my door, and once I’m out, I come face-to-face with him. Perhaps it’s about Harmonia. I put her life at risk. I should have insisted on her stopping working with me.

Doukas bends down and takes me into his arms, and by the time I’ve grasped what’s going on, we’re in the elevator. He doesn’t seem angry, but at the same time, I don’t know how to describe that look in his eyes.

The doors open, and he moves through his house, kicking another door open and striding towards the bedroom, bypassing the bed, and marching to the bathroom.

“Are you angry?” I ask in a small voice and dread what answer I’ll get.

He puts me down and gets the shower running.

“When Harmonia texted, telling us who was with you in the office, I feared for the worst. If she weren’t armed…”

As he speaks, he removes my clothes, ridding me of the barriers that separate us.

“I tried to call you, but it went to voicemail,” he says as he lowers my panties, and for the first time, I feel a slight tremble in his hands.

“And then I went into the taverna, but there was no sign of you...” he pauses, and I note his throat as he swallows audibly. “Victoras called Harmonia, and when she answered so calmly, I could finally breathe again.”

He sheds his suit piece by piece, and when he’s done, he picks me up and walks into the shower. I thought he’d put me down, but he only goes to the built-in bench and sits down with me in his arms. Doukas adjusts the showerheads, so a light drizzle falls on us, dampening our skin.

“You came to me, Doukas,” I say, and his eyes fall on me as if he’s seeing me for the first time. “You’re always there for me.”

“What if I didn’t—”

“But you did, and that’s all that counts. Do you want to know something else? A little before everything started, my friend called me ungrateful for not letting her boyfriend help me.”

Doukas’s grip tightens, and I bring my fingers to his cheek, missing his dimples.

“I answered back, Doukas. I didn’t cower. I didn’t bow my head, trying to choose my words carefully.” I bring my lips to his throat and kiss my favorite spot. “Being with you emboldens me, and I feel I can take on everything.”

Doukas bends his head, and his lips meet mine, slowly and tenderly, but his hands continue clasping me tightly.

“I need you, Doukas,” I whisper to his lips, but he shakes his head.

“You’ve had a shock, baby. It’s enough for me to just hold you.”

Little by little, I twist my body, and once my foot touches the tile, I stand. Doukas tries to take my hand, but I turn to him and promptly put my hand on his shoulder to straddle him.

“I want to be one with you, Doukas.”

He skims his fingers across my chest, straying for just a second between my breasts, before resting his palm just above my left breast. With his other hand, he reaches between us, directing his erection to my opening. I know he will find me ready for him.

With agonizingly slow movements, he sheaths himself deep inside me. The only thing I can hear is my labored breaths.

“We’re always one, Ria.”

And he’s right. He’s never away from my mind, my heart, or my life.

We’re two halves of the same soul.

My fingers find his nape, and I bring him to me, refusing to let go. I feel his hands on my waist, and I close my eyes, reveling in the sheer pleasure he’s giving me, moving my body up and down his rigid shaft.

I feel a little sore, but I’m not going to stop him. I’m building up, and I know that I’m going to shatter soon, but I’m not worried. As long as Doukas is here, I’ll never fall.

“Come for me, baby.”

And I do, feeling him expand inside me and fill me up. With Doukas by my side, I can weather anything.

Normally, I’d worry about what happened to my taverna, how the business with Fanaris will end, but I decide not to. I burrow my head into Doukas’s arms, where I’m always safe.

The way he holds and kisses me, cherishing everything about me, is all the reassurance I need.

 

 

“And the others? Is anyone hurt?” I fire one question after the other at Electra, my kitchen manager.

“No. We’re all fine,” she reassures me.

As soon as we exited the bathroom, I grabbed my phone, worried about my people at the taverna.

Electra has always been a great help to me. She’s the first person I hired when I took over. One morning she brazenly stepped inside the taverna and told me that she needed a job. The way Electra carried herself was remarkable, and I hired her on the spot. I don’t know much about her, but she’s become one of my most valuable employees. I only recently promoted her to my kitchen manager after the mass resignations, and it was long overdue.

“Was there… I mean… Did someone call the police?

“No. No one thought to do so, and as soon as we were out, Harmonia’s driver escorted us farther off the scene.”

Relief washes over me. The last thing I want is to speak with the police.

“Don’t worry about us, Ria. We’ve got everything under control. Harmonia’s friends are amazing, and your boyfriend’s brother has brought some servers. About time for some eye candy, too.”

“Doukas’s brother?” I ask, staring at my man.

“Yes, the tall one who eats a lot.”

“Alcaeus,” I offer and smile at Doukas as he passes his fingers through my hair, gently massaging my scalp. It’s so relaxing I could drift off at any moment. “Electra, I might not come in tonight, but I want you to call me if you need anything.”

I know I should be going there, but after today’s scare, I can’t bear the thought of being away from Doukas. Perhaps I’m being borderline clingy, but I refuse to be separated from him.

“Do you think your brothers and Harmonia are back?” I ask Doukas as he takes my phone to put it to charge.

“They should be,” he says. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to cook a meal so good, it’ll bring tears into your eyes.”

Doukas chuckles as he leads us to the sitting area outside his bedroom. “You don’t have to do anything, baby. We have people for that.”

“It’s the only way I know, Doukas. I miss cooking for pleasure. In the taverna, it has become something of a chore, and I don’t like it.”

“Okay then, whatever makes you happy, Ria,” he says and sits down on the sofa, facing the unlit fireplace, and takes me with him. “In all probability, though, only Alcaeus is likely to cry.”

I giggle and hug his waist, putting my cheek on his toned chest and marvel at its firmness. Doukas has a magnificent body, and I wonder where he finds the time to exercise. Ever since I met him, we seem to spend almost every moment of the day together unless we’re at work, but even then, we text each other incessantly.

“Do you work out?” I ask out of the blue.

“Yes, I do.”

“What do you do?”

“Kickboxing mainly. It helps me keep in shape, and I like that I have to rely solely on my strength.”

If his rippled body and strong arms are any indication, it’s definitely worth it.

“When do you find the time? You always seem to have your hands full with me.”

“We have a home gym. I work out in the mornings or whenever you’re in the taverna. Having my hands full with you has become my sole purpose in life, Ria.”

Lifting my head, I plant a kiss on his lips. “The things you say, Doukas. Sometimes I think that they’re just words, but I’ve seen you around people, and aside from your family, you aren’t that open with everyone. I’m just a plain girl but being with you…I can’t describe it very well, but it’s a heady feeling.”

In all our time together, he’s been the loquacious one, but now I have to tell him that I feel things for him, too. Making love or sex, whatever we call it, comes second because I have something new look forward to every single day with him. He makes my life colorful. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like there’s some sort of a magnet constantly pulling us together, an attraction that grows with every passing day. I don’t know where we’ll end up, but something inside me knows it’ll never stop.

We fall silent after that, staring at the unlit fireplace in front of us. I don’t know how long we stay here, wrapped in our own thoughts, but the ringing of his phone startles me out of my musings. Doukas excuses himself and takes the call, and I go to the bedroom to get dressed.

A few minutes later, I’m sitting on his bed, towel-drying my hair when he comes and squats before me.

“Nothing about you is plain, Ria.” Raising his hand, he traces my temple with his finger. “Everything started with your eyes. I was in Akis’s house bored out of my mind, and then your picture was in my hands, bringing me to my knees. I had to know you.”

Doukas pauses as he stands and kisses first my one cheek and then the other. Slowly, he leans even closer, and I lie down on the bed with him on top of me.

“The same night, I came to your taverna, and when the minutes ticked away with no sign of you, I thought I had imagined the whole thing. I was about to take the photo out of my jacket when you marched out of the kitchen. That was it. I didn’t need to know anything else.”

“Doukas,” I whisper and lean into his touch. I never knew the whole story.

“I love you, Ria. I love you with a force that never consumed me before. Right or wrong, early or late, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing beyond you.”

His mouth comes down to mine for a soft kiss that threatens to unravel me and shatter every semblance of control. Never before have I heard words like this. Certainly not addressed to me with such passion and honesty. It’s not that I don’t believe in true love because I do, but as the years passed and one disappointment followed another, I feared that somehow love had eluded me.

“I love you, Doukas,” I admit, cupping his cheek. “I’ve never felt this way before. Sometimes I close my eyes, fully expecting you to be gone by the time I open them again. But you’re always here…with me and for me.”

Doukas is my one. I can’t keep second-guessing him. He’s real and all mine, so I’m laying it all out there.

His hand creeps lower, and he unties the knot keeping my bathrobe closed. His movements are unhurried, as if he’s finally got what he has been searching for, and he’s savoring it. I finally found someone who loves me the way I love him.

Opening my legs wide, he slowly positions himself on top of me. Before long, his member lines up to my core. It doesn’t matter that we said the words only seconds ago. Ever since our first time, we always made love. He slides into me, keeping himself deep inside, his mouth never leaving mine. Not even an inch of our bodies is apart.

And when we finally find our release, we lie satiated in each other’s arms.