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Our bodies slumped against the wall. With one finger, he wiped the hair away from my face. His eyes danced between mine, searching for something.

“So goddamn beautiful.”

They weren’t the words I was expecting. But I saw them shining from his eyes. I could tell he wanted to say them, but something held him back.

We quickly rinsed off. The water surprisingly still warm. Duncan wrapped a large, thick towel around my body. Another he used to pull some of the moisture from my hair.

He stood naked in front of me and all I could think about was having him inside me again. God, I was insatiable.

“Go lie down. I’ll be right there.” He swatted my butt as I walked past him. And when I looked over my shoulder to smirk, I noticed his arousal, like mine, couldn’t be contained.

I stopped in the doorway, my back to him. And dropped the towel before walking through to the bedroom. The snarl that echoed behind me left my body tingling and my cunt soaked.

I climbed into bed, pulling the covers over me, and waited for Duncan. He walked out of the bathroom to another door I hadn’t noticed. To be honest, I hadn’t noticed much about his bedroom. My focus had been solely on the naked man walking across the room.

Duncan disappeared behind the door for a moment and when he returned, he sported a fresh pair of boxers.

He chuckled when he noticed the pout on my lips. “If I get in that bed with nothing between us, I will fuck you all night. And we need to talk,mo bandia.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

Duncan pulled the covers back and groaned when his eyes landed on my naked body. He sat against the headboard and pulled me in front of him. Settling me between his legs. My back to his front.

He wrapped his arms around me and his body relaxed. As though I was the source of his peace. I thought about what Athena had said. That I needed to be a safe place for him.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, doing my best to keep the tremble out of my voice.

“Everything is wrong. Until I put my arms around you, Freyja. Then everything feels right.”

“What did you want to talk about?”

“You aren’t on birth control.”

My shoulders slumped, and I leaned my head back on his chest. This was a conversation I had been dreading.

“No.”

“Can you tell me why?”

When I tried to move, his arms tightened. I closed my eyes. I didn’t want this to be an issue. But I didn’t think I could give up my dreams of having a family if Duncan didn’t want kids.

“I don’t believe in artificial birth control. All those synthetic hormones aren’t good for the body.”

He was quiet for a moment and I wondered what he was thinking, though I was too afraid to ask him.

“What about pregnancy?” he asked quietly.

“Duncan, do you need a biology lesson? Or is there something specific you want to ask?”

“You said we were safe. How do you know that if you aren’t using anything?”

His choice of words shouldn’t have affected me the way they did. I told him we were safe. Safe was the word I used. But hearing him say it left me feeling something I didn’t want to voice.

“I know my body, Duncan. I know when I am fertile and when I’m not.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because for the past sixteen years, since I have been having sex, I have never had a scare.” I knew the moment his mouth opened, and I held up my hand. “I have always used condoms until you. But condoms are not a hundred percent effective.”