“No!” She grasped hold of his arm. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“Two minutes. I promise.” He cupped her face gently between his hands. “I love you, baby girl.”
“I love you too.”
He kissed her. Fuck. It was never enough. A minute. An hour. A day. A week. A lifetime.
It wouldn’t ever be enough.
Caleb carried her into the bathroom.
The numbness surrounding her started to fade. However, she wasn’t entirely convinced that was a good thing. That numbness was keeping her sane.
“Oh baby, you’re shaking. Please stop,” Caleb practically begged.
“Give her to me,” Wolfe stated. She looked over to find him already sitting in the enormous bathtub. He’d removed his glasses and it made him seem younger. Less intimidating. Although that could be due to the fact that he was covered in bubbles.
“Jesus, man, did you empty a whole bottle in here?” Caleb asked as he handed her down to Wolfe.
Wolfe shrugged. “It’s a big bath.”
He held her on his lap. She was facing outwards, her back against his chest. She stared at Caleb, watching him undress. Why did she feel so detached?
Then Caleb stripped off his boxers and climbed in naked. A flush of heat ran through her body. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t totally detached.
Caleb sat across from them. “Come here.”
She realized this was the first time she’d sat on Wolfe’s lap. Was she making him uncomfortable? Maybe she should move. She started to shift but Wolfe tightened his hold on her hips.
“She’s fine where she is.”
Caleb gave Wolfe a surprised look. She wondered if he was going to object. Would they fight? She couldn’t take that right now. But to her shock, Caleb just grinned.
Aleki strode in. He paused as he saw them all. He looked from her on Wolfe’s lap over to Caleb. “So. That’s new.”
Caleb nodded. “Isn’t it?”
“What?” she asked tiredly.
“Don’t worry about them,” Wolfe told her.
“Okay, Wolfie,” she replied, leaning back against him tiredly. She was exhausted. Completely drained. Today seemed to have overloaded her system. It was like she’d reached that point of breaking and dived over the edge.
But she wasn’t going to let that bitch, Marilyn, shatter her. She was temporarily down. But she wasn’t out. She’d come back tomorrow. But for tonight, she just needed to be a bit broken.
Aleki quickly stripped off and climbed in. She got a flash of that gorgeous ass before he was in the water. “What scent is that?” he asked.
“Jasmine,” Wolfe replied.
“Huh. Better than that floral stuff, I guess,” Aleki said. “I think I’d prefer the cotton candy stuff, though.”
“There’s a cotton candy bath stuff?” She perked up at that.
“Yeah, we’ve got a ton of bath shit in here. Let me have a look.” Aleki climbed out of the bath.
Wolfe sighed. “Can you try not to wave your willy in our faces?”
She giggled. Willy.
Aleki had been glaring at Wolfe, but at her giggle, his face softened. “Vivi likes my willy, don’t ya, baby girl?”
Hopefully, they thought the reason she was so flushed was due to the hot bath.
Wolfe snorted as Aleki walked over to the cabinet.
“Make sure you clean up all the water on the floor,” Caleb demanded. “We don’t want her slipping.”
“Like she’s going to be walking anywhere anytime soon,” Aleki countered.
Caleb’s gaze met hers. His was still filled with a deep concern. But a smile touched his lips. “True. But we don’t want to slip while holding her.”
Aleki grumbled but grabbed a basket of bath goodies. He placed it by the bath then snatched up a towel to mop up before he hopped back in, sending water splashing. Wolfe grumbled about the giant whale in the bathtub, making her giggle again.
“What’s in there, Papa?” she asked.
His face lightened, and he smiled at her. Caleb grasped hold of the basket while Aleki went through it. “Strawberry liquid soap. Peach bubble bath. Ahh, here it is. A cotton candy bath bomb.”
She reached for it. Ooh, it was so pretty. It was in the shape of a donut. Pink on the bottom and blue on the top with white icing and sprinkles.
“Wolfie, can you unwrap it for me?” She bounced around on his lap.
He held on tighter to her. “Yes, but only if you stop moving so much.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “Did I hurt you?”
“Not in the way you mean.” Aleki grinned.
Huh? Oh. Wait. It suddenly occurred to her what he meant and she froze. “Oh. Sorry.”
“We’re supposed to be relaxing,” Caleb warned them both.
Wolfe drew off the wrapping, throwing it onto the ground. Which was unusual for him. Generally, he liked everything put away. But she guessed he didn’t want to get out of the bath. He handed the bath bomb to her.
“I won’t see it fizzing.” She bit her lip.
Aleki and Caleb pushed some bubbles away from the center and she placed the bomb down. It immediately started fizzing and the scent of sugar filled the air.
“Yay!” she cried, moving off Wolfe onto her knees. She reached out and ran her fingers through the pink water. “It’s pink and sugary. I love it! Is there more?”
“Only one at a time,” Caleb told her.
She pouted.
“Meanie,” Aleki whispered.
She grinned at him. Oh, he was bad. She glanced over to see if Caleb was upset but he just rolled his eyes.
“Look.” Aleki pulled out a packet. “Bath slime. It’s glittery.”
“Aw, hell,” Wolfe sighed.
“Let her use it,” Aleki warned. “She wants to.”
She glanced back at Wolfe with a pout.
“Fine,” he relented.
They poured out the powder. For a moment she didn’t think it would do anything. Then the water started to turn into glittery, pink slime.
“This is so much fun!” she squealed, using her good hand to run her fingers through the slime. She scooped some up. She eyed Aleki and threw it right at him.
Plop! It landed on his chest.
He froze. “Little girl. Did you just throw slime at me?”
Oops. Had she made a mistake? But then she saw the way his eyes shone.
“Uh-huh. What you going to do about it?” she challenged him.
“Oh, baby girl. You should know better than to dare me. Slime fight!”
37
“I’ve got glitter in places that glitter should never go,” Wolfe grumbled.
“Shh.” Aleki held his finger to his lips as he lay next to Vivi on the bed, watching her sleep. After the slime fight, which had made a huge mess in the bathroom, they’d gotten her cleaned off in the shower and tucked her into bed.
She’d tiredly told them everything that had happened in the marketplace. Aleki was still furious about taking his eyes off her. Why did she keep getting hurt? It was killing him.
“Family meeting. Living room,” Caleb stated.
Aleki frowned. “She might have a nightmare. I don’t want to leave her.”