"As for your point of defining our relationship, I've been yours since I met you. I realize there was a moment of a breakdown, but I thought I was hurting you. I never really left you, and I never plan on leaving you again. If you need a defining term, then pick one, anything at all," his genuine voice relays.

He really doesn't regard money the same way I do. Any term? There's really only one I can think of, but I just don't know if I can say girlfriend or boyfriend out loud without sounding like a sixteen-year-old girl.

I think I'll skip the defining terms for the time being, although technically he has told my family he's my boyfriend. Why does that sound so yummy and so silly at once?

"I just don't want to ruin things by living together this early on in the relationship. I like you, and I like where we are. I'm afraid if we push things too fast, we'll lose it all too soon."

His kind eyes hold such promise, and his lips whisk away my worrying mind with their supple touch. He pulls back and stares into my eyes again as he speaks so softly.

"We're not going to lose anything. I won't ever give you up. Haven't you learned that by now?" he murmurs with his wickedly seductive tone that makes my heart flip-flop in my chest.

I blush in response and stare bashfully at the floor. I'm falling harder and harder for him with each passing moment. I hope this is real. Please let it be real.

"Tell me about your past relationships," I prompt, catching him off guard.

His head pops back in surprise, and his seducing tone turns to one of bewilderment.

"That's random." He laughs a little nervously.

"Not really. We're sitting here planning out a living arrangement in which we'll be sharing the same home. You know far too much about my past relationships, and I don't know anything about yours," I clarify.

He shrugs and weighs my explanation in his head.

"A few meaningless endeavors here and there, along with some nasty entanglements, as well as a few other forms of relationships," he casually replies with his nonchalant tone.

"A few other forms of relationships?"

That's just one of my many questions that has stemmed from his vague answer that insinuates he really is a playboy despite his numerous denials.

He laughs as if I've said something funny, but his perfect smile bears no influence over me for once. He strokes my reddened cheek as he pokes at my anger.

"It was long before you. There's no need in being mad. My past is completely in the past. Please don't overanalyze this," he says with a teasing tone.

Friends with benefits. That's got to be the other form of relationship he's talking about. Great. He's one of those guys. Those guys don't know how to stay faithful for long. What am I doing?

I pout like the pitiful teen whose persona I've suddenly taken over. This is so foolish. How can I be mad at him for having other relationships when I've had so, so many? Not to mention...

"How old are you?" I pop out.

"Again, very random," he chuckles.

Personally, I think this whole thing is anything but laughable right at this moment. I'm disgusted with the fact he's a playboy, I'm jealous of all the girls I've never met, and I'm curious how long he's been alive and with women. Okay, maybe it is a little laughable, considering how foolish I'm behaving.

"I want to know," I murmur in a less offensive manner.

"Well, I actually stopped counting a long, long time ago. Let's leave it at that. A number would just be intimidating, and I like you seeing me as a twenty-seven-year-old with nothing but time on his hands," he gleams.

That actually brings a smile to my face. Damn him and his cuteness.

Will I ever be able to stay angry with him? I haven't yet.

He abandoned me in the middle of the night, he broke up with me over the phone, and he kidnapped me for heaven's sake. If that doesn't keep me mad, what will?

His lips swell in desire against mine, and my lips pulse against his. His hands grip my sides as he pulls me closer, and all my anger runs away as Aphrodite stretches her muscles and brings the green eyes to life.

He smiles behind our kiss as I slide over to straddle him, and he pulls my body tighter against his the second I'm fully astride. The abrupt tug at my hips awakens the lusting goddess fully, and she almost consumes me.

Such small, seemingly insignificant actions can be the sexiest when I'm with him. No man has ever made me feel so alive, needed, or wanted.

His hands slide up my waist and then over my breasts until they reach my neck. He cups my face gently, and then the fire consumes me.

I hear my pants sizzling as he pries them from my legs, and I smell the stench of burning fabric as my shirt scorches too much before he frees me from it.

I smile as the spark between us becomes visible, and my currents spread over me with their delicious snaps. He smirks as they move around his body to deliver a pulsating, erotic sensation.

"That's new," he breathes with a squirming indulgence.

A smug grin tugs at the corner of my mouth, and I feel the currents magnetizing his body to mine. The eruption of our merging bodies is almost too much to endure without giving into the goddess, but then I remember... I am the goddess.

"Wow. I don't even know what to say after that. I don't know what you were doing with those currents, but I hope you can duplicate it," he gasps as he flops onto his back.

I smile with all the superior smugness of a queen as she acknowledges her bowing subjects. He rolls over to grab his phone out of his pants that are crumpled on the floor - slightly singed. I quickly indulge in a private victory dance that I will never let him see me do. He turns back around, and I halt my silly motion while playing the cool, composed goddess.

He smirks a little in a way that makes me squirm.

"I assume I wasn't supposed to see that," he snarks playfully while stifling a laugh.

My face floods with a wave of various reds. "I... uh... um... no," I stammer foolishly.

Stupid, stupid girl. The damn window reflection sold me out, and his supernatural eyes just busted my goofy ass.

He laughs a little as I cover my head with the sheet. His lips find mine against the fabric shielding me from the embarrassment, and I succumb to a smile despite my humiliation.

"I have to make a few calls while we wait on the others. Kry will probably be back in a while," he says with a slight snicker still lingering in the back of his throat.

I blush under the sheet as I think of how Kry most likely tried to return while we were... indisposed. I'm sure heard the rather fierce commotion as the rest of the bed gave way to our savagery, and the animalistic sounds exuding from us as well.

Peachy.

I'm distracted as I hear the clanking of his belt popping against his body while he pulls his pants up. Oh, the sound of his pants scraping against his body is unnerving, even more so when the pants are heading in the other direction.

Then I grow curious when I hear both sides of Devin's phone conversation.

"Mr. Cole," a man answers, instead of using a hello.

"Greer, I'll be staying at my other apartment for a while, and I need you to set it up for me."

"Yes, sir. Should I move any of your things from your current apartment?" the man's strong voice asks.

"No. There's nothing I need from there, but I do need you to procure a few items for me," Devin requests.

"That's no problem, sir," the man replies with a happy-to-oblige attitude.

"I'll have a female companion accompanying me, so please make sure there's nothing she'll need. You'll be starting from scratch. I'll call Sheila to assist you with this," Devin says with his businesslike tone.

That tone is so, so sexy.

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

Devin turns to smirk at me before responding.

"I need a reinforced steel bed frame, or a titanium one, or something of that nature. It needs to be the strongest you can find," he says casually, and I'm unmistakably mortified.

The man coughs in surprise and strangles on the air that has formed coarse bubbles in his throat.

"Sir? Okay... yes, sir," Greer says with an insuppressible snicker.

Oh please don't ever let me have to meet this man.

Devin grins a little wider when he realizes how obvious his request has been. His business tone has flipped to a more genuine tone mixed with a mysteriously hidden excitement.

"I have a special request for Sheila, but I'll email her the details. Just tell her to call me if there's any hitch in finalizing the details."

"Yes, sir," the man says as Devin hangs up.

He shrugs as I roll my eyes.

"Please tell me I'll never have to see that guy," I whine.

Devin laughs ridiculously hard at my blushing request, and then he pulls on his shirt, ending the peep show I was still reveling in. I huff slightly as he turns to start putting on his socks and shoes.

My clothes have been completely murdered by the vicious flames of passion... literally.

"I really have to start getting naked before we start getting hot. You need to invest in some flame-retardant sheets or something," I grumble while picking up the remnants of the brittle, scorched shirt that suffered the brunt of the passionate force.

He smiles with a bit of menace in his eyes daring me to take him again.

"I wouldn't complain if you never wore clothes around the apartment at all. Perhaps we should experiment with that idea and see how it goes."

I roll my eyes and toss the blackened shirt that once bore a vivid orange at him. He catches it and then drops it to the ground with a chuckle. He tosses me a new set of clothes from the bag, and I very languidly pull them on.

It's been forever since he called Ther. Of course, I know it takes a while to buy a new car. Only Devin Cole would send someone to buy a car for him as if it's a tiresome chore. Most people do cartwheels when they get to purchase a new vehicle.

Then I hear the roaring of an engine revving outside. Devin rolls his eyes as he shakes his head.

"I should have known," Devin grumbles.

"What?" I ask curiously.

"Ther's a corvette man," he sighs.

I walk out holding his hand to see the charcoal-gray corvette stingray Ther's giving hell. He smiles and hangs his head out the window as Devin leans over the railing to glare his disapproval.

"What you think?" Ther says excitedly.

"Ostentatious," Devin gripes.

Ther swats his scrutiny away as he counters, "It's not like it's a Lamborghini or something. It's not going to draw too much attention either. It's a sexy car, and now you have... well, you've got the queen of sexy. We'll put it that way," Ther chuckles.

Devin glowers at him, but I just laugh with Ther.

"I like it," I say with a girlish enthusiasm.

"You can have it then. I'll go pick me out something a little more conservative from my garage when we return," he murmurs with his smoldering tone.

I just laugh at his joke, and then he takes my hand. I hope it was a joke. I'm not taking that car.

"You sure you're ready for this?" he asks timidly as all the playfulness dissipates.

I squeeze my hand against his and nod.

"I am. I swear."

He kisses me, and I feel him scooping me up. I smile as I feel him bounding over the rail, and the light impact I feel when we connect with the ground is almost enough to unravel me and reveal the queen of lust.

He smiles behind the kiss, and then he puts me down so he can open the door for me. I climb in slightly giddy as he shuts the door.

I'm about to move in with him, and now that the shock has subsided, I'm so excited. I'm actually a little too excited.

Paling, a realization comes to me and steals all the air from my lungs.

Oh damn. I really am in love. Fuck!

Chapter 11.

Bubbling Over The outside display is one big blur as Devin weaves in and out of traffic with effortless ease. Of course, he can see everything before it happens, so it's not as if he's risking anyone's life.

I just keep my eyes focused on the whirling lights as we enter the gallant city that is New York. We've been on the road for so, so long, and I can't wait to be out of this car I once thought of as amazing. I've been trapped in this small space with my thoughts and the object of my anxiety for far too long.

"Are you okay? You've barely spoken since we left the hotel," Devin says in a worried tone.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired," I lie.