Page 117 of The Spare

Not letting up until I, in fact, give him everything.

Instead of nothing.

Chapter thirty-five

Peaches Are Good

Wrapping my arms around her I bring her close to me. "Shhh," I shush her gently, pressing my lips to hers in a chaste kiss, cradling her against my chest.

It's the next morning. I let her sleep in, and she woke up moaning, writhing under the covers.

Last night was the longest I've ever seen her come. It's also been the hardest I've pushed her body since we've been married. Istroke my hand down her hair, and though her arms are wrapped around me, I'm sensing a withdrawal I'm not sure I'm comfortable with.

"Would you like a bath?" I murmur. Her head shoots up to mine and her eyes widen. I bite back a grin, smoothing a fingertip over her lips. "Arealone."

She lets out a relieved breath and then nods her head, staying quiet. Seems I've fucked all the sass out of her.

Five minutes later she's in the tub and I bring her a glass of water and a Tylenol. "Thank you," she whispers hoarsely.

I watch her carefully as she takes the medicine, seeing her nipples, slightly red from me sucking on them half the night, poking out of the water. Not able to help myself, I dip a hand in and cup her breasts, fluttering my thumb over the tip and tilting my head at the way she bites her lip and whimpers when I roll it ever so gently between my fingers.

"You did so good last night," I praise her, seeing her sink further into the tub. She draws her knees up until they poke out of the water. My eyes nail themselves onto the bruises there, and I take my hand from her breast and rub them gently. Her head turns lazily to the side, and she meets my eye. I move my hand up to her tender neck, the skin slightly abraded from my belt. It's not wintertime yet so she won't get away with wearing a turtleneck. I twist my lips. "We're all supposed to go to your mom's place today."

She heaves a deep sigh, her eyes turning to the water in front of her. "Yeah, I remember. I'm supposed to be bringing the chocolate chip cookies."

The air becomes silent and thick with tension. I bring my eyes to her and place a finger to her cheek, turning her to face me. "Melody, are you okay with what we did last night?"

Time itself almost stops as I hold my breath, waiting for her reply. Her eyes snap to mine, and she holds my gaze for a few beats of time, a flush coloring her cheeks. She looks away before wetting her lips. "I loved it," she replies tentatively. But I know her well enough to know by now that it's only shyness that's causing her to sound like this.

I reach out, pulling her to face me again. She tries to jerk away, but I grip her tightly. "No, don't look away. Not for this." I wait until her eyes meet mine again. "Baby, I know that you're shy, and I love that so much, I really do, but I need you to be brave and do this one thing for me. Have thisoneconversation with me, and then you can go back to being shy. I just need to know. Are you sure?"

Her eyes search mine, her fingers tremble on my wrist, but I don't let her break my eye contact.

"Because I fucked you really, really rough, baby.And if I h-hurt you-"My voice catches as emotion takes me over.Fuck, I'll never live with myself.

"No," she says sharply, reaching out to put her fingers on my hand. "It actually hurt so good." Her voice trembles with nerves. "I asked for it. Iwantedit, Mason. Everything you did felt so good." She rubs her fingers on my lips as her own tremble. "So right."

Leaning forward I press my lips to hers. "We should have had a safe word baby. That's my bad," I mumble against her lips. Pulling back I allow her shy look and even her sinking further into the tub until the water covers her chin. "Pick one."

"A safe word?"

I nod. "Yes, baby. If you want to have sex like how we did last night, then this is the only way I'm comfortable. So, I need you to pick one."

A line appears above her brow and she thinks hard. Suddenly, a smile crosses her face. "Peaches."

I put a hand to my mouth to stifle my urge to laugh. "Allright. Peaches it is." Chucking her under the chin, I stand and remove my sweatpants, stepping into the tub behind her.

I chuckle low in my throat at how hard Melody's blushing as we stand outside Donna's front door, waiting for her to open it. I hold the platter of cookies in one hand, keeping Melody tucked under the opposite arm and playing with her fingers.

I'm leaning down to her ear, about to tease her about how she almost levitated off the bed last night when I playfully licked her ass when the door opens, forcing my spine to straighten. I wipe the sheepish look off my face quickly, but I think Donna still saw.

"Baby!" Donna's joyful smile never fails to be contagious. We're all smiles as she steps into Melody and wraps her up in a hug, then me.

"Hey, mama," I greet her. She squeezes my arms and slaps my bicep playfully. "I see you, you can try, but you'll never be able to out muscle me."

I laugh. "I wouldn't even dare, mama."

I don't bother telling her the only reason I'm so defined today is because I spent all night using her daughter as a piece of workout equipment.