*Isla*
Back in my room, I can still smell the sting of the chemicals someone used to clean the mess up from when Sydney’s water broke.
It seems like that happened ages ago, but it was really only a matter of hours. Maddox still has my hand, and when I pause and stare at the spot where Sydney was standing when she came into my room, he has to stop walking. “What is it, Isla?” he asks me, his tone so gentle, no one would ever imagine he was known as a ruthless killer.
Shaking my head, I try to jar the memory free so it can float away, but it won’t come loose. “Uhm, it’s just… Sydney. When she came to get me, she was so scared, and I thought she didn’t really have anything to be afraid of. But clearly, I was wrong.”
He seems to be putting the pieces of the puzzle together now. He must not have known that she was here, that she’d come into my room, but I see his nostrils flare slightly as he catches on that more happened here than he’d first realized. It’s not uncommon for my room to smell of cleaner; Poppy likes to keep things spotless. But Maddox’s well-trained nose probably picks up on the other very faint odor that no one would even notice if they didn’t know that a pregnant woman had been standing here before, and then something had needed cleaning. I don’t think I would smell it if I was over by my bed, but I can smell it now.
“I’m so sorry.” Maddox pulls me close to him and holds me tight, and I lean my head on his muscular chest, using him for support.
My mind goes to a dark place again. I can’t help it, even though I know I shouldn’t even allow myself to think of it. Someday, I will be pregnant, if Maddox gets his wish. I will have a baby. What if the same problems arise? I could die.
Even if I didn’t die, I had watched Sydney go through a lot of pain before she got the medicine she needed to make the labor pains subside. I can’t imagine what her last few hours of life must’ve felt like. Not only was she suffering, but she was also terrified.
As if he’s reading my mind, Maddox says, “It won’t happen to you, sweetie.” His lips are warm as they press against the top of my head.
I look up at him. “How do you know?” I can’t help the question. Ordinarily, I would just nod and pray that he is right, but it sounds bold of him to me to assume he can tell that I will not be one of the unfortunate women who loses her life in childbirth.
Even worse, I can’t imagine what it must be like to be one of the women who lives–but loses her child.
As horrible as the first scenario is, the second would be even worse to me.
“I would never let anything happen to you,” Maddox tells me, looking into my eyes.
I can’t help the soft smile that forms on my lips as I stare into his deep orbs. With every fiber of my being, I want to believe him. But I know that I can’t because, even though he might be the most powerful wolf in the entire kingdom, he doesn’t have that kind of power.
Before I can say anything in response, he cracks a smile at me. “Why don’t I draw you a bath? I’m sure you’ll feel much better after a nice, relaxing soak in the tub with all of your favorite… smelly things.”
That causes me to chuckle. He has no idea what to call the bath salts and other items in my bathroom. “That sounds lovely,” I tell him. “But it would sound even better if you say you’ll stay with me.”
An eyebrow arches as he considers my proposition. “I’m not sure we’ll both fit in the tub,” he tells me.
I grin even wider at him. “I know you’re a big guy, but I think we can make it work. We’ve done it before.” Has he forgotten we’ve already bathed together a time or two?
“Yeah, but all of those flowery smells might make it a little harder on me when I go down to the dungeon later to bust some heads.” That’s the truth of his reservations, I now understand.
“Well, you could always just stay here tonight, with me, and do all of that tomorrow.” I lift up on my tiptoes so that my lips are hovering close to his.
“You make a pretty good argument,” he says, his warm breath fanning across my lips. He smells like cinnamon, and I want to taste him.
His mouth moves toward mine so slowly, it seems to take ages for his lips to brush against mine, and even then, I’m not quite getting enough of him to satisfy my craving–and he knows it. I can feel the teasing when he lingers just short of plunging in and giving me what I’m longing for. I can’t help but run a hand up the back of his head, stretching as tall as I can to coax him closer.
A soft chuckle is muffled by my mouth as he finally gives in, and finally, his tongue is mingling with mine, and I do my best not to devour him, even though my want feels insatiable. He lifts me up, his hands nestles around my waist, and I launch myself the rest of the way, my legs wrapping around him so that we are one unit again, just as we are meant to be.
He continues to kiss me as he moves to the bathroom. It’s no wonder he’s a terror on the battlefield. His senses allow him to navigate without his eyes and when he sits me down on the counter in the bathroom, it’s as if he glided there on air.
I don’t want to unwrap my legs from him, and I don’t want to let him go, not even just the short amount of time it will take for him to turn on the bath and take off our clothes. He tries to take a step back, but I clench my legs tighter and make a whimpering sound, my lips suctioning to his.
Again, he is laughing in my mouth, and I let him because I don’t care if he thinks I’m funny, silly, or even pathetic at the moment. The yearning I have for him is a raging fire now, and allowing even the narrowest puff of oxygen between us will just cause the flames to grow.
Somehow, he manages to unwind himself from me, and I am forced to release his luscious lips. “I’ve got to turn the water on, baby, and dump all of your… stuff in there.”
I have a feeling we will smell like a strange concoction of different floral scents if I let him do this on his own. “Just the pink jar,” I tell him as he steps toward the tub. I feel cold in a way that has nothing to do with the room temperature when he moves away from me.
While he is away, I begin to take off my clothing, my fingers shaking slightly on the buttons that prevent me from rushing too much. I hear the water turn on and then the unscrewing of a lid. My nose is suddenly assaulted by the strong smell of roses, and I know he has emptied quite a bit of my favorite bath salts into the tub.
When Maddox returns and sees me stripping, he narrows his eyes slightly and purses his lips. “Uhm, I believe that’s my job, young lady,” he says, getting a giggle out of me. He comes back to me, catching my lips with his as he finishes taking my clothing off, and when he goes to pull my skirt and panties off of my hips, I lift my bottom for him. Soon enough, I am completely naked in front of him while he is fully clothed. I don’t feel vulnerable, though. I feel well taken care of.
He steps back and begins to take off his own clothing, his eyes wandering over my body as he does so. I bite my bottom lip, watching each muscle emerge from beneath the veil of his clothing. When he gets down to his boxers, I can hardly contain myself, I want to feel him so badly. I’m practically rocking off of the counter, my body magnetically pulled toward his.
He wants to tease me, I can tell, because of the grin on his face. But he’s also hard as rock. I can see the outline of his cock pressing against his underwear.
So rather than continue to torture me, he finishes with his underwear and then scoops me up off of the counter and moves us both quickly to the bathtub. The water is warm as we sink into it, but all I can think about are his wet hands as they glide up to my breasts.
He leans back against the back of the tub, and I straddle him, my mouth exploring his as if we’ve never kissed before. He tugs on my nipples, bringing them to life as I move to mount him.
I’m so wet that his entire dick slides right in, and then I have to take a moment to savor the feeling of him, stretching my walls and filling me completely. His hands ripple down my sides to my hips as I start to move, and he moves with me. The water splashes up the sides of the tub, and eventually, it will spill over, but neither of us cares. For that matter, the faucet is still on, but whether or not we will pause to shut it off doesn’t even enter my mind. All I can think about is Maddox, my king, my lover, the man who knows how to take me so far beyond the edge I can no longer find myself.
Releasing my mouth, he traces hot kisses down my neck and finds a nipple with his teeth as I moan and rock harder against him, the waves lapping up over my breasts now. He doesn’t care if the rose-flavored water gets in his mouth as he continues to suck and lick me.
I’m coming hard and fast and when he senses that, he drops a hand to find my clit and gives it a few sharp rubs. It sends me over the edge, and the rest of the world fades away as all I can think about is him and how he makes me feel so completely… euphoric.
I don’t know how long my mind is among the clouds as I pant for air and cry out his name, but eventually, he fills me with his essence as well, and then, we both go still. I collapse, my head cradled between his shoulder and neck, the world quiet around me. I have no idea when he turned the water off. I don’t care.
After a while, he begins to wash me with some vanilla-scented body wash. He spins me around and nestles me safely between his legs, his cock, which is beginning to stiffen again, pressed against my back.
I am starting to fall asleep, cocooned by his embrace in the warm, fragrant water. As I drift off, I hear my own voice saying, “I love you so much, Maddox.”
His response might have been real, or it might just be a dream, but as I lose consciousness, I think I hear him say, “I love you, too.”