This wasn’t just sex. It was something deeper. More intimate.
He was seeing her—really seeing her—broken and messy and falling apart, and he wasn’t running. Wasn’t flinching. He was choosing to stay.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“I have got you,” he murmured against her skin. “You are safe.. Just let go for me. I want to feel you come apart.”
His touch turned surer. Faster. Relentless. One thick finger slid inside her, then two, curling to hit that spot that made her vision white out. His thumb kept working her clit in tight circles while his other hand came up to cup her breast, rolling her nipple between careful fingers.
She couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything but feel—his hands, his mouth, the rumble of his chest vibrating through her back like a purr.
“That’s it,” he growled against her throat. “Let me hear you, pretty human.”
The pressure crested and she shattered, back arching, his name torn from her throat in a broken cry. Water sloshed over the edge of the tub. She didn’t care. Couldn’t care about anything except the waves of pleasure rolling through her, his fingers still moving, drawing it out until she was trembling and boneless.
When she finally came back to herself, she was sagging against the tub, chest heaving. Maelic’s arms banded around her, strong and steady, that deep rumble starting up in his chest again.
Definitely a purr.
She melted into it. Into him. Every knot of tension finally, blessedly undone.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For not leaving.”
His arms tightened. “I couldn’t if I tried.”
She heard the truth in those words. The confession he probably didn’t mean to make.
And for the first time in months, she didn’t feel alone.
Chapter Nine
Delaney
Whatthehellisthat smell?
Delaney sat up and blinked. The scent of burning food rushed to greet her as she came to.
Right, Maelic had dried her off and carried her back to her bedroom like a princess or something. Brushing her hair and dressing her in fluffy pajamas. She flushed, shaking her head.
The memory of last night hit her like a truck. How gentle he’d been. How she’d completely fallen apart in his arms.
Her chest squeezed.
Nope. Too much. Way too fast.
She’d let him see her at her absolute lowest—crying in a bathtub while he washed her fucking hair like she was something precious.
Not thinking about it. Not going there.
She took a deep breath and got out of bed.
She wondered what the hell was going on, quickly bounding down the stairs to something she never expected.
There in the living room sat the ugliest “Christmas” tree she had ever seen in her life. She kept her focus on the ugly part, not the idea of Maelic dragging it inside while she slept or the fact he had thought to do so at all. Her throat felt thick and she took a steadying breath.
