“You ready to go?” Maximus asked having opened the door a crack and stuck his head in.
I shot him a look over my shoulder and went back to pulling on my shirt. “Can’t a man get dressed in private anymore? Thought you would have gotten a good enough look at my junk when I was in the swamp the other day. Though, I hope you accounted for shrinkage.”
He didn’t say anything to that, not even a snort of disgust, so I turned around and looked at him. He looked forlorn and serious, face wane.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’m not going with you,” he said.
“What?”
He sighed and shut the door behind him, leaning against it. “I know I promised I’d do the show with you and Perry, I know Jimmy was counting on it. But I can’t go. I have to stay here. I’m sorry.”
I nodded, understanding. “Rose.”
He chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “Yeah. She’s doing a bit better now. She can talk and kind of care for herself. She doesn’t remember me though. She doesn’t remember any of us. She doesn’t know what she is.”
“Shit.”
“Doctors said amnesia is a side effect, that I should be happy that she’s at least improving. Dex, she has no one but me now. Maryse has now been proclaimed dead. She doesn’t have any family. She doesn’t have anyone to look after her.”
I straightened my shirt out and looked him in the eye. “Maximus, you go do what you have to do. Perry and I will figure things out on our own. We’ll be okay.”
I picked up my duffel bag that they’d brought to the hospital for me and made my way over to the door. I stood a foot away from the flannel-coated, red-headed giant and it struck me with surprising emotion that this might be the last time I’d see the douchecanoe again.
“Take care, man,” I said gruffly, holding out my hand.
He grasped it, squeezing tight enough to break a normal man’s hand. When I thought it was time for him to let go, he pulled me to him slightly and peered down at me.
“Dex, I know I can’t stop you two. And I know it’s not my place anymore to tell you otherwise. I don’t want to do to you what Maryse did to Rose and me. You love her and she loves you and I reckon maybe that’s just enough to even things out. You take care of Perry, ya hear? And take care of yourself.”
Fuck. I needed to get out of the room before I started having my period.
I gave him a curt nod. “See ya, Maximus.”
I left the room and walked down the hall. Perry was waiting for me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Baby, please, I’m going to come,” I moaned, thrusting into her, afraid to slow my pace.
Perry kissed me deeply, her pulse racing in her lips and whispered, “Just go slower.”
I threw my head back and tried to steady myself. “I’ll try but if I blow my load early, it’s all your fault.”
“You’re so romantic.”
Fuck romance. This was serious business. My balls were so blue, they were navy. “Baby, it’s been forever since I’ve been inside of you.”
“It’s been five days,” she said. “And your rib is still hurting you, I can tell.” I grunted and decided to shut her up by pulling out of her and flipping her around on her stomach, spreading her legs with my knees.
“Fine, you want slow, you got it,” I said gruffly into her ear. I pulled back a bit on her hair because I knew she loved it and I liked to pretend I was riding her like a cowboy. My wild mustang steed.
I licked my fingers and started running them from her lower back, down the crack of her ass, past her wet hole, all the way to her clit. And back again. Slowly. So slowly. Just as she asked.
She tensed under my touch. I knew I was pushing boundaries with her, but what was the use of boundaries if they weren’t there to be pushed?
I leaned forward on her, making sure she felt the weight of me. “Is that slow enough for you?”
She groaned, her breath coming shorter and harder. Her ass moved in rhythm against my fingers and I rubbed her clit with silky pressure. If I was going to come like hell in a handbasket, then she was going to as well and way before I did.
I kept at it until she started squirming under my fingers and did what I loved most, begged me to put myself inside her. I partially obliged. Even though my swollen balls were begging for release, I wet my tip against her folds and stroked it up and down, following where my fingers had been. She started moaning louder, her legs spreading further. Perfection.
I finally gave her what she wanted, what we both needed. I thrust myself inside her, keeping myself pressed against her back, wanting to stay as close as possible. The bliss was unimaginable.
“Can you feel me?” I murmured, feeling myself slowly losing control. Five days had felt like a lifetime.
“I feel you,” she gasped. “All of you.”
I pounded into her, quickening my pace again, pushing myself and her to the edge. This was how I loved her. I loved her so much. I wanted her to feel my love, every single inch of it.
We came loud and hard and fast and I don’t know if it was the endorphins I was high on or something otherwordly, but the bedroom really did seem to shimmy and shake, sparkle and warp, all outside of my view. Maybe we were creating tears in the fabric of the world. Or maybe, maybe we were just creating something new. Something wonderful.
Fuck, she was amazing. This was amazing.
I rolled over onto my back, my hand resting on her wonderful ass. “That was long overdue,” I said, once I caught my breath.
“I can see it was,” she mused, still panting. “I hope you’re ready to go again tonight because we have a lot of lost ground to cover. Your cuts are all healed now, and apparently your rib is no excuse.”