Page 83 of Owning Emma

Chapter 42

EMMA

Roman snuckinto our room well after Shaw had already forced food down my throat, showered me, and put me to bed with his arms locked tight around me. I heard them whispering, discussing the state of the bakery’s clean up, and how thoroughly Royal and Troy’s men worked, before Roman disappeared into his bathroom, the sound of the shower echoing through the bedroom.

Shaw had fallen back to sleep a minute later, and I sneaked out from under his arm and paddled to the bathroom. The door was cracked open an inch, allowing the steam from the room to billow into the bedroom and dissipate. I opened the door just enough to squeeze in and pulled it closed behind me.

He was standing under the shower, allowing the water to pelt down against his back as he leaned heavily on the tile. I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the stall, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind.

“You did good,” I whispered against his skin, thankful to have him close to me again.

He blew out a breath. “I could have lost you.”

His words sounded choked, and I ran my fingers up his bruised back, trying to comfort him. “You didn’t.”

In all honesty, my chances of losing him were far greater, but I refused to entertain the thought right now. Not when the whole ordeal was still so fresh in my mind and the possibility had my knees nearly weak. I grabbed a loofa hanging from a hook and poured body wash onto it, lathering it into a froth with my fingers before rubbing it against his skin.

A shiver racked his body at the touch, and I wasn’t sure if it was from pleasure or pain. Still, he did not object so I continued washing his body, scrubbing away the grim, grit, and blood that coated his tan skin until his body was pink and raw. I peppered kisses on every bruise and cut, praising every battle wound that marred his skin.

It was worship.

It was pain.

It was my own selfishness that needed all the reassuring that he was there with me, and whole.

And when I was done, and the water ran cold, I shut off the shower, handed him a towel, and led him to our bed where Shaw and I showed him just how glad we were that he made it out alive.

The sun streamedthrough the window sooner than I would have liked, but with the warmth of being sandwiched between two bodies, I couldn’t really complain. Nor did I want to. My guys spent hours last night making my body quiver and my heart pound, and for the first time in a long while, we didn’t have a reason to be up.

I pulled the blankets higher up on my body, trying to tug some away from Shaw who had collected almost the whole thing during the night. I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep again. When I woke, Roman was gone, leaving Shaw and I alone.

I grabbed Roman’s discarded blanket and wrapped it around my body before leaving the room and paddling down the stairs, following the smell of coffee from the kitchen. I found him at the stove, flipping pancakes while sipping from a mug.

“You made breakfast?” I asked as I came up behind him, giving him a hug.

“I did. I couldn’t sleep.” He reached for a mug then filled it three fourth of the way before getting some cream from the fridge, adding it to the cup, and tossing in some sugar. He held it out to me with a grin. “Someone kept stealing the blankets.”

“Don’t look at me, I wouldn’t have to steal your blankets if Shaw didn’t steal mine.”

“I won’t even deny being guilty. She snuggles closer when she’s cold,” Shaw said from the doorway where he had snuck up on us.

He strolled in, leaning in for a kiss while Roman made him some coffee and turned off the stove. We piled the food onto the kitchen bar before pulling out stools and sitting shoulder to shoulder to eat. I was almost finished with my plate when Shaw asked, “So what’s the plan for today?”

I shoved the last bite in my mouth and talked around the mouthful of food, “What do you mean?”

He rubbed his palms on his thighs. “Like . . . I haven’t celebrated Christmas in years. I sort of don’t know what I’m doing.”

My heart thumped and skipped, sudden guilt at being a bit on the insensitive side gnawing at me. Yesterday was the anniversary of his mom’s death and he spent it reliving his fears all over again. But still, he was willing to give it a try to make it a good day for me.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Well, Christmas is about togetherness. So, whatever you want to do together is fine with me.” He raised an eyebrow and I elaborated, “Like watch a movie or build a snowman, anything naked will have to wait a while. I’m still sore from last night.”

He rolled his eyes and the expression was so childlike I couldn’t help but giggle. “Fine. But I pick the movie.”

“Deal.”

He stood and grabbed my plate and Roman’s and carried them to the sink before turning on the water and doing the dishes. I watched his broad back and trim waist from behind and was suddenly remorseful on declaring he had to wait. The temptation this men offered was unreal, and although I never had been one for sex before I met them, now I couldn’t get enough of them.

We waited until Shaw finished the dishes, then I allowed Roman to pull me into the living room, with Shaw following close behind. He pushed me to the couch, forcing me and my bundle of blankets to fall into the cushions.

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