The Six | A Reverse Harem Novel | ✔️

Sixty Eight

Desperately, I wish we could stay in our little bubble forever, but it isn’t meant to be. They didn’t finish with me until I couldn’t walk. Hayden took me to the bathroom in his arms, bridal style, and ran a hot bath for me. Underneath the soapy suds of lavender and camomille, my eyes clung to crap TV.

“My love,” Michael’s voice carried through the oversized bathroom. Wearing gentle emerald eyes, Michael closed the distance between us. Gently he reached out to cup my cheek and bring our lips together. “I’m not here to make love to you again, I know you’re exhausted.”

A grateful look must have crossed my face because he chuckled happily, throwing his head back. His happiness was contagious, snapping through me like lightning. Patiently, I waited as he kissed me a second time, moving his mouth against mine. Not caring about his white button shirt or freshly washed hair, I tunneled my fingers into his auburn locks and yanked him closer.

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes when he pulled away. “If we keep going, I won’t be able to stop myself.”

“What makes you think I want you to stop?”

Laughing again, he pressed a thumb to my bottom lip. “Your inability to walk, for one.”

“Yeah,” I grimaced, shifting sore legs in the frothy waters. “I forgot about that.”

“You won’t when you try to get out.”

We sit in silence, enjoying the sun’s rays as they cascade through the windows. They beam across the cooling waters in the tub, and I reach out, like a little child, to feel them. It’s a wonderful feeling the sun on my skin. This freedom… one I didn’t value as closely, was hard won and worth every tear.

“You’re happy.”

I grin. “Of course, I’m here with you. There’s no other place I’d rather be, no other place I belong.”

“You won’t believe how happy I am to hear you say those words, my love.”

Narrowing my eyes, I frown at him. “But?”

“But…” he sighed, running a hand through his wet hair, “I didn’t come in here to just kiss you.”

Immediately on guard, I sit up. Water sloshes over the edge of the tub and onto the floor, but neither of us jumps to clean it up. Buried deep in the depths of his bright emerald gaze swirls sadness.

“What’s wrong? Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Ryker wasn’t as lucky as us to be alive in the real world.”

My heart shatters in my chest. The pieces stab me inside like barbs, cutting through my chest and stomach until I’m shredded from head to toe. As he stares at me, tears trickle down my face. Sobbing, I cover my face with my hands.

“Don’t hide from me.” Michael chastizes, pulling me to the edge of the tub. His lips meet mine a second time, stoking mine carefully. It isn’t long before he’s moving away to stand. Quickly, he strips down and follows me into the tub. “I’m not going to touch you like that…”

His words reassure me, but I don’t need to hear them. I know Michael almost as well as I know myself. He’s here because our relationship is built on something else. We were a different kind of friend before we fell in love and before he went under the knife. Knowing he took time to become invested in me, in us, by his actions made a profound difference in how I reacted once he had my code swimming in his brain.

The rest of them know it. It was obvious he was volunteered to come in here and tell me whatever was bothering him so badly. Smoothing my hands down my skin, I lean my body back into his in the tub. His cock, hard as stone, slips between my cheeks and settles. Awareness prickles on my skin, but this is neither the time nor the place to consider fucking like animals in the tub.