“How do you feel?” he asked, grabbing for the sponge she’d sat on the tub’s edge.
“Weak. I feel very weak,” I admitted, watching Rhys slowly wash me like some delicate doll. “Not so weak that you would rub my flesh off if you actually touched my skin with the sponge.” His lips twitched, and his attention lifted to the soft smile I offered him. “I won’t break.”
“You did break, Remi. You almost died nineteen times while I fought to hold you to this world. You flatlined nineteen fucking times, and I anchored you to me with your mind. Ian has been feeding you his blood. Conrad bit you three times to see if we could force a change. Hunter, he wanted to take you to his realm and force you to become one of the spirits that reside there.”
“And you?” I asked, slowly taking in the sinewy muscles of his chest, tensing from his movements.
“I held you tight and told you that I didn’t accept you leaving me, Love. I want you alive, do you hear me?”
I didn’t lift my eyes to his, unable to look into them for fear of seeing something deeper developing there. He closed the distance between us, lifting me onto his lap as something very hard and noticeable sat between us. Rhys’s lips brushed against mine seeking permission, and my arms wrapped around his neck, kissing him hungrily. He stood from the bathtub, walking us into the bedroom, where he laid me carefully onto the bed.
A knock sounded at the door, and he laughed, peering up at me, smiling. “I’m going to build a bunker just to have a place for us to fuck so that we’re not constantly disturbed.”
“That’s a little much just to get laid, isn’t it?” I asked, and he lifted as to leave. “No, not even,” I growled, pulling him down, lifting my hips in invitation.
I shivered as he stretched my body out on the bed, lifting his head as he groaned. His eyes heated while staring down at me, watching me tremble with need. His hips moved slowly, testing me until I attempted to roll him, but failed miserably. His smirk infuriated me with his cocky brows that lifted. Rhys claimed my lips, growling as he devoured me.
He pushed into my core, stretching me full before lifting back, rocking his hips while I gasped at the multitude of sensations he created. He was slow, calculated with each gentle thrust, which I eagerly met as he smiled down at me.
The knock sounded at the door again, and Rhys pulled his lips from mine. “Unless you want to die a slow, painful death, go the fuck away!”
He lowered his mouth to mine, nipping my lip, and I laughed against them at his random outburst that wasn’t like him to indulge in. His body moved gently, purposely building the orgasm up until it ripped through me. He pushed his forehead against mine, carefully rolling us until I was seated on him. Lowering his hands, he moved my hips slowly. I placed my hands onto his chest, uncertain I could stay upright.
“You do know she’s not healed, right, asshole?” Nyota snapped from the other side of the door.
“She’s on top,” Rhys snarled, and Nyota chuckled, and maybe I was hallucinating because it sounded as if she’d just said that I was her girl. “You’re beautiful, but you’re exhausted still,” Rhys groaned, rolling us quickly. He moved forward with purpose, edging me toward the cliff again until he groaned, moaning loudly. He placed his hand over my mouth, smothering the cry as lights ignited behind my eyes, and bells rang in my ears. “You should wake up now so that we can do this for real, instead of half-assed inside your head, woman.”
“What?” I asked, staring up at him while he smirked beside me on the bed. “This is a dream?”
“Yes, this is an improvement. There weren’t monsters chasing us, or crazy shit unfolding this time. You’ve been asleep for over a month now. I kept you here so that you would let your body heal. I have to admit, some of the shit inside this pretty head of yours is honestly creepy as hell, woman.”
The knock sounded at the door, and I lifted my head, peering at it. Rhys moved on the bed, and I blinked, struggling to sit up.
“Slowly, Love. Bloody hell,” he groaned, peering down at where he’d tented the blankets. “You’re sure you’re not part succubus, right?”
“Do not blame your erection on me. I was in a coma, so who’s the pervert here?” I whispered weakly, turning onto my side while his fingers pushed the hair away from my face. He leaned over, kissing my forehead, then got up from the bed. Rhys slipped into sweatpants before silently moving back to my side.
“Sit up.” Rhys watched me struggling to move and held up his hand. “Hold on,” he ordered, pulling out a black silk nightgown from the dresser before returning.
He lifted me gently, careful of the IV taped to my arm. Rhys untied the nightgown I wore, slowly removing it to replace it with the clean black one he’d retrieved. His fingers worked quickly, tying it up before placing me back into bed, pulling the other nightgown out of the blankets, before walking it to the hamper. I silently watched him pour a glass of ice water before returning, handing it to me, before fixing the covers.
“You’ve been doing this every night since you saved me?” I whispered, narrowing my eyes on him as he nodded.
“You asked me to stay with you. I have not left this room since we brought you back from Laura’s hive. Ian, Conrad, and Hunter tracked down and beheaded every vampire she sired in the last fifty years. She and her people won’t harm you again. The other alphas saw to it. But I couldn’t break that promise to you and go hunt them down.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling the pull to sleep as he opened the door.
Everyone moved into the room, staring at me. Even the alphas were here, and Thurston, god’s love him, burst into the room, screaming his presence.
“Thurston is here!” he shouted.
“Hello, Thurston,” I smiled weakly, trying to sit up. Cole moved toward me, fixing the pillows behind me before he leaned down, kissing my ear.
“You, sleeping beauty, scared me to death.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, and he nodded.
Stepping back, he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. “Now that you’re awake, I am okay. I’m so sorry that I didn’t see the danger that night.”
“We lived,” I smirked, scrunching up my nose. “Laura’s dead and we’re not. That’s a win for team good guys.”
“It’s cute that she thinks we’re the good guys, right?” Cole asked, turning to look at Rhys.
“It’s endearing, if not a little irrational. We’re the monsters, but let’s wait to tell her that.”
“You guys know she can hear you, right?” Nyx asked, sliding to the bed beside me. “What I said in your dream walk? That happened. It really happened. So, should I not tell you out here?” I stared at her while her mouth opened, and her eyes widened. “Got it. Can we redo this and wake her back up later, so she doesn’t know that I washed her vagina? She’s prudish.”
“Stop talking, nymph,” Nyota stated, smiling at me. “It’s about time you woke up. You asked the alpha to remain at your side while you slept. That makes you an asshole. Just so we’re clear. Also, welcome back to the world of the living. I’m… glad…,” she paused as her brothers watched her. “I’m glad I didn’t have to watch these assholes mope around because you died.”