My body starts to tremble in his arms, and he repeats various forms of praise against my skin, the words feathering across my lips over and over in between kisses.
When the last of the tremors from my orgasm fade, my body is achingly sore, but I feel lighter in every way. Creed has that effect on me. He always has.
“Thank you,”I rasp as I kiss him again, my muscles feeling a little weaker than before.
“Never thank me,” he says softly, though there’s something darker lacing his tone with his next words. “I have a lot of forgiveness to beg for and earn, but you will never owe me a damned thing for taking care of you.”
His words don’t make sense to me because there’s nothing to forgive. I don’t even know what to say, so I nod because I don’t have the energy to argue either. Creed helps me to stand before he guides me under the spray of water, his own clothes now thoroughly soaked. He washes me with the utmost caution around each of my wounds, and I watch as his jaw ticks each time we get to a particularly deep scar or one that’s been stitched shut.
“What’s wrong?”I mouth as he rubs a washcloth delicately over my belly and up my ribs.
He just stares at my body for a moment before words tumble from his lips like a secret that refuses to remain hidden. He sighs, brushing a finger softly over a small cut in the center of my sternum.
“These do nothing to take away from how fucking strong and beautiful you are, Collins.” His bright blue eyes flick up to me, but he keeps his head angled down as he lathers my hair, massaging my scalp. “But I’d be a liar if I said the sight of them doesn’t make me want to cuthisfucking fingers off one knuckle at a time until he has nothing but stumps left on each arm—dead or not.” His voice sounds so casual when he rinses my hair that I’m momentarily stunned.
My jaw hangs on its hinges at the violent, gory image he just painted. Creed is not violent by nature. He’s a caretaker. A lover. It’s one on the infinite list of things that I love about him. But why does the sound of him declaring violence in my honor have my belly swooping?
He kisses my lips sweetly before reaching around me to shut off the water from the shower. Truth be told, I have norecollection of even turning it on. Creed’s face is a picture of steely focus and concentration as he carefully dries each of my wounds before wrapping me in another clean towel. He makes sure I’m standing in a safe, dry area on top of yet another towel before he grabs the last one from a shelf and begins to strip from his soaking wet clothes.
My throat dries up and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as I stand here and drink him in. Creed has always been a beautiful man, but right now he just looks otherworldly as he stands naked before me. His body is so perfectly toned, a decorated temple that I can’t wait to worship again. I can’t stop it when my eyes automatically drop to his pierced cock that’s standing proudly at attention, the reverse Prince Albert glinting with a drop of precum that oozes from the tip.
Thank God Creed doesn’t notice my ogling, because when I shift on my feet, my thighs rub together, but the sting from the exposed cuts there has me biting back a painful groan, so I quickly look away.
Creed wraps the towel around his waist, then approaches me, gripping my hips and pulling me against his hard body. “How you feeling?”
“Better,” I say roughly with a rasp in my voice, meaning it in every way possible. I smile up at him as much as the scab on my lip will allow. “Always better with you.”
He smiles back, kissing the tip of my nose. “So does that mean I’m forgiven?”
I smile at him because there truly is nothing to forgive. Life is too short to hold grudges against someone you love for trying to protect you. But he’s got me riding this miniature high between his presence and silent strength, so I can’t help but tease him.
“That depends,” I glare playfully, repeating my words from earlier, “do I get to see Riley anytime soon?”
“Actually,” he murmurs, cupping my face, “how would you like to see him right now?”
My eyes round in surprise. “Wait, really? Likeright now, right now?”
“Right now, right now,” he parrots, grinning like a maniac. With his features softening, he tucks a wet strand of hair behind my ear and winks at me. My belly flutters in response. “That was surprise number one.”
Creed sobers a little, his icy blue eyes softening at the edges as he looks down, his expression regretful. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Stardust. I should have told you the truth, but I couldn’t bear the thought of being the cause of hurt for you. Not after…everything. It backfired, and I still hurt you. I’m so sorry, Collins.”
I tilt his head upward with a finger beneath his chin. Tracing the sharp line of the tattoo that runs along the underside of his jaw, I offer him a smile when his gaze meets mine again. “Thank you for your apology,” I say, pressing up and onto my toes to peck his lips. “I forgive you. Today and every day. Just be honest with me, alright?”
He sighs in relief with a nod, and his shoulders slump as a breath he was holding whooshes from his lungs. As if he’d been desperate to hear those exact words come from my mouth. I’d tackle him and wrap myself around him if I wasn’t starting to feel the ache and sting of each of my wounds. What it doesn’t do, is stop the giddy laughter from bubbling up, and he doesn’t stop me when I lift up on the balls of my feet to press my lips against his once more.
God, it feels so good to kiss him. My heart ached and yearned to see him again, that Riley and I would be rescued in time, so that we might have any kind of chance at a long, beautiful life together. They’re my everything, and I had felt so hollow when facing the possibility that they might have been taken from me,or that I’d never see either of them again. Everything still feels so surreal, and I’m still terrified that I’ll wake up and this will all have been a dream. But Creed has been so good about grounding me when I start to drift that it keeps the little spark of hope lit within me.
Creed reluctantly pulls away when the knock sounds behind us. I startle because it’s right against the bathroom door and a deep rumbling voice speaks through the thick wood. “Creed? I’ve got your bag, Son. I’ll leave it right outside the door for ya.”
“Thanks,” Creed calls back, clearing his throat.
“Son?”I rasp, one eyebrow lifted in question.
He nods, cracking the door just wide enough to grab the duffle bag before pulling it closed again. “That’s surprise number two.”What an odd time to meet his dad.The thought quickly disintegrates when Creed crouches down in his towel, his beautiful cock nearly poking through the opening; heat immediately flooding in and I feel it creeping up my chest, over my neck, and spreading across my face.
And he’s all mine.
A soundless squeal tries so hard to sound from my chest, and my knees nearly buckle when he pulls out my favorite t-shirt that I’d stolen from Riley’s wardrobe months ago. It’s a black, oversized vintage band tee that I loved wearing as a dress. He hands it to me, and I can’t stop the tears from falling when I hold it to my nose, inhaling the warm, clean scent that is all Riley.
