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“No, but it’s gonna feel like it.” He slipped an arm around her back, holding the other in front of her. He kept her steady as she sank down, stifling a chuckle when her ass broke through the bubbles and her sore pussy met warm water—there was that squeal he adored. “There you go, little owl. Scoot forward.”

Tamsyn just whimpered, cupping herself under the water. “Okay, I’m done.”

Climbing into the tub, Merrick squeezed himself in behind her, groaning as the heat enveloped strained, fatigued muscles. He rather enjoyed the snug press of her ass against his cock, too, but refrained from mentioning it. “It’ll sting like a bitch for a minute. This is what we call aftercare—think of it like extra bonding after sex,” he explained, tugging her back to lean on his chest. “This is my time, where I check you’re okay physically and mentally. I get to spoil you, make sure you feel secure and safe, and generally pamper you.”

She moaned, sinking deeper into the water so her head rested between his pecs. The stiffness from discomfort took mere moments to leak out of her. “We have a bath every time?”

His left hand cupped her cast on the rim of the tub, keeping it dry. The fingers on his other hand dragged up and down her belly beneath the water. “Not necessarily. Maybe we take a bath or a shower. Other times, I’ll wrap you up in a blanket and cuddle you for a while, feeding you water and chocolate. Aftercare comes in many forms; we’ll find what suits you best. Tonight is a special occasion, so you get the whole hog.”

She giggled sleepily. “Here piggy, piggy.”

At last he hadn’t traumatized her so badly she’d lost her sense of humor, he thought. He reached for the cloth hanging over the rim of the tub and the bottle of body wash she liked. “Tell me if you need anything. Talking is how we keep things open and honest, Tamsyn. I wasn’t kidding when I said you’ve found your voice and it’s time to use it.”

“M’kay.”

He was rapidly losing his audience. Chuckling to himself, he poured gel onto the cloth and started lathering her up. Warm water, comfort, and exhaustion were a welcoming committee for sleep. “Darlin’, think you can stay awake until I get you into bed?”

All he got was a soft snuffle in response.

Well hell. Getting them both out of the tub without drowning would be interesting.

For twenty minutes, he meticulously washed her from head to toe, expertly handling her limp body as he soaped and rinsed every inch of skin. He made a low sound of sympathy when he tended between her legs—she was hot and swollen, which didn’t bode well for her come morning.

Tomorrow heralded a new chapter for them both and he, for one, was excited for the first time in a long time about what the future held.

*

Tamsyn

Her lover was a big, handsome, stupid lummox.

Three days after finally being intimate with him, Merrick still wasn’t touching her the way her body craved, and it was infuriating. He’d woken an untamable beast inside her, poked it with a stick until it went feral, and then politely advised it to go back to sleep.

Just to make things worse, he checked her twice daily to see how she was healing, those magic fingers probing her folds gently, and enraged the beast into a snarling, greedy monster. Especially when he slathered cream all over her unmentionables with gentle care.

All right, yes,maybeshe’d struggled to walk properly for a day… or two… but that was only because her muscles weren’t used to strenuous physical exercise. Besides, she was fine now, wasn’t she? Aside from the constant, nagging ache in her belly whenever he was near.

She knew it wasn’t because he’d finally had his way with her and lost interest—if the fire in his eyes when he looked at her wasn’t obvious enough, the bulge in his pants was always on full alert in her presence.

“Still sulking, little owl?” Pressing a kiss to the top of her head in passing, Merrick padded to the coffeemaker.

Tamsyn scowled at her breakfast, poking her spoon through the sloppy mess of milk and cereal. Not for the first time, she was tempted to stick the metal utensil beneath the cast to find the itch driving her mad.

“Busy day today,” he continued cheerfully, ignoring her silence. “Linnie’s asked to see you for a quick check-up, and then we have a meeting with Elias, Jasper, and Anarchy.”

There was so much wrong in that sentence, it was unbelievable.

“I’m scheduled to work tonight, so we need to figure out what to do with you. I thought you might like to come hang out with some of the other subs for a few hours, get to know everyone. There’s the added bonus of knowing they’ll stop you from running blind into a damn orgy.”

Her scowl darkened; she didn’t need a reminder ofthat, thank you—although an orgy sounded pretty fantastic right about now when her insides were quivering, getting wet just from the sound of his stupid voice.

“Darlin’, you feeling okay?” Merrick’s warm hand covered her forehead lightly from behind. “Don’t bite my head off, but… when is your period due?”

Glowering at the ridiculously tall idiot over her shoulder, she snapped, “My what?”

Merrick rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. “That time of the month where your back aches and your stomach cramps? Hormones go wild, tempers flare, things get a bit… messy.”

Oh, that.