KristoI woke up on the couch, feeling almost as bad as I had when I’d come to the night before. Fuck, how long had it been since I’d slept the night anywhere but a bed? As I peeled myself upright, rubbing my eyes and stretching out my crunched-up muscles, I remembered why. Because couches weren’t built for sleeping, and I was too old to pretend I could still pull this off.By the time we’d arrived at my place the night before, it had been so late that both of us had wanted nothing more than to just get some sleep.“We should get to bed.” I’d yawned as soon as we’d taken her stuff out of the car and dumped it in the living room. She was swaying slightly on her feet, clearly so exhausted, she could hardly think.“Do you mind …” She fell silent for a moment, clearly trying to think of the best way to phrase whatever was about to come out of her mouth.“Mind what?” I prompted her. I was too tired to play games, to mess around and tease it out of her.“Could I sleep in the bed by myself?”
Kristo“Coffee,” she croaked, leaning up against the island in the middle of the kitchen. “I need coffee.”“Coming up,” I replied, stretching out a kink in my neck that the couch had given me. I added a little sugar to sweeten it for her, stirring quickly. I took mine black, but then I had been drinking it for years and preferred it that way now. I picked up the long handle of the briki and carefully poured her a small cup, handing it over.“Careful. Just sip on it,” I warned her. “It’s probably different than what you’re used to. More bitter.”“The stronger, the better,” she said, and she took a sip. She sighed with pleasure as the flavor hit her tongue. “Mmm, that’s good.”She gestured to the briki as I poured myself a cup and took a sip.“What’s that thing? I’ve never seen one before.”“It’s a briki,” I replied. “I got used to making coffee with them when I was visiting my family in Greece, so I brought one over here to use.”“You’re Greek?” She cocked her head to me.I nodded. “Yu
AmayaI sipped on the coffee and waited for my husband to come out of the shower. I couldn’t help but think of him in there all alone and wonder what would have happened if I’d slipped in there to join him. It was a tempting thought, but I was still a little nervous about thinking of us together that way. He was so hot, so cut, and I felt like I’d been squidged into my clothes in comparison. Maybe that’s why he’d picked me to stick this out, because he thought he could see me as a wife compared to the, no doubt, supermodels he likely dated before me.Wife. Husband. There were those words again. I knew they were accurate, nothing more than accurate descriptors of what the two of us shared, but they didn’t sound right in my brain. I had lain awake the night before in that enormous bed in that big, empty white room and wondered about the two of us together. Husband and wife, wife and husband. A married couple. I was living in my husband’s apartment, waiting for him to come out of the sho
Amaya“My sister used to live there with me,” I began, burbling so fast, I didn’t have time to think about how I barely knew this man I was spilling my secrets to. “She has a lot of issues. Physical ones. I was caring for her for a long time, but then I finished up grad school, and I needed a job. I couldn’t be there for her as much as I wanted, so I found this place for her, a facility where they can look after her, but it’s so expensive.”“What about your parents?” He frowned. “Can’t they help you out with her?”“My parents …” I trailed off. I never wanted to have to say what I knew I needed to. I didn’t want to tell him the truth, but I knew I had to if I was going to convince him I was serious about this and that I needed his help. I guessed he would have to hear the truth about me and everything I’d been scrambling so hard to keep under wraps all this time.“My parents died a long time ago in an accident,” I continued quickly, bluntly, hoping if I just got these words out sooner
KristoWhen she’d told me the truth about her sister and her parents, I couldn’t help feeling a deep pang down in my soul. I wasn’t sure what it was at first. Maybe it was sadness, sympathy, something deep and dark and gloomy stirred up by her story. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t even think to doubt or second-guess her. As she spoke, I knew the story was true, that she would never try to deceive or lie to me. She didn’t look me in the eye, but all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms, to console her and let her know that no matter how bad and how difficult things got, I would be here. At least for this year.I promised her the contract and gave her some privacy, but my mind was racing as I stepped out of the room. What if I was being taken for a ride? I barely knew this woman. For all I knew, she could be trying to con me out of a huge pile of cash. Maybe that story was well-rehearsed and completely fake. But then I thought back to the way the tears had shone in her eyes as
KristoEventually, she emerged from the bedroom again. She had told me she was just about to start work as a librarian, and she looked quite the part that day. She was wearing a deep red wrap dress that showed just a hint of cleavage, her hair piled haphazardly on the back of her head in a bun. It was far removed from the pure glamour and sex appeal of the outfit she’d been wearing to the gala, but I didn’t mind. She looked sort of like a teacher, one I wouldn’t have minded rolling in the hay with.“Hey.” She smiled at me, touching her dress nervously. “Do I look all right?”“You look great,” I promised her, and I pushed the dirty thoughts firmly out of my mind. She had a hell of a lot going on, and I didn’t need to add my libido to her problems, that was for sure. I would keep my attraction to her under wraps and keep this firmly a business transaction. It was the right choice for both of us, no matter how hot I thought she looked in that dress. At least I would get the pride of havi
Amaya“Amaya.” The woman at the desk—Marjorie? I was pretty sure that was her name—greeted me with a sweet, broad smile. And then her eyes slid over to the man beside me.“And this is …?”“A guest of mine. Kristo,” I replied, glancing over at him. I could leave the husband explanation for later. “How’s Jolene doing today?”“She’s good.” Marjorie nodded. “She missed you while you were away, though.”“Yeah, I missed her too,” I replied with a broad smile. No matter how much I knew this was costing me, how much I was aware of the strain on the meager budget we already had, I loved Jolene too much to let that overtake me when I was thinking about spending time with her.“You ready to head up?” she asked, and I nodded again.“I’m ready to go when you are,” I replied. I glanced over at Kristo. “You?”“Sure.” He nodded, and I wondered how this was going to go down. I had taken one guy to meet Jolene before, and I had been sure he’d been the one, that I had been in love with him, but then I h
Amaya“We should do lunch.” Jolene clapped her hands together. I couldn’t help but giggle. Sometimes, I knew she went out of her way to sound grown-up, especially when she was around new people, but she was still my baby sister more than anything else, and it was cute to hear her speaking in such an adult fashion.“That sounds great.” He glanced down at her chair. “Does this place have a way to get the chair out of here, or how does this work?““Yeah, we can’t fit it in the car,” I reminded her, and she waved her hand, ever the optimist.“Yeah, I know that,” she replied, shooting me a look. “But they have a van we can use to take the chair out and about in. We could do something next week if you want.”She was glancing up at Kristo nervously, and I could tell this meant a lot to her. She was playing it cool, but it was clear to anyone paying attention that she was a little nervous at the notion of him turning her down. But he nodded at once.“I’ll need to call up work and make sure I
KristoI went to the window and stretched, running my hand through my hair and grinning. I couldn’t believe we were actually in Greece. We were supposed to be arriving right about now, but I couldn’t wait that long to get her alone and was glad I’d incurred the extra expense to fly us out here at the last minute. It was worth it, so we could just be together after the hectic chaos of the wedding.I had called Cleo when we’d arrived, and she’d told me everyone had an amazing time. Nonna had a little too much to drink that night and had held court with stories about her young adulthood in Greece. Everyone had found it hilarious. And it seemed like Cleo and Darla were officially together, judging by the fact that I could hear Amaya’s friend in the background of the call long after they’d gone to bed.Amaya wasn’t awake yet, and I was glad for that. I still needed a little time to come to terms with the fact that I was actually married to the woman fast asleep in the bed behind me. My rin
AmayaOnce I had changed into something more party-worthy, the reception began, and at last, I could really relax and enjoy myself. Jolene and I spent a good hour dancing together before Kristo cut in to get his hands on me, holding me close and swaying with me as the band played a slow song. He kissed my neck softly, and I felt that burning desire for my husband pick up intensity. I couldn’t wait to get him alone, but we weren’t leaving for our honeymoon to Greece until the next day, so I had a while to wait yet.The food was amazing. There was even baklava, which Nonna had insisted on making herself. It wasn’t quite as good as Kristo’s, but I didn’t say a word of that to her. She would never let me hear the end of it. I ate and drank nonalcoholic cocktails, danced, and watched my guests do the same. I couldn’t believe how perfect this was. Darla and Cleo spent the night basically glued to each other’s sides, and I couldn’t help but coo internally over how cute they were.When I fina
AmayaI couldn’t even put into words how nervous I’d been that entire morning. My mind was taken up with questions about whether everything was going to go right. In my head, I was certain something was going to happen, that Kristo’s dad was going to squirm out of it at the last second and let us down, that the flowers weren’t going to arrive, that the dress wasn’t going to fit, that something was going to throw off this whole perfect day we had put so much time and effort into putting together.Then, I was sitting there in the room they had set up for me to get ready in, and I was staring at myself in the mirror, wearing the dress I had fallen in love with from the moment I’d laid eyes on it the week before. Jolene had picked well. She knew blue was my favorite color, and when I had slipped into the dress, even though it barely fit, I’d known this was the one for me. Sitting in front of the mirror, it was hard to believe this was really me, and this was really happening. How long had
KristoDarla, who had stepped in last-minute as a bridesmaid, followed her a minute later. She was wearing a dress in a delicate mint shade, and I could feel Cleo shift next to me when she emerged from the house.“Easy, tiger,” I murmured to her, and she nudged me playfully and straightened up again. I had a smile on my face, and I was beginning to relax. Then, I saw my bride walking toward me down the aisle, and I could hardly keep the tension out of my body.She looked incredible. No doubt about that. She’d told me she had only really looked at one dress, and I could see why. She looked unbelievable in it. It was cut to just below her knees, a flowing skirt that faded from cream to a pale blue color. The bodice hugged her body perfectly, and she was wearing the sweetest veil that covered her face as she made her way toward me. Even through the fabric, I could see the huge smile on her face, as though she couldn’t believe this was really happening. I knew exactly how she felt.It see
KristoI stared at myself in the mirror, wearing the tuxedo Amaya had picked out for me. I had seen myself in it before, of course, in the hurried fitting earlier in the week, but I felt as though I was looking at myself in it for the very first time. I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment and pressed my lips together. Why the fuck was I even nervous? I had done this all before with Amaya. And yet, here I was on my wedding day, scared a little bit shitless.There was a knock at the door, and I spun around at once. In my head, I was sure that somehow this was all going to go wrong, that Amaya was going to back out of it before I got her up the aisle, that the speed this had all happened was going to scare her off in the end. Instead, my lawyer entered, and I rolled my eyes.“What is it?” I demanded. He stood there in the door wringing his hands with a panicked look on his face and wearing a slightly rumpled suit.“I just wanted to let you know there’s still time to get a pr
AmayaBefore he could say a word more to me, I leaned forward and took him into my mouth. He tasted so good, even better than normal, the sweetness of the gel lingering on his body. I could taste that hint of vanilla, just a touch, making him taste like the pastry he had spent all day baking. Guiding him as far into my mouth as I could manage, I wrapped my hand around his base and began to stroke him, taking him deep into my mouth and listening to those appreciative little noises he kept on coming out with. I slipped a hand around his thigh, gripping him tightly, letting him know I would have made him come right here and now if he wanted to. I sank my nails into his skin, wanting to leave marks on his body, to remind him who he belonged to and who belonged to him.I wasn’t sure how long I was there on my knees in front of him, the water running over my body and down my back. I could have stayed there all day, but after a while, it became clear he didn’t want to come like that. He want
AmayaWhen I arrived back at the house, I caught the scent of heaven floating through the room at once. I closed my eyes as I stepped through the door, inhaling deeply—cinnamon, sweetness, a little sharpness. Whatever it was, even if it made me sick, I had to have it right there and then.“Hey, where are you guys?” I called into the house, looking around for Jolene or her nurse. She had arrived today, and Kristo had offered to help her settle in, which I was glad for, as I wanted to get as far ahead on my work at the library as I possibly could before the baby came along.“In the kitchen,” Jolene called back, and I crossed the room to the kitchen. All three of them were there, and Kristo was carefully cutting up some pastries that were still in a steaming-hot pan.“We made baklava!” Jolene exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the pan Kristo was maneuvering his knife around.“I can see that.” I inhaled deeply again and smiled my greeting at Pamela. “And what exactly is that?”“It’s a Greek
KristoI took a deep breath, planted my hands on the desk, and tried to center myself. There was no point getting upset about this. At the end of the day, either he was going to make the effort and come to my wedding or he wasn’t, and there was very little I could do to change his mind if he didn’t want to. Short of flying out to Greece and dragging him by his collar back to Nonna’s house to be there for the ceremony, if he wanted to skip it, he would. And I had a feeling he was going to. Amaya wouldn’t want this to be a stressful time for me. She wanted our wedding to be full of joy, peace, happiness, not me yelling into a phone to my father from half a globe away.I focused on the voices outside the room. Well, they weren’t saying anything, but they were laughing, and that was enough to get me feeling a little better. After a slight delay, Jolene’s nurse Pamela had arrived this morning, and the two of them were getting to know each other. I had offered to stay at home that day to wo
Kristo“Malaka,” I muttered to myself, forgetting for a moment that my dad was the one on the other end of the line, and he could well understand I had just called him an—“Did you just call me an asshole?” he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes, tempted to point out that the word didn’t have a specific English translation, but playing the smart-ass was only going to land me in a heap more trouble. As if it wasn’t bad enough as it was.“No,” I lied swiftly. “Look, are you sure you can’t get back sooner than that? You need to be here, Dad. It’s my wedding.”“I know,” he replied tersely. “You think I don’t know that? I’m as annoyed about it as you are.”“Then why won’t you just make the effort and actually come back home?” I pointed out. “This is ridiculous, Dad. Even you must be able to see that.”“I didn’t plan it this way,” he snapped back, but I didn’t believe him. I knew my dad well enough to know he had everything in his life carefully planned out. If he was stuck in Greece right now,