Page 56 of Cross To Bear

And I couldn’t allow that to happen.

I’d collected her bag, her phone, shoes and stashed them beside me as I waited, sure to catch her if she had to do the walk of shame. I’d dozed in the armchair when it became clear she allowed herself to actually relax and sleep in my brother’s bed. The bear inside me would let me know when she made a bolt for it.

Which he did when the door clicked open.

I breathed in deeply, sucking their scents into my lungs. The musk of my brothers and her floral perfume smelt like something you’d decant into bottles in a high-end beauty store. She was close, so fucking close to accepting us, I could scent it.

Just as I could smell the stink of regret on her right now.

I said I would take control so she didn’t have to. That was why I got to my feet, towering over her and then moving closer to offer her my hand. I’d watched her start to say something, stop herself, and then slip her hand into mine. She didn’t know this, but each time she took it, each time she said yes, she lit a dangerous flame inside me.

Hope.

It flickered to life as I led her down the hall and into the bathroom. It got brighter as she looked around.

“This bathroom… It’s incredible.”

We built it huge because hey, four fucking massive guys that all came home from work hot, sweaty and greasy as fuck meant group showers were a big part of our life, but when we revamped it? It was primarily with Maddie in mind. A place for her to put all her lotions and potions. A bath for a long soak. I even had a stash of bath bombs in my room, hidden deep in my wardrobe, but they wouldn’t be coming out right now. I went to the shower taps and turned them on, testing the water before facing her.

I was a spy in the house of love.

I’d caught her sigh down the hall when I got home last night, my keys falling from boneless fingers, no longer needed. The tiny little sound, little more than a mouse’s cry, had drawn me forward to hear another moan, then a much deeper one. A whole lot of them came thick and fast, making clear what was happening and I’d… Wanted to press my body into the door, stroke my hands over the wooden surface, let my claws rake rents in the slick paint. Something other than ripping the door off its hinges and then inserting myself into whatever scene was happening. As I smoothed her shirt off her shoulders, I couldn’t help but stare, trying to see all the places they’d touched her.

Had Crash sucked those full nipples into his mouth? Surely he had, because my mouth watered as I stared at them. Had they kissed her hard? Was that why her lips were swollen and red now? Or was it from putting her on her hands and knees between them, one of them fucking her in long, hard strokes as the other fed his dick between her lips? I had to lock my fangs down tight or I’d ask, no demand, an answer from her, over and over, right before I fell to my knees and licked her clean.

But that wasn’t the plan.

I let the backs of my fingers brush across her shoulder, right before I made the shirt fall to the floor, then went to work getting out of my own clothes. Maddie’s eyes jerked down, taking that in, a small smile twisting her lips as she went to take over.

Her undoing my jeans like a kid at Christmas, eager to get her hands on what lay beneath. Those little fingers surrounding me, jacking me hard and fast, just like I longed to do right now. I wanted it. Fuck, how I wanted it, but with an effort that fucking killed me inside, I pushed her hands away.

“It’s not like that, Maddie. Not this time.” I had to add that on afterwards because otherwise the bear would lose his fucking shit. “Bjorn will kill me if I get you to him late.”

She flushed, taking a step backwards, putting some distance between us, but that just gave me an even better view of her naked body. I watched her rally, push aside some very intriguing disappointment before facing me down.

“And what does Bjorn have planned?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

I shucked the jeans off in a series of quick movements, looking up to catch her staring, and that had me pausing for a second. Let her look, that was what the bear and I thought. Let her eyes go fucking wide as she stared at the body that to me was a hard, efficient tool I used to navigate the world, but to her… It was the means to do, give, make any damn thing she wanted or needed. I sucked in her attention, the smell of her scent sweetening, but was forced to shake my head and break the spell I was under.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said finally.

“Why not?” she asked, a devilish light dancing in those dark eyes. “You’re always staring at me.”

My hand grabbed hers, dragging her into the shower.

“Because if you don’t, I’ll shove you against the wall and fuck you until you scream, then fuck you that bit harder and screw Bjorn.”

“And if I want just that?”

Goddamn, that mouth on her. I shook my head and doused her with water, but that didn’t help at all. Instead, I caught myself watching the way the rivulets traced the shape of a body I itched to touch. With a growl, I grabbed a bottle of body wash and poured it all over her tits, when all I wanted to do was push them together and shoot my jizz over them.

Part of me knew I should just leave her to it, or if I couldn’t leave the room, then go under one of the other shower heads and wash myself off in brisk, efficient strokes. Instead, I was spending far too much time massaging soap into her shoulders. But reticence would make her late for Bjorn too, and I promised him I wouldn’t let that happen, so my hands moved.

She was so fucking smooth, soft, and I loved the way she gave under my grip. Maddie just made me feel bigger, harder, more of a mother fucking man, because she was everything I wasn’t. I was forced to turn her around because my dick kept rubbing against that luscious arse, and I didn’t need any more temptation. There was no relief to be found here. Her eyes locked with mine, just watching me as I washed her, right before she reached for the soap. I nearly knocked her hand away, determined to do the job for myself, but of course, that’s not what she had in mind. That endless gaze of hers kept me still as she drizzled soap over my shoulders.

The bear was a constant nagging presence inside me, always wanting out to smack down dickheads, intimidate the fuck out of difficult customers, or to settle down rowdy fucks in the bar, though right now, he went quiet. That stillness, it was never something I would’ve associated with Maddie, but I was just as glad for it when I felt this.

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