Chapter 77 Better than drugs and alcohol
Veronica's POV:
The next morning, I woke up in Theo's arms. I literally felt like I'd been reborn.
Not metaphorically... I actually felt like a completely different person inhabiting the same body... I felt lighter, brighter, more alive than I'd ever been in my entire life.
Theo was still sleeping, his face peaceful in the early morning light, one arm draped across my waist. I carefully extracted myself from his embrace and padded to the balcony, drawn by an inexplicable need to see the sunrise.
The first rays of sun were just beginning to hit the New York skyline, painting everything in shades of gold and pink. And it was awesome. Divine. The only words I could find felt inadequate to describe what I was experiencing.
Everything around me looked beautiful and cheerful. The air I breathed tasted very sweet... like champagne on my tongue. The potted plants on the balcony looked very green and vibrant. Even the sky itself looked different... more vast, more infinite, like I was seeing it clearly for the first time.
The joy I'd felt yesterday with Theo... it was still there in me, making me feel like I was high on drugs... without even taking any drugs.
I heard movement behind me and turned to see Theo stepping onto the balcony, wearing only his loose linen pants, his blonde hair adorably messy from sleep. Just the sight of him seemed to be doing something to me inside... I was still feeling that 'closeness' with him.
"Theo... my darling," I breathed. I wrapped my arms around him, pressing myself against his bare chest, drinking into his intoxicating scent. "It's really a great morning, isn't it?"
"Yes... it is... it would be..." Theo pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me, enveloping me in his warmth. His chin came to rest on top of my head, and I felt his heartbeat steady against my cheek.
We stood like that for a long moment... and I felt so full I thought I might burst with it. All I wanted was to kiss him, and make love to him again, but he wasn't initiating it...
"Did I forget to tell you," Theo said quietly, after a while, "what we did yesterday... that energetic effect will stay with us for days to come?"
I pulled back to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"It makes us feel like we're intoxicated with drugs... Even drugs can't make the pleasure last this long... intoxicants have their disadvantages... but this is long-lasting."
He explained, one hand coming up to brush hair off my face. "And we start to feel love with everything around us... we just become more sensitive to beauty and connection. Before it becomes normal again, and it settles back into baseline... this is how tantric sex works. This afterglow can last anywhere from a few days to a week."
"No... no..." I shivered, gripping his arms tighter. The thought of this beautiful feeling fading, and returning to the muted, anxious version of myself I'd been before... it was unbearable. "You are right... this is better than any drugs or alcohol... I never want this to stop. I want to keep feeling like this... intoxicated with you forever."
I looked into his pretty green eyes.
"I love..." Theo was about to say it... that would change everything between us.
But then he seemed to remember. The triangle situation we were in. His brother. The contract. The choice I hadn't made yet.
He pulled back from me gently, creating physical distance even though I could see in his eyes that he didn't want to.
"We need to start preparing our speech," he said, sounding carefully neutral. "The expo presentation is tomorrow. We should practice."
It should have hurt. His withdrawal, his deflection, the way he'd shut down what I'd been about to say. But the state of intoxication I was in... this chemical, energetic bliss coursing through my system... made it impossible to even feel that hurt.
Instead, I just smiled, nodded, and let him lead me back inside.
Even the anxiety of preparing for the presentation in front of tech industry big shots didn't attack me anymore.
The fear that had been gnawing at me for days, the terror of failing on a global stage... it all felt distant, manageable, almost amusing. Strange!
How had I been so scared of this? It was just talking. Just sharing something I'd created. What was there to fear?
The day of the presentation arrived, and I floated through it in a state of calmness and confidence that felt completely foreign and yet utterly natural.
I stood backstage with Theo. We were both watching the other presenters take their turns on the stage.
The expo hall was enormous with thousands of attendees, all filled with industry leaders sitting in the front rows, and cameras everywhere capturing every moment for live-streaming to global audiences.
"Are you nervous?" Theo asked even though he knew that I wasn't. He'd made sure that I didn't!
"You know me now..." I gave him a wink. " I feel... amazing, actually. Like I could do anything.
"That's the tantric sex's energy still working through you," Theo said with a small smile. "Use it. Channel it into your presentation. Let people feel what you're feeling."
Our names were called, and we walked onto the stage together.
The lights were blinding to my eyes. The audience were like a sea of faces, some interested, some skeptical, some already looking at their phones.
In the front row, I could see the faces I'd researched... they were venture capitalists who'd funded billion-dollar companies, tech industry icons who could make or break a techie's career with a single comment, tech journalists whose reviews were like gospel to many.
The old Veronica would have frozen in fear... now I just smiled at all of them.
I clicked through the slides, explaining our app's features with clarity and passion. I told stories about users, painted pictures of the future of sustainable app developments, and even made jokes that landed and drew laughter.
And I could feel it... the room seemed to be listening to me. People were putting down their phones, leaning forward in their seats, actually engaging with what I was saying. Their skeptical expressions were transforming into interest, and then excitement.