CHAPTER 27

The bright morning light descended upon my face all the way from the windows and through the space between the curtains, and I turned in bed, hoping to meet the warm embrace of the strong hands and sturdy body that held me last night, but Lucius wasn't there to meet my expectations.

I remained in a lying down position and looked around. He was nowhere in the room with me and I wondered if he'd left the hotel room to get something. I felt a little weak to stand up yet, so I looked up at the ceilings and my mind wandered off to last night.

All I could think about was how wrong I was for thinking he would actually be rough in bed. Absolutely nothing about him had been rough. From his light touches, his feathery kisses, his warm embrace and his overtly careful attitude while he took my virginity at the course of finding out that I'd been untouched. I'd never had sex before. It was my first time and it felt so amazing. I couldn't have felt more pleasure.

He was lovely. I just couldn't get to stop thinking about how mostly memorable it was. I finally sat up in bed in an attempt to roam about a little, but then I froze to my spot while standing to my feet. Lucius had walked in holding a tray of two cups of hot tea and he was butt naked while facing me. My eyes went down and went wide. A deep blush painted my cheeks red and my reflexes overtook the movement of my body. Without thinking, I spun around and backed him, immediately.

"I'm so sorry!" I pinched my eyes closed, already feeling like I must have said something stupid and utterly weird.

"You're so sorry?" I heard the amusement in his voice. "You're apologizing because you're seeing me naked?"

He was right, but I couldn't bring myself to turn around to face him, again, so I stood still in my position. I felt him move closer to the bed as if dropping the tray and soon he was behind me. I could feel the heat of his body and then his breath came close to my ears.

"You know you're just as naked as I am, too, right?" His voice sounded on an extra note of deep in the morning and it vibrated through my ears.

My cheeks heated up even more as realization settled in. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and then he kissed my neck, which sent a jolt to run through me. Funny how I wanted him to make love to me, again.

"I made tea for you. Thought you might need it." He whispered.

"Right." I was still as a fridge. "Thank you."

"You want me to put some clothes back on?'

"Yes, please."

He laughed and released his arms around me. I felt him walk away for a bit. All became silent before he spoke, again.

"You can turn around, now."

"You're not kidding me, right? You really are dressed?" I asked to confirm before I turned.

"I do find you cute with your face red as a blushing machine, but of course I want you to enjoy your tea before it gets cold. So no, I'm not kidding. Turn around."

Slowly and carefully, I turned around and peeled my eyes open to look at him. Relief washed over me to find out he was truly dressed in his black bathrobe, again. He gestured his head towards the bed so I'd look at something.

"That's yours."

My blue bathrobe was on the bed and I picked it up. Gladly, I pushed my hands through the sleeves and tied the rope around my waist. He sat at the foot of the bed and I joined him. He handed me a mug and I took it from him. The tea was hot, its steam visible for my eyes to see while it danced into the air from the top of the mug and I blew and took a careful sip, trying hard not to burn my tongue.

"What do you think about Paris?' He stared straight at me from above the rim of his mug.

"Well, we've barely stepped out." I chuckled.

"We will. I have so many places in mind, already."

"Really?"

The phrase, 'so many places in mind' got me in the excited spot.

"We can visit the Eiffel Tower, first thing while we take our tour around the city if you're yet to see it."

"I'd like to explore the food here, too." I smiled, feeling all happy, already. Adrenaline sprang up, turning into anticipation for the event that was to come.

I couldn't wait. It felt like everything was finally snapping into place. A nice, romantic tour around Paris with my new husband whom I'd formally thought to be entirely without a heart for kindness and love. How cliché.

"Then it is settled. We'll explore every kind of their food you wish to explore." He smiled back.

"When do we start?" I took in a deep breath before taking another sip of my tea to calm my eager spirit.

"Right after a meeting I'm to attend this morning."

"A meeting?" My hope immediately went down the drain and I sagged my shoulders with my mug lowered from my mouth.

"Did you really come here for a meeting or to spend your honeymoon with your wife?"

He grinned while I pouted and he stood up. I was surprised to see he'd finished his tea so quickly and then he stretched his arms up to flex his muscles.

"It will be a quick one. Trust me."

"Yeah, meetings are always so quick." I rolled my eyes.

Nevertheless, he faced the other way and headed into the bathroom. I sat there alone with my tea and kept on sipping till I was done. Just while I was returning my empty mug into the tray, his phone pinged and I just noticed it was next to me all the while. I turned to look at the bright screen and my eyes automatically read the message.

"Hey, baby. Can't wait for us to meet up, again. I do miss sex between us and I can't wait for us to have it when you arrive."

My eyes nearly stretched beyond their limits and I felt a tight squeeze at my chest. What was this? I thought he said he had a meeting just now. Was this really the meeting? A private time with another woman while his wife was waiting on the side for the honeymoon trip to begin?

I felt disappointment fill me to the brim in my stomach. If I were still drinking my tea, this would've been me losing all my appetite. The tingling of excitement I felt in my system was replaced by disgust. And here I was thinking we were having a moment. Here I was being foolish and being happy that my heart was beating for him, already. I couldn't be more ashamed of myself.

The bathroom door opened and I immediately pretended to just be standing up to leave with the tray of empty mugs in my hands. My hands were shaking and I almost dropped the tray.

"The tea was quite delicious. Thank you." I faked a smile as I passed him on my way out.

"Wait." He said and I stopped in my tracks. I turned around to see him smirking.

"What?"

"Are you nervous about me stepping out of the bathroom, again?"

"Nope." I looked down and he was properly covered with a towel tied around his waist, leaving only the full top of himself naked.

He followed my gaze and looked down. "Is it covering what you want to see?"

"Covering what I want to see?" I scrunched up my eyebrows as if irritated by his question.

Right. Wasn't that all he seemed to care about? We barely knew each other. I shouldn't have expected otherwise. I should've known it was just the sex. I should've figured it all along rather than let myself be swooped off my feet only to be hung in the air with nothing holding me in place, so that in the end, I could fall and break my bones to pieces on the floor.

I shouldn't have expected much from a man like him. And for the record, his all so caring about me was just him pitying me, not having feelings for me, and I should've reminded myself about that before feeling like I was starting to have the best time of my life with him.

His face jerked up by my tone and once he grazed his eyes over the serious expression on my face, his smirk quickly faded.

"Is everything okay?"

"Of course, husband. Everything is just okay." I said and left the space of the bedroom before he got the time to say any other thing to me, again.

I couldn't believe I just called him husband. And I also couldn't believe he was following me.

"What did you just call me?"

I stopped by the dining, dropped the tray on it and turned around with my hands folded. "Husband. I called you husband. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes." He stopped to face me, his face now holding a serious expression just like mine. "I prefer Lucius."

It sounded like a command.

"Okay." I shrugged.

He raised an eyebrow. "Is everything okay with you? Your mood seems to have changed all of a sudden. Is this about me attending a meeting? Do you want me to stay?"

"No." I said abruptly before I could stop the word from slipping out of my mouth.

"No?" His voice was low as if the word had hit him straight in the chest.

"Yes, no. Unless you want to be late for your meeting." I said and walked past him while he just stood there for a long time.