Page 26 of Petals & Promises

Gingerly, Warrick pulled out of me and gave me one more searing kiss before moving to the side. Gareth scooped me up and headed out on the deck where a full, bubbling tub was waiting. He eased me into the water until I was engulfed by bubbles, making me giggle as I blew some of them in his direction.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” I asked.

His answer was to perch on the side of the tub, brushing his fingers along my jaw. “I would love to, baby girl, but I think it best if we give you just a little break.”

My lower lip popped out in a pout, not at all pleased with that answer.

Gareth chuckled in a low tone and leaned in to kiss me. “Don’t you worry, baby girl, before the sun sets, you’ll be fucked, marked, and knotted on my cock. Now relax for the next thirty minutes so the rest of us can ravage you without fear of you passing out on us.”

With that instruction and a frosted glass of yummy-tasting juice, I indulged in the best bubble bath I’d ever had while watching the waves in the ocean.

fifteen

Gareth

With a towel wrapped loosely around my waist, not feeling the need to bare it all when she wasn’t looking, I watched our girl enjoying the simple pleasures of a bubble bath. At first, I thought she was going to fight me about taking a little time for herself. Yet all it took was the sweet taste of freshly squeezed fruit juice, and she was convinced.

I grinned as I watched her playing with the bubbles, giving herself a beard, making a hat, and then pretending to be Gandolph.

“You shall not pass,” Bailey-Rose declared, pretending her cup was the staff.

Panic set in when she tried to sit back down, and her foot slipped, but thankfully, she was far enough into the squat she didn’t hurt herself. An explosion of bubbles and water rushed over the sides of the tub. Waffles scrambled to get up from where he’d been napping and out of the water’s way, but the big boy wasn’t fast enough. A second later, her head popped up, covered in a mess of bubbles, looking around to ensure no one saw her.

I knew I was safe from being seen since I was standing in a shadow, blocked by a sheer curtain waving in the wind. It hadn’t taken me long to figure out if I was going to obsess about her safety, I couldn't let her know I was doing it. The few times I’d been caught in the act, she’d scolded me, but it was hard when she looked so cute all fired up. Watching her dual-colored eyes sparkle with indignation and how she tried to stand as tall as she could, even though she always needed to look up at me, was adorable. Don’t get me wrong, I took her anger seriously and heard what she was telling me. However, that didn’t mean I would do as she said— it just meant I had to be better about hiding it.

“Did I just hear her quote Lord of the Rings?” Ulysses asked, coming to stand beside me, munching on some crackers.

“You sure did.” I chuckled. “So much for taking time to relax… she’s out there fighting off imaginary evil monsters.”

“This is her relaxing,” Ulysses commented. “All the times she was stuck in the hospital with only so much TV you could watch, that girl would let her imagination run wild. Once Eli got her into art classes, she’d create whole worlds on paper, bringing them to life.”

Hearing that explanation made a whole lot of sense as to why Bailey-Rose put so much detail into her art. She’d shown us all the pieces she’d done for the art installation at her school, and they were breathtaking.

“Seeing her like this tells me we made the right choice to get out of town. I know you didn’t want to walk away from the situation, but it was the right thing for her,” he reasoned. “All I can feel from her is contentment and joy, which I don’t think would be true if we were home.”

Turning away from Bailey-Rose, I looked at Ulysses. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to leave, but more that I was worried he’d either follow or go back underground if we left. What good is it for us to be gone for the month only to come back to the same shit?”

“I hear you, man, really I do,” he assured me, resting a hand on my shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze. “Eli just messaged Yun and told him he hired a bounty hunter and a private investigator to hunt this bastard down. He seems to think there is something odd about the fact the police haven’t been able to find anything yet. Truth be told, I agree with Eli. This shouldn’t be hard since Randall isn’t that smart. Although if he has help from someone with major pull, it’s possible the police will never find him.”

Anger and fear churned in my stomach. The cops being dirty was the last thing I wanted to think about.

“Don’t move,” Bailey-Rose instructed, her voice drifting over to me in the breeze.

We both glanced over to find our Omega hanging half out of the tub putting bubbles on Waffles’ head. The dog had refused to get closer to the tub to make it easier for her, but his training kept him from walking away entirely. Nugget, who’d been sleeping on a lounge chair, was there as well, his tail wagging as he sported his own bubble hat. He gave a soft yip as if to tell Waffles to get with the program, which he did, suffering in silence at his charge’s antics.

“Do we save them?” Ulysses whispered, popping another cracker into his mouth.

I glanced at the clock and noticed it had been almost an hour since I put her in the tub. “Yeah, probably good to get some more food in her too.”

“Want me or Warrick to get her?” he questioned. When I gave him a confused look, he explained. “We’re bonded to her now, plus it seems like since you and the other two got a little space from her, you’re not running on two brain cells.”

My brows shot up. “Wow… and who was the person who fucked her against the wall like an animal?”

“Yeah, which is why I know what I’m saying,” he muttered. “Never mind, you want to risk her not getting a chance to eat, then by all means, go for it.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Yun heading for the tub to collect our girl. “Well, it looks like the matter’s settled,” I pointed out dryly. “I’m gonna start cutting up some food for her to munch on.”

“Gareth, I’m sorry that came out wrong,” Ulysses offered.