Page 156 of Broken Bonds

He walks over to the truck and opens the tailgate so we can retrieve our clothes. Another truck rumbles up and Davis walks over to talk to the driver and passenger.

Todd, Shawn, and I ride in the truck bed while Jax drives us to the house. Jax and Shawn have to talk to the safety team and will shower down at the fun room.

When Todd and I step onto the back porch he scoops me into his arms and kisses me. Goddess help me, despite how exhausted and sore I am—and how grossly sweaty and sticky I feel—I wrap my arms around his neck and would do anything he wanted right now.

He doesn’t put me down. He carries me through the house to his bathroom, where he kisses me again before gently setting me on my feet and undressing me, not letting me do a thing.

You know, maybe I could get used to being a spoiled-rotten mate.

In the shower, he kisses me even as he tenderly washes me, finally letting me scrub his back. We don’t need to speak out loud and really don’t speak much silently, either, because every touch, every glance, every brush of our lips against each other’s flesh is all we need to say.

Then he wraps me in his arms under the water, his chin rubbing the top of my head, and I had no idea how sexy that gesture was until now, and…

Basking is the best word for it. Soaking up each other’s energy.

The peace, despite the shock that is still there—for me, at least—but there’s also an awe I can’t explain.

I don’t want to think about anything beyond this moment right here, because it’s perfect, and I know perfection is fleeting.

When I tell Todd I need to walk over to the apartment to retrieve clean clothes, I think he’s about to throw a tantrum because he doesn’t want me walking anywhere. Then I spot the moment his brain finally drops back into his skull. After kissing me, he grabs his robe, which is huge on me but I don’t mind, especially since it smells like him, and puts it on me, even tying the belt for me.

“Don’t be long, baby.”

“You want to roll me up in bubble wrap and keep me in bed, don’t you?”

He finally smiles, but there’s an adorably bashful air about it. “This is all new to me, too.” He nuzzles my nose and gently pats me on the butt. “Hurry back. Comfy clothes—we’re not going back to work today.”

When Jax and Shawn walk into the kitchen through the back door forty-five minutes later, they’re showered and changed into clean clothes. Todd has asked me at least thirty times if he can make me something to eat, if I’m thirsty, if I need anything?—

Uh, yeeeeah.

But I’ve swung all the way across the emotional pendulum again to being completely in shock. Thank the Goddess they showed up because my nerves are frayed and I don’t want to snap at Todd.

“Doctor Williams is on her way over,” Jax says. “I figured it’d be easier on her to come see all of us at once. She should be here in less than an hour.”

“What’d Mike say when you talked to him?” Todd asks Jax.

He snorts. “Well, a few colorfully choice swear words that he and Dad can’t abandon everyone and head to Florida immediately, so I think they’re happy. And he said to tell you both congratulations, and that he can’t wait to meet you, Mal.”

I slowly nod, because in addition to the emotional shock I’m bone-weary exhausted now in a way I’ve never felt before. I’m certain most of that’s due to what I just went through, but part of me can’t help wondering if it’s also because of…

Yeeeaaah.

There’s another part of my brain insisting this is a mistake, that there’s no way I caught on my first heat, and that there’s another logical, perfectly rational explanation for this, which the doctor will tell us when she arrives.

I’m certain that will disappoint Todd, but there’s no way I’m…

Well, I just can’t be.

Can I?

While Todd and Jax talk, Shawn slides into the chair next to me and offers me a semi-fist bump. More like an exhausted shadow of one. He looks as exhausted as I feel. “You okay?”

I try to say yes and nod but I find myself slowly shaking my head.

He pats me on the hand but doesn’t say anything else.

Then Todd looks over at me and, mid-sentence of Jax saying something, says to me, “Baby, can I get you something to drink? Something to eat? Any?—”