Page 146 of As The Shifter World Turns

“And a hair dryer.” Somewhere… probably… I was pretty sure I had one. If not I could always ask Neil to borrow one of his. He had two different kinds and I didn’t understand the difference, but then again I didn’t need to.

“Three, two, one?” I asked as I unbuckled my belt and grabbed the bag of food.

“Three, two, one,” he agreed.

We raced out of the car on blastoff and were soaking wet when we reached the porch and dripped water over the stairs and floor as we got to the apartment. I fumbled with the lock and my phone started to go off in my pocket, Ivor physically shaken by it.

I answered it once we got in and it was a stupid work thing that took two seconds to deal with, but it still had Ivor looking frazzled. This had to end. He couldn’t live like this, always wondering if the Kellan shoe was going to drop and I couldn’t either. And maybe that wasn’t what this was, but it sure felt like it.

“You thought it was Kellan.” I set my phone on the counter.

He nodded.

I crossed over to him, throwing all caution to the wind and cupping his cheek, needing to give him all the reassurance he needed. Some of this, not all of it, but some of it was hormone-driven and that couldn’t be helped. He was growing a baby. That was ahormones all over the placekind of task.

“Oh Ivor, I know it will take time for you to see how completely gone frommy life he is, but trust me he will not be calling me… ever. I mean he could, but I blocked him and it wouldn’t get him very far.”

“Oh.”

“I will never put anyone between us. I couldn’t bear it. You mean too much to me and maybe we aren’t at the point where it can mean anything more than me taking care of the man carrying my baby, but I’m okay with that as long as you let me take care of you.” I pressed my forehead against his. “Please let me do that.”

“Okay.” It was but a whisper.

He shivered and it wasn’t from the sexual tension of the moment. He was cold and wet. A horrible combination.

“I’m going to give you a hot shower.” I kissed the tip of his nose. “Come.” I took his hand in mine and led him to the bathroom. “In hindsight we probably should’ve eaten here. Can’t have you catching a cold.”

I turned on the shower, surprised to see him undressing while I was still in the room. Not sad, just surprised.

“You said you would take care of me,” he said meekly. “Will you wash my hair?”

“Always.” I held open the shower curtain for him to climb inside. “Stand over here when your hair is wet.”

“Or you could come in?” He stepped inside.

There was so much to dissect in that one little sentence and even more to discuss, but I was human… shifter… whatever, I was an alpha in love and the object of my passion invited me to come into the shower with him… naked… and there was no stopping to talk myself out of that.

I peeled off my wet clothing and stepped inside, where he pulled me close for a passionate kiss. “This doesn’t mean… it’s just…”

“I know,” I promised him. I hated it, but if that’s what he was offering, I’d be a fool not to accept.

Guiding his head back under the water, I got his head ready to be shampooed and massaged. He leaned into my hands as I worked the lather, letting out little sighs of comfort as I did. I rinsed his hair.

“Would you like me to get you nice and clean?” I wouldn’t push anything more than that. We were going at his pace. He deserved that. Heck, he deserved everything.

“Yes, please.” He kept his eyes closed and that could’ve been from the water. That was the logical explanation, but I almost wondered if him looking at me made it too real or something.

I reached for his loofah and pumped some of his body wash on it. I loved the way he smelled fresh out of the shower, there was something so very much him about the product he used. I loved the scent of him all of the time, of course, but that first thing in the morning scent really drove me to distraction.

“I love the way this smells.” I was careful to use the human word, to make it seem like idol conversation.

“I know.” His words were not what I’d expected. “You told me the first time I used it. It was back… it was a while ago. That’s why I always buy it. The first time was only because it was on sale.”

His confession almost bowled me over and it filled me with so much hope. I began to clean his body, starting at the neck, careful to avoid the parts that were a bit too personal even for this setting… at least with our relationship the way it currently was.

“I’ll let you do the rest.” I rinsed off the loofah and hung it up.

“Will you please do it?”

---