Page 147 of Muted

She nuzzles against my chest before letting her head fall back to look up at me, squinting against the spray of the water to keep from stinging her eyes. “I’m happy it was you,” she says softly.

Her body is so light that it takes no effort to keep her in place with one arm so I can use my other to touch her face, wiping the water from her eyes. She closes her eyes at the touch, going completely weightless in my arms.

Chuckling over the fact that she’s falling asleep, I ask just as quietly, “That it was me, what?”

“Iloveyou… somuch,” she mumbles.

With a smile, I let my dick finally slip free from her, then cup my hand under the water to start rinsing our releases free from her body. I’d give anything to wash her right now, but she’s practically comatose in my arms so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

I hold her head to my chest. “I plan on loving you for a very,verylong time… hope you’re prepared for it.”

“…happy it was you…” She’s stumbling through her words, but now I’m curious over what she’s trying to tell me.

“Happy for what, baby? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I press, turning off the water. She shivers immediately when the cool air hits her skin as I open the shower door. It wakes her just enough for her to crack her eyes open, those vivid green eyes telling me everything. I know what she’s saying now.

“That day,” she whispers.

Sighing, I grab a towel that’s hanging on the wall and do my best to cover her chilled body. “It was the worst day of my life, but also the best.” My throat closes around my words, but I force the rest out as best I can. “I thought you were lost to me. I wanted to fucking die right there with you. Then you cracked your eyes open, and I had an entirely different fear of losing you. I’ve never been more scared, but then I held you and knew no matter what, you were fuckingalive.”

Her hand trails up to cup my cheek, her fingers scratching gently against the coarse hairs of my beard. She smiles as she shuts her eyes again, not saying anything else as she falls into a deep sleep. Susanna Walston doesn’t need to say anything. I know she understands all the fears I had that day. She also knows that I don’t need to be afraid for her any longer.

Padding out of the bathroom and through the master bedroom, I catch Vance just as he’s pulling a shirt over his head, getting dressed for the night. He points across to the door and whispers, “There’s a bedroom right there. I assume she’s sleeping with you for the night?” He asks it as a question, but no answer is needed.

My grin is small as I nod once, then carry her into the hallway where Theo is standing. He’s in front of one of the other bedrooms and smirks as he grins at our girl. “Exhausted her, huh?”

Huffing, I let out a soft snort. “Don’t be crass, you dick. You going to bed?”

“Yeah. I’m beat. So is she, apparently.” Raising his eyes from her face to lock onto mine, he tilts his head as he considers me. “I know this was a new thing for you two, so we’ll leave you guys alone tonight. But I’m telling you right now, you all better get used to sharing a fucking bed. I refuse to sleep away from her starting tomorrow.”

“Noted,” I clip out. I attempt to reach for the door handle, but Susu grumbles her irritation at being shifted around and I freeze, not wanting to disturb her.

Theo’s rumbling laughter as he comes closer makes me want to elbow him, but when he reaches in front of us to open the door, I mouth “Thank you,” to him. He stops me from walking in so that he can lean over her to kiss her on the corner of her mouth.

Without opening her eyes, she reaches out for him, fumbling her fingers against his face until she finds his beard, then gives it a soft tug.

“Ouch,” he whispers to her, his voice teasing.

We both laugh when the corner of her lip turns up just before she starts snoring softly.

“Night,” I whisper, then carry her into the bedroom, using my body to shut the door behind us. There’s enough light from outside to give me a clear path to the bed. Walking over, I lay her down, then quickly reach under her to pull the covers down so she’s between the sheets.

I hurry to the other side, ignore the fact that I’m still damp from our shower, and slide into the bed next to her. Immediately, she rolls into me, burying her face into my chest and sighing.

As I pull the blankets over both of us, I hold her against me and enjoy the sounds of her heavy breathing, only falling asleep once she’s slipping a leg over my hip. I hope I never get used to laying here like this with her. It’s fucking heaven.

Chapter 43

Spoken

Susu

~3 Weeks Later ~

I’m going to fucking murder this bitch.

Stab her right between her fake as fuckperfect goddamn titsafter I pull out the hairs on her head one by one. Then I’ll force her to watch Vance fuck me for aminimumof two hours as she slowly bleeds out.

A water glass is shoved in my face, and I jump, startled that I didn’t even notice Theo come up behind me. Bending over to breathe into my ear, he whispers, “You can’t hurt her, carebear. But what youreallycan’t do is shoot evil glares at her all night. You’ll scare away all the customers. Drink this. It’ll help you control that sexy as fuck rage.”

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