As I pulled up outside of my room, I turned around to face Maximus. Today had been an emotional rollercoaster from our encounter with my mother to the present time. Our date had gone a long way in relaxing me again, but the chill from Lance's insane eyes still held tightly to my spine.
I didn't want Maximus to go back to his room, but how should I ask him to stay? Would he want to? What if he had other things to do?
The questions rebounded around my mind, my nerves competed with my want to feel the comfort I knew he could provide. It was the thought of being alone through yet another nightmare that made my decision for me.
"Maximus, do you have anything you need to do tonight?" I forced myself to meet his eyes as I asked. The eye contact helped me contain my nerves that were now rioting while I waited for his answer.
He shook his head in the negative as his hand reached out for mine. "The only thing I have to do is talk to Vlad about what happened in the apartment lobby and that can wait until tomorrow."
I gripped his hand tightly as I forced the next question through my nerves. "Would you like to spend the night again?" The connotations of the question made me turn red, but I didn't clarify. He knew what I meant.
He crouched to be at my eye level, his hand stroking through my hair before planting a kiss on my forehead. "I'd love nothing more."
All of my nerves melted into relief as I relaxed my grip on his hand. It was a good thing he was strong or that probably would've hurt…
Shaking off my thoughts, I smiled up at him before asking. "Do you want to change first? Those clothes don't look comfortable to sleep in."
Maximus glanced down at his attire before flashing a small smile, "It would be a good idea. I'll be back in a moment."
I didn't even have time to nod before he blurred out of sight. By the time I counted to four mentally, he had reappeared in front of me. I would never get over how nice he looked in lounge pants…
I dragged my eyes up to his again, flushing when he grinned knowingly at me. Okay so I liked how he looked and my eyes had difficulty peeling themselves away, so what?
"It's not my fault you look edible." I clapped a hand over my mouth immediately as a fire engine red blush covered my face and crawled back to my ears. Tell me I had imagined that and I didn't just say that out loud…
His grin widened, confirming that I had indeed said that, before he dropped a kiss to my head. With how warm I felt now, I was surprised his mouth didn't burn on contact.
"There's no need to be embarrassed or ashamed for admiring what is yours." Oh he was smooth. Did he want my head to explode from the amount of blood rushing to it?
Hearing him call himself mine did funny things to my emotions, making them do spins in my chest. I sputtered incoherently when I tried to speak, but he only laughed.
My attempts at speech were cut off by his lips, probably a good thing or else I would have said something else to make my head want to explode from embarrassment.
When he pulled away, my face had lightened to a nice cherry shade and I almost felt like I could think again. Instead of saying anything else that was sure to increase my self consciousness, I let him tug me toward my room.
"Shall we retire for the night?" I nodded mutely, turning to open the door for us and using the time to regulate my blood flow away from my head. It was only when I stopped by the bed that I remembered a mildly important bit I forgot. I still hadn't changed clothes.
Clearing my throat, I asked "Would you mind waiting here while I go get changed?" Maximus shook his head, settling his weight on the bed as I grabbed a change of pajamas from my suitcase that I still needed to unpack.
I would do that tomorrow, I had a much more pressing matter to focus on now. Namely the over six foot tall blonde viking currently sitting on my bed and waiting for me to finish dressing.
Thankfully over the past few years I had gotten adept at that, so it only took a minute or two until I rolled back out of the bathroom, dropping my dirty clothes in the nearby hamper.
He hadn't moved apart from lying back onto his elbows, the sight of his body stretched out on my bed made jitters run through my blood that I quickly stomped out. Rolling to the other side of the bed, I locked my wheels before transferring. My eyes stayed firmly on the comforter as I did, not wanting to see his reaction to my less than graceful movement.
When he said nothing for a moment, I risked a glance and immediately felt gratitude build in my chest. He had his eyes closed. He knew how self conscious I was about moving from my chair in front of him and he had made it unnecessary.
I reached my arm out once I was situated, my fingers brushing his cheek. His eyes fluttered open, a smile tugging at his lips before he pulled my fingers to his mouth for a kiss.
"Thank you for doing that." I didn't bother clarifying, I knew he would understand. He nodded before shifting to lie under the covers with me. Once he was settled onto his side, he placed his hand between us with his palm up and let me decide where to go from there.
I clasped it without thought, the familiar touch sending warmth through me as I maneuvered my legs closer to him. I stopped with less than a foot between our bodies, "Can you?"
Just as he did yesterday, he wrapped me into his arms and pulled me to his chest. I felt as the day's stress melted away, his presence drowning the negative emotions in comfort.
I would probably get at least one nightmare tonight, but if he was there it wouldn't be too bad...
I drifted off with his fingers carding through my hair, I couldn't wait to see what else our relationship held.
The breath stuck in my lungs as I lunged to a sitting position. No matter how fervently I tried to make my lungs work, they stayed frozen in fright. I hated times like this. Waking up from a nightmare, not even able to clearly remember what happened in it, but left to deal with the uncomfortable side effects until the dream let go.
My hand brushed a lump in the blankets next to me, immediately sending my panic higher only for memories to return. Maximus, the lump beside me was Maximus and it was perfectly fine that he was there.
I briefly considered trying to power through my attack without waking him, but after a second of trying to control my breathing I knew that wouldn't be possible. I was somewhat quiet now, but if it got any worse then I wouldn't be. I doubted Maximus would mind me waking him and if he did then I would apologize.
Decision made, I reached a shaking hand out to him. My palm rested against the dark form, the lack of light in the room making it difficult to tell what exactly I was touching. Gripping what I assumed was his arm, I nudged him gently.
His eyes immediately flashed open, glowing green at first as he swung his gaze around the room only to calm when it rested on me. His relaxed form disappeared when he noticed my current state and my difficulty breathing.
He sat up, scooting closer until I could feel his breath against my face when he spoke. "How do I help?" Tears of gratitude welled in my eyes before I pushed them back, he would take it the wrong way right now and I didn't want to explain myself.
I managed to gasp out, "Light." I felt as he flashed away from my side, and in the time it took my brain to register the mattress shifting from his lack of weight, the light flicked on. Immediate relief slid through my veins as I looked around at the empty room.
My eyes landed on a very worried Maximus after I finished my room scan. Now that I could see, his clothes were rumpled from sleep and his hair was the definition of bed head. It made him look downright adorable, but I doubted that he would appreciate me telling him that.
I forced a weak smile and gestured for him to take his previous spot on the bed again. He had hovered by the light, not sure if he should return to my side or not. I appreciated his care, but there was nowhere safer for me than his arms.
Once he settled next to me again, I curled into his chest and inhaled his scent. I never thought someone's smell would be comforting, but as his arms wrapped around me and tugged me closer, I found myself burying my nose into his throat to get another sniff.
It took the better part of ten minutes before I felt calm enough to talk. I could practically feel the concern coming off of him in waves, if I had bothered to pull back from his neck I knew I would see the same reflected in his eyes.
Deciding to get it out of the way so we could go back to cuddling, I pushed forward. "It was just a nightmare, I get them a lot and sometimes they are harder to shake after I wake up. Light and moving helps me calm down."
Maximus' frown relaxed a bit, "Do you want to go to the kitchen for some exercise?" His hands rubbed my back gently as he cradled me to his chest. The motion was soothing and I melted into it without hesitation. If this was what happened when he was here for my nightmares then I would be more than happy to wake him whenever I got them.
Remembering that he asked me a question, I focused enough to answer. "It's not necessary. You being here calms me down more than exercise ever will. Maybe in a bit I'll get up and start unpacking since I almost never get back to sleep after a nightmare."
Maximus brushed a kiss against my head before responding, "I'm glad to hear that I have that effect on you. If you need help unpacking I'm here."
I only had to think about it for a minute before answering, "I would appreciate that. There isn't much but it will go quicker with help." And it would also give us some extra time together before he had to start his day.
I didn't mention that part but by the knowing smile curling his mouth, Maximus had thought of the same thing. We may as well finish that first before cuddling so that we could relax for longer without worrying about blowing off the unpacking in favor of our alone time.
It wouldn't surprise me if we did completely space the unpacking, so with that in mind I spoke up after lifting my head from his neck. "We should probably do that now, because I'm just going to go back to sleep on you if we don't and as comfortable as you are I do need to get everything unpacked."
His chest vibrated underneath me with his laughter, "Yes that is a good idea." So saying, he gently slid me off his chest and sat up. Watching the muscles move under his shirt made my mouth go dry before I shook myself back to the present and away from the gutter my thoughts were determined to stay in.
I followed his lead and dragged myself up, moving to my chair and transferring as quickly and smoothly as possible. The sooner we finish this, the faster we would be back in bed. That was all the motivation I needed.
It was only minutes later when I hung up the last of the clothes. Maximus had just finished putting the other clothes in the dresser and turned to face me with confusion. "Is this all that you brought with you? I thought I mentioned to pack a few weeks worth of clothing…" As he trailed off my face heated up in embarrassment. I had hoped he wouldn't notice that…
I cleared my throat and said in what I hoped was a nonchalant tone. "You did tell me that, but those are all the clothes that I own so I only brought them." Maximus froze, his face stuck in a mask of surprise and disbelief before he noticed my discomfort.
His face shifted to concern immediately, his hand encasing mine in the next instant. "Why do you only own a little over a week's worth of clothes?"
I didn't like discussing this with him, I felt self conscious about this without anyone else knowing, but I reminded myself that this was Maximus. He wouldn't make fun of me for my difficulty with shops. "I don't do well in crowds. I can barely handle going to my job on the busier days. I get easily overwhelmed until every sound, sight and smell magnify painfully. Going shopping was never something I found worth dealing with the overwhelming feelings for. So I didn't go."
His hand squeezed mine comfortingly, making me bring my eyes up to meet his. There was no judgement in his grey eyes, only understanding. "If you want I could accompany you to the shops in town? There are smaller ones we could go to and you could pick out a few more outfits and anything else you may need."
My first instinct was to refuse, I didn't like going out with people because they tended to stress me out even more while I tried to deal with all the overwhelming things around me. But Maximus wasn't like other people. He had proven that multiple times over the past week and it was time I started stepping out of my comfort zone again.
"I would appreciate that. Where do we go to turn American currency to Romanian and what is the exchange rate?" That was important and I felt disbelief that I hadn't thought to ask that before.
To my confusion, Maximus shook his head. That confusion melted at his next sentence to be replaced with disbelief. "No need, I'll buy you anything you want." Immediately, awkwardness swept over me. I had never been good at accepting presents or compliments from people.
"That isn't necessary, I do have money." I tried not to shift in my chair, that would broadcast my discomfort more than if I had outright said it. Maximus must have smelled it on me, because he crouched in front of me to meet my eyes.
"I know that you do and I know I don't have to. I like spoiling those I'm close to and you most definitely fall into that category. If you'd allow it, I would like to spoil you at least a little bit?" He had worded his sentence carefully to not make me feel pressured and I could see how much he wanted to do this. So with an internal sigh, I accepted.
"If you're sure, but please don't go crazy with it. I really don't want a lot of things. I just like your company." He beamed at me, the sight momentarily dazing me before he dropped a kiss to my cheek.
"And I love your company as well. I'll try to keep myself from going overboard, but you may have to tell me when I start getting excessive. As I said, I enjoy buying things for those I'm close to and you don't need to worry about my finances. After fighting as a soldier in the crusades, stockpiling money over the course of centuries due to not truly caring about what I owned, and now working for Vlad who pays handsomely I am more than financially stable."
It didn't matter to me if he was rich or poor, I still wasn't comfortable with him spending a lot of money on me. He must have seen that because he changed the subject. "The trip might have to wait a week or two, I need to get caught up on a few of my duties as well as talking with the guards."
I immediately nodded, not wanting him to feel pressured. "That's fine. I was planning on using only the clothes I brought with me anyway so it doesn't matter to me how long it takes."
While I didn't mind the delay on the trip to town, there was something that I was curious about. "Will you still be helping me find my way around? It's fine if you have other things to do! I was just curious."
Not to mention I might be disappointed if our time together was cut too short. But if it was then I would smile and bear it. Maximus had a very important job here and I wasn't about to make it any more difficult on him than I already did by being here and interrupting his schedule.
Maximus shook his head, his grip tight but not uncomfortable. "Vlad put your well being as my priority until further notice, which means all of my previous duties have been delegated until he says otherwise. I just have a report I need to give him and I have to stop by the training again and demonstrate a few other tactics to the guards."
Relief immediately curled through me. I wasn't comfortable with the thought of a stranger leading me around, but I would have dealt with it if Maximus had been busy. "I'm glad."
The words slipped out before I could think better of it, and immediately I winced. That sounded bad. But before I could correct it, he smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "No need to panic, I know what you meant. I quite enjoy the thought of spending most of my time with you as well."
I relaxed as his thumb stroked my hand that he had yet to release. As I fought back a yawn, I remembered why I had wanted to get the unpacking done. I tugged his hand in the direction of the bed, "Speaking of time together, now that the unpacking is done how about we go back to bed?"
He stood from his crouched position, his hand still clasped around mine, and moved back toward the bed. "That is a delightful idea, I have a few more hours before I need to report what happened at the apartments to Vlad. Until then, I'm all yours."
Butterflies immediately sprang to life in my stomach but it didn't bother me anymore. They could be as energetic as they wanted, after all they were getting excited over Maximus and I could hardly fault them for it. I was already falling deeply for the man myself…
