SWNOVELS Chapter 35: I can’t get it on!
The next time she woke up light was starting to filter into the bedroom through the slits in the curtains. She was straddling his waist with her head on his chest and his arms around her. He had all the pillows and he was sleeping in a more upright position. She was pretty sure that when she cuddled up to him last night he was flat on his back.
“Your breathing was shallow last night, the doctor said sleep in a more upright position” he said without opening his eyes.
“I tried but I couldn’t sleep and when I did I didn’t stay asleep” she buried her face in his chest.
“I know I heard you moving around the room” still keeping his eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of her pressed against him.
“How come I slept in your arms then?” She asked,
“Your body craves my touch, as a newly mated pair the need to touch is strong, but over time we’ll be able to control it. Your body won’t like anyone that doesn’t have a deep connection to you or me touching you. You’ll feel repulsed by it, your skin will crawl, which is why Johnny, Martina, Edward can hug you or any member of the pack can come in contact with you and you feel fine, but anyone else your body won’t like it, don’t worry it’s not one sided, mine craves yours as well and I don’t like it when anyone who is not you touches me.” He smiled,
“Is that why you always touch me?” She looked up at him.
“No! The mate pull is strong and my body craves you, but I touch you cause I want to and you’re mine to touch. But you gotta admit it’s a pretty damn good excuse” he said, chuckling. She smiled into his chest, yes it was.
“What if I don’t want to control it?” She asked.
“Then be prepared to never leave this bed again, cause I am totally ok with that” His hand caressed her bottom and she giggled.
“Are all werewolves this horny? Or are you just special?” She asked, smiling.
“Pretty much all, but I like to think I’m special, my mate seems to be as horny as I am. This is nothing, wait till the full moon” he said. She carefully and very slowly pushed herself up so she could look at him.
“You don’t go all grrr on the full moon that I have to lock you up?” Her eyes were wide.
“We go something on the full moon, and locking me up wouldn’t stop me. But it would be fun to try!” Black eyes stared back at her, when she understood what he meant her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
“Oh!” She breathed out.
“Yup! Good luck keeping any mated werewolf away from their mate on the full moon.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and her face reddened. He ran his hands up and down her thighs. “How is your back?” He asked,
“A little sore, but not as sore as last night” she replied,
“Too sore to go to work?” He asked, slightly hopeful
“I am gonna shower and see how it feels after that.” Looking at him, she could see the wheels turning. “And no you can’t join me!” She added after the smile appeared on his lips. He watched her very carefully move off the bed, stilling her movements for a brief second here or there. A little sore my ass, he thought, she’s not going to work. He heard her moving around in the bathroom, every now and then she would curse, he smiled to himself, he would get to take care of her all day. Another string of curses from the bathroom had him chuckling. She’s such a lady! Ky mused. I’m pretty sure sailors would blush! She had quite the mouth….in more ways than one.
She came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and headed for the closet.
“Feel better?” He asked, already knowing the truth.
“Uh....a little bit” Liar! Even Ky was on to her. She was stubborn, he was just not understanding why. Why is she pushing herself? He got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and had a quick shower. When he left the bathroom a towel loosely wrapped around him he headed for the closet, he could hear her swearing at something in there, but she sounded like she was crying as well. Concern washing over him he opened the door and found her lying on the closet floor on her stomach wearing pants and nothing else.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you on the floor?” He asked, crouching down to help her up to a sitting position. She held a shirt to her chest, while she tried to wipe the tears away.
“I can’t get it on,” she cried “I can’t raise my arms over my head, I can’t work without a shirt, I can’t pull my own weight if I can’t work. Everyone pitches in and I can’t put on a stupid fucking shirt.” her bottom lip quivered. Now it made sense, everyone pitched in, she was worried that if the others didn’t see her pulling her own weight they would think she was weak and didn’t belong here.
“No baby no! You can pull your weight just not right now. You have four fractured ribs, you’re human, they will take time to heal.” He lifted her into his lap and held her close to him. “I have seen how hard you work, and when you’re able to you will show them as well. Until then it’s time to take it easy and take care of yourself” He kissed her head, and she just nodded.
“I still can’t get the shirt on,” she said, wiping the tears away again. He smiled, helping her stand up, he reached into the top of the closet on his side and pulled down a few plaid flannel shirts and handed her a red one.
“Don’t ask! Lacey went through a plaid phase and bought them.” He found himself a pair of jeans and a t-shirt while she put on the flannel and buttoned it up. When he turned around he couldn’t help but laugh, she looked like she was drowning in plaid. The shirt hung to her knees and she only had half the buttons done up.
“Well aren’t you the cutest little lumberjack.” He smiled, grabbing the front of her shirt pulling her closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and he ran his fingers through her hair. Remembering that spot he massaged behind her ears in the shower he started working his thumbs in small circles, and like in the shower she started purring.
“Why don’t you take your pants off and crawl back into bed. I’ll grab some ice and finish this there.” She nodded her head, she felt defeated and didn’t want to argue. He kissed her head and left the closet to get ice. She took off her pants and crawled back into bed to wait for him. One day, she would take one day off but tomorrow she would go to work, she had to.
The rest of Tuesday was pretty much spent either in bed cuddling or on the couch cuddling. He showed her around the house on one of their walks and she met more pack members. The cooks in the kitchen all fussed over her and how tiny she was, and when they left they were given a plate of fresh made chocolate chip cookies. She worked on a few designs and sketches while they watched movies, she tried not to talk through them, keyword tried. He threatened if she talked through one more movie he was putting on something scary. They ended up watching Darkness Falls, and she watched the entire movie buried in his chest peering through her fingers. At the end of the movie she was glad the tooth fairy never came to visit her. Who knew the Tooth Fairy could be so vicious? Johnny and Lacey stopped by the room for a bit, Johnny had business talk to discuss with him and they took it into the hall and Lacey wanted to see all her presents. They had supper, watched another few movies and then it was time for bed. Instead of setting her up on her own side this time he set himself up and she slept on his chest, both of them falling immediately into a deep undisturbed sleep.