Lilly's Torment(19)

"I am tired." Her admission came on the heels of a yawn. "You should try  to get some rest, too. I have a feeling that we will both need to rest  and relax as much as possible. Sometimes sleep is the best thing for a  person, right?"

"True enough," he agreed quietly. Brushing his lips over her cheek, he  pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Sleep, sweetheart. Gavriel  will be gone a while, I'm sure. But he'll likely wake us when he gets  back."

"Good." Lilly relaxed against Artaxias. She felt his heat making its way  into her and sighed happily. Wrapped in his strength as she was, she  knew that nothing could happen to her. Letting out another breath, she  yawned again and, before she knew it, was out like a light.



* * * *



Waking sometime later, there was warmth all around her. And someone was  touching her face, light strokes from a finger, she'd guess. "Lilly."  Artaxias's voice. "Come on, darling. We should move or we'll both be  extremely sore in the morning."

"Where are we moving to?" The sleepy words came from the woman as she  buried closer to him. "I like it here in your arms. You are so very nice  and warm, and I really happen to love that. Plus, if we get up, you are  not going to let me curl into you again like this on a bed or  something, are you?" Confusion colored her words as she spoke.                       
       
           



       

Chuckling, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "We're going to move up to a  bed. And, if you wish, you can curl up with me once more. But we will  need to remain partially dressed, Lilly. We can't go and make love, not  without Gavriel here with us."

"I would like that." Lilly's face began to blush in color and she  smiled. "Well, yeah. Plus, I don't know you. Don't get me wrong, I would  be very, very happy to do a great deal with you, but not until we get  to know each other. I don't deny being attracted to you, a great deal  actually. But I really think that we should get to know each other,  right?"

"Absolutely, now up," he told her. The blanket moved and he gave her a  gentle nudge. "I feel the need to get out of these jeans. They were not  designed to sleep in for any length of time." When she was sitting on  the edge, she could feel him moving. Then his hand was on hers and  pulling her up.

Another yawn escaped her. Sighing, she nodded again. "And it would be  nice to get out of this shirt. Do you think it will be okay if maybe I  borrow one of yours? I would rather sleep in just my bra and panties,  but I think that might be pushing it just a little bit too far."

"You can have anything of mine," he told her as he tugged her lightly  forward. Then she was up in his arms. "Since you can't see where you're  going, this would appear to be the better option to you tripping over  the stairs."

Lilly rubbed her cheek on his shoulder and grinned. "I think that I will  start to close my eyes and let you carry me around more often." Her  voice held her intense pleasure and happiness. "I think that would be  very nice indeed, if I'm not too heavy, that is."

"Not in the least, Lilly. You are very light, too light, I should  mention. You really should eat more, little mate." He was climbing  stairs, moving smoothly, barely jarring her at all. Then they were level  again. "I'll have to run back down for your bags so you have at least a  toothbrush."

"I eat a lot." She shook her head with a laugh. "I know that I eat a  great deal. You will learn in the future just how much I do eat." Her  cheek rubbed to the side of his neck and she sighed happily. "I could  truly become used to this. You carrying me, that is."

"I don't mind carrying you, Lilly," he said as his body shifted and she  heard a muffled sound. Then he was moving, leaning over, and her back  was on a soft surface, the bed. A sharp click and the room was filled  with the soft light of a bedside lamp. "I'll go and grab your bags. Was  your insulin in them?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, in the larger bag on the outside zipper. It's in a black bag of  its own," she assured him. "Thank you." She relaxed against the pillows  and sighed happily. "I will be right here waiting on you, so hurry?" She  knew that he was going to go and check the windows and doors. It was  who he was.

"The bathroom is through there." He pointed to the side. "Closet is  right next to it if you want to have a shower and grab a shirt. I'll  only be about ten minutes, so if you decide to grab a shower, I'll set  your toothbrush on the counter for you."

"Thank you. I likely should." Even if the one thing she wanted to do was  just simply lie there and wait for him to rejoin her. "I need a shower,  and I need to be able to change into some different clothes so that we  can have a nice, lovely nap together."

"And yet, you are still lying there." He was smirking, damned male.  "That's all right. I'll come back up and assist you with your shower.  Though, I must admit, I often times get confused with the whole  hot-and-cold-water bit. The right knobby is for the hot, correct?"

Lilly's laughter shook her and she grinned. "I will. Don't worry." She  told him quietly. "As soon as you walk out the door, I will get up and  go take a shower. Besides, if you helped me with the shower, I would be  far more tempted to do more than get clean," she admitted.

"I'm sure you would." He gave a chuckle. "I'll be back in ten minutes.  Don't dally, Lilly." He turned and walked to the door, pausing in the  opening. "Towels are on the shelving next to the tub. If you need more  shampoo or anything like that, there should be some under the sink."

"Thank you." She watched him walking out of the room and smiled. God,  she loved that man, more than she could ever tell him she loved him.  That was totally shocking. Very much so. After he was gone, she got up  and walked into the bathroom where she started the shower. Stripping,  she was very soon under the water and sighing as she felt the heat of  the water spilling over her.

A few minutes later, she heard the door open and then Artaxias's voice.  "Your toothbrush and paste are on the sink. I also grabbed you a shirt  and left it next to your items. Don't be too much longer, Lilly, if you  fall asleep in there, I may not hear you."

"Thank you." She opened the door to the shower and looked out at  Artaxias. "I will only be, like, two more minutes. Then I will be out.  After that, I need to test my sugar levels and have a shot, and then I'm  so down with sleeping with you that it's not even funny."                       
       
           



       

"You have a very odd manner for expressing yourself." His head was  tipped slightly and he looked, well, confused. Then he gave himself a  shake. "Take all the time you need. I brought your items upstairs.  There's a mini-fridge in my room that I put your medicine into. In the  morning, we'll figure out a better spot for it. But, since the fridge in  the kitchen is currently full, I figured this was the better place for  at least this night."

"It will be the best place for it, period. I plan on spending a great  deal of time with you and in your bed. I plan on sleeping with you every  night for the rest of forever, so yeah." She shrugged. "I think that  would be a good idea at least, spending time with you. Right?"

He narrowed his eyes for a moment before slowly, cautiously nodding.  "Yes?" That didn't sound overly definitive. More like a question really.  Ax cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. "Finish your shower.  I'll just be outside when you are done."

"Wait." She stopped him with a word. "Do you want me to spend my nights  with you? If not," she gulped. "If not you should tell me now. If not I  understand, but it might cause issue with us working together, with how I  feel for you already. If you don't want me you should tell me now."

He moved faster than she could track and was right before her. One of  his hands came up to cup her face. "I will take whatever you want to  give me, Lilly. But I'm also trying to give you the time you need to  know me as well. I'm sorry if I'm doing all of this wrong. I've never  been in a true relationship before, Lilly. I have no idea what I'm doing  so if I step wrong, tell me."

Leaning out of the shower, she pressed her forehead to his and smiled.  "If a woman, namely me, tells you that she wants to sleep in your bed,  don't make her feel like you aren't so sure about it. If you want me,  tell me," she whispered. "Because I do so very much want you. I want  both you and Gavriel in my life, but I very much need you."