"You have a cinema room?" I burst out. This house is definitely not in the city; this place is just too big for a city. So now, I return to wondering where this place is. The outside is yards and yards of grass; I haven't seen another house near this one. It just seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere.
"That was going to be our next stop," he puts his hand out for me to take, but I don't. The moment I take his hand, is the moment he knows that I'm more open to whatever this is, and at the moment I'm confused about it all. I may have wanted Atlas in my dreams, and I do now I have the chance, but I don’t want him to know how I feel about him, yet, because I still don’t quite know how I really feel about him.
I follow him to the room on the other side of the stairs, looking around and trying to take it all in, but there is so much to see.
"This is Milo's bedroom." I give a look as I’m confused, this is the first time I hear that name. "You will meet him later, he’s Gino’s boyfriend, he will be over soon enough." Atlas answers my unasked question.
"Then there's Beth's room, and then in here we have the cinema room," I look over at Beth’s bedroom, and wonder why her room is downstairs and not upstairs with everyone else, but I shake the thought away, and I walk through the door. I look around, stunned that it’s not just a small cinema room; it’s got two rows of seats, and a screen covering the back wall. "So, what do you like, scary movies?" he asks. I feel his breath on the back of my neck, and I take a step forward then turn to face him. "I do like something scary,” he continues. He’s speaking with a huskiness in his voice which makes me catch my breath; he sounds sexy.
I move my eyes to his lips; why are they so perfect?
"Will you hurt me?"
“Never.”
I don’t know him very well, yet, and every day I learn something new about him; but no matter what he says to me, I believe that one word more than anything he has said before.
I walk out of the cinema room, to continue with the tour, and I look at the door which Beth walked through the other day.
“What’s through there?” I ask.
Atlas licks his lips. "The hotel. I own this whole building, and half is our home, and the other is a hotel, but you will never go out of this side of the house-"
“But if it’s a hotel I would like to- “
“Brooklyn, I’ve already told you, and here is something else I will tell you; I don’t like to repeat myself. My answer is final. Now, drop the subject.”
This is the first time I’ve heard him put so much meaning and power into his voice. From the tone he’s used, I know I don’t want to get on the wrong side of him.
I give him a nod, letting him know that I heard him. I’m now left wondering why he doesn’t want me to see what his hotel looks like; what’s over there that’s such a secret?
I’m broken away from my thoughts when I feel Atlas place his hand on my back, and he moves me up the stairs.
"Aiden's room, your room, Rhys’ room," Atlas points to the doors, and then moves me around to the other side of the hallway. “My room,” he points to the door, and I give him a nod.
"You have an amazing house," I tell him. There aren't any words to describe the house, but “beautiful”. There needs to be a word made up for this house, though.
“Don’t you want to have a look inside?” Atlas teases.
Do I want to look at his room? Yes, but I know I shouldn't. Yet I’m fighting with myself. The devil and angel on each of my shoulders arguing about what I should be doing; one the angel is telling me not to go in, and the devil is telling me to go inside. Which one should I listen to? I continue to fight with myself, wondering what game Atlas is playing with me.
He opens the door and waits for me to take a step in. “I don’t bite,” he whispers, smiling again.
Walking into his room, I take a good look around. His bed is twice the size of the one I have in my room. Now I haven’t seen many beds, apart from the simple hospital bed I’ve spent most of my life in and the double bed I have in my apartment, but this bed in front of me now is stunning. It has a black frame, with a deep button headboard and side panels, and the bed sheets are all white. I look over at the painting on the wall, there are a few different types of paintings. Atlas doesn’t seem to prefer one style; it almost looks like he’s picked paintings that he just liked the look of. There is one of an elephant, a very colorful one, then there is a painting of a beautiful sunset; the colors are painted so perfectly, it’s almost real. I look over at Atlas as he stares into the painting lost in it; this seems to be one painting that really means something to him, but what? Having a painting like this could mean different things for each person. It could be that Atlas is the sun, and each pulse of energy is important, necessary and possibly fatal to him, or it could be a way for him to see a peaceful place to be somewhere to bring calm after the storm. Only the person who picked the painting truly knows what pulled him towards it.
I can’t help but spread my lips into a smile. As I walk closer, I see a framed photograph on the table in the corner of the room.
The three of them were in the army. I feel him standing behind me, and I stand up straight as I pick up the photograph and bring it closer to me.
"That was taken two weeks before we were able to come back home," I feel Atlas place his fingers on my arm, and he slowly grazes his fingers up to my hand, to take the photo frame from me.
"If you could tell me what you want from me, then I could give it to you," I say, struggling to breathe because I’m so nervous it’s affecting my lungs; there’s a tight feeling in my chest and I’m struggling to stay calm.
"Would you give me anything I wanted?" I feel a rush of excitement as I think of the answer to that question. “Fuck you”, is what I should be saying to him, but the pull in my chest is so heavy that it’s hurting at the thought of the things he wants to do to me. I’ve never felt a pull this strong before; it’s got me breathless.
"If I did, could I go home?" I ask.
That question makes him take a step back, and I turn to face him. “I told you, call me selfish, call me a bastard for being selfish, but there is no way I can let anyone else have you; you’re mine." You’re mine, how those two words have control and power in them, making sure that I know he means what he’s just said.
How can he want me so much, when this is the first time, he's ever seen me? The scariest thing is his eyes. Just thinking of what is hidden behind them right now, makes me shiver. Almost like he needs something from me, and I don’t know if it scares me or turns me on.
Even if he lets me go, I have a feeling he will find me again; one way or the other he is going to make me his. Why do I feel like I’m having a battle? That no matter how much I fight I’m going to lose?
I don’t know what Atlas wants from me; I don’t know how to do what he wants me to do. As much as I’m fighting myself every time, he’s closed to me, I’m starting to lose my patience with him.
"If you want me to be yours so fucking much, then fuck me," I shout at him. There is only so much my head can take right now, this game Atlas is playing with me isn’t fun, and I want the final whistle to blow, and tell me what he wants from me. Atlas is telling me he wants me, but then I can see him fighting himself at the same time; how much of this game can one-person play? Then there is all the sexual tension between us, and now I’m done.