Southern Charmed Billionaire (29 page)

“That’s so beautiful.”
 

“Zeus and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights to create the nine muses. If you’re really into this stuff, I can tell you more
?
”
 

“I love it. Please!”
 

My elbow propped up and my head fell into my hand with the admiration of
a
crush
-
laden college student with
the hots for her professor.
I loved hearing him share
his
knowledge of the world like this
with me
. I knew of Zeus, sort of
,
b
ut not all of this.
 

“
Have you ever
heard of the cup we drink before we incarnate
? The one
that makes us forget where we’ve come from?”
 

“Yes.”
I leaned in, intrigued
by where this was going.
 

“Well, Mnemosyne ruled over a pool in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe. According to the Greek funerary inscriptions in dactylic hexameter…”
 

“The
what
?”
 

“Very old writings set to a rhythmic scheme in poetry.”
 

“Ah,” I nodded my head
, acknowledging the clarification
.
 

 “So,
in Lethe,
” he continued, “
that
pool i
s where the deal souls drank from so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated.”
 

He was so
intelligent
. I loved it. I hoped my future children would have half the education Atticus had growing up. It was a true gift.
 

“Hm
m
…”
I reflected on everything he said.
“Do you think that’s why sometimes people click with others because of these so called past lives?”
 

“I do.”
 

“So you think I’ve been your muse before in another time?”
 

“I think you’ve been more, Kate.”
 

“Why?” Our fingers danced
,
lightly rak
ing
across each other, the lightest touch
causing
the butterflies in my belly to dance.
 

“Because I
instantly
fel
l
for you.” Our hands danced in the electric night. “You are not just a girl and you're not just a muse
;
you're my goddess and I would never stop trying to make you feel like that every single day if you
were
mine. It would be my sole
purpose of existence.”
 

Man he was intense, but good intense! I loved it! I just…
had trust issues.
 

“I don't know if I can believe that, honestly
,
” I
responded sadly
.
 

“I don't mean to disrespect your
upbringing;
I know you never really had a model marriage to look up to. But I did growing up. My parents
’
love was so real
;
my grandparents
’
love too
.” He looked at me, pure seriousness in his expression.
“
I know what it means to die to yourself
.
Thanks to
my religious
upbringing
and my
natural
ly poetic
artist
’s
heart, I don't believe two people are
simply paired
together to just make a beautiful
couple
.
”
 

“No?”
 

He leaned in,
grazing
his thumb against my palm.
“
N
o. T
hey are put together to be each other's helper
,
to accomplish
their
destinies together.”
 

This was some heavy talk
, a
nd I needed to digest this all. Fresh tears
welled, ready
to pour out of my eyes
,
but I closed them and just nestled into his chest.
 

I went to bed
feeling like Cinderella, feeling like a princess
yet all the while
waiting for midnight to come
, the sobering moment
when everything would transform back
to normal and my carriage would return to a pumpkin.
 

Only time would tell if that ever happened.
 

Until then, I was the luckiest girl in the world.  
 

Chapter Thirty-Two
 

Kate
 

Of course we’d have chemistry late
in the
night, under the sparkling tropical moon
with
our tummies filled with seafood and wine
. The setting provided an exotic nocturnal intimacy, in which
we
indulged and
bared our souls. But what about at dawn,
the morning after, when we
’d awaken
barefaced, without makeup and morning breath?
 

We’d never officially waken up in bed together
.
Y
et here we were, and
surprisingly,
it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
 

B
eing so comfortable with someone I had barely known two weeks
should have scared me, but it didn’t
. I was
unusually
calm.
 

It must be Bali. Yes,
it’s Bali
with
all
its
exotic tropical magic,
I convinced myself.
 

We enjoyed breakfast in bed,
complete with
coffee and snuggles.
Balinese sunrays
spread light,
sparkl
ing
magically over the
dazzling
waters.
He informed me that
we were going sailing.
After spending
the most perfect day in the sun,
sharing
lunch over the freshest of fish caught that morning
and
napping in plush lounge chairs on a gorgeous yacht, I
truly enjoyed myself. It was so easy to feel carefree in this environment.
 

A thunderstorm had arrived
,
amplifying
the
romantic
backdrop.
Naturally,
the environment amplified our intimate chemistry, and
we made love. I mean,
what else
do
you do
during
a thunderstorm in Bali!
?
Our passionate romp was followed by a candlelight dinner, and then cuddling like young lovers as we watched
a movie together on the flat screen
placed on
the wall.
 

During
the
rumbling, stormy
backdrop
, with booming
thunder and
flashes of
lightning
,
he
posed a question.
 

 “That night, when we were alone together in the townhome
and I asked if that
was
what you wanted
—
for us to sleep
together.
I want to know something.”
 

“Okay
?
”
 

“Did you touch yourself that night and pretend it was me?”
 

I suddenly
transformed
into nun
. I felt like
an embarrassed pre-teen talking about sex. My eyes flashed back to those hot bubbles and that
luxurious
bathtub where I felt a much
-
needed release.
 

But, no, I did not touch myself.
 

“I didn’t.”
 

“Ah, you didn’t? That’s too bad.”
 

“Something else did.” I sheepishly
confessed
.
 

His face lit up
like the sun
at dawn, when
parts
of
the dark sk
y
cracked open, revealing
hints of colors
that promised
to dazzle your morning if you let it. Oh boy.
 

“What?”
The curiosity in his tone was hungry for
my
answer.
 

I moistened my lips together, readying the courage to disclose to him my juicy secret.
 

“
The
bathtub jets.”
 

Heat flooded my cheeks.
My orgasm
had been
so intense I remember
being
certain someone
could hear
my moans
from
across the street. That's how good it felt
to imagine
him between my legs.
 

“I want to see that, out
t
here
.
But I want to
control it. The bathtub out there has a jetted handle.” He winked
seductively
and I felt my pussy
pulse
in desire.
 

“Out there?”
 

Atticus gently moved my jaw with his fingers, turning it to face the outside terrace, where gas lanterns and candles teased us. Their glowing embers were covered by a beautiful glass roof, which, at the touch of a
button
, covered the
white wooden beams. It was one of the most romantic scenes I’d ever seen in my life.
 

An
entire
waterfall
set on a complete rock wall backdrop
was steps behind the tub
. E
xotic pink flowers
kissed
the rocks
, providing the most
exotic
sight to behold.
This was a scene straight out of
L
ifestyle
s
of the
R
ich and
F
amous
.
The
villa patio
was decorated with white elephants and
completely open with the option to close
its thick
white curtains.
J
ust
a few feet beyond
was the private ocean and jungle
,
stormy waters
foaming
at the sand before
rolling
back to se
a
.
 

His
deliberate
grip led me
out of
bed and to
wards
the terrace.
We instantly
heard the patter of the rain over the ceiling, providing an
exciting
feel in the air.
 

Okay
,
I'm not going to lie
:
at
my
first glance of the open terrace with the bathtub,
it reminded me of
a naughty fantasy of mine—to make love in the tub, ha.
I thought of the Usher song.
 

I wanna make looooooove in the tub, in the tub, in the tub!
 

"Wait
!
I'm...
I don't know if I can just like let you do that.
Let
you watch me. I'll feel embarrassed." I buried my face into his protective chest. His hands tenderly caressed my shoulders.
 

"Oh it's nothing a little bubbly
won’t
fix."
 

Ten minutes later
,
the bathtub water
was filled with water and vibrant pink
rose petals.
They floated gorgeously along the surface, filling the water with their fragrance.
The top was huge; it could easily fit a party of ten.
 

"Sit," he gently ordered
.
 

I complied,
sipping
the flute of champagne he handed me
, swallowing back my lust as
I watched
him undress
.
Fake fiancé or no
t
, fake baby or no
t
, this
—
us
—
the passion
, desire,
and intimacy
were
oh so real.