by Marian Tee
Helios knelt down on the floor in front of her. “Everything.” He took her hands in his, and the cold clammy feel of her palms made him curse silently. When she tried to pull her hands away, he held on to it more tightly. “Look at me.”
She shook her head.
He said in a commanding voice this time, “Look at me.”
Slowly, she lifted her gaze to his, a part of her helplessly answering his command.
“When I found out about your past, I wanted to kill myself.”
Her eyes widened.
He smiled humorlessly. “What else could I feel? It was then I understood your fear of bikes, and that was when I realized how much you chose to suffer in choosing to love me.”
“Is that why you’re doing all these things to get me back?” she muttered. “Because you feel guilty—”
“No!” He squeezed her hands. “I won’t deny that I feel guilty. I do, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling damn guilty about what I put you through. But more than that, you made me…” He swallowed. “You made me want to change. You made me want to be like my old self again. Someone…who didn’t have any trouble smiling. Someone who didn’t distrust people at first sight. Someone who could love you the way you deserve to be loved. I want to be that person for you because I can’t imagine spending another day of my life without you.”
He released her hands to cup her cheeks. “I tried, MJ. For your sake, I tried to live without you. But it didn’t work.” He paused. “I also asked a really smart person about the best thing I can do for you, and you know what she said?”
“No,” MJ whispered, mesmerized by the rare look of tenderness on Helios’ face. “What did she say?”
“Basically, she told me to fight for you. To do everything I could to make you love me even if you could never love me back. Because I owe you that – for every fucking time I hurt you, for every fucking time I made you cry and made you feel like shit. I’ll do everything you want. Make me beg, make me work hard for it, make me swear and curse you in frustration – I’ll take it all, brat. Because if there’s at least one thing I want to do for you…it’s not for you to fall in love with me again.”
MJ started crying. She had never imagined Helios could be this open about his feelings. She had never imagined Helios could say this many words in one sitting, actually.
Helios straightened up to kiss her on the forehead. “I just want you to believe that you’re someone anyone can easily love, and that you never have to feel like you need to earn another person’s love again.”
At his last words, MJ threw her arms around him. “I’ll do what you want,” she whispered.
After a heartbeat, Helios’ arms wrapped around her frail form as he was unable to resist holding her close again. His eyes closed at the feel of her body in his arms. When he raised his hand to touch her hair, he wasn’t surprised to find it shaking. For so long, he had thought he would never have a chance to hold her once more. Now that she was in his arms, he was sorely tempted to lock her in it.
“I’ll make you beg. I’ll make you work hard for it. I’ll make you swear and wish I had never been born,” she sobbed.
He smiled at her fervent tone. It was as if MJ was swearing an oath of fealty just before going into battle. “But?” He had a feeling there was a ‘but’.
She didn’t care if she was playing the fool or the idiot again. She had loved Helios Andreadis far too long to be immune to his pain. Had she really thought she could stay away from the sun god? Silly her for thinking something like that was possible when deep in her heart, she hadn’t even wanted it.
Pulling back, she wriggled her arms free from his iron-like hold so she could cup his face. For a moment, all she could do was touch his cheeks, marveling at the knowledge that she had the freedom and right to touch him like this once more.
“Before I do all that,” she whispered shakily, “do you think…” She swallowed. “Do you think we could make love just once?”
One moment she was still on the couch, and the next thing she knew, Helios had scooped her up in his arms and was striding swiftly into his bedroom.
Of all the things she would have asked for, he had never imagined she would ask for that, Helios thought. But then, MJ had always been unpredictable and that was one of the things he loved most about her. Her spontaneous ways might have a tendency to drive him crazy, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.
When MJ started to speak, Helios kissed her hard, enough to have her toes curl. When he lifted his head, he glared at her and said shortly, “You cannot change your mind now.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said weakly.
“Good.” He laid her carefully on the bed, doing his best to control the urge to pounce on her.
“I just wanted to say thank you for coming after me.”
Her sweet words had him groaning, and Helios couldn’t get rid of his clothes fast enough. He was naked in seconds, but MJ only had a short moment to appreciate his body before he was on top of her. “I’m sorry, brat, but I don’t think I can manage any kind of finesse right now.” It was the only warning she had before he literally ripped her clothes away from her body. She gasped at suddenly finding herself naked, and then she gasped again when Helios settled his lean hard body over hers.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Helios groaned just before showering her face with sexy tender kisses.
She wrapped her arms around his neck when his mouth found hers, and eventually her legs found its way around his waist when his tongue sank into her mouth and played havoc with her senses. Even this early, her body was already on fire, the rekindled memories of Helios’ passionate lovemaking enough to make her feel so close to coming.
Thoughts of this not being the right thing to do flittered in her mind, but she pushed them all away. She had survived this long and this far by letting her heart rule her mind and not by letting what other people thought sway her.
MJ writhed under Helios as he explored her body with his mouth and hands. He spent what seemed like an eternity caressing and kissing her breasts, his tongue expertly teasing her nipples into an aroused state before he sucked on them one at a time.
She tried to stop him when his mouth began to trail further down her body, but Helios wasn’t to be stopped. Soon, he was forcing her legs to spread wide open before him. A moan broke out of her as he teased her folds. By the time he had sunk one finger inside her, she was already soaking wet. By the time he started sucking on her clit, he had reduced her into a whimpering mess.
“Please,” MJ gasped as the passion he had unfurled inside her body began to spiral out of control. Her nails dug deeper into his shoulders. “Please…”
“Let me see you come, sweetheart.”
The hoarse plea was all she needed to break down, her pleasure reaching its peak, and she screamed as she came.
The moment she did, Helios rose up to sink his already engorged cock into her, and his harsh groan mingled with her cries of pleasure. The feeling of having his cock surrounded by MJ’s warmth was indescribable, and he knew it would only take a few moments before he would also come.
MJ’s eyes rolled back when she felt Helios start to move, his thrusts relentless as he fucked her long and hard. She wasn’t stunned when she felt her body start to tense and tremble, a second orgasm about to reach its peak.
Helios slipped a hand under her body to grab one round cheek, squeezing it hard as he used it to anchor MJ under him while he fucked her faster and harder. The erotic sounds of their sweaty bodies slapping against each other filled the room, mingling with MJ’s breathless whimpers.
Looking down at her, he said rawly, “I love you.”
Tears formed in her eyes. A moment later, she was pulling his head down for a kiss, telling him without words what he wanted to hear but she couldn’t say.
More tears tracked down his neck, and Helios knew that MJ felt guilty for her rejection even though both of them knew he had more than deserved it.
&nb
sp; When she felt Helios’ cock withdrawing from her body, she tensed in protest, her fingers gripping his shoulders. Was he mad that she hadn’t returned his words?
Easily reading the emotions on her face, Helios managed a smile. “I’m not angry, sweetheart.” He reached down between their bodies for her clit. “Once you fall in love with me again, I can always make you pay then.”
“Helios!”
Triumph flashed in his eyes. “You said my name.”
MJ was equally stunned, but for a different reason. She had never thought Helios would notice she hadn’t been using his name. The realization brought tears to her eyes because it was yet another proof that Helios really did love her.
She might not be able to tell her she loved him right now, but at least she could do this.
MJ lifted her head to take his lower lip between her teeth. “Helios.” She whispered his name again just before sucking hard on his lower lip.
Helios’ entire body froze above her and then with a growl, he took over completely, with so much heat and passion it had MJ dazed and wondering if he had been holding back all the while. His cock plunged into her with such immense force she was reduced to clinging to him helplessly like a ragdoll, unable to do anything but to follow his movements.
Each thrust had her eyes rolling back, and when he told her to come, she did so easily, crying out his name while he roared out hers as his seed spilled into her.
When she surfaced back into consciousness, it was to find Helios looking at her with rampant hunger in his leonine gaze. Her eyes widened and she gasped weakly, “Again?”
In answer, he lifted her up over his body before slowly lowering her to his aroused cock. “Helios—” But the rest of what she had to say turned into a moan as she found herself fully possessed by Helios’ cock while riding him astride.
Helios started caressing her bare breasts, making her moan again. Looking at Helios, all golden skin and muscles like a god, his large hands clasping her hips as he started to lift her up and down his cock like her weight was of no consequence, MJ found herself falling in love with him all over again.
“I’m disappointed in you, brat. I thought you once prided yourself on being my #1 fan.”
She gazed at him dazedly. “I am.”
“Then how is it you believe once would be enough for me after the time we had spent apart?”
Her mouth formed an O of surprise at his words, but there was no chance for her to answer, not with Helios starting to bounce her up and down his cock. It would set the tone for the rest of the evening, with MJ given no moment to even think or breathe without Helios.
He fucked her from behind, fucked her while he was on his feet and she was against the wall, and later he fucked her in the shower. He fucked her on the couch when she told him she had to go back to her room, and then he fucked her one last time in her own bed, just so, Helios told her gravely, her bed would smell like him, too.
When she woke up, there was a note on her bedside table.
Don’t forget to make me beg, brat.
I look forward to proving to you how much I love you.
Yours forever,
Helios
Chapter Eight
“Remind me again how cleaning the toilet is part of an R.A.’s job?” Helios asked darkly as he straightened from his task at the dorm’s third-floor bathroom, a discontented look on his face. He was wearing a wife-beater , jeans, and workers’ boots – nothing special, really, but at that moment, he looked the most gorgeous man on the planet for MJ.
Bringing down her face mask, she answered cheerfully, “It’s not. This is all part of your desire to be a normal guy.”
Helios glanced down at the third toilet bowl he had scrubbed clean with distaste. “I fucking hate being a normal guy.”
She gasped, letting her lower lip tremble a bit as if she was about to cry.
Helios said hastily, “But I love you more, which is why I will do this gladly.”
MJ turned around swiftly so Helios wouldn’t see her grinning. But her rocking shoulders gave her away and she shrieked when Helios spun her around and pushed her against the wall. “What’s this?” he purred. “You’re trying to manipulate me now?”
“Err, yes?” She had a hard time breathing at how close they were. When Helios pressed his body closer to hers, she almost closed her eyes and moaned.
He whispered into her ear, “You think you have me in the palm of your hands because I’m in love with you?”
“Err, yes to that, too?” She held her breath, wondering if this was the time Helios would finally snap.
But all he did was grin and kiss her nose. “You’re right. So hurry up and fall in love with me.”
When he turned around, MJ was this close to throwing her toilet brush at his head, and only the knowledge that doing that would make Helios Andreadis really angry kept her from doing it.
It had been a week since Helios had asked her to make him beg, and she had. Things that Helios Andreadis couldn’t have possibly done, she had made him to do. Tutor failing cheerleaders in their dorm so they could pass their exam and not lose his temper while doing it? Check. Mow the lawn while the boyfriends of girls at the dorm egged him and threw garbage his way? Check. Talk about the importance of being open with his feelings to one of the boys at the dorm when he had been dumped because he had been too arrogant to admit to liking the girl first (and Helios had to do it without choking)? Check.
There was nothing she had asked him to do that Helios had not done right away and had not excelled at. The problem was, she was close to begging, too. Helios hadn’t touched her or kissed her since that night as well, and she just couldn’t make herself ask him. She had her pride, too…which was why she was reduced to seducing him in the most subtle ways she could think of.
Did Helios know she was trying to seduce him? She hoped not. Surely not. If he had known, Helios’ arrogant nature would have made him smirk and crow at her weakness.
“President?”
Helios got up from his crouching position at MJ’s inquiring tone. “I told you not to call me—” He almost found himself unable to speak by the time he turned fully to MJ and saw her bent over on the toilet, with her long shapely legs and practically half of her butt exposed by her tiny pair of denim shorts.
Helios breathed hard for a moment—
MJ balanced herself on the heels of her feet to peek at Helios’ expression when he stopped speaking. “President.”
Helios swiftly rearranged his facial expression to something that was more furious than tormented. “That,” he said shortly. “Don’t call me that. You know it’s not true anymore.”
She bit her lips. “That’s what I was wondering about. Are you sure you’re really okay with you not having anything to do with…bikes?” While she was immensely happy having Helios with her all the time, she couldn’t help but feel guilty as well, knowing she was taking him away from one of the few passions Helios had in his life.
But, MJ thought defensively, it wasn’t like she had asked him to do it. He had volunteered – and she had just said yes. So really, she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Hey.” Helios was suddenly close, looming over her, a worried frown on his face. “Have you been worrying about that?”
“Nope.” But according to his fan page on Facebook, she should. There were thousands of girls who blamed her for no longer having Helios Andreadis to look forward to in underground bike races.
He snorted. “You are – and you shouldn’t be.” He bent down halfway so he could caress her cheek. “I chose you, brat. You’re my life. When I saw you flying in the air after riding the bike that one time—” The memory had him whitening, and his hand shook when he caressed her face again. “I almost died back there. I don’t want something like that to happen again.”
The emotions underlying his tone made MJ bite her lip. She still couldn’t get used to Helios revealing so much of his feelings, making her treasure every instance he opened up to her.
“I’m sorry I was so stupid back then,” she whispered, knowing she had to own up to being partly to blame at least. “I was just so out of my mind about losing you and thinking about my dad that I…”
Helios cupped her face and kissed her. To hell with his plan of making MJ suffer from physical longing so that she would fall in love with him more quickly. Right now, they both needed this kiss and what she needed, he had sworn to give.
“I won’t ever make you feel like you had to earn my love again, brat. You never have to, remember that. It’s always here in my heart.”
A full second passed before MJ pulled back a little so she could look at Helios’ expression and ask, “I really love how you’re saying all these things, but…how do you manage to say it with a completely straight face?”
Helios slammed her head back against his chest. “Shut up. And I have no fucking idea how,” he snarled in answer as color stained his cheeks. “Must be because I love you that much.”
“MJ? I was told you’re here—oh.”
MJ couldn’t get away fast enough from Helios at the sudden appearance of one of the dorm’s first-year residents.
Helios reluctantly let her go, knowing that even now MJ wasn’t completely comfortable with having other people see them together. It was another reason why he had been withholding sex. He couldn’t help but feel irritated and hurt, like a goddamn infatuated schoolboy, knowing that while MJ wanted him in the bedroom, she didn’t want to be associated with him outside it.
MJ self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears. “Tammy, hey. What is it?”
“I was just wondering if I could have a…” She stopped, looking at Helios awkwardly.
Helios took that as a cue to move further back into the bathroom and start cleaning the toilet again. If the others at the Afxisi could see him now, Helios thought darkly. They would never let him live this down.
When Helios was gone from sight, Tanya whispered, “Can you lend me a napkin?”