Page 92 of Bound By Flames
“Thank you,” she signs, sliding down one hand with her palm up from her chin to me, and I’m grateful for Ares teaching the bare minimum in our bed this morning before leaving for the club.
-
Earlier that day,
“Focus Mia, I don’t have much time.” We’re sitting on our bed, and he’s only wearing his black sweatpants that I’ve grown to really, really like. Like a bit too much maybe.
“It’s just, look at you with your huge hands, making tiny signs.” I chuckle at my Hulk of a husband trying so hard for something I never thought I would see him do.
“That’s it, I'm going,” he grunts, pinching the bridges of his nose. I grab his forearm, his rough skin sending small electrical shocks to every inch of my body.
“Wait, wait! Okay, I’ll focus.” I sit on my heels over the cover, closer to him, his gaze glancing a second at my chest, making me forget that I only wore a tiny purple feather nightgown with barely enough fabric to hide my skin.
“That’sThank youand that’sHow are you?” He shows me the signs that I mimic to make sure I remember correctly. He then proceeds to teach me a few more signs and sends me one video with them so I can repeat before Rose’s arrival.
“That’s it, princess, you got it,” he praises me after I repeat all of them once. “You’ll stay here today until tomorrow. No outings, no latte stuff. I need Ash, Carter and Shadow for our operation tonight, so if you see a dozen men show up at the gate in an hour, don’t freak out, they’re from the club. Here to protect you, Rose and the staff.” He flexes his hand.
“Why do we need so much protection? Isn’t it a normal operation?” I cross my arms.
He shakes his head firmly, biting his lower lip. “We’re catching a big fish tonight, princess, and I’ll only rest when I come back home to you.” He gently grabs the side of my throat with his hand, and his lips kiss mine for a second in a rough and hard way.. His kiss leaves me panting. Until today he’s always been the one initiating them, but I find myself wanting to make the first move more and more. If only he could see what he does to me.
I don’t even point out that I’m not his princess and that he’s not my knight in shining armor coming back to me.
But um…I guess he kinda is.
I nod. “I’ll stay here with Rose. I won’t…I won’t run. Not tonight though.”
A sad smile paints his face. “When I come back, if I come back—” I furrow my brows, “there’s a couple of things I will tell you. Just wait for me here, can you do that, Mia?”
A couple things to say to me?
Could he really die tonight?
What is happening?
“I feel like you’re saying goodbye, what’s going on?”
His hand laces with mine. “Just promise me you won’t run.”
“I…I promise.”
And with these last words, he gets up and leaves me with my heart pounding in my chest, the light of the sunrise not even here to warm my heart.
-
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I asked Larry to make lots of things,” I tell her as we both get on the stools of the kitchen counter. It’s a bit late, we’ve been watching a series this afternoon and it was so good we kept going until our stomachs roared.
Rose is super sweet, she likes to read like me and she’s really into art. She’s finishing a degree in Art from Seattle University and I could tell from the spark shining in her eyes when she gave me the notebook that she’s really passionate about it.
“Don’t judge me but I like rich foods like pastas, pizzas, cheese and chocolate cakes. I never ate those things back in the day and now, it’s just so good. Vox makes them for me all the time,” she writes with a light smile and I keep myself from asking her about her past, which Ares said wasn’t the most dreamy childhood a person could have.
Pizza? This girl eats pizza and still looks like that?
Maybe carbs aren’t that bad… My mother always told me they would made me end up fat and ugly and that no one likes that, her words not mine, which created a fear in me about them. But from looking at Rose, it just seems like something she enjoys without any fear. Dr Ofenhaus did tell me that I was makingprogress yesterday during our session. And he encouraged me to try new things with people I trust to not spiral alone.
“It’s gonna sound weird, but could I try some with you one day, like together?”
She grins, the blue of her eyes looking lighter, and nods. “Of course, I could make you my favorite pesto sauce next time. That’s how I’m sure of keeping my husband faithful to me forever,” she writes, then shows her note to me wiking exaggeratedly.
