Page 77 of The Forbidden Trio

“Ready for a shower, baby girl?”

She nodded, and he stood, taking her hand to lead her into the bathroom.

“This place is beautiful,” she commented as he ran the hot water. “I don’t think I said it when we got here. I was… a little distracted.” She smiled up at him, her cheeks flushed.

“Are you blushing?”

“Maybe? I’m… once I hit subspace, everything changes for me.”

“I know, baby. It’s a vulnerable place.”

“Exactly. And to be honest, I never go down this easily.”

He gazed down at her, taking her into his arms. “You know you can be vulnerable with me, don’t you?”

She nodded. “I do, or I wouldn’t have let things go this far.”

“It’s good that you have the experience to understand that about yourself. I don’t think I could take you down this road if you hadn’t already been here.”

“I haven’t, Max. Not like this.”

He pulled her in tight, and she rested her cheek against his shoulder.

Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? Did he? He knew he had to be damn careful with her. Not because she didn’t know what she was doing, on a kink level. But because of their history. Because this was no one-night stand. And he wouldn’t have even tried to sleep with her again if he didn’t know exactly how he felt about her. Or so he’d thought. But now that she was here with him, naked and under his care, opening herself to him, he understood he was in much deeper than even he’d expected.

It made him feel incredibly protective toward her. But he’d better be damn careful. Because the last thing in the world he wanted was to hurt her. Or himself, for that matter.

“Come on,” he said, moving with her into the big shower stall and under the spray of water.

He smoothed her wet hair back, bent to trace kisses along her throat, smiling to himself when she sighed quietly. Then He took the bottle of liquid soap, and after squeezing some of the woody-scented stuff into his hand, he smoothed it over her skin, carefully washing her.

She stood still the entire time, moving only when he asked her to, and he knew she was still deep in subspace. It made him want to be even more careful with her. Not that she was fragile, only fragile in the moment. And service Top that he was, caring for her was incredibly satisfying.

He got down on his knees to wash her thighs, then between them before he took the lower hand-sprayer and rinsed her off. When she parted her thighs, he aimed the sprayer at her beautiful clit, which was hardening by the moment. It was too good to resist, and he leaned in to lick her, to suck it into his mouth.

He was gentle this time, pressing two fingers inside her and curving them to find her g-spot as he licked and sucked. In moments she was coming, her body arching into his hand, his mouth, as she panted and moaned, making his cock harden once more, but he was too focused on making her feel good. His own needs could wait now. He gently washed her again before getting to his feet, kissing her lips, then washing himself.

“You’re so quiet, baby,” he said. “Everything still okay?”

“Yes, of course. Just… spacing out. Orgasm number four and all.”

“Five’s an even better number. So is ten.”

She giggled as he gave her another kiss, and this time her arms twined around his neck, and she pulled him in, her tongue slipping between his lips to delve, explore.

When they finally managed to get out of the shower, he dried her carefully and she stood still for him, as she had when he washed her. He understood this was surrender for her, that it was a huge sign of how much she trusted him. Even knowing that filled him up. The sensation was familiar in that he always felt a sense of satisfaction in caring for his subs, whether it was one of his long-term relationships, or a night of play. But with Aster, the sensation was so far beyond anything he’d ever experienced, it was blowing his mind.

He’d always loved her, but mostly it had been from afar. Now, she was right here. And so was he. And they finally had a shot at… what?

He couldn’t wrap his head around the answer. Because who in the hell got to have every dream they’d ever had come true?

As he tucked Aster into his big bed and got in beside her, and she wrapped her long limbs around him, he realized that having your dreams answered could just as easily end in a total nightmare. For him, and more importantly, for her. It was a big responsibility he was taking on. The biggest of his life. The thought kept him up long into the night.

Chapter Four

Aster didn’t want to wake up, in case it had all been a dream. Finally, she became aware of Max’s breathing as he lay next to her, and she dared to open her eyes.

This is real. It really happened. Finally.

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