Chapter 13: Lydia
Palm trees swayed in the serene morning breeze. I awoke and stared at the window from my bedroom, wondering why I’d never noticed just how lushly beautiful the view was. Everything seemed doubly vivid and awesome and there was no need guessing the reason.
I stretched luxuriantly, remembered Brian’s hands and mouth on mine. I bit on my lip hard, trying not to smile foolishly as I thought of how his silk-on-steel cock had felt when it had erupted deep inside my throat. I never wanted to forget how he’d tasted; his intoxicating scent and texture.
I’d felt him leave my bed in the early hours of the morning. He’d held me through the night and I remembered reaching down for him, feeling his hardness throbbing with demandingly rigid heat. I had looked up questioningly at him in the dimness, but he’d only kissed my forehead and pulled my hand up to rest against his chest, murmuring, “Rest now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
I had snuggled back into him, part of me wondering at his restraint yet understanding why he might want us to wait before taking our passion to a further conclusion. There were so many loose ends, questions, and truths. We’d iron things out eventually, I had no doubts. For now, I felt as ready to be patient as he obviously could.
I found Brian’s note saying he’d meet me by the pool I normally frequented which was closest to my hotel. Once I’d showered and dressed, my stomach began to growl and remembered not bothering to have any dinner the night before. Knowing Brian was waiting made me hurry even more. Also, I couldn’t wait for him to see my surprise.
“Damn,” Brian said in deep appreciation when I showed up at the kidney-shaped pool. I was clad in a revealing swim-suit with splashes of tropical colors and design that I could tell he recognized. His grin of admiration widened and I caught that tell-tale gleam of desire that brought the tremor to my knees. I quickly took my seat beside him, my cheeks hot as I felt conscious of no one else’s gaze but his.
“So, you actually bought it,” he noted, the pleased chuckle in his voice telling me he remembered the swimsuit from that day in the boutique where he’d suggested I get it for myself.
“You know, Brian,” I began thoughtfully as I picked up a glass of orange juice from the tray of food I found waiting, “You’ve managed to break down pretty much all of my former inhibitions. I’m feeling truly alive for the first time and you know what? I love it.” I beamed and leaned in to kiss his lips without a thought.
To my delight, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me even closer for a deeper, fiercer kiss. When we pulled apart my lips felt swollen, claimed. Food became forgotten in those few moments our eyes held with passionate remembrance from the night before.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, staring deep into my eyes. “Sweet like sunshine. And the sexiest woman I’ve ever had the honor to call mine. You are mine, aren’t you?”
“All yours,” I responded with breathy conviction, not peeling my gaze from his. My words made his grin flash white and swift across his face.
“Now, eat. Either that or I’ll be giving into the urge to carry you up to the room and continue from where we left off last night,” he growled.
I drew my hand from his with a playful expression. “My body’s saying yes, but my stomach says no. I suggest maybe a dunk in the pool to cool you off?”
“Okay. It’s not going to help much, but okay,” he said, laughing deeply as he rose to stride to the deep end of the pool.
My eyes roamed over his body clad in nothing but a pair of navy blue trunks. My hand paused on its way lifting a piece of fresh bagel to my mouth as I admired every bronzed inch of Brian’s body. His top half was broad and sculpted, tapering into lean, manly thighs and calves. My view of his ass made me almost shed tears at the beauty of him. My nipples hardened impossibly beneath my bikini and deep in the juncture of my thighs, a simmering began. Damn but he was fine, I thought, still marveling that I’d caught the attention and love of a god like Brian.
He plunged into the pool with a knife-like precision and I murmured to myself, “Show off,” even as I smiled goofily, chewing on my food. To hell with right or wrong, I thought even as a pang of unease hit me.
Brian was everything I realized was missing in my life, and no one could take that away from me. Once we worked out how we could be together, I’d take it from there. On my end there was Theo, my parents and the issue of long distance between here and the United States, but we’d work it out.
After he did some laps in the pool, I watched him swim to the shallow end where he helped a chubby little girl in curls and a colorful float out of the pool before handing her to her hovering mother who smiled her thanks.
He returned to my side and grabbed the towel I handed to him. “So you’re doubling as a lifeguard today, huh?” I said in amusement. “What other duties do you have in store, if I may ask?”
Brian patted himself dry, before tossing aside the towel. “Making you happy. Seeing you smile,” he said soberly. “I hope I never lose the ability to do that.”
“You couldn’t if you tried,” I said with assurance, now equally sober. We shared that moment where the world seemed to stand still again. Brian made me drunk and I never wanted to get down from this high. If this was what it meant to lose oneself in another, then I was ready to forget about ever finding myself. Nothing could ever come between us.
My eyes caught sight of a familiar figure moving just beyond Brian’s shoulder. He was dressed in a power suit, his strides purposeful as he headed for the resort’s central lobby. There was no mistaking his identity and I felt flooded with an instant, almost crippling panic.
“Oh no! He’s back,” I gasped.
Theo.
He was sure to go by my lounge chair and spot me. Without thinking, I jumped to my feet. “Theo can’t see us together. I have to go.”
Brian frowned, taking in the scene in moments as he glanced over his shoulder at the advancing figure. Then he turned back to me. “And running off would be a good idea how? Lydia, you don’t have to be afraid. I can handle this. Handle him,” he said, rising to his feet.
My eyes widened in alarm and I hissed, “No, Brian, please.” I gathered up my things hurriedly, my eyes imploring. “We’ll talk later. Just please, let’s not cause a scene okay?”
He watched in frustration as I made to leave. He grasped my elbow for a brief moment as if to stop me.
I said softly, “We’ll talk later. I promise.”
Brian looked like he would have said more, but then his lips went into a thin line and he nodded, letting me go. Not a moment too soon, I fled, leaving Brian with a look on his face like he wanted to swipe the tray of breakfast off the table in a fury.
***
Theo reached the reception in the lobby and turned in surprise when I suddenly appeared behind him, dressed in a skimpy bikini. His eyebrows shot up, an appreciative grin crossing his face.
“Theo, you’re back!” I said, my smile forced. Did my voice sound too breathless? I tried not to think as Theo drew me into his arms.
“I finally was able to wrap things up just in time. And since we still had a few more days left of our vacation, I decided to rejoin you,” he said, eyes lingering over me from head to foot and making me flush. “I meant it as a surprise, but it seems I’m the one getting the unexpected treat. You look deliciously tempting I must say.”
I stood somewhat stiffly in his embrace, wishing I could pull away. Theo didn’t seem to care about the spectacle we might be making. “I was thinking of lying by the pool and maybe having a swim. Then I thought I spotted you. You really should have told me you were coming, Theo. I was even thinking of leaving first thing tomorrow.”
“Oh, there’ll be no need for that,” he told me, keeping his arm around my waist as he turned to the receptionist. “Now that I’m here.”
“Um, Theo, I changed to a smaller room when you left,” I cut in hastily before Theo could speak to the person waiting to attend to him behind the desk.
Theo turned to me with a surprised look. “Why? I thought you liked the suite.”
I shrugged nervously. “It felt so big.”
Theo frowned. “I feel like such a jerk leaving you on your own the way I did. But I’m here now, and we’ll make the best of the next few days. You’ll move back to the suite now that I’m back, of course.”
I bit hard on my bottom lip, my expression helpless. “There’s actually something I need to talk to you about.”
“Can it wait?” Theo said with a smile. “I just flew several hours to get here and right now I need a cold shower and a hot meal.”
“Oh. Yes, of course. I’m being inconsiderate, I’m sorry,” I said guiltily. It took only minutes to get the key to our old suite and I followed Theo up while my mind swirled. I hadn’t expected this to happen so soon but it couldn’t be avoided. Theo’s appearance had caught me off guard and now I felt like a lamb walking heedlessly to slaughter as I went into the sumptuous suite with him.
I sat on the edge of the bed, chewing my nails nervously while Theo took a shower. All my well thought out speeches seemed to have escaped my head. I could hardly think of my next move.
When Theo returned to the room, a towel wrapped around his waist I sprang to my feet. The white of his grin flashed across his handsome face as he viewed me and I cursed the fact I was still dressed in the skimpy bikini.
“Much as you look good enough to eat, baby, I hope you ordered me some brunch?” Theo asked.
“Oh, no. I forgot,” I said, feeling stupid. I looked away hastily from the side of his broadly muscled torso, wondering why he suddenly seemed so menacing. I’d never really been afraid or nervous around him before and yet now he made me uncomfortable.
“You know, you’re right. The last thing I want right now is food,” he said, voice deepening with arousal. Before I could think of what he was up to, he’d reached out to grab my arm and tug me hard against his muscular frame. “I think I’d much rather nibble on you.”
I felt his burgeoning hardness digging into my belly and I pushed against him, horrified by the gleaming intent I saw in his eyes. Just imagining him touching me in that way made my skin start to crawl.
“What’s the matter?” he asked worriedly, even as he smiled. “Still mad I left? I promised to make it up to you, honey.”
His fingers reached for the strap on my shoulder and I didn’t think before moving his hand away. At his frown, I finally broke out of his hold and stepped back. I exhaled heavily.
“Theo, I meant it when I said we needed to talk,” I said as calmly as I could. I pushed a nervous hand through my hair and glanced out of the double doors leading out to a balcony where the sounds of lapping ocean could be heard. Drawing in a deep breath again, I turned once more to face the quizzical looking Theo.
“It’s very important that I iron this out with you right now. It’s about us.” I hugged my arms around me as I forced myself not to look away from his narrowed gaze.
“Theo, for a long time I’ve been having doubts whether we’re together for the right reasons. Everyone else seemed to expect us to end up in marriage and as a couple and yet...I’ve always wondered if that was what I really wanted. Now I think I’ve finally worked out what’s best for me. For both of us – because we can’t keep living a lie.”
Theo’s gaze seemed to slowly darken. “Just what are you really getting at, Lydia?”
“That I’m breaking up with you,” I said bravely. “I can’t do this anymore. Not having a choice, simply going with the flow because I didn’t care enough to rock the boat. I don’t love you, Theo. And it was unfair of me thinking you deserved someone that couldn’t give you one hundred per cent back what you were worth.”
“Cut the crap and tell me what’s really going on here,” Theo snapped, suddenly moving and grabbing my shoulders before I could draw back. He looked ready to shake me. “You want to break it off just like that?”
“Theo, please understand,” I said as I tried to force the quake out of my voice. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. “I can’t marry you. It took me some time to work it out in my head, and most importantly my heart. Can’t you see I could never make you happy?”
“Is there someone else?” he barked suddenly, as if he hadn’t heard anything I’d just been saying. “Because if there is, I’ll tear him apart piece by piece. I’ll fucking crush him with my bare fucking hands! No one is going to take you from me.”
Fighting back a tremor at his vengeful words, I glared up at him defiantly. “It’s not going to ever work between us. Can’t you get that? I’m very, very sorry but it’s over. Let me go!” I pushed against his chest until he released me, our eyes locked in a long, wordless battle before he let out a cold harsh laugh that chilled my spine.
“You don’t know the dangerous game you’re playing right now,” he said softly, shaking his head with a pitying smile. “If you think I’m going to let you make a fool out of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, lifting my chin with a furious look in my eyes.
“Maybe not of me, but what I can do. What I’m capable of,” Theo replied, eyes cold and menacing. “You think it’s going to be easy to simply walk away? You have no clue, Lydia. I’ll finish you, finish your family. Oh, you think it’s funny?’
My defiant look seemed to inflame him but I didn’t care. “Don’t you dare threaten me. Seriously, Theo? I know full well how you hate being thwarted but you’re being ridiculous now.”
His bark of laughter once again sent the chill through my bones. “Ah. I can see you really don’t have an idea exactly what’s at stake here.” His look was more a sneer. He went to the bar and helped himself to a glass of bourbon. I watched him in growing apprehension. He downed the drink and then glanced my way with that same look of derision.
“What do you think is the main reason your parents pushed us together in the first place? Or should I say, your parents shoved you onto me?”
He saw my eyes flash angrily and he merely laughed. “The truth, Lydia, may be a little hard for you to swallow but you’ll hear it anyway. Your father got involved in a few high-risk deals over the years, many of which fell through, leaving him with debts in tunes of millions. More than he could ever hope to repay. If I and my family hadn’t waded in, he’ll probably be in jail thanks to the unscrupulous practices of the people he partnered with on those deals. He was just naïve and gullible, which in itself is criminal in my opinion. In any case, combining our fortunes in marriage, he believed, would be his way of ensuring we’d always keep in good terms and he’d never have to worry about falling into financial ruin, not with his name permanently linked to my family’s. And you know what? I played along with his scheme to see us together. Why? Because I felt you didn’t need to suffer for your father’s mistakes. Now you think you can just walk away? Not going to happen, Lydia.”
His lips had curled in scorn, and I couldn’t help but stagger back, landing in the nearest chair as I stared into space trying to digest what I just heard. Finally I looked up at him and said shakily, “Your consideration is commendable. But I don’t believe there’s no way out. I’m done with this farce and whatever my father owes you, he’ll find a way to pay it all back. There’s always a solution.”
“Fine.” Theo gave a nonchalant shrug. He threw off the towel carelessly and made for the walk-in closet while he said, “Call your dad. Ask him what he thinks. But I promise you, walk away from this and I won’t hesitate to carry out my threat. You’ll discover it’s a long way down to the gutter which is where you and your family would end up by the time I’m through.” He gave a thin smile and walked in to dress just as I furiously reached for the nearest phone.
I quickly dialed the long distance number, telling myself Theo had to be bluffing. What could be so impossible about clearing some debt? And why would Theo think he could take me in exchange like I was some commodity to be traded?
Still, my hands slightly shook as I lifted the receiver to my ear. My father’s reassuringly I voice came on the line and after the warm greeting I quickly brought up the questions I was dying to have answered.
The call lasted barely minutes but once it was over, I sat there pale-faced on the edge of the bed, the phone rattling limply from my fingers to barely make it to rest on its cradle.
When Theo returned and glanced my way, his smug smile at my look of defeat made me want to smack his face. My father’s response had felt like I was being given a life’s sentence but a part of me still warred against what was taking place. I hadn’t even been able to say one word more to my father after his explanation. I’d hung up with the cold fist closing around my heart, almost choking me. Slowly, I returned to reality as I looked up into Theo’s cold eyes.
“Looks like you’ve seen the light,” he noted with a mocking smile.
“None of it matters,” I said coldly, rising to my feet. “You still don’t own me, Theo. And no matter what my happiness and freedom is paramount to me. Believe me I deeply appreciate the help you rendered to my family – but I’m a human being, not a piece of property despite the mistaken belief you and my father seem to have. I will definitely not be sold like a common slave!”
“But you are my slave,” Theo said with deceptive mildness. His hand closed around my arm and yanked me to him. “And despite your protests, I’ve paid quite handsomely for you. Cleared your family’s debts, kept your father in business and even continued to transact with him on many investment deals – putting myself out quite a bit, I’ll tell you. But hey, I’m not complaining. You’re more than worth it,” he added, his hand smoothing down my back to cup my ass in a demeaning caress.
I tugged furiously out of his hold. “You’re disgusting,” I spat. “You couldn’t even be man enough to win my love so you sank to trying to buy me. But my heart’s not for sale and neither is my body.”
Theo’s laughter vibrated through the room. “It’s actually amusing that you think you really have a choice.” His face smoothed into a hard mask as he continued, “Wake up, Lydia. I own you. And as for the issue of love, in my own way I grew feelings for you, like any red-blooded man would. I mean look at you. That face and body would be really hard to ignore.”
I drew in a furious breath as his insolent gaze lingered on every inch of me exposed by the bikini. He went on through sneering lips, “That’s part of the reason why, when I realized your father’s wishes where we were concerned, I didn’t find the idea too unappealing. And you can stop pretending that you weren’t happy for the prestige that came with being my wife.”
It was my turn to view him with a sneer. “The fact is I could barely stand you. But I was too weak to defy my parents’ wishes each time they threw us together. In time I may have convinced myself it wasn’t such an unbearable predicament to be lumped with someone I always considered loathsome when we were kids. Remember? You used to pick on me whenever you had the chance. But when we grew older I somehow let myself get blinded by your charm, almost fooled into thinking you’d changed. Someone any woman would feel secure with but guess what? You’re no different from that bully you were at sixteen. You’re a sorry excuse for a man because no self-respecting man would take advantage of me and my family the way you’re doing. You have no code, Theo and you have no honor. You’re nothing.”
My face exploded with excruciating pain and I gasped as I fell forward to the floor, barely catching myself on my hands and knees. It took several moments for my head to clear as I realized Theo had struck me. So hard I still had to blink repeatedly before my vision stopped whirling. I stared down and saw the drops of blood that had dripped from my mouth to the floor.
“Don’t...ever...speak to me like that again,” Theo was saying softly from above me, and I could barely make out his rage-filled words. “Or believe me I’ll forget my good intentions and end this arrangement of ours. Let you walk away knowing you’ll be responsible for every member of your family ending up on the street because make no mistake I will finish you – all of you. Is that what you want?”
Slowly, I struggled to my feet with dignity, before looking up at him while hiding the defeat from my eyes and voice as I whispered, “No.”
A cold smile curved his lips. “Good. Now, I’m hungry. I suggest you get your things transferred back to this suite and then change so you can join me down in the restaurant for some lunch,” he said calmly, as if everything was back to normal.
He scrutinized my face as I pressed my knuckles experimentally to the swelling just beneath my eye. He sighed deeply, brushing my fingers aside and then cupping my face to hold my gaze for a few moments. “Now see what you made me do,” he said and bent to kiss my stiff, unresponsive mouth.
Theo pulled away to say gently, “I hated to hurt you, Lydia. Believe me. And everything would have been going so perfect if you hadn’t suddenly decided to turn on me for no good reason. In fact, we’ll do exactly as you suggested and check out tomorrow. I don’t like the effect this place has had on you. You were always such a sweet, pliable girl. And that’s why I’m prepared to overlook everything that’s happened.” He gently stroked his knuckles along my cheek and I couldn’t help but flinch. He simply smiled.
“Get changed and meet me downstairs. Don’t keep me waiting,” he said, giving me one last look that told me he wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. Without another word he exited the suite.
The door clicked shut after him and I felt the room start to spin. Stumbling, I grabbed the edge of the nearby table. I managed to make it to the bed and sat heavily on the edge, finally giving in to shock. My world which had seemed so perfect when I awoke that morning had now come crashing down so hard, so fast.
It had to be a bad dream, I told myself over and over as I rocked my body back and forth. It had to.
But it wasn’t. The throbbing pain in my left eye told me it was all too real. This was a nightmare that would never, ever go away.
The thought of Brian crossed my mind and in an instant I knew I’d have stood up for myself if it had been about just me. I’d have told Theo to go ahead and do his worst but it wasn’t all about me. There were my parents, my siblings – people whose futures I’d jeopardize if I tried to fight this. I was doomed to sacrifice my happiness for theirs and there seemed absolutely no way out.