CHAPTER NINE
RHYS
––––––––
Something's wrong.
It's not glaring, but a feeling in the pit of my stomach, a knot I can't unravel. We're still passionate and she's still vocal and open with what she likes, but afterwards, even as she curls up in my arms, she's not there. Her mind seems to leave her body and I'm just holding half of her.
"Addie?" I brush a lock of hair off her temple, trailing my fingers down her downy cheek to slip beneath her chin. I tilt it up, forcing her green eyes up to mine. "What's wrong?"
She hesitates. Her lashes flutter down but flip up when I nudge her chin again. Only there's tears in her eyes and the sight of them swarm me with panic and concern.
"Addie?"
I start to push up onto my elbow, but she shakes her head and catches my arm.
"I'm scared." She licks her lips before sucking the bottom one between her teeth. "I can't lose Mom and Oz."
"They love us, Addie. They would never—"
She shakes her head rapidly. "Not for this. Not their children doing this. What if they're disgusted?"
I pull her closer, refusing to give her space to fall into. She's toeing the edge, and I will not let her slip.
"I don't care." I put my finger lightly over her trembling lips. "I love you, Addie." I hear her sharp inhale, feel her lips part, but I push on. "I love you so much. I will always love you. I will fight the world for you. I will burn it to the ground for you."
Her mouth crashing over mine tastes so sweet tinged with her tears. Her arms close around my neck and she melts into my chest.
"I love you, too," she whispers. "I love you so much, Rhys."
We didn't solve anything. The week we have ends too quickly and still we are no closer to figuring out what we're going to do back in the real world.
"One day at a time," I tell Addie as we stand next to her parked car on the final morning.
Neither of us slept much the night before. After supper, Addie helped me dismantle my equipment and pack it into the trunk of her car. I took down the cameras and made sure nothing was out of place.
We also washed all the linens and disinfected every place we fucked.
There was a lot.
I wanted to give Giselle no reason to regret her favor to me.
"Giselle, huh?" Addie asked when I voiced my concerns.
She was scrubbing the counters, her movements as tense as her tone. I had to bite my lip to contain my smile.
"She's a client." I slipped up behind her and nuzzled the back of her warm neck. "I helped install her new kitchen. I'm told her husband and three kids really love the towel rack I put in."
She wrinkled her nose at me, but her cheeks deepened in color, a pretty pink that reminded me of my handprint on her ass.
"I didn't say anything."
I kissed the warm skin. "I know."
If I could kidnap her and take her deep into the mountains to keep as my own, I would.
Instead, I brush back a rogue strand of hair that has escaped her braid and tuck it behind her ear.
"I'll be right behind you." I motion with a nod of my head towards the bike I'd brought around from its hiding place in the shed. "My helmet has a built-in microphone. We can talk the whole way."
She raises an eyebrow. "Were you driving when telling me to finger myself on the way here?"
I burst out laughing at the outrage on her face. "No, I was already here waiting for you."
Addie closes the foot between us and leans up to touch her lips to mine. "Good. I guess you'll have to miss the action on the way back."
The implication has my hand clamping down around her slender throat and forcing her back into the driver's door. My little demon moans.
"Do not touch her."
She smirks. "What if I do? It's four hours. That's a long drive and I forgot to wear underwear."
I'm grinding my molars. "I swear to God, woman."
I check because obviously I have to and my reason for madness parts her legs as I slip a hand under the soft cotton folds of her skirt and cup her soft, wet pussy.
"Why are you wet, Addie?"
Even I can hear the thick warning in the question leaving my chest.
She bites her lip but groans loudly when I penetrate her with two fingers and thrust.
"I ... I think a lot of it is you," she pants. "You came in me a lot last night and this morning." She grins like she's pleased about that. "I have no idea how much is too much or if my birth control will actually work with this amount. I'll have to talk to my doctor and maybe double—"
The hand still around her pretty neck tightens. "Don't. You can take your pills if you want, but if I get you pregnant..." I growl in my throat and pump harder, faster. "If my seed grows inside you, Addie, I want it."
"Shit! Rhys!"
Addie cums. Her head falls back against the car roof as she rides my hand.
Her misty eyes open to mine and she gives a little giggle. "A baby, Rhys?"
"Yes," I say without hesitation. "I want you to have my baby."
Her cheeks darken. "I want to wait. There's still so much—"
I kiss her lightly, tasting her sigh when I pull free of her body.
"I'll wait. As long as you want, but that's what I want. You. Me. A family. Forever."
We stand there in the calm morning sun, wrapped in each other's arms. Our mouths taking long, slow sips of the other. It's perfect until we have to pull away. The reluctance on both our part only makes the situation worse when she climbs into her car. I get on my bike and wait for her to pull out first, but my phone lights up in the holder. Addie's smiling face glows on the screen.
I grin as I connect the call to my helmet and answer.
"Hey baby,"
"Hey, I'm thinking pancakes and the biggest cheeseburger we can find.."
I chuckle as I watch her turn her car around and start in the direction of the gates.
I follow.