Page 81 of Born into Darkness

I laugh and pull her closer. “Relax, baby. One of us at least needs to be coming, and it’s clearly not going to be me.”

I have every intention of following through on that, but the pain meds turn out to be far stronger than I anticipated. My head feels loopy, my muscles warm and relaxed, and I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I don’t even have the strength to argue when Niki pulls me up and leads me to bed. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out.

The room is dark when I wake, but there’s light filtering out from the partially shut bathroom door, and I swear my heart swells a bit at the realization that Talia took the time to do that, knowing I wouldn’t want it completely black in here. She’s cuddled up next to me, softly snoring with her hand on my chest, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this woman is my forever.

“I’m going to marry you, Talia,” I whisper. “I’m going to marry you and love you forever. We’re going to make so many babies, and you’re going to be surrounded by so much love.”

“Yes,” she whispers, surprising the hell out of me. Her voice is thick with sleep, but I can tell she’s smiling when she kisses my shoulder and says, “I’ll marry you, Max, but I’m going to need you to propose again when you aren’t high on painkillers.”

I laugh and run my fingers through her hair. “You weren’t supposed to hear all that, but it’s the truth. I promise I’ll propose again with a clear mind and big diamond.”

“I don’t need a big diamond, Max. I only need you.”

“Okay, I’ll get you a really tiny one then.”

She laughs and says, “The tiniest one you can find, so small it’s not visible to the naked eye.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I say, smiling and feeling like I’ve won the lottery with this woman, like the Universe has just handed me the most precious gift in the world, one I know I could never deserve.

I drift off to sleep again with her body pressed against mine, and not even the returning ache in my hand can ruin how happy I feel right now.

Chapter15

Talia

The next several days pass by in a chaotic blur of doctor appointments for Max, rehabilitation plans, and phone calls with Allie, who’s incredibly happy for me but very much wishing she had her own man to sleep naked with at night.

Max’s frustration at having to continue with the pain meds is a palpable thing, and I worry he’s going to toss the bottle out the damn window and call it quits, especially since I refuse to let him do anything for me.

He edged the hell out of me and left me very wet and wanting, but it doesn’t feel right to do anything when he’s so out of it and feeling bad. I’d rather wait until he’s clear-headed and can at least enjoy himself. He disagrees, but he’s in no position to fight me on it, so I’m currently winning this particular argument.

“Most of my family’s going to head back in a couple of days,” I say when I walk into our room with a breakfast tray. “My parents and brothers are staying for a bit longer, though.”

He eyes me, gauging my reaction before sitting up and letting me put the tray on his lap. He’s learned to not fight me on this, but I can tell he hates being what he considers helpless. The sling is still on for a few more days, but the doctor said the swelling is going down and everything is looking good. The physical therapist has a lot of experience with musicians, and he’s already made a rigorous rehabilitation schedule for him that they’re going to be starting next week. I know he’s anxious to get started but also worried it won’t take, that he’ll never get back the nimble dexterity that he once had. I’m confident he will.

Leaning closer, I place a kiss on the tip of each of his fingers before pressing my lips to the gorgeous mouth that always makes me feel a little delirious. Now is no exception, and when I pull back, I feel a bit spacey and blissed out.

He gives a frustrated sigh and asks, “Are you on the menu this morning?”

I smile and push the tray of food closer to him before pointing at his pain pill. “Nope. Eat up, Max, and take your pill.”

“You’re a bratty sub and a domineering nursemaid,” he tells me, but he takes the pill and reaches for his fork, earning him a big smile from me. He tries his best to look angry, but he fails miserably as the corner of his mouth lifts in a grin.

While he starts to eat, I sit down next to him. I already had breakfast with everyone else, but I reach for the extra mug of coffee I’d put on the tray.

“How do you feel about them leaving? They’re all welcome to stay as long as they want.” He takes a drink and watches me. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll miss them like crazy,” I say, not seeing the point in lying about it. “But I’d miss you more, and at least my parents and brothers are staying a bit longer. You should’ve seen Niki this morning with Bran. I swear he’s trying his damndest to set a record for how fast any one person can learn ASL.”

Max reaches for a piece of toast and says, “If anyone could do it, it’d be him.”

“Damien was over here learning with them while I was cooking your breakfast, and Damian seemed to be picking it up really quickly too. He said something about it making a lot more sense to him than reading and writing.”

“Damien’s dyslexic,” Max says. “I hadn’t thought about sign language being easier for him, but it makes sense. Trying to decode a paragraph is enough to make him crazy, but he’s fantastic with video games and spatial learning, and he has a memory like a goddamn elephant. He might beat my brother at learning it, and, god, that’ll piss Niki off,” he says with a laugh.

“I’m just thrilled they’re trying to learn at all. It’s really nice of them.”

“Of course we’re all going to learn. We’re family now. Unfortunately, it’ll be a while before I can practice the signs, but lucky for me I have my own private tutor.”

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