suggestion of a shirt than anything else.
According to my watch, it was nearly noon. A little more than three hours separated me from my groomsman duties. From there, I'd surrender the day to a carefully calibrated procession of photos, the ceremony, more photos, drinking-eating-drinking, toasting, dancing, and a bit with a flying bouquet.
I planned on positioning a very specific woman in the path of that bouquet.
I climbed out of bed, hit up the bathroom, and then shuffled through the papers and brochures we'd received last night. I'd abandoned it all on one of the side tables because we'd been pressed for time and had to make our way to Blithewold mansion for the rehearsal before my mother gave herself an eye twitch.
But now I couldn't find—
"What are you looking for?" asked a sleep-roughened voice behind me.
"Don't move," I ordered, still paging through the documents. "I can't feed you breakfast in bed if you're not in bed."
Zelda linked her arms around my waist, rested her head between my shoulder blades. "I don't need room service. Forget about that."
I turned, taking her in my arms and dropping a kiss on her forehead. "Then what do you need, my love?"
She blinked up at me, her eyes still swollen and bloodshot. I didn't like seeing that, didn't like knowing she returned to this room alone last night and cried. It left me ragged on the edges, empty and aching in the middle.
Zelda ran a hand through her hair. "Let's start with a shower."
"Sure. I'll get the water warmed up for you."
"After you do that," Zelda started, "will you join me? In the shower?"
"Yeah," I said, nodding. I bit back the tease waiting on the tip of my tongue because I didn't need to remind her of the times she'd declined my offers. She knew all about that and she knew today was different. "Of course."
That was how we ended up in the shower together, Zelda's head tucked under my chin and her arms linked around my waist while the water washed over us. We didn't care about the time we stood there, doing nothing but holding each other and ignoring my dick's desire to be the center of attention.
Until Zelda swayed against me, her hips pressing into mine in a fatally soft move that eliminated all questions of if she wanted me this morning and replaced them with how.
Her lips found my chest, my neck, my jaw, my arms—every bit of skin I had to give her—and she covered it all in kisses, licks, timid bites. She was like a baby vampire, unsure of precisely how she planned to kill me, but the truth was she'd already done it. I'd been hers from the start.
When the kisses and littles bites no longer fed her desires and her body seemed to tremble with need, I brought my hand to the back of her neck. "I'd love nothing more than to pick you up and fuck you until there are grout lines on your back but—"
"Don't you dare," she cut in. "Not until you stop groaning in agony every time you put on a suit coat."
"That's why I need you to turn around and put your hands on the wall, love." I held her tight, my fingertips pressing into the corded muscle of her neck. Her breath caught and her lips parted on a sobbed sigh but she didn't move. "If I have to stare at those lips a minute longer, I'll come on your tits and leave you squirming the rest of the day. Do as you're told and put your hands on the wall. Understand?"
There was a yawning second where Zelda's eyes flashed with defiance, resentment, exasperation, and interest—in that order. It was then that I knew why I'd played that card, why I hadn't opted for some gentle petting or a sweet, safe fuck void of these rough-scraped commands. It was because she pushed her wet hair from her face and planted her hands on the wall, steadying herself in place while shimmying her ass at me. She didn't need anything sweet or safe today. Her ex was an abusive prick and I had to get over that fast because he didn't get to rob her of the intimacy she deserved—even if it was rather rude and depraved.
I ran my fingers down her spine, over the dragonfly tattoo at her waist, between her cheeks. "I'd prefer it if you responded to me with words, Zelda."
Arching her back, she tossed a glance over her