Chapter 5 #3
“Okay, then. I’m glad we have that settled.” She smiled sweetly at him. “I guess the real question is do you want me again or are we going to get up, get dressed, and be roommates until the road is cleared?”
His expression went from wary to amused in the blink of an eye. And by the way his body was responding to hers, she knew she had her answer.
But she still wanted to hear it.
“Make no mistake, Maisie. I want you again. And I’m going to want you again after that, and again after that.
I can’t imagine a time when I’m not going to want you.
But there’s also going to come a time when we’re going to have to get out of this bed and have something to eat or maybe be in this bed and just sleep.
But no matter what, I’m still going to want you. ”
His words thrilled her. No man had ever wanted her like this. Last night, he’d shocked her with his admissions, just like he did now. Only this time, she knew he was telling the truth.
Slowly, she wrapped herself around him, letting her hands roam up and down his back several times. “I want you too, Axel. I just don’t want you to have regrets.”
This time his expression was fierce. “Never. I’ll never regret this. And it’s no one’s business but ours.”
“I’m good with that too.”
“Good.” And that was the last thing he said before his lips claimed hers, and she simply held on for the ride.
The next morning, the sun was actually shining. Maisie woke up alone, and it took a moment for her to get her bearings.
“Axel?” she called out, but he didn’t answer.
Slowly she climbed out of the bed and put on his robe. He’d given it to her last night to wear while they made dinner, and it was much nicer than having to put on her dirty clothes from the last two days.
When she opened the bedroom door, she already knew he wasn’t in the cabin.
She figured he was probably up early and then went out to see what kind of damage the property had sustained.
She walked to the front door and stepped out onto the porch.
The temperature was cool, but it felt nice.
There were massive puddles and more tree branches scattered around, but she had no idea if this was the best or the worst of it.
She also had no idea how long Axel had been gone.
Or what time it was.
“Okay, one thing at a time,” she murmured, stepping back into the cabin.
The clock on his microwave showed it was a little after nine.
Unsure of what she should do, Maisie opted to make herself a cup of coffee.
She saw the remnants of the cup Axel must have made for himself earlier and wondered if he had eaten anything before he left.
They had talked about making some frozen waffles for breakfast—they had even talked about eating them in bed—but she supposed that was out of the question.
So she made her coffee and considered what to do next.
They had straightened up after dinner last night, and she even hand-washed her underwear since she was cringing at the thought of putting them back on again.
Axel had laughed and told her to just go commando, but that totally wasn’t her thing.
So, she’d washed her bra and panties and hung them to dry in the bathroom.
He’d also given her a few pieces of his clothes to wear besides his robe so she could be comfortable.
Just thinking about him made her smile.
And blush.
Good Lord…the man was so…everything!
He was sweet and sexy. Charming and protective. Strong and sensitive. Intelligent and considerate. Maisie never thought men like Axel even existed. He was like a knight in shining armor from a fairy tale.
“Because in my world, they don’t exist,” she mumbled before taking a sip of her coffee.
The men she knew were cold and selfish with huge egos. Axel had shown her more kindness in the last forty-eight hours than she’d ever experienced with a member of the opposite sex.
And that didn’t even include how amazing the sex was.
Actually, amazing wasn’t even the right word, but she didn’t think there was any one singular word to describe all the ways he had satisfied her.
There were several times throughout the night that she swore it was too much because her body was reacting in ways it never had before.
But by the time they had passed out from exhaustion, all she felt was satisfied.
And a little hungry for more.
Which was why she was mildly disappointed about waking up alone.
The thought of morning sex and then waffles had been pretty damn appealing.
“The morning isn’t over yet,” she said, deciding to maybe get things set up so if Axel came back in the next hour or so, there wouldn’t be anything for him to do except join her in bed.
Moving around the cabin, she cleaned up a bit.
For as incredible as the man was, this cabin looked like a frat house.
So, Maisie picked things up and organized wherever she could.
She wiped things down, dusted, and vacuumed.
In the bedroom, she straightened the bed—folding the blankets down and fluffing the pillows to make it look even more inviting.
Once that was done, she went and took a quick shower.
When she came out and found that Axel still wasn’t back, she wondered if maybe she should get dressed and go looking for him.
Just the thought of putting on her muddy sneakers was unappealing.
Luckily, she didn’t have to because no sooner had she finished towel drying her hair than she heard Axel’s footsteps out on the porch.
She quickly checked her reflection and tried not to cringe before running into the kitchen to preheat the oven for the waffles.
When the front door opened, Maisie was standing in the kitchen behind the counter, facing him with a smile. “Good morning!”
He looked worn out, raking a hand through his hair. “Good morning.” He’d taken his boots off outside, and she figured they were caked in mud just like her sneakers were.
“I take it you went out to assess the property, huh?”
“Yeah.” Dropping onto the couch, Axel let his head fall back against the cushions.
“Nothing was seriously damaged, but there are a lot of trees and limbs down. That’s a whole different kind of cleanup, but I’m glad that’s all it is.
From what I can tell, all the structures fared okay.
There are three cabins that got clipped by falling limbs, but the damage is minimal. ”
She put a pod in the coffeemaker and made him a cup of coffee. “That’s good news, Axel. It really could have been so much worse.” She added cream and sugar, just as he liked it, before bringing it out to him. Carefully, she sat down beside him, placing the mug on the coffee table.
He smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks.”
And then he kept smiling at her until she started to squirm.
“I’m sorry I was gone so long,” he finally said. “I kept telling myself I’d stop and go back out later, but my curiosity got the better of me.”
“It’s fine. I slept until around nine and then just kept myself busy around here. I wanted to have breakfast waiting for you, but I didn’t know when you’d be back.”
“You don’t have to wait on me, Maisie.” Then he glanced around. “And I certainly didn’t expect you to clean the place. I know it was kind of a mess, but…”
Placing her hand on his thigh, she leaned in and kissed him softly. “I didn’t mind. Besides, you’ve been working hard and have had to deal with a lot these last few days. The least I could do was help with a little housekeeping.”
When she pulled back, Axel gently tugged her back into his arms, kissing her soundly. She melted against him, loving the fact that he clearly was thinking about her just like she’d been thinking about him.
Lifting her head, she smiled. “I’m preheating the oven so we can make those waffles. I thought…oh my God!” she screeched as Axel stood with her in his arms like she was as light as a feather. “What in the world?”
“Waffles can wait,” he said firmly as he strode into his bedroom. “But I can’t.” He tossed her down on the bed and grinned when her robe exposed a whole lot more than it covered. Then he crawled up her body and showed her how much he missed her.
The waffles were equally good in bed for lunch.