‘You were a kid.’
‘I was old enough to know better. I hurt him unforgivably, and for what? A cheap fumble in a dark room. Nerve endings responding to friction. That’s all sex is.’
‘I don’t remember us having sex,’ he says wryly.
‘You’re not seeing it from my point of view. I was a sixteen-year-old virgin. For me, what we did that night was a Roman orgy.’
His mouth falls open in disbelief before he breaks into a smile so heartfelt it lights up his whole face. ‘Oh, my pure, innocent angel.’
‘It’s not funny,’ I protest.
He shakes his head. ‘Who’s Caligula in this scenario – me or you?’
‘Me, of course.’
He tips his head back and properly laughs.
‘You were my hot-bodied slave,’ I add, fighting a smile.
He leans against the counter, collapsing with fresh laughter, his whole body shaking.
It’s a joy to watch him lose it like this. To be the person who brings him to his knees in pure, unadulterated delight.
We’re both laughing so hard we don’t notice Theo until he’s right in front of us.
‘Er, guys, the coffee?’
We look at each other guiltily, and I go to grab a cup and saucer but Mark beats me to it, bumping me aside with his hip.
‘I’ll do it, Your Imperial Highness. Emperors don’t get their hands dirty. That’s what they have slaves for.’
Chapter 40
Yan is back from the gym. I find him in his room and persuade him to come to the supermarket with me. I want to stay out of the house until Mark leaves with Kiki in case I have a moment of weakness and take up his offer of going with them.
‘I can’t believe you go to the gym on holiday,’ I tell him, as I push our trolley down the aisle.
Yan peers at jars of spices on the shelves. ‘No pecs, no sex.’
This is the part where I usually shake my head sadly at him, but I can’t help thinking about Mark’s pecs earlier and how viscerally I reacted to his body. And how he reacted to mine.
I pick up a tube of tomato purée and put on a show of being fascinated by it, paranoid that Yan can read my mind.
‘I heard you with Mark, earlier,’ he says.
I freeze. ‘You did?’
‘Sounded like you’d made up. I’m glad.’
I feel light-headed. He’s glad? He can’t be talking about the shed, can he?
‘You saw us in the garden?’
‘No, you guys were laughing in the kitchen when I got back. Not sure I’ve heard either of you laugh that hard. What a difference a day makes,’ he says, smiling.
He’s right. And he doesn’t even know the half of it.
When we get home, Yan prepares the fresh sea bream we bought, marinating it in an olive and caper sauce so it’s ready for grilling, while I prepare vegetables for roasting.
