6. Bloom #2
I know he is worried about me.
With me being gone this long, he’s surely thinking the worst. Once I return, he will see I’m alright. I’ll tell him of Rhydian, and he will welcome him into our home.
Rhydian has been quiet as I work on breakfast. Ensuring each pancake is perfectly golden, I turn off the flame. My mouth waters and my stomach growls anew.
Selecting two plates, I pile them high with the pancakes and spoon over the whipped topping. Tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, I turn towards Rhydian.
He is transfixed by me as I set down his plate.
I settle into the chair across from him and pour us each a glass of milk. Using my fork, I cut into the spongy pancake. It melts on my tongue. The whipped topping and fresh berries provide the perfect tartness to accompany the sweet batter.
Rhydian watches me eat with heavy-lidded eyes.
The fork looks comically small in his hand as he slices off a piece of pancake. I watch him chew thoughtfully. Licking cream from my lips, I nod towards his place.
“What do you think?” I ask.
“Delicious.” A wicked grin spread across his face. “Almost as delicious as—”
“Me. I get it.” I preen under his compliment all the same. “If you come back with me, you can enjoy both my cooking and my body.”
“An enticing offer.”
While his words are teasing, there is a tightness to them.
Looking around the cottage, there are signs of this being a family home. The plates and cutlery are for someone my size. A small frame holds a crude painting of a young woman. Her hair is the color of wheat while her eyes are the vibrant green of fresh grass. Rhydian’s mother.
My heart aches at the portrait.
There are many secrets he harbors, and I wish for him to share them with me. This burden he no longer needs to shoulder alone.
Once both our plates are empty, Rhydian takes them towards the basin. As he scrubs, I delight in the straining of his muscles. Biting my lip, I delay my own wanton desires in favor of discovering more about him.
“Will you tell me about your parents? Your father?”
The dish clatters against the tub as Rhydian’s spine snaps straight.
Turning towards me, fear and sadness cloud his eyes. I don’t miss the slight tremble in his hand as he wipes them on a cotton towel.
“What do you wish to know?”
“Whatever you’re willing to share.”
With a sigh, Rhydian trudges back towards his chair. I suddenly feel like he’s too far away. I need to show him that whatever he’s about to tell me won’t change anything. I want him just as much as I always have.
Rounding the table, I settle atop his lap.
His strong thighs press into my bottom as my fingers rub gentle circles along his neck. His hands fall to my waist, squeezing gently.
“My mother was beautiful. She was born in Dew Hollow, but her family moved into the Woods when she was a girl. My father found her lost amongst the trees one day. It was love at first sight, they told me. I didn’t understand what they meant until now.”
My smile makes my cheek ache.
Love. The emotion I’ve been tiptoeing around voicing. My heart hammers against my ribs as I stare into his eyes. Communicating without words the feeling we both share.
Rhydian’s fingers trace my cheek.
“She passed away when I was five. Illness took her. My father took her death especially hard. He was a good male, honorable. I don’t know the origins of our family’s curse. My father refused to see it as that. He said we had a duty to protect Dew Hollow. He was a true lord.”
Moisture brims in his eyes.
“And he was betrayed by someone he showed kindness to. I’ve been living in his shadow ever since. Too afraid to leave for nearly three decades. The stranger who cut him down stole my freedom with the same deadly blow. I’ve been too much of a coward to seek vengeance.”
“Oh Rhydian.” I nuzzle into his chest. “I’m so sorry. It’s not your fault. None of it.”
He holds me tightly. I wrap my arms around him as if I can chase away his lingering fear. In his solitude, Rhydian has allowed the darkness to fester. He had no one help him through his grief. Instead, he kept to this cottage as if it were his waking tomb.
“Do you know who killed him?”
Rhydian shakes his head.
“No one from Dew Hollow. He was a trader from a northern province. Came here to peddle his wares. My father hadn’t been well received in your village even when operating as their protector. He had been thrilled to have a visitor, and his guard had been lowered.”
Rhydian trembles, his voice breaking on every word.
“I was barely thirteen. I hid under this table as my father lay dying by the door. The man found me. Said if I ever left the meadow and told anyone about him, he’d come back and do the same to me.
” A lone tear courses down his cheek. “I grew stronger over the years, but so did my fear. I twisted him into a figure of immense power instead of the opportunistic human he was. He haunts my nightmares. Keeps me bound here with his threat.”
Kissing his soft brow, I tuck his head under my chin.
He burrows into my chest in search of comfort. I rock him gently in my arms, absorbing his sad tale. How awful. To lose both parents at such a young age. My mother died while having me, but my father had always been at my side.
I can’t begin to comprehend the years he’s lost to his grief. To the fear this stranger caused him. Anger at the man who murdered his father and threatened a young Rhydian with the same fate pounds through me.
Despite my assurances to Rhydian of the good-natured people of Dew Hollow, I’ve never heard of them being welcoming to our Minotaur Lord. If his father was ostracized, no wonder he is so resistant to joining me. If they will not accept him for the kind male he is, then we won’t stay.
He means more to me than any of them.
“Rhydian, you have nothing to fear.” I shift my fingers through his hair. “Pyke is an even bigger bastard for making us think so ill of you. We have all lived under assumptions for far too long. Hiding from the truth.”
Pulling back to meet his eyes, I bite my lip.
“I want to give you some of my truth.”
Rhydian’s dark eyes glow. With a steadying breath, I summon my courage. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. This male has had his fingers and tongue inside me. Yet, what I’m about to say feels far more intimate than physical. It’s a bearing of my soul.
“I like you, Rhydian. A lot.” I trace the harsh line of his jaw. “I like you more than anyone I’ve ever met. You are kind and quiet and thoughtful. Caring. Handsome, too.”
“Handsome?” Rhydian sketches a brow. “Are you sure you didn't hit your head when you fell?”
I smack at his chest.
“You are handsome. The most handsome male I’ve ever seen.” My eyes are gentle on his face. “I’m sure some would think me foolish—rash—but there is no sense in denying what I already know to be true.”
“Which is?”
Rhydian’s voice is rough as he trails his thumbs along my hips. I rock against him. My ache to feel him inside me flaring to life.
“Not only do I want you to be my first time and come back to Dew Hollow with me, but I want you to be mine.” I swallow thickly.
“I understand your hesitation more so now, but if they don’t accept you, then I want you to know that I choose to be with you wherever that is.
I want us to be together, to be a family. To belong to each other. Forever.”
My confession lies between us.
Rhydian blinks up at me. Shock carves his strong features. Several times his mouth opens and closes as if he doesn’t know what to say. He can’t be surprised. He is what I want, and I’ll do anything I have to in order to keep him with me.
I care for him, I lo—
“I want that too,” Rhydian growls. “I want you, Bloom. Forever. It is fast, but my heart recognizes yours. We were always meant to meet—to be together and never part.”
His hand drifts to my stomach and presses gently.
“You were meant to be the mother of my children. Let us be a family, Bloom. Let’s get started on it right now. Tell me that’s what you want.”
“Yes,” I breathe, my lips falling atop his. “I need it, Rhydian. Need you inside me. Filling me with your seed. Get me pregnant. Make me yours.”
These are startling realizations but no less true. I’m twenty-seven years old. I know what I want and who I want it with. Dreams of my own family seemed unrealistic not that long ago, but with Rhydian I’m more certain than ever they can be mine.
His family was stolen from him, and he’s been left to rot in the shadow of his loss. I want to give him a place to belong. By my side and in my heart. To bring forth a child that is the product of us both.
Rhydian snarls as his mouth comes down on mine.
I absorb the ferocity of his kiss with a whimper. This acknowledgment of our mutual desire has unleashed him. The timid, shy male I found is gone. He kisses me back expertly. Demanding with each push and pull that I yield to him completely.
My submission comes easy as I give myself over to his dominance.
Rhydian rises with me in his arms as he walks me towards the counter. My ass lands on the wooden surface as his tongue slicks into my mouth. His hard cock presses between our bodies. Flour coats the air as I writhe atop the surface.
Strong hands fall to the neckline of my shift.
With a sharp tear, the garment falls into two halves, bearing me completely.
Rhydian snarls, more beast than man. His lips leave my mouth to taste down the front of my body.
He nips at my collarbone and suckles both of my nipples until they are twin tight peaks.
Nuzzling into the slope of my stomach, he leaves behind bite marks to match the fingertip bruises of his commanding grip. I wear them with pride. Loving how he loses control with his need for me.
“Open your legs, Bloom,” he growls. “Let me see what only I get to have.”
I do as he says.
Propping my feet atop the counter, I knock over the dirty mixing bowl. It cracks on the floor, but we pay it no mind. Falling to his knees, Rhydian buries his snout against my heated center.