Page 25 of The Champion
He looked deep into my eyes for a moment before he said, “Come.”
We returned to the hallway and walked side by side before Victor continued talking.
“Sometimes I wonder about it… about my feelings for you. That’s why I want us to have sex so I can get you out of my system. You’ve become a distraction from my work.”
I smiled a little. “Should I apologize?”
Victor led us through a black door and turned on some light. The room was the size of Celeste’s bedroom and had two desks and a large bookshelf.
“Is this your office?” In the second it took for me to scan Victor’s room and look out the window to the buildings outside, he had moved close and surprised me by cupping my face. Victor’s façade as a stoic scientist had fallen. His eyes were a shade darker now and the change of expression in them made my pulse spike.
“I’m going insane with lust for you. Please, Freya.”
He gave me a chance to pull back, but I wanted him too much. Placing my hands on his waist was all it took for him to kiss me with the same unleashed passion that I had experienced in his apartment. Victor backed me into a desk behind me and then he lifted me to sit on the edge. His hands were in my hair, his lips on my lips, and he made sounds as if kissing me was the most satisfying experience of his life.
A thousand thoughts roamed through my brain. I was reminded of the woman in the nightclub telling me that Aubri had a threesome before she married Indiana. For so long, I had been strong and stood firm on my standards for a relationship. Now I was building a case to give myself permission to let go and finally indulge in what I had fantasized about for so many years.
Aubri did it too. She experimented with her sexuality. Why not take what Victor can give you and stop worrying about the future?
My fingers weaved into his thick hair as my tongue swirled around his. Victor’s breathing quickened and with a firm grip on my hips, he pushed against me, letting me feel how hard he was.
It’s going to happen.My decision to have sex with Victor had been a long time coming and suddenly felt as certain as my name and age.
“Victor.”
“Mm?” He was kissing down my neck and boring his fingers into the flesh on my hips.
“Not here.”
Stiffening, he pulled back to look at me.
“I don’t want my first time to be on your desk. If we do this, I want it to be unhurried, and in a place where I can be sure we won’t be interrupted.”
Victor’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat twice and then he leaned his forehead against mine and whispered. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make it good for you, Freya. You have my word.”
My pulse was still high as I smiled a little. “You’d better, since there won’t be a second time.”
“I told you that I’d make an exception for you. We’ll have three times or maybe more since you’re a foreigner and I could bend the rules for you.”
Caressing his face, I shook my head. “My heart already weaved itself to yours. If I allowed my body to do the same, I would never be able to be with someone else. I’ll give myself the experience of sleeping with you one time. After I leave France, there will be no more correspondence between us until I have cleansed myself of the hope that we could have forever together. I’ll marry someone who appreciates me and keep my experience with you in a secret chamber of my heart.”
Victor kissed me again and then he moved back so I could stand. “Come. I’m taking you to my apartment before you change your mind.”
CHAPTER 6
Silent Promise
Victor
I had slept with plenty of women, but none had ever made me nervous the way Freya did. My hands were practically shaking when she was in my apartment and we both knew what was about to happen.
Afraid that she would back out of her decision to have sex with me, I was direct in my approach. I put on some relaxing music and made her a drink with alcohol as we traded small talk about the work of the Explorers outside the safe zone.
Freya emptied her drink fast and reached out her glass. “May I have another one? I’m fighting my inner voice, who is telling me to protect my heart and get the hell out of here.”
After mixing her another drink, I squatted down in front of her and rubbed her arms. “Just breathe, Freya. You’re doing nothing wrong. We’ve both wanted this for more than a decade and it’s long overdue.”
“What if it’s a major disappointment?”
