He grabbed my wrist and spun me toward him, his eyes blazing. I bit my lip as he embraced me up against the wall. His mouth came down on mine hard, pressing deeply against me, more so than ever before. His hands traveled at my sides, gripping my waist tightly again.
Suddenly I was completely aware that someone was watching us out of the corner of my eye.
"Uh, Julien?" I muttered, pulling back for a moment. He quickly pulled away from me, straightening out both my top and his jacket. The man in the fancy hat cleared his throat and looked away. Well, at least I wasn't the only embarrassed party here.
"I apologize sir. I only came to tell you that we are getting ready to disembark. Shall I go ahead and pull anchor?"
I couldn't help but giggle. Hearing the way the guy spoke so formally cracked me up.
It didn't take long for the man to disappear, taking off to what I assume to be the yacht’s version of a cockpit. And now Julien was all mine once more. But he had other things on his mind...
"Let me go ahead and show you to our quarters. I think you'll be very pleased."
And with that we were off, going down not one deck but two, to where the entire bottom half was a cozy yet spacious bedroom, with a beautiful en suite. I shouldn't have been surprised, but it was still overwhelming. Every new little thing I saw, every little thing that he showed me was a delightful gift… And coming from what had happened to me before… Being so far away from the rest of the world with Julien? It was hard not to get wrapped up in my feelings.
He sat down on the squishy bed, patting it for me to sit down. When I did, he turned towards me more, something fierce in his eyes. I didn't know what he was about to say, but it seemed serious. And I didn't think I was ready for serious, when there was so much more fun to get into this weekend.
"Amira… I just wanted to say… I love you.”
My eyes widened, but I said nothing. How could I? My brain was frozen in time, wishing he could go back and replay the very words he’d just said to me. He loved me. He was in love with me. And here I was, unable to find the words to reply... Why did I always freeze up like that?
I cleared my throat, excessively trying to get past lump that was forming in it. Even after a few deep breaths, it was hard for me to formulate anything to say. Anything that made sense, anyway. I smiled meekly at him, the room starting to spin around me violently fast. More breaths, deeper and deeper. And faster. It only took a moment before Julien realized that I was hyperventilating, much to both of our dismay.
"Not the reaction I was going for… Amira, are you okay?” he asked in as soothing a way as he could.
My heart was jumping for joy somewhere under all the panic. I quickly tried to fan myself, hoping that more air would break me out of this freaky breathing thing I was doing.
Julien pulled me back up to the main level to a convenient seaside window, cranking it open carefully. I pressed my face along the thin windowsill, trying to take in deep breaths of the clean fresh sea air.
A few minutes later, once I had recuperated, my eyes welled up with tears. I looked over at Julien, frowning.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I don't know why I get like that sometimes."
He shook his head, quietly shushing me, and wiping away the tears that were falling down my cheeks. "There's no need to apologize, Amira. You don’t have to feel the same way… Not yet… But I can’t go on without letting you know."
I had to laugh, especially at his silliness. Of course I loved him back, how could I not? "You can't be that dense. You know that I love you… I was given a second chance at life, and I you’re the reason.”
A wide grin spread across his face, and I knew exactly what that meant…
Two hours, many layers of clothes, and a couple glasses of wine later, I was panting in bed alongside Julien. The sweat was dripping down my face, but I was so blissed out that I couldn’t care less. He pulled back out of me slowly, groaning as he did. His breath was soft across the back of my neck, and he pulled me closer even still, cuddling against my backside. It was amazing how quickly we could go from something so wild to something so loving and beautiful, all in one fell swoop.
Was this what love was like? It was no wonder people wrote songs and movies and plays all about it.
Lying there next to him, it occurred to me that maybe we should get up and eat something. Maybe even talk and enjoy the sunset together. Really though, all I wanted to do was to continue to lie next to him in peace. It just felt right, my skin up against his. His fingers pulling the curly tendrils of my dark hair away from my face and kissing me chastely right on the cheek. Listening to his breathing and heartbeat calming down along with mine…
Julien’s face was ghostly in the dim light of the cabin, but I could still make out the lines of his eyes. They were fluttering shut, striking me as maybe the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen…
Yep. I finally understood the word lovestruck.
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Chapter 25
We pretty much stayed the rest of the evening in bed, laughing at ourselves. Every now and then I would catch a glimpse of the water meeting the sky outside the window, the line between them fading as the night wore on. It was hard to believe it had already been most of the day since I had seen the outside of the room, but then again… maybe it wasn't that hard to believe.
We ended up having dinner in bed, thanks to Julien’s lovely staff on board. I couldn't quite remember the captain's name, but the cabin boy Peter was very nice to me. I sat there with Julien tangled up in the sheets and covers and eating from a fancy silver tray. I had to laugh watching Julien down the crepes. As lean as he was, I found it pretty entertaining to see just how he could go to town on some sweets.
"So, what do you have in store for us tomorrow?" I asked him