┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓

Wine

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

Chapter 41: Wine (Christian's POV)

Resisting a groan and squinting my eyes open, I sighed as Jules's alarm constantly buzzed on the nightstand. 

"Christian," she scolded sleepily, elbowing me. 

"You have got to stop setting these alarms if you won't turn them off yourself," I grumbled, leaning over her and furiously tapping the 'stop' button until the sound ceased. 

She didn't respond and lay there, humming absentmindedly and trying to go back to sleep. 

"We have to get downstairs, Milaya," I said, dropping my head back onto the pillow, rolling over to face her, and draping an arm over her waist, going back into the position I slept in. 

"I'm tired," she mumbled, grabbing my hand and throwing it off. 

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I put my arm back around her and this time grabbed her hand, holding it firmly in mine. 

"You're unbelievable," she chuckled softly, "you act like we're back together." 

"Are we?" I asked, stroking the back of her hand using my thumb. 

"No," she mused. 

"Not yet," I corrected. 

She laughed softly and then scooted backward, driving her hips into mine, her ass pressing into me, making my blood rush. 

I sucked in a sharp breath, opening my eyes. "I'm wide awake now." 

She rolled over to face me, a cheeky grin on her lips. "In that case, good morning. I'll shower first," she smirked and then slipped out of bed, taking her clothes and entering the bathroom. 

I stayed in bed until she was dressed and came back out, definitely taking way too long this morning. 

"I took too long, we'll be late. Hurry, please," she said sheepishly, sitting on her side of the bed while I sat up against the headboard, watching her. "You can stare at me later," she smiled. "Get ready, come on. Everyone's waiting. I forgot what we're doing today," she said, grabbing her phone to check. 

"Wine tasting," I said, getting out of bed and grabbing clothes for the day. "We're going wine tasting to select a few for your brother's wedding." 

"Who told you that?" 

"Your Dad," I replied before entering the bathroom and starting to brush my teeth. 

"They really like you, you know?" she called out. "My parents." I looked at the mirror as she appeared in the doorway, watching me. "It's a pity I don't like you that much." 

"No, I think you like me more," I teased, checking her out through the mirror, eyeing her full-sleeve olive green dress. The sleeves were loose and flowy but the dress hugged her tight, stopping at about mid-thigh. 

Her eyes trailed down my bare upper body through the mirror. "I like you better like this," she said, folding her arms across her chest. 

"Oh?" I mused, glancing at her as she slowly walked over and pulled herself onto the counter, leaning against the mirror and watching me. 

She reached up, touching my jaw, her fingers merely grazing over my skin. "You need to shave." 

I finished brushing my teeth before I replied, "How about we stay behind today? I can shave, you can help me and then we can do other things." I stepped between her legs, placing my hands on the counter beside her thighs. 

She watched me, amused. "You're different today." 

"So are you, Milaya." 

"Perhaps. What is so different about today?" She lifted a brow at me. 

"Maybe today, we're finally falling back in love." 

"Maybe," she whispered. "Christian?" she asked while I turned the shower on so the water could heat up a bit. 

"Hmm?" I stared at her expectantly. 

"Who was your first love?" 

I watched her, wondering why she would suddenly ask me that. 

"I know I'm not your first love..." Sighing, she leaned forward, inching closer to me. "But I hope I'm your favorite." 

"You tell me, Jules. You're all I ever think about. You mean the world to me. There's nothing I regret more than hurting you and there's nothing I'm more proud of than loving you. I feel like I was... No, like I am compelled to love you. I loved you and I want to continue to love you until we run out of the mornings that we wake up together like this. Then I want to love you in the darkness. Who says you're not my first love? You're my first, last, and my only love," I said, holding her gaze as I brought up a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

"Why?" she questioned softly. 

"Because no matter how much time passes, I can still feel the taste of your lips on mine from that very first night. Because I can't forget how your body felt against mine, how right it felt even when we thought otherwise. Because I think about that kiss all the time. Because you take up all my dreams. Because I think if I kissed you right now..." I leaned in ever so slightly but pulled back to see her reaction while ignoring my racing heart. "I would lose my mind," I whispered. 

"Maybe it's good to lose your mind sometimes," she mumbled, her gaze dropping to my lips. 

Unable to resist, I tilted her chin up and closed the distance between us, our lips colliding in a haste and desperate kiss. It was everything at once. 

Her back lifted off the mirror as she arched into me, her arms going around my neck while she tugged at my hair, drawing me in deeper when her legs wrapped around my torso. Her lips moved against mine in perfect sync and at that moment, I wanted to devour her. She gasped against my lips as I slid a hand over her knee and to her thigh, my fingers slipping under her dress. 

Her teeth grazed my bottom lip and I almost let out a soft groan as pure pleasure coursed through my veins. It had been so long since I touched her like this, I'd been craving it for far too long. We broke away to catch our breath but I leaned further in, placing soft kisses on her neck. 

"Maybe we should skip the wine tasting," she gasped. "We're already very late." 

"I think it's bad enough that you hate me, don't you?" I smirked against her skin. I drew back and she let out a faint groan of frustration. "I don't need your parents hating me too." 

She leaned against the mirror once again, staring at me. "I really do hate you right now." 

"Milaya, I'll ruin every part of your body for any other man..." 

She raised her brows at me as I moved closer to kiss her neck again, my teeth grazing her earlobe as her breath hitched. 

"And you'll thank me when I'm done," I whispered. "But until then, we should go for some wine tasting," I smiled, pulling back and taking her hands, sliding her off the counter and holding her waist, steering her out of the bathroom before stealing a soft peck on her lips and then closing the door. 

After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, I walked out and quickly slid my shoes on. "Let's go," I said, ruffling my damp hair. 

"You look cute," she chuckled, tugging at a strand of my hair before pinching the flowy button-up I wore in a shade of light forest green to match her olive. "Real charming, Christian." 

 »»————　➴　————««

"Jules," I chuckled, steadying her with an arm around the waist while she stumbled out of the elevator with me. 

After an entire day of tasting God knows how many wines, Jules was drunk, to say the least. 

"Why is the carpet moving?" she whined, stopping abruptly and staring at the ground, scrutinizing it. 

"It's not. Your head's spinning," I sighed, trying to get her to continue walking. 

She stepped forward and spun around to face me, throwing herself at me and going limp in my arms. Jules got drunk about halfway into the wine tasting process but insisted that she would continue tasting more in the name of helping Alex and Naomi pick a bottle or two. She was wasted to the point where I could give her water and she'd mistake it for wine. 

"If you don't cooperate—" I scolded. 

"What? You'll punish me?" she taunted, peering up at me, coming up on her toes, and leaning in to kiss me. 

"You're drunk, Milaya. Let's wait until you're sober, okay?" I smiled in amusement, attempting to pick her up so we could get to our room quickly. 

She stomped her foot while pouting and tried kissing me again. 

I stared at her. "You know I can't kiss you when you're drunk, love," I said softly. 

"But I— Ahh!" she screamed and then giggled in surprise when I picked her up, throwing her over my shoulder and heading towards our room. 

She whined in protest, hitting my back with fists as I neared our room. "You have a cute butt," she sang, poking my ass. 

I stopped all of a sudden and dropped her onto her feet, making her frown. "Don't do that," I ground out in annoyance. 

"But I like your butt," she grinned before sticking her lips out, asking for another kiss. 

"How about here?" I asked, leaning down to kiss her jaw and her neck, knowing how much she loved it. 

"Let's go out to dinner!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and moving to walk back down the hall. 

I tugged her back and she stumbled into me, complaining about being hungry. I quickly unlocked our door and brought her inside. "I'll order room service for you, don't worry," I confirmed, seating her at the foot of the bed before kneeling in front of her to take off her white block heels. 

She watched me with a giddy smile on her lips until I set her heels aside and moved closer to her. 

"So, which wine was your favorite?" I mused. "What tasted the best?" 

She hummed, tracing my bottom lip with the pad of her thumb. "You." 

I grinned, kissing the back of her hand and then the inside of her wrist before placing her hands in her lap. "Let's get some food in you, okay? Once the wine wears off, you can kiss me all you want." 

"Promise?" She held out her pinky finger. 

I intertwined it with mine. "I promise."

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 41

my updating schedule has been a bit all over the place but its cuz I start school tomorrow and have a lot to do since this is my senior year, so cut me some slack y'all lol

next ch: truth