Chapter 306: It’s the Hormones
Rhys
"I know I’ve been repeating myself all day, but you look beautiful, Kayden. Truly beautiful," I murmured, leaning in to look at him as we wound down from the long afternoon.
Kayden let out a quiet, content sigh, leaning his back securely against my chest while I slowly ran a soap-lathered sponge down his arms. We had both collapsed into the jacuzzi the moment we stepped through the front door, desperate to wash off the grime of the city and the heavy disguises. By now, we had spent over an hour simply soaking in the deep, steaming water, letting the tension from the past week melt away.
"You weren’t exactly hard on the eyes yourself," Kayden teased, tilting his head back to look at me.
I rolled my eyes, a dry smile tugging at my lips. "Please. I looked like your hired help."
"You really think so?" he asked, shifting slightly in my arms to get a better look at my face.
"The disguise was foolproof, I’ll give Randall that," I scoffed softly, moving the sponge down to clear the lingering soap from his skin. "But it definitely made me realize a mustache is not a permanent fixture in my future."
Kayden let out a bright, breathless chuckle, his hand dropping down to give my thigh a playful slap. The sudden, warm contact of his palm against my skin sent a sudden spark straight through me.
I caught his hand, turning him around in the water so he was facing me fully, keeping my eyes locked onto his.
God, I had missed him. Ever since leo had confirmed his pregnancy, we hadn’t been intimate at all. The absolute craving for him was a constant ache in the back of my mind, but I had kept myself on a tight leash, terrified of doing anything that might complicate the delicate situation with the baby.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked softly, his gaze tracing my features.
"Because I’m sitting here wondering if our child is going to inherit your beautiful eyes," I admitted, reaching up to gently cup his jaw with my wet hand. "Wondering if they’ll have your face."
A soft, genuine smile broke across his lips, and he reached out to cup the side of my face in return. "Your blue eyes aren’t exactly a consolation prize, Captain. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if they took after you, too."
I let out a low chuckle. "Fair enough. But..." I trailed off, the teasing words dying in my throat as I caught the sudden, heavy yearning flashing deep in his eyes.
A sharp shiver ran straight down my spine. I couldn’t tell if the intense heat radiating from him was just the pregnancy hormones, or if he was currently agonizing over the exact same desperate want that was tearing me apart.
"What if we end up with twins?" I asked, deliberately shifting the topic to take the edge off the sudden tension. "Wouldn’t it be incredible if we had twins running around?"
"Twins?" Kayden’s eyebrows shot up, a breathless laugh escaping him. "You actually want twins?"
I nodded without a second thought. "Whatever you want, darling, you can have it." I lifted his hand, pressing a slow, deliberate kiss to the back of his knuckles. As I did, his gaze locked onto mine again, the longing in his expression making my pulse hammer fiercely against my ribs.
I wanted to confess right then and there how badly I was starving for him, how the forced distance was driving me insane. But I held it back, not wanting to put any undue pressure on him after everything we had been forced to navigate over the past few grueling weeks.
"You know, if you have something on your mind, you can just say it instead of burning a hole through me with that stare," he said, his voice dropping into a soft, knowing tone.
"I—"
The word caught in my throat as Kayden shifted forward in the water, straddling my lap until his hardened length pressed firmly against my stomach.
A heavy, thick wave of relief washed over me. At least I wasn’t the only one suffering.
Kayden leaned in, his fingers tracing a slow path from the base of my throat all the way up to my chin. He smiled beautifully as our eyes met. "You have no idea how long I’ve been dreaming about this moment with you. I want you so badly it’s taking every ounce of my willpower not to lose my mind. And don’t try to deny you feel the same way, Rhys. You think I’m fast asleep during the night when you’re taking care of things yourself, but I can hear you."
A sudden, violent flush of heat rushed to my face at the blunt revelation. My chest tightened with embarrassment.
He had heard everything.
"Kayden, I—"
"Why didn’t you just tell me that’s how you felt?" he pressed, his expression softening into something incredibly tender. "I would have happily sucked you off or something instead of letting you handle it on your own. It makes me feel like some selfish jerk who only cares about their own comfort, and—"
"No, stop. Don’t say that," I interrupted firmly, cutting off his downward spiral by bringing both of my hands up to frame his face. "I have never once thought of you that way. Your safety and your recovery come before absolutely everything else to me. I didn’t want to make you feel pressured or less than yourself while you were healing. I’m sorry I didn’t just talk to you."
Kayden stared at me, his eyes glossing over before a single, quiet tear escaped and rolled down his cheek.
My heart broke a little at the sight of it.
"Please don’t cry," I whispered, my thumb sweeping over his cheekbone to catch the moisture. "The last thing I ever want to do is make you cry, Kayden."
"It’s just the hormones," he said, letting out a watery, self-deprecating chuckle as he sniffled. "My emotions are completely all over the place right now. But please, don’t hold things back from me anymore, Rhys. Let me know what you’re feeling instead of burying it inside. It’s the only way we’re going to make this work."
I nodded, wiping away the last trace of his tears. "So... is it okay if I kiss you right now?"
Kayden’s lips curled into a beautiful smile. "You don’t ever have to ask twice. I’ve been waiting for you to say that all day."
He didn’t give me a chance to respond.
Kayden leaned the remaining distance across the water, his lips crashing into mine in a slow, deep, and sweet kiss. He nipped lightly at my lower lip, his tongue sliding past my teeth with a desperate, heavy hunger that completely stripped away the last of my control.
I groaned into his mouth, my hands wrapping securely around his narrow waist, squeezing tightly as I pulled his body flush against my chest. "I love you so much," I breathed against his lips, returning the kiss with an intense rhythm.
Kayden let out a soft, broken moan, his arms wrapping tightly around my neck to anchor himself against me. "I love you more," he whispered against my mouth, his breath hot and erratic. "Make love to me, Rhys."
"But... the baby," I managed to protest, the last lingering shred of my sanity trying to fight through the fog of desire. "We have to be careful."
"Then we’ll just be careful," he whispered fiercely, his hips shifting against mine in a way that nearly entirely ruined me. "I really want your cock inside my hole."
A breathless laugh escaped me at his completely unvarnished words. "Oh, baby... you’ve really developed a dirty mouth lately, haven’t you?"
"Blame the hormones," he fired back with a wicked smirk, and the brightness of his expression was the final straw before I pulled him down into another devastating kiss.