Chapter 34
thirty-four
After an IV filled with saline and getting poked several times, as well as five stitches in my arm, I’m in the back of my dad’s truck with my husband.
They said the syringe was filled with some kind of opiate. And my safety exam was, fortunately, negative for anyone else’s DNA. They couldn’t find evidence of anything on me (or in me), though the campus police “are taking this seriously.”
Mom’s up front, clinging to my dad’s hand, though she keeps reaching behind her to squeeze my knee. Like she’s making sure I’m alive.
Apollo’s thumbs dig into my feet, rubbing circles in a soothing motion. But he stares out the window. Deep in thought.
“Maybe the cameras on campus? The indoor soccer fields?” he mumbles to himself.
I nod slowly. “Could be.”
“What do you want, Scoutie? Soup or milkshakes? Cake? I can bake a cake,” Mom says, like she doesn’t know what to do.
“I’m no—” I start to dismiss it, but Apollo interrupts with a squeeze of my calf muscle.
“Cake sounds amazing.”
I take a deep breath. He’s probably hungry. But the more I consider the side of his serious face, the more I wonder if he agreed because he knows my mom feels most at ease when she’s useful.
And that makes my heart latch onto him.
It’s not just the protector within him. The times he’s rescued me.
Apollo Christos Griffin is an extremely kind and caring person. A facet of his personality I don’t think he allows many people to see.
I’m not sure why that is, but I feel utterly honored that I’m the one he’s chosen to reveal himself to.
Is that…
Is that love?
Apollo tucks me under a blanket on the sofa because there’s no way I can sleep right now. Everyone in my family bustles about, waiting on me hand and foot.
Cake. Popcorn. Tea. Christmas in Connecticut, one of my favorite movies, plays on the big screen. Apollo slips beside me under the blanket and reaches for my fist.
Even my brothers hover, pace, and act as if they’re ready to scour the campus and hunt down an unknown creature.
Lan tugs at his long hair. “I need to talk to Aiden. He may know something more. Come on.” He pulls Bo with him toward the door. Before they walk out, Bo rushes toward me and hugs me tight without one word spoken. Then they leave.
Mom and Dad lounge on the other side of the long sectional.
“Do you need—”
“No, Mom. Stop. Just watch the movie with us. Eat some popcorn.”
Dad grabs her when she tries to get up again. “Sins. Stay right here. You’re not moving again.”
He’s the only one who can get her to calm down. Like he’s the Mom-whisperer. They settle in, and Dad promptly falls asleep. Mom half-dozes, snuggled up against him. His snores cut through the sound of the movie, so Apollo turns up the volume.
My husband’s big, warm body comforts me as I curl up next to him. My hand gently strokes his hairy thigh. He’s still in his soccer jersey and shorts. I should’ve asked if he wanted to stop at home first to change, but he was focused solely on me.
A smile tugs at the corners of my lips. I’m distracted from the film by thoughts of happiness. I’m lucky I got him as my appointed. And suddenly, a thrill surges through my chest. Of being alive. Of being free here with Apollo.
I should be shaking after what just happened. Should still be afraid. But with Apollo next to me…my body chooses something else.
He’s my warden. My sentry of safety.
So much so, being with him, I get to turn my brain off. That seems ridiculous, but it’s not. I don’t have to plan or strategize. I don’t have to be on or try to be nice. Don’t have to do anything other than show up, and he’ll take care of things...
Being with him is freedom.
My fingers dance higher on his leg, and he stiffens. Not just his body, but his dick, too.
“Tulip,” he whispers harshly. Like a warning.
I grin mischievously. “What?”
Mom stretches, and I pause the slide of my palm up higher for only a few seconds until she sits back. Then I proceed.
Apollo’s hand rests over mine, but I manage to weasel it out and keep going until I hit the heat of his hardness.
“If you don’t behave? You’ll regret it,” he tells me, low enough so my parents can’t hear over the movie.
I blink at him in the dim light, shadows from the moving screen randomly darkening our faces.
“Make me regret it.”
His jaw clenches.
And that’s when his fingers trail up my thigh, just as high as mine on his…
I hold my breath. My clit pulses hard. Every ache deep inside me longs for more of his touch.
Gently and carefully, keeping one eye on my parents, I pull the waistband of his shorts down under the blanket. I wrap my hand around his length as he lets his head drop back against the cushions. Like I’ve hit something I wasn’t supposed to touch.
The pads of his fingers fumble around until they reach my core, then shove my panties aside.
When he touches my pussy, I shudder with a sharp breath. As if he just found what he wanted, a smile forms across his lips, wide and unrestrained.
“So fucking wet…” he whispers.
“Do something about it, Mr. Griffin.”
He whips his head toward me and plants a kiss on my neck until I shiver. “Oh, I will, wife.”
With an eye of caution on the opposite side of the sofa, I slowly jack him.
Sliding up his length and then back down.
His breath breaks like he’s trying not to make a sound and failing anyway.
He dips his fingers to where I need them.
One on my clit, pressing, stroking, flicking…
The others traveling deeper. To my entrance. Teasing.
I lose patience. Tighten my grip. Push him faster, testing how much he’ll take before he stops me. Squeeze him harder. Jerk rapidly. Let my thumb graze over the thick head of his cock, picking up a bead of moisture and spreading it along his length.
He sighs, chest rising and falling rapidly.
His fingers plunge inside me. I bite back a squeal at the thickness of his intrusion. To settle me, his thumb presses against my clit, rubbing exactly how I need.
We begin to battle. The quicker I handle him, the deeper he delves.
His eyes dart toward my parents, specifically my dad, every so often. Then he turns toward me with a look of aggravation, indignation, and utter, unrelenting need.
It’s one of the hottest looks I’ve seen on him.
“Who will finish first, tulip? Will it be you?”
I shake my head. “No.”
But the way he’s moving his hand makes me think…it may be.
“I love this part,” Mom suddenly exclaims, and both Apollo and I freeze.
Everything in me locks. Not breath, not movement—nothing. Like if I stay still enough, the moment won’t shatter.
She glances back at us on the sofa. We both swallow. Then nod.
“Yeah. It’s a good one,” Apollo chokes out, and I whimper an echo to his sentiment.
If I thought my rule-follower husband was going to play nice now that we were almost caught? I was so wrong. He works me into a frenzy. The wetness between my legs is audible. At least to us.
Dad snorts loudly in his sleep, but Apollo doesn’t stop. Not even as I yank him harder. And faster.
Both of us racing to outdo the other.
Apollo leans over, his warm breath hitting me like an ocean wave. “I want to suck on those little nipples so fucking bad right now. Come inside you. Fill you with my baby.”
His body twitches.
So does mine.
I have to bite my tongue to keep from screaming. The pressure snaps. Everything inside me spills over at once—too much, too fast—until I’m biting down on the sound of it.
He goes rigid under my hand—control gone in a single, brutal second. Pulsing. Throbbing. Exploding all over me.
“Fuck! You’re making me come…in front of your parents. You filthy girl.”
I grip the back of his neck and shove my lips to his so he’ll stop talking. Stop making the heat burn in my body. I need to calm down.
Warmth spreads all over my hand as he sprays me with his cum. His fingers are saturated with mine.
I’m delirious. Unthinking in a way I crave every time he touches me. I’m not like this with anyone else. Definitely wasn’t with Ayan.
Brain calm and serene. Body at ease. All tension removed. And feeling so, so very safe and cared for. I needed this.
“I love you.”
It brushes across my lips like a prayer.
And I don’t even notice I say it. Not until Apollo’s eyes grow wide.
Before I can gather up the words and shove them back down my throat.
Before I can say it was just a momentary slip, and I didn’t even mean it, he kisses me.
Not too much, but just enough. A placating and panicked peck on my lips.
Then he places his forehead against mine.
The room settles like nothing happened. Movie still playing. Parents still breathing.
But under the blanket, and between us, everything has changed.
“Too tired. Going to bed. Sins? Coming?” We both jolt upright when Dad clears his throat and stands.
“Yeah.”
Hand still sodden and laying on Apollo’s shorts, I smile. “Goodnight!”
“Night, sweets. If you need something—”
“Thanks, Mom!”
Neither Apollo nor I relax an inch until we hear their bedroom door shut.
“I swear to Vengracurus. You don’t even understand how much trouble you’re in. What you’ve earned.” He grips the back of my neck and growls at me. “The only thing saving you? Is what happened tonight, Scout. I’ll let you heal up first. And then…punishment’s coming.”
I smirk, thighs still shaking. “Deal.”
The following morning, after sleeping in my old bedroom together, we wake up late and lazy. And dirty. He showers while I eat breakfast my mom left us. Dad hovers around the kitchen, trying to be useful.
“Apollo drink coffee?” he asks.
“Um…”
“Yeah, I do. Black,” my husband says behind me, and I grin as he places a kiss on the top of my head. “I’ll get hers.”
I’m confused as he takes the empty mug my dad’s holding out, pours the coffee into it, then reaches for the vanilla creamer from the refrigerator. After a dollop, he stirs it and hands me the mug.
“How did you know I liked vanilla creamer? No sugar?”
He snorts and taps the side of his temple. “I pay attention.”