CHAPTER 299: VISITOR II

"Mother wants you back home." Raul said, dropping a kiss on my cheek, his hand trailing an invisible pattern on my belly button.

We were naked under the sheets, cocooned in the natural calming magic that came after a frenzied sex, then a slower one, a more passionate one.

I was sated, but I wasn’t ready to let him go. He had filled up, like his brother over the years. Only that where Duke was a hulk, Raul was firm, with lithe, lean muscles—just the way I loved my men.

I don’t do bulky.

And yes, Raul wasn’t the only man I’ve had in the past six years, but he was the one I’ve been most loyal to, the constant in the equation. A girl has needs, you know.

"Maya, did you hear me?"

I frowned, pulling away. "I told you not to call me by that name. What’s your problem?"

So, when Diana had shouted my name on that night I had been stabbed in the back for the second time, the name had stuck in Raul’s mind, and so had my past history. He knew my real identity, and it seemed he wouldn’t want me to forget it.

"I’m sorry... it’s been so long... I just forgot."

"I don’t believe that." I snapped, getting out of the bed, unashamed of my nakedness. I was proud of my toned, hot body, prouder for what it could do.

"Sage... I am sorry."

"I am sorry too... I think I rated your loyalty too high."

Raul sighed and got out of the bed, picking his pants from the floor.

I only wound my body in a thick robe, tying the sash around my waist. Then I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for him to dress up so that I could walk him out of my room. He could spend the remaining part of the night with Isla for all I cared.

He must have seen the decision on my face because he sighed again after dressing in only his pants, and covered the distance between us, covering the distance between our lips.

"I am sorry. The slip won’t happen again, I promise." He murmured when he broke away.

But this wasn’t the first time he had promised me that.

"If you say so... are you hungry? Want to go for a bite?"

He cocked his right brow. "At past midnight? Sage, that’s not safe."

Raul was just as out of it as Duke, his brother, when it came to the affairs of me and his mother. Except those I let slip to him, to inform him who was controlling the reins of the relationship.

"Are you hungry or not?"

He gave up the argument with a shake of his head, picking his discarded shirt off the floor.

"Are you planning on going with a robe then?"

"And what if I am?"

The look on his face was enough to elicit a little laugh from me even as I stared toward my wardrobe. It was nice seeing a familiar face.

–

"Do you come here often?" Raul asked, when a fifth man waved at me, winked at me, and I waved back, a sensory smile on my lips.

"Yes. With Duke most times. The food in the house sometimes tastes like dog vomit."

"I see." Raul nodded so slowly that I wondered if he actually saw.

"And those men... do you have anything to do with them?" he asked after a few minutes, and I knew that he had been deliberating on the question for a while.

"Are you sure you want to know the answer to that question? It might puncture the sweet bubble we are in."

I leaned back when the waiter dropped a tray of food between us.

"Eat up." I chatted jovially, like I hadn’t just insinuated that I was a cold cheater, picking up a fork. "Their food is the best you have ever eaten, trust me..."

But he didn’t eat. He rather stared at me, several emotions flashing across his eyes, topmost being hurt.

"I’ve been faithful, Sage."

"That’s because you have a heart, Raul, which is cute. But I don’t. And I am a woman, not a wood. I have needs. It’s just once with each..."

Raul shut his eyes in pain, his palms resting on the table. "When you say each..."

"Stop torturing yourself, Raul..."

"Just answer the damn question, Sage!"

The few patrons in the restaurant turned to stare. Stupid gossips that wouldn’t mind their business.

I glared at Raul. "Don’t ever talk to me like that."

His anger deflated immediately, leaving him looking like a lost puppy. "You are getting worse..."

I chuckled. "I have never been better, Raul. Didn’t you feel it tonight?"

"It’s good you are coming home. It seems the rumours are true... the school warps with your senses."

I shook my head. "No, it teaches you to be able to stand on your own, without needing anyone’s help, without needing the gods. And that’s beautiful. Only cowards won’t see that."

Raul took the jab calmly, meeting my gaze with something akin to pity. But I wouldn’t stand to be pitied, so I dumped the food on the tray on him.

"Look at me like that again, and food getting dumped on you will be the least you will get." I declared, before stalking out of the restaurant, throwing a wink at a male who gazed at me with admiration.

But Raul wasn’t one to give up, and that was probably why we were still dating—the fact he endured my excesses and tantrums.

"Sage, wait up!"

I stopped, because really, I liked him.

"I’m sorry. I just... it’s my fault expecting so much from you. I should take a cue from you and see other girls... live life more freely..."

I shrugged, turning to look at him with boredom. "If that helps you sleep better at night. Don’t let me see them though... you wouldn’t want to have the blood of innocent girls on your hands."

A standoff, and then we burst out into laughter.

Oh, it’s really been a while. I thought my laughter was cringeworthy though.

"I am sorry." I said finally, dusting food particles off his chest. "And I’ve only tasted only two men, and they don’t meet the cut you’ve made."