My nerves scrambled as Leila, Vlad, the kids and I made our way to the kitchen. Damien had happily claimed my lap, seemingly content to cuddle against my torso and enjoy the ride. My mind wasn't focusing on the adorable sight though, no it was focused on what lay ahead of me.
There was no doubt where Maximus and I would be going the second we freed ourselves from the kids and the thought made excitement and nerves leap to the surface.
Today was the day, after all the start and stops, my panic attacks, and countless nights of exploring we were finally going to go the full way. What would it be like? Slow and sweet, like Maximus had made everything so far? Or maybe fast and passionate? Either sounded nice to me and I knew I would be finding out soon.
As we approached the kitchen, I took a deep breath to settle my nerves again before wheeling through the entry way. Maximus stood, tense as a bow string, by the counter. His head was already angled to the door before we entered, his hearing picking up on our entrance from a ways off. His eyes met mine nearly instantly and locked on. The stormy grey seemed to swirl with desire as he scanned down my body, only to stop at Damien resting in my lap.
His desire cooled into something warmer, something I couldn't identify, as he crouched to talk to him. "Hello again, I see you've met my lover."
The title made me flush but I didn't dispute it as Damien swung around to stare in open mouthed wonder. "You two are together?! Like, together, together?"
His surprise was funny, but I just nodded, curious where he was going with this.
Damien swung back around to Maximus with a huge grin, "You're both nice so you two fit perfectly."
When had he met Maximus? Before I could ask, the man himself answered. "I ripped apart one of his captors in front of him and instead of being terrified, he's grateful."
Ah, that made sense. While I was a bit worried about him seeing such things at such a young age, I had to remind myself he'd lived through things no child should have to. If it made him feel more secure to see Maximus kill his captor then more power to him.
"You should have seen him! The man was mean, he always laughed when he hurt one of us, but he got rid of him!"
I could see the hero worship already forming in Damien's eyes as he described Maximus dispatch of his rapist. I let a smile curl my mouth as I met Maximus's sheepish gaze.
"Yeah, he is something else, isn't he?" My words made Maximus's smile widen a smidge before he visibly remembered our previous plans.
His eyes lost their calm demeanor, shifting into the primal lust that spelled out wonderful things for me. "Damien, I believe it's time for me to take Zelda to bed. She's had a long day and needs her sleep."
I would definitely need sleep in a few hours, his look promised that…
Damien pouted, piping up with hopeful eyes to both of us. "Can I come too? I promise to be quiet and let you sleep! Nap time with others is fun."
If it were any other day and time, I would allow it. However, Maximus and I had already put it off too many times and the ache burning in my stomach was demanding that it wouldn't be put off any longer.
"Not tonight Damien, but how about sometime in the next week? I'm not going anywhere and I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities. You need lots of naps at your age and I find myself taking them pretty often as well."
His pout didn't let up but the mention of possible future naps made him smile. "Promise?"
This boy was too cute for his own good. "Yup." Feeling impish, I leaned in and pretended to whisper, "And if we're lucky we might even get Maximus to take a nap with us."
His eyes widened to dinner plates before swinging around to face Maximus, I almost felt bad about putting him on the spot with such hopeful eyes, but I lost that guilt when Maximus nodded easily.
"I don't see why not, as long as I have no duties to attend to." Damien bounded out of my lap, doing a little happy dance as he trotted over to Leila and Mira.
I laughed along with Leila as he completed his dance, even pulling Mira in, to her delight. Maximus's hands dropped to my shoulders, effectively pulling me from my musings.
Looking up, his eyes burned with sensual promise as he bent to whisper in my ear. "Shall we depart?"
I swallowed down the butterflies and nodded, giving a weak wave to Vlad and Leila who were wearing twin looks of knowing amusement. I don't care, let them tease me. I was about to have one of the best nights of my life and nothing was going to ruin that.
Maximus's hands settled on my chair, directing me out and toward my room with practiced ease. As the door came into sight, my nerves squirmed in my stomach. The hours since we'd been interrupted had felt longer than any other time in my life, but finally we were here and nothing was going to interrupt us.