Page 15 of The Champion
For me it’s just part of something bigger, where to you it’s an event no more important than a casual conversation with a stranger.
I’m sorry to disappoint you, but my answer is still no.
Love, Freya
I scrolled over more messages between us with Victor claiming that I was taking sex too seriously and that I didn’t know what I was missing out on.
Maybe I should have been honest with him and told him that our passionate kiss had made me obsess about him for the past six months. If I slept with him, the amount of havoc to my heart would leave me pining for a man who didn’t want anything more than three times of sex with me. I was better off arguing with Victor than sleeping with him.
“Oh wow, Freya, you lookmagnifique.” Zola came into the living room and asked me to get up so she could see my dress. Spinning me around, she admired the long red dress that clung to my body. “You’re lucky. I would kill for a body like that.”
Taking her hand, I assured her, “You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” With a smile, she did a last check of her hair and colorful make-up before we left her apartment.
I soaked up Victor’s intense gaze when we joined the large group of all fifteen delegation members. It wasn’t that he gave me a bright, beaming smile, but there was a tiny lift at the corner of his lips that I had learned to decipher as suppressed joy.
Walking to the nightclub, everyone was chatting and joking about which nation had the best music and dance moves. I thought about my cousin Aubri who had stayed home this year because of her complicated pregnancy with twins. Since we were children, Aubri had been my rock when it came to trying new things and getting out of my comfort zone. She was always brave and charged head-first into new challenges. I felt sad that she couldn’t enjoy a night of dancing with her husband Indiana who walked on my left side. At least my good friend Linea, who came instead of Aubri, was excited to be in France. I loved her enthusiasm as we entered the nightclub and she looked around with big eyes.
“Wow, look at this place.” She craned her neck as she took in the large room with a bar on each end and a dancefloor in the middle. The colors were dark and the music sensual with a fast beat. Lights circled the room and created movement.
I’d been to a French night club at a previous summit, but I still felt a little pressured from the attention we got when we walked in. It was like everyone in the club turned and stared at our group.
The Motlanders headed straight for the dancefloor and Linea accepted an invitation to dance with Shiva, an Nman who worked in France as an Explorer.
I stayed with the men at the bar.
“Fuck, this brings back memories,” Indiana said and handed me a drink that tasted sweet. “Aubri and I came here a few times in the beginning of our stay.”
“Don’t you think he’s too close to her?” Thor was scowling at Shiva on the dance floor.
“Relax. Remember what Linea told all of you in the drone on our way here. She doesn’t want any of you acting as her protector.”
“He’s fucking brave for asking her to dance, with all of us right here,” Mason declared and clinked his beer against Indiana’s. “There’s no way he’ll overstep his boundaries in a place with this many people.”
Thor couldn’t take his eyes off the dancing couple and looked like the temperamental god he was named after when he muttered, “He keeps touching her arm.”
“Linea will tell him to stop if he goes too far. Don’t worry about it.” As I talked, I spotted Victor looking at me from the other end of the nightclub. He was gesturing for me to come join him, and like a fish on a hook, I went to him after an excuse to the men that I needed to use the restroom.
Victor had the same expression in his eyes as when we had debated for a whole summit straight. “Dance with me.” He seemed demanding and it provoked me that there was nothing flirtatious or playful about his question.
“When you speak in the imperative it sounds like an order. I have enough domineering men in my life. At least add a please.”
Ignoring my complaint, he moved closer and took my hands. “I want you to dance with me like no one is watching. Let loose, Freya. And tonight, I want you in my bed.”
I pulled my hands out of his hold. “And then what? We’ve been over this before. I’m not like you. I don’t have sex for fun.”
“Please, Freya. Can’t you live in the moment just for one night?”
“Not when I know that moment has a time limit of three times. By the way, how is that even counted? Is it three ejaculations, three orgasms, or do you consider the legal number of times with a partner as days?”
“Freya.” Victor’s face softened. “You’re not French and I could bend the rules for you.”
I arched a brow. “Does that mean you would give me four times instead of three?”
“How about you stop focusing on the number of times we’re together? Let’s just see what happens.” When Victor brushed the back of his fingers across my cheek, I closed my eyes wishing I could lean into him and indulge in an erotic experience.
“Come dance with me... please.”
