A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays readers! I hope you have a fantastic holiday season and enjoy some time off from school or work.

This chapter is kind of short. I'm sorry that it is, but I have been working hard on the next few chapters, so stay tuned for some updates.

If you like what you're reading please help a writer out and favorite, follow, or review this story! If you leave suggestions for future chapters I will definitely try to fit them in. (I'm already working on the next one!)

Anyway, hope you enjoy chapter 22!

I overslept. Well, technically, I didn't oversleep. Maxon had woken up early, again, and he forgot to get me up with him. So, instead of my husband waking me up, I woke up to his booming alarm again. I slapped it so it would be quiet, groaning as my head began to defog from the deep sleep I was forced out of. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my tired eyes. This was the second time that he has done this to me. I thought I would be getting to wake up next to him every day for the rest of my life, not waking up to his alarm or the cold sheets next to me. Besides that, I was already not in the mood for this today. I could tell that I was most likely going to be extremely uncomfortable no matter what. Plus, I had to monitor the setup for this elaborate party we're throwing after lunch and then I have to change- there was just so much to do and I didn't have time to deal with this right now.

"Maxon…!" I call out angrily. I hate when I'm not by his side already, my fear of losing him is only heightened when he doesn't respond. My anxiety jumps and starts to skyrocket more than normal. "Maxon?"

With no response the second time, I figure it might be good to investigate where he could be. I was worried that he might have gotten hurt or something. I roll out of the bed, falling and landing with a thud against the floor. Still no Maxon. I walk over to his bathroom, my feet sticking to the flooring. Normally, if he's not in bed with me, he is going to be doing something in the bathroom. The door is cracked, which I don't know if that's normal for him or not. I have to take a chance to make sure he's okay. For my sake, I need to. So, I peer my head into the fancy bathroom searching for the blonde head of hair or the flash of cocoa-colored eyes. I find something much more appealing to me. My eyes are met with his bare body under steamy water which is why he wouldn't hear my call to him or my thud if he was in there. I look at his naked form through the glass of the shower door. He is a piece of art, sculpted to perfection. From the hardened abs to the delicate and natural curve of his back, I loved it all. Oh, and he is all mine. I could stand here all day and watch him do such a mundane task as washing his hair, but I think I want to join him instead. I took off the shirt he gave me that I stole from him and the shorts he gave to me that I stole from him. I creep over to his shower, drop my underwear which (surprisingly) aren't blood-filled, and open the door. He jumps back with a scream-like sound leaving his lips, but he softens when the realization that it's just me hits him. I step in carefully and close the door.

"I hope you don't mind that I join you. Figured I might as well since I need to shower today, too. We can help conserve water this way."

His pupils dilated at the sight of my naked body in the hazy shower. I make note that his Adam's apple had bobbed in his throat anxiously, only showing my effects on him further. His voice is tight, almost like it is holding back all of his temptations and he shakes his head quickly. "Not at all."

"Good." I close the door behind me and step further into the water stream. My eyes close as the heated water flows down my face and body, warming my chilled frame.

"Do you want me to wash your hair for you?"

I open my eyes to look at him. "I would love that. Thank you."

I wet my hair down the rest of the way, then turn back to him. He squirts some shampoo into his hands and motions to me to turn around so my back faces him.

He starts to massage my scalp and I lean into the touch. "How did you sleep?"

"Amazing till I woke up and discovered that you weren't in bed with me."

"I wasn't expecting that. Damn."

"Damn, indeed. Next time you get up early, will you tell me before you run off and leave me to wake up alone?"

"I will. I promise."

"Good. How did you sleep?"

"I always sleep great with you in my arms."

"Aw."

"It's only the truth." He sighs, "You're all good to rinse out the shampoo."

I step away from him and turn around to let my hair fall into the water stream. I don't have my eyes open to know that his eyes never leave my body. I can just feel Maxon's stare on me. I can't really describe how I feel knowing that his eyes are on me like that. Maybe it's a feeling of love knowing that I look at him the same way. Maybe it's a feeling of pride because I can make him stare like that. Or maybe it's a feeling of heat that makes me want to both cover up and rip out of my skin. I can't pinpoint it exactly, but I love it nonetheless.

"Like what you see?" I say without missing a beat. I didn't even have to open my eyes to call him out. I do end up opening my eyes to see his sly smile.

I could hear the smile in his sultry voice, "More than you could ever know…"

I use my quick thinking to determine that my hair is rinsed out enough. I step out of the water and pull him into me. I kiss him with so much passion and love, it most definitely catches him off guard. But just as quickly as I act, his body responds. His hands grab at my hips, waist, ass, and thighs all in an effort to pull me closer to him. He pushes us under the stream and to the wall, right beside where the handle to the shower is. I throw a leg up, telling him with my body to lift me. Our passionate kiss quickly becomes heated as I am lifted and rammed into the wall.

He pulls away, "Are we okay to do this with your period?"

I nod and kiss him again. It's the most effective way to get my answer across. One of his hands leaves the underside of my butt and thigh but only to make its way between us. He pulls away to adjust himself under me. His eyes meet mine, searching for consent. I look in his eyes and nod. He nods back and thrust in. I moan out loudly. He grunts and keeps going. My arms that are wrapped around his neck, grip into and scratch his back as he pounds into me. I continue to moan with every thrust into me. He knows how to make me feel… powerless with him. Of course, this loss of power is only for him to take control, and I love when he does that. His lips make their way back to mine. Moans released from me are thrown into his mouth as he continues to fuck me endlessly. I grip into his back more as I get closer.

"Fuck… Maxon…" I scream out. Not even seconds later, I feel my walls tighten around him, and my body releases. I yell his name out even more as my high drags on, leaving me feeling weak in the best way possible.

He continues to drive into me until his sweet release. "Goddamn it, America!"

I feel his warm liquid fill me and I smile at the thought. I lean my head back against the wall, still trying to regain my breath. Maxon's head is next to mine, resting and catching his breath. Once we are both mostly calmed down, he lifts me up enough so he can pull out. I put my feet on the ground, the warm water mingling at my feet. I look up at his refreshed face and a small smile creeps onto my face.

"I think you might need to rewash yourself after that…" I tell him before stepping into the water again. I rinse the sweat off of me, stealing a clean washcloth from right outside of the shower to do so.

He just shakes his head, a smile laying on his face, and listens to me. I start to condition my hair as he is rewashing his body. I try to not look at him, just so that way we don't get off track too much. I work quickly to rinse out the teakwood scented conditioner so that way I can go get dressed. Maxon steps out of the water first, his hair not needing to be washed out a ton more. I turn off the water once I am done. He steps out and hands me a white towel which I was going to use to wrap around myself, but stopped myself from doing.

"Maxon, could you please hand me those?" I ask him, referencing down to my underwear.

"Aren't they dirty?"

I huff, "Yes, but please consider the following: I'm bleeding out. I don't want blood on the floor. I don't want to ruin your white towels. You get what I'm saying?"

"Oh shit, right. Sorry." He tosses them to me and I slip them on quickly.

"Thank you." I wrap the towel around my body, covering myself completely. Quickly, I step out of the open shower. Just like when we took our bath together a few nights ago, Maxon had his towel wrapped sexily low on his waistline.

"Alright, Darling, do you wanna go to your room and change?"

I sigh in agreement, but also in sadness, "I guess so. I hate leaving you, though."

"I know. I'll wait for you, like always."

"Thank you, my Love, for everything this morning."

"Anything you for you, Darling."

I kissed him one last time. His lips are sweet and warm. I grab my clothes off the floor and leave his bathroom. My wet feet leave tiny wet puddles on the floor. They'll evaporate by the time Maxon comes out from there, so I don't worry about it too much. I open the door, and Mary is waiting for me to return and get ready.

"Your Majesty, I wasn't expecting you for another 10 minutes. Good morning."

"Good morning, Mary. How are you?"

"I hate to be frank with you, Your Majesty, but I'm a little… intrigued with your attire that you have returned in." I shoot her a look of disapproval and she giggles, "Sorry, Your Majesty. I've seen your run over here only wearing his bedsheets, but his towel… that's new for me."

"We showered together. No problem there, right?"

"Not at all."

"Good. Can we drop this then? I don't feel like sharing my morning today."

"Not a problem for me." She clears her throat hastily, "So, you have the party at 2:30. Which means you will need to be here at 1:00 for dressing. That is the latest you are allowed to be. While you are at lunch, I will be prepping. So, anytime after lunch will work for you to get your hair and makeup done."

"Okay. I would prefer a simple day dress for today."

"You sit tight here, and I'll go pull something out for you."

I sit down while she goes off to the closet to find a dress that might fancy me. I hear stop drop along with Mary cursing and then yelling out things that are supposed to reassure me that there is no problem. Moments later, she comes back with three dresses.

The first of the three is a yellow lace dress with a box cut neckline. It looks to be about ankle length, maybe longer, with an empire waistline. It's sleeveless and has two white bows, one on each shoulder, as straps. It was gorgeous, but considering my circumstances and the light color, I forced myself to look towards the other options.

The next dress she had pulled was this gorgeous reflective ice blue dress. It was a mix of beading and lace for the material, and it had three quarter length sleeves and a scoop neckline. It looked to be embellished with little flowers that flowed into the beads and lace nicely. I could tell by the way the skirt fell that it had a natural waistline and it looked to hit about the middle of my shin. Once again, this dress was beautiful, but it was a little too fancy for a day dress and too light for my liking. And, while blue was my color, I felt like it would have clashed with everything else for today.

The final dress she had pulled out for me was the one I chose. It was an olive green dress that fell mid-calf. It had sleeves that ended above the elbow. The cut of the neckline was a little deep, but it had buttons that we could adjust. It also had lapels that were popped. My favorite part of the entire dress was the slit in the round skirt that ended about mid-thigh. It was sexy, but also classy enough to pull off for the day time. On top of all of that, this dress had pockets! One of the many things I missed about wearing pants were the pockets! This dress was perfect. It was dark, a good color, a good cut and fit, and was slightly sexy while still being modest.

"Mary, I would love to wear the green dress today."

"Alright, Your Majesty. Let me put these back and get you the undergarments required for this." And just as before, she scurried off.

She returned only a minute later with a matching bra and panty set that match my pale skin. I went to the bathroom, slipped them on, and took care of everything else that needed to be done in the lower region. I returned after dropping Maxon's towel on the bed. She helped me into the green dress, which wasn't too hard. There was a tie around my waist to help bring some definition and form to my otherwise straight figure. We ended up buttoning the deep cut of the neckline just to keep it modest for the day time. The buttons on the dress were gold, so Mary pulled out these metallic gold chunky heels that really blended in nicely with the dress. She got me small gold hoop earrings, as well.

The next part was the hair. She decided to leave it down, but curl it into beach waves to give it body. By the time it was done, it looked really elegant. She did a nude makeup look, something that could easily be changed later to fit the event. I looked in the mirror at my reflection. I always loved what she did to make me look amazing. This time was no different. As always, I thanked her and went to Maxon. I made sure to grab his towel to give back.

I knocked lightly on the door before popping it open. I couldn't see him right away, but I heard his voice as he talked to his butler, Justin.

"... just don't think the shirt color matters, Justin. If I wear a plain color, and not something outlandish I should be fine." His voice sounded from his closet.

"Your Majesty, I think it might be wise of you to just ask Queen America what she is wearing today so that way we can get you dressed."

"If I wear a white shirt, then I don't need to ask because white goes with everything. Then I can coordinate my tie to her dress or skirt or whatever she's wearing. We don't need to go bugging her right now. She has enough on her plate as is, and the last thing she needs is me going to ask her questions when she is already more towards the irritable side today." While I sort of take offense to his direct call out, I can't help but be a little love-struck at his concern for my mood. He huffs, "I didn't think getting dressed would be this hard…"

"Maxon?" I called to him from our adjoining door.

After a minute, he walked out of his closet. He was only wearing his undershirt and boxers. I guess he really didn't budget his time well if I'm ready before him. "Woah… you look… fantastic."

I drop my head and blush, "Thank you. Am I okay to wait in here for you?"

"Of course. I'll be a few more minutes." He kisses my cheek before walking off. He is already telling Justin what I'm wearing, "She's wearing a green shade, Justin! It's a green dress! It's green!"

I just laugh as he disappears into his closet. I quickly drop the towel off in the bathroom and go back into his room. I sit down on his side of the bed, looking at the book Maxon has on his nightstand. I read the description probably three times and I couldn't even comprehend it completely. I can't believe he reads such boring books. Moments later, a tall and rather lanky man with dark brown hair, a pale complexion, and a well-tailored butler uniform comes out of the closet with different colored ties. The man, who I just assume is Justin, holds these four or five ties up to me, well my dress. I don't shun away, even though I have every right to. He nods his head and walks away without a single word. I guess that helped? I'm not really sure. After maybe another minute, Maxon walks out of the closet in a white button-up with gray slacks on and a similar color olive green tie loosely slung around his neck. Justin follows out, swiftly leaving since Maxon is mostly dressed.

"I swear, Justin normally isn't as picky. He is becoming worse with the arrival of a Queen for me." Maxon tells me.

"Why would that be?" I stand up and walk over to tie his tie for him.

He shifts his voice to mock Justin's, "'You should match her in color. You can't stick out like a sore thumb. Your Majesty, it would behoove you to at least ask her what color she plans on wearing before she leaves your bed in the morning. '" I giggle at his impressions. He rolls his eyes. "Ever since we got engaged he has been an utter pain in the ass to be around."

"It'll get better. Once we figure out a rhythm, everything will fall into place." I console him as I make the final adjustments to his tie.

He sighs deeply, "I really hope so."

"Next time he tells you to go ask what color I'm wearing, tell him that he needs to talk to Mary before coming to your room. Mary always has at least a general idea of the color picked out for me the day before."

"I might take your advice on that." He kisses me and I lean in. He breaks the kiss, "I'm not sure if I told you this already, but you look stunning. I love this slit up your leg…" His hands trail up the slit to my hip, despite the physical cut ending maybe five inches down my leg. I shiver at the contact, it makes him smirk like a fool.

I kiss his cheek. "You did say something earlier, but I'm glad that you feel this way about me. Thank you. Let's go eat breakfast, I'm starving."

I pull away and start to walk. I turn back to him when I get to the door. He is awestruck by me, and it's clear to see. I smile at him and go back. Our fingers laced together and pulled him out of our bedroom.

He laughed as he was yanked out of our room. "You, my beautiful bride, are always hungry."

I pull him into me. "Hungry? Oh, my sweet husband, the only thing I'm ever hungry for your sweet-"

"STOP! Disgusting!" Marlee calls from the stairs, "I don't even have to be near you guys to know that what you're talking about is gross. Stop it!"

I sigh and pull away from him a little bit, only to lean right back in. I whisper to him, "I'll show you what I'm hungry for later."

I wink at him, kiss his cheek, and rush over to my lady in waiting, leaving Maxon's side.

"I'll see you at breakfast!" I called back to him. When I look at him just before going down the stairs with Marlee, I can only see shock in his features. What can I say? I'm quite the shocking woman.