Page 32 of His Forever

Zeus dropped his bag on the chair inside the door and waited for the two men to grab up all the trash from their junk food feast. He raised his eyebrows at them and then chuckled when Paulie said, “This isn’t our first rodeo with her like this and she has a specific list of foods she prefers. Now, she’ll be due another dose in about three hours and we’ve got to get on the road by nine.”

“Okay, I’ll set my alarms then. Anything else I need to know?”

“The heating pad on low helps and it cycles off and on. Took forever to find one like this but it’s the best one for the situation.”

“I’ll keep an eye on it and her. I see Harry and Nabisco are comfortable,” he said, seeing the two cats curled up against her back.

“They like the heat and of course, Nabisco is a heater herself so the extra can’t hurt,” Paulie replied.

“Thank you for coming tonight. It was my late night.”

“Never a problem. She’s my best friend,” Paulie said softly.

***

“Mi siempre hermosa? You need to take some more medicine.”

She could hear his voice but thought it was a dream. After all, when she fell asleep, Paulie and Gray were there so why was she hearing Zeus?

“Marleigh? Wake up, beautiful.”

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a very worried looking Zeus staring down at her. “Zeus? What…what are you doing here? Where are Paulie and Gray?”

“They went to bed when I got here,” he told her as he helped her sit up before he handed her a bottle of water and her medicine.

“But…why are you here?”

He leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Did you honestly think I would stay away?”

“I…I didn’t really think about it to be honest. I mean, I’ve never…no one has ever done what you do for me,” she finally replied.

“Marleigh, if it’s in my power, I’ll be here. Always,” he told her. “Now, do you need anything else?”

“Um, no, I don’t think so.”

“Then let’s get comfortable again. Paulie said you’ll have to leave around nine so I set an alarm for seven-thirty to give you time to shower and stuff.”

She snuggled close to him and smiled inside when she felt him readjusting the heating pad against her back. “Thank you, Zeus.”

“My pleasure, mi siempre hermosa. Now sleep, okay?” he replied before he kissed her.

***

The alarm going off had her slowly opening her eyes.Mmmm another night in his armsshe thought as she gingerly stretched. Today was going to be hell with the long car ride to and from her parent’s house. Still wrapped in his arms, she looked at his sleeping face and marveled that she had come to care about him so deeply. When she went to pull away so she could get in the shower, his arms tightened and he said, “Where are you going, mi siempre hermosa?”

“Uh, was going to get in the shower.”

“Someday, mi siempre hermosa, some day.”

She blushed at his tone of voice and what he was saying implied. He nuzzled at her neck before placing a quick kiss on her forehead. “You go get ready, I will feed the cats and let Duke out and we can go get breakfast before you leave, okay? I’m sure you will need your medicine for the drive.”

Getting out of bed with her back to him, she rolled her eyes at his slightly bossy tone before replying, “Yeah, I’ll have to take it several times today I’m sure. Not looking forward to the drive at all.”

When she turned around after grabbing her clothes, she saw he was in the process of making the bed. “Zeus, I would have done that!”

“I know but it’s something I can take care of while you go get ready.”

She sighed at his obvious hint and headed into her bathroom. Time to start putting on her armor.

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