13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Milo
Darius might’ve thought he wanted me, but I doubted he would feel the same for all eternity.
I’d done a lot of self-reflecting ever since we shared our first kiss, and I simply wasn’t good enough for someone as perfect as Darius.
That didn’t mean I was about to bolt and be the bigger person.
No, I wanted to stay with Darius and take what he was willing to offer me.
When the day came and he was done with me, I would take the pain and heartache and deal with it then. Now, I just wanted to feel happy.
“I know you won’t like this, but you need a bath,” Darius declared, walking back into the living room with a bottle of dog shampoo in his right hand.
He had got to be kidding me?!
He’d shifted back to his human form to make us breakfast and apparently seemed fully intent on cleaning me up.
I glared, angry that I couldn’t tell him no with words. The bastard just smiled back, knowing how much us wolves hated getting washed. We much preferred a swim in the lake, or a rainy-day sprint across the forest. But soap? No thank you.
“Come on, Milo,” he cajoled. “Nic will be here later today to check on your stitches. Don’t you want them cleaned up better? What if there’s too much blood for him to see clearly and you have to wait another day or two as a wolf?”
Damn him and his logic. I really wasn’t ready to face Darius in my human form after our talk this morning. I felt so vulnerable. So frayed open. But I needed to get back to my human form. I missed it.
Reluctantly, I got up from the plush carpet and padded over to where Darius stood, smiling brightly at my surrender.
“Perfect! It’s non-scented shampoo, so you won’t be annoyed by it.”
Glaring, because it was either that or biting him, I followed him into the biggest bathroom. His bathtub was large enough for me to sit in. How he was going to wash me from the side was the true question. But hey, that was his issue not mine.
Approaching the tub, I found it already filled with water.
I glared at him again. He seemed to assume too much already if he knew I would surrender so easily to him.
But again, I was tired of fighting. Maybe life would be easier if I just accepted whatever people wanted of me.
An idea I would think harder about later, when a bath wasn’t waiting for me.
My stitches weren’t pulling on my skin anymore, thankfully, so moving around wasn’t a hassle, and I’d been honest this morning when I said I was just tired.
“I think I need to help you in,” Darius grinned, standing next to me and the tub. “Put your front paws here.” He pointed at the edge. “Then I’ll carry your behind closer so you can get in easier.”
I did as he asked, pleased when I felt his strong arms come around my hind legs.
The water was pleasant, not too warm, but also not freezing either. And like Darius had promised, there was no scent to it, making it that much more enjoyable to my senses. I sat down, letting the water hit me around the waist.
“I’ll soap you up now,” Darius informed me, his tone was casual, so I just closed my eyes and waited for the feel of his hands on me again.
The sound of either clothes or towels hitting the floor, and then the sound of skin on porcelain, the slight squeaky sound alerted me that Darius held on to the edge of the tub.
My confusion over the sounds were enough for me to open my eyes and scan the room for Darius.
I felt him step into the tub behind me, making my head snap back and… slam right into his dick.
“Shit!” Darius groaned, the dick slap had likely been harder than expected. Also, why was he naked?! And in the tub?!
“Definitely not how I imagined the first time you touched my dick to go.” He gave me a pained smile, but it quickly turned into his real grin as the pain subsided. “Now. Let’s get you washed up.”
I nodded and reluctantly turned my head again.
I wanted to continue my perusal of his delectable body, the dick I’d only briefly gotten a glimpse of before he’d cradled it protectively, wasn’t at all a good enough look.
But I couldn’t very well do more about the naked body behind me while I was in my wolf form, nor did I want to.
It took ten excruciating minutes before I was clean, Darius making sure I was handled with gentle hands around the stitches, his touch soothing even with the cooling water.
It really couldn’t be comfortable for him; the temperature alone would definitely be too cold for his human form.
The fact he did everything he could for my comfort, pushing his own aside meant more to me than his words of wanting me.
Actions showed me he meant those words. I just hoped he kept meaning them when I turned back into my human form.
“I’ll grab your towels,” he declared, carefully getting out of the tub. “I think we need to get you as dry as possible, then maybe sit outside for a little and let the wind do the rest?”
Nodding in agreement, I waited for him to grab the towels, trying my best not to eye his soft cock as he moved around the bathroom. He already had two towels on the floor, but those had been soaked through mid-bath.
“Here,” he said, gesturing for me to jump out on freshly laid towels.
Carefully and as elegantly as I could—being a wet overgrown dog—I jumped out and landed on the towels. I sat quickly, quelling the urge to shake my fur and douse the entire bathroom with water.
Darius covered me in towels, big and small. His grin and joy as he took care of me was genuine, and I just needed to please him. To be good for him. I wanted him to look that happy and content forever.
“There,” he declared, sounding satisfied. “You’re as dry as I can possibly get you without using a hairdryer.” We both shivered at the mention of that. It wasn’t because we wouldn’t like the hot air across our bodies, no, it was the sound it made that grated on our ears.
I sat on the towels, waiting patiently as Darius quickly dried his lower body and put on some boxers and joggers.
The sight of his abs on display was enough for me not to pout at his now fully covered lower half.
Wasn’t that what he’d meant when he said compromises?
I might not get to ogle his dick and ass all day, but I got his abs, which were just as lickable as his other parts.
“We should go out and get you dry—”
Darius was interrupted by the annoyingly familiar voice of my dad. “Darius? Milo? Where are you?”
Had he seriously just walked inside Darius’ home? I tried to raise my wolf brow to convey that question to Darius, but he seemed mostly annoyed and confused, so Dad hadn’t been invited. Perfect.
“Just a sec!” Darius yelled back.
Angry at having this moment broken with my fated, I followed Darius out of the bathroom. Dad had indeed done us the favor of letting himself in. He sat on the couch, waving at us as we approached.
“Is something wrong?” Dad asked, looking at my damp fur.
“Not at all,” Darius assured him as he sat on the couch too. “I just wanted Milo’s fur cleaned before Nic comes by.”
“Oh, I guess that would be wise. Wouldn’t want your furniture ruined by blood,” Dad said, eyeing the fluffy carpet that clearly had lots of blood on it already.
If I hadn’t been shifted, I would’ve definitely blushed. Poor Darius would need to replace that carpet, all because of me and my blood.
“I couldn’t care less about blood,” Darius growled, his anger towards Dad obvious.
It wasn’t just me who’d been surprised by Darius’ tone. Dad’s eyes widened comically as Darius continued to glare at him.
“I almost lost my fated mate because he protected someone else. Like hell would I care about having to replace a carpet.”
“Still,” Dad tried, smiling even though he looked uncomfortable.
“Your son is doing fine by the way. Nice of you to ask,” Darius continued.
It hurt that I hadn’t even been surprised that my dad’s first thought was to ask why I was wet and then think Darius thought I was a nuisance just because I’d almost died.
“I know he’s fine!” Dad snapped, clearly done being talked down to. “Jeremy told me so.”
“Yeah, Jeremy, who texted and called me to hear how Milo was doing, something you couldn’t even be bothered to do.
Milo is also feeling guilty about how things between him and Jeremy are at the moment, but even with their relationship being strained, he still took Fillian’s attack, knowing he could’ve died doing it.
But you would’ve known all of that had you asked, hell, even Silas asked about him. ”
“Silas,” Dad scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re even allowing them to remain friends after they fucked around behind your back.”
The sound of Darius’ hand slapping Dad’s cheek reverberated through the living room. My breathing stilled, like taking in air would somehow make this moment escalate further.
Dad’s shocked expression quickly turned into anger. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Darius?!”
“I’m defending my fated!” he growled. “You think you can let yourself into our home and act like you care about him? We all know you just came to berate your son. Congrats, you did that. You can leave now. And don’t you dare just let yourself in again. You’re not welcome here enough for that.”
Three loud knocks on the front door had Darius leaving the couch, his glare remaining locked on Dad as he just sat there on the couch, very much not leaving.
“Hey,” Nic greeted. “Milo awake?”
“Yeah, come on in,” Darius said. “Paul was just leaving.”
The glare Dad shot Darius’ way made me glad I couldn’t speak with them.
It was also confusing having someone defend me.
I really liked it. When Silas had done it, I’d been grateful, yes, but I hadn’t been fucking horny, too.
Right now, I wanted to shift and jump Darius right there on the bloody carpet.
What was wrong with me? My dad was right there! And Nic.
Dad left without another word, his glare causing Nic to raise a questioning brow to Darius.
The front door slammed shut, alerting us Dad had finally left.
Darius shrugged in answer to Nic’s question. “Some people need to learn to keep their mouths shut.”
Damn, how I wanted to jump him. I decided to move to his side instead, licking his hand, just because I could.
The smile Darius sent me had me itching to lick him in other places, too.
“So,” Nic clapped his hands. “Let’s take a look at those stitches, shall we?”