Page 164

Twelve

Weakness and Strength

I wake warm, but not because of the fever, because of the sheer number of hot, sweaty, male bodies pressed against mine. I manage to kick Drax off, who rolls from the bed with a shout and lands on his ass.

The sound wakes everyone, and suddenly, they are all armed, their faces hard, with each one of them holding a weapon.

Dray has two fucking knives in his hand as he kneels over me protectively, wearing a snarl on his face.

Thorn has a fucking axe and is storming into the other room with Maxen following behind him, holding a sword in two hands.

Jax covers me, a knife in his grasp. They are all ready for an attack.

I can’t help it, I laugh, and I can’t stop when they all turn and peer at me in confusion. Drax drags himself back to the bed and glares at them. “It was me, you idiots. She kicked me off the end.” He turns and glares at me. “Mean, babe, real mean.”

They all calm down and put away their weapons as I lean back in the bed. “Well, you were annoying me. Now that we are all awake, fill me in on what’s happening.”

Jax groans and buries his face in the pillow, while Dray settles his head back against my pussy. “Too early, soulmate, go back to sleep.”

“I’m awake,” I snap, and he looks up at me, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Want me to keep you occupied?”

I roll my eyes as Maxen comes over and checks my temperature and stomach. “You can find out what’s happened later,” he admonishes .

“Fuck, fine. At least help me up, I need to actually bathe this time, I stink.”

“You do.” Jax grins.

“Bastards,” I mutter. “You try almost dying, you wouldn’t smell like roses either.”

“I’d still fuck you,” Drax offers as he climbs back on and cuddles into his brother’s back.

I leave them arguing as I sit up on the edge of the bed and, breathing through the pain, get to my feet.

I nearly fall, but I keep myself upright, and Maxen is there to catch me just in case, but I ignore his helping hand and shuffle forward.

It’s slow going, and I feel weak and dizzy, but I make it to the bathroom and collapse on the toilet, panting. “Motherfucker.”

Maxen smiles at me encouragingly as he starts to run the bath. “You did really good, Mi Alma , considering you were dying about two days ago.”

We hear the others coming, and with a wink, he shuts and locks the door in their faces.

I pee, uncaring it’s in front of him, and slip off my bra after, feeling disgusting as I stand and head to the bath.

As I swing my leg over, I groan, wondering if I have the effort to swing the next.

Maxen is there, and he helps me without asking, supporting me until I can lie back in the water.

He sits next to me, waiting in case I need help and letting me have a moment of peace. I can hear the others out there, but in here, we are in our own little bubble. “Let it out,” he whispers. “They won’t hear, and you know I will never tell, Mi Alma . Let it all out.”

I could lie, saying I don’t know what he means, but the look in his eyes tells me not to try.

I almost died, and it scared the shit out of me, even though I acted brave for them.

I’ve come close before, but never from an invisible enemy I couldn’t stop or kill.

It was mental and draining, and yeah, I have a lot of turbulent emotions inside of me.

How does he always know?

I blink and look away before submerging. Once my head is underwater, I scream, just scream, getting it all out. When my lungs are empty, I resurface, coughing and brushing back my hair, but I feel better.

He leans over, swipes more hair away, and cups my wet cheek, his hand nearly covering my entire face as he leans in and kisses me softly, drugging me with his kiss, his scruff rasping along my jaw. “You will always be my champion, bending or breaking.”

“How close did I come?” I ask, needing to know.

“ Mi Alma , I felt your heart stop out in the sand, I felt you slipping away, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. You were just sliding right through my fingers.” His voice is rough, hard, and filled with emotions. I watch as he grinds his jaw, trying to hold it together for me.

Climbing from the bath, a bit of my strength returning, I press myself to his front and hold him. He grips my hips, lifts me, and sits me on his lap as he presses his head to my pounding heart. Neither of us care about the water dripping down us.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, and I am. I’m sorry he had to see that. I would hate to watch him almost die without being able to do anything.

“Don’t do it again, Mi Alma , I couldn’t handle it.” He shivers, his voice choked, and I feel wetness dripping down my stomach, and it’s not from the bath.

We just hold each other as we both work through what happened, and when we feel stronger, he lifts his head.

His eyes are red and filled with tears as he presses his lips to my chest right above my heart.

I swallow hard, my pussy pulsing as I watch him—such a powerful man weak before me.

His heart is in his eyes… No, not in his eyes…

In my hands.

Live or die, they are mine.

“I love you so much. I’m tired of being apart. No more dying,” he murmurs, dragging his lips along my chest, making me gasp.

“No more getting kidnapped,” I snark back, and he grins against my skin as he trails them across my breasts until I’m aching for him. I knew dying was a possibility, I welcomed it to save my people, but now that I’ve survived, all I can think of is letting them assure themselves I am still alive.

My men, my husbands. We’ve been fighting since day one, never having a moment to relax. I want a moment alone with them. I want a million moments until it makes up a lifetime, and it still wouldn’t be enough.

I’m weak right now, not mentally but physically, and I can see he’s about to protest. But death can come at any moment, I refuse to play it safe when they are before me. I want him, and I will take him. He needs this as much as I do.

I grip his hair, yanking the bun out so it falls around his shoulders as I run my fingers through the tangled silkiness, before dragging my nails along his scalp. He groans, closes his eyes, and leans into me. His hand grips my ass, squeezing now. “ Mi Alma , you need to rest and heal—”

“Fuck that. I’ve rested enough. I want you to remind me I’m alive,” I order.

His eyes open as I tug on his hair and drag his head back until I can kiss him. I lick at his lips until he opens, and I sweep my tongue in and back out, teasing him. His hands squeeze my ass again as he drags me farther down his lap until I connect with his hardness, making me moan into his mouth.

He rubs me across his hard length as he takes over the kiss, dominating me, making me chase him to keep up as he tangles his tongue with mine. Our teeth clash from the force. My body is his right now, as he controls it effortlessly. My rock, my Maxen.

I writhe against his length as he swallows my moans, his hand stroking up my back until he cups my neck and yanks my head down, changing the angle of our kiss. He pins me against him with one hand, keeping me at his mercy.

I love being in control, but Maxen always makes me weak, always makes me feel like I can trust him to catch me when I’m vulnerable. He’s my rock, what I lean on, and right now, I’m doing just that.

He nips at my lips and pulls away, leaving me panting and dazed, my pussy clenching as I remember the way he feels inside me. I wish I could feel it right now. “ Mi Alma , if I’m going to take you, you’re going to be good and take whatever I offer,” he murmurs.

I swallow, licking my lips. “Hell yes.”

He stands, holding me easily, as he grabs some towels and lays them down on the floor before lowering me down on them gently. Panting, I stare up at him as he slowly strips from his pants and tosses them aside, standing above me naked.

A fucking perfect warrior, his body is covered in scars, and his muscles are everywhere.

The V down to his hard cook has me lifting my hips impatiently, his golden chest wide and large.

His arms are huge, his thighs thick and covered in hair.

I spot his brand, and it only makes me wetter seeing my symbol on him, knowing he is all mine.

He steps on either side of my legs and drops to his knees, eyes on mine as he runs kisses along my thigh and up to my hip before tracing down my other leg.

I kick him in the shoulder impatiently, and he catches it, squeezing my ankle as he hooks it over his shoulder and shoves his big shoulders between my thighs.

I can’t help the groan that escapes my lips. I came so close to dying, to losing them all. I never thought I would have this again, his hand anchoring me to this world, those dark eyes filled with love as he lowers his head and laves his tongue along my lips.

Teasing me.

His fingers part my pussy as he drags the flat of his tongue up my center before he groans. “Fuck, I will never get tired of your taste, of seeing such a warrior surrender to me, weak for me, screaming for me.”

“Don’t get cocky,” I snap, even as I press my pussy against his mouth. “Less talking, more licking.”

He chuckles. “As you command, my queen. ”

“None of that shit,” I mutter. “I’m still Worth.”

“You are,” he promises, punctuating it with a kiss on my clit. “My Worth, our Worth. Tazanna, our love,” he murmurs, each utterance marked with a kiss, making me moan.

His finger slips inside me, and I spread my legs, pushing up to meet his tongue and touch.

He fucks me softly, adding another finger, stretching me as he focuses on my clit.

It’s slow and sweet, and when the orgasm rips through me, it almost makes me cry from how unexpected it is.

He kisses me through it, and when I sag into the towels, shaking, he kisses up my body to my lips.

I taste myself there as I wrap my legs around his waist. My strength is disappearing, and I want him before I need to rest again. I kick him, and he chuckles against my lips.

Pressing his forehead to mine, his hands controlling my hips, he presses his hard cock to my entrance and drives inside me.

I gasp against his mouth, his huge cock causing a twinge of pain, but it soon fades to pleasure, and he waits.

Only when I whimper does he start to move with slow, measured thrusts, and at the end of each one, he leans down and kisses me.

“Love you,” he murmurs.

I clench around him, the pleasure spiralling back up again, and he increases his pace, pounding into me as I hold on.

I groan, my head tilted back on the tiled floor and eyes closed as he kisses and nips at my neck. My nails scrape down his back, needing to get all my pleasure out and into his skin, to show him how good it feels as he drives into me.

Claiming me all over again.

Proving how much he loves me.

How alive we are.

It’s desperate, raw, and filled with our love and fear.

Our hands fumble and shake as we stroke and explore each other, his heart hammering, as is mine.

Our breathing is ragged, and I see him fighting back his release, so I tighten my legs and lift my head, nipping his lip.

He groans and slams inside of me, twisting his hips and hitting that spot that has me moaning as it shoves me over the edge.

He holds me as we come, the pleasure locking us together. When I blink open my eyes, I meet his soft ones as he sucks in deep breaths, his body trembling above me.

“I love you, Mi Alma .”

“I love you too,” I whisper as we press our foreheads together while we come down together.