Reckless

forward as my fingers again slid over the head of his cock.

“Fuck! Stop!”

I yanked my hand away, suddenly worried I’d broken something. “I’m sorry! What did I do?”

He slung his arm over my shoulder and kissed my cheek. “The head gets super sensitive after I come. I mean, like, a million times more sensitive.”

“Oh. Is that bad?” I asked, concerned.

He kissed me briefly. “No, it’s all good.” He chuckled throatily. “I mean, crazy, insanely good.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No. Just, let me relax, and keep doing it, just go slow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Totally,” he moaned.

I started up again, slowly. Every time the ring of my circled fingers squeezed down the head of him, his entire body shivered. I worried he was going to fall to the tiles and hurt himself, he shook so hard.

“More?” I asked uncertainly.

“Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,” was all he could say.

Eventually, he knelt down on the tiled floor, and I had to release him from my grasp. He hadn’t come again, but I swear he’d had a five-minute orgasm or something.

“Are you okay?” I asked tentatively.

“I’m about to pass out,” he whispered hoarsely.

Was that a good thing? I wasn’t sure what to do next.

“I’m fine,” he reassured. “Just went to the moon for awhile. Fuck, Samantha, you are a fucking natural at that.”

Christos was kneeling in front of me and leaned his cheek against my stomach. His arms wrapped around my ass and he pulled me into a strangely intimate embrace, his mouth inches above my womanhood.

Wow. I couldn’t believe it. I’d literally brought this insurmountable mountain of a man to his knees.

Me.

Whoa.

I couldn’t get over how this magical man was teaching me things about myself, things I would never have guessed, as if he knew me better than I knew myself. In many ways, I thought maybe he did. Almost daily he showed me who I could be, if I only gave myself a chance and took the risk to try. I’d had no idea.

I could only begin to imagine who I might become with Christos in my life. With him, the stars were the limit.

I suddenly felt overwhelming emotion pour through my body. I loved Christos so much, I wasn’t sure what I would do without him. A powerful protective urge welled up into my chest, heating my heart, filling my body with a womanly fire. This was my man. Mine.

I would do anything to keep him safe.

Anything.

I was desperately scared life would snatch him from my arms. I squeezed him as tightly as I could, my hands cradling his head against my belly.

“Agapi mou,” I whispered passionately.

“I love you,” Christos said.

Why was I suddenly so terrified?

SAMANTHA

After we cleaned up from our shower, we went downstairs.

Spiridon was sitting in the kitchen, sipping coffee. “Good morning, Samoula!” He smiled from ear to ear. My parents never smiled in the morning.

And I never looked at them ten minutes after having tons of sex. Heck, I don’t think I could be in the same city as my parents for at least ten days after what Christos and I had done upstairs. My face boiled over. Hopefully Spiridon thought it was from the shower. Er, I mean, from taking a shower, alone, like a proper girl. Crap, I needed to run out the front door and drive off before embarrassment caused me to spontaneously combust.

“Hey, Pappous,” Christos said. He didn’t seem the slightest bit uncomfortable. “How was Walt?” He walked up to his grandfather, leaned over with an arm around the man, and kissed the top of his head.

Wow, I would never kiss my dad or mom like that under any circumstances. Had I woken up in the Twilight Zone? Without giving it a second thought, I wrapped my arms around Spiridon and gave him a huge hug. “Morning!”

He rubbed my back while he said, “Good morning to you too, koritsaki mou!”

My embarrassment disappeared as quickly as it had overtaken me a moment ago. I didn’t feel weird at all. Probably because Spiridon didn’t act weird. He probably didn’t even give what Christos and I were doing a second thought. I could easily get used to this.

My parents, on the other hand, would be prodding for cracks in my defenses, snooping around for whatever inappropriate behavior I had most recently engaged in. I was so done with that kind of treatment.

Christos made us breakfast while Spiridon and I sat at the table.

“Walt was terrific,” Spiridon said. “We had a good talk. Mended some fences.”

“That’s great,” Christos said.

What was the mystery behind the history between Walt Childress and Spiridon Manos? I still had no idea. It didn’t seem like any answer would be forthcoming over breakfast.

Afterward, I drove to my apartment in my VW and told the manager about moving out. He told me I had to give a 30-day notice in writing, and I had to pay the pro-rated amount for the days in March I hadn’t yet paid for. Oh well, at least I was moving out.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t quit Grab-n-Dash right away, but I was happy to keep my job at the Eleanor M. Westbrook art museum for the rest of the academic year. It seemed like I got more studying done for Sociology and History at the museum than I did anywhere else anyway, so that was okay. I was all about killing two birds with one low-stress on-campus job.

I left my apartment and drove to campus by myself. For the first time since I’d started at SDU, my drive didn’t feel one bit lonely.

I was totally wrapped up in the warm embrace of Christos and his welcoming grandfather. I had never experienced this sense of pervasive peace growing up. My life had always been tense, nervous, filled with problems and worries and frustrations.

I started to wonder if perhaps all those concerns my parents labored under were nothing more than their own creations. It’s not like they were broke, or had major health problems, or dangerous jobs. They just didn’t seem happy. Like they didn’t know how to be happy.

Was it that simple?

I didn’t really know. But I did know that I was starting to feel a happiness and contentment that was worth it’s weight in gold. No, strike that. At this rate, I think my happiness was verging on priceless. I had discovered the greatest treasure a person could hope to find in life.

Unconditional love from my second family.

I was beaming with a huge smile when I parked on campus at SDU and walked to Oil Painting class.

SAMANTHA

My happiness bubble burst when I walked into the Oil Painting studio in the Visual Arts building.

Kamiko had set up at an easel between two other students. Up until the fiasco with Brandsome at Charboneau Gallery, she had always set up next to me and Romeo. Ever since then, she’d set herself up so that there was no room for me or even Romeo.

I felt terrible about the whole thing. I’d tried to apologize to her about Brandsome via texts, emails, stopping by her dorm room, anything I could think of. But she wasn’t ready to talk. All I could do was give her space.

I set up my paints, brushes and palette at a free easel, and saved the space next to me for Romeo. He was running late today. When he finally came in, he set his book bag down next to me and pulled out his supplies.