Chapter One Hundred and Twelve
For the first time in a week, Catherine didn’t have nightmares. She woke to the feeling of being lifted. She smelled the familiar apples and clove that belonged solely to her mate. Catherine sighed and slowly opened her eyes. Graham wore a gentle smile as he walked her toward the bathroom. He pushed the door open with his shoulder. Steam poured out around them and she heard the sound of running water. Graham sat on the edge of the tub and lowered
her in.
Catherine sighed in contentment as the hot water immediately soothed her skin. Graham repositioned the towel behind her head and kissed her cheek.
“Are you awake enough to not be a drowning hazard if I step away for a second?” Graham asked.
“I can’t be sure.” Catherine opened one eye to find him watching her with an amused expression. “I could maybe stay awake for two seconds.”
Graham shook his head. “I made breakfast. I’ll be right back.”
Catherine watched him walk away. He was already dressed for the day and she wondered if he’d gotten any sleep. She remembered falling asleep against his chest. His heart beneath her ear had been beating erratically from their all-night make-up exercise. She decided to not analyze too much and focus on the calm energy brought about by the water.
A few minutes later she heard Graham walking back into the room. She smiled to herself, took a deep breath and sank below the surface of the water. She heard him enter and stop beside the tub.
Very funny, he spoke to her mind.
Catherine resurfaced and wiped the water from her face. She shrugged. “That was far longer than two seconds. You needed to learn a lesson.” Graham rolled his eyes and held out a milkshake for her. She raised a brow as she took it from him. She eyed the fudge sundae in his other hand. “Ice-cream for breakfast? Really?”
Graham chuckled and leaned back against the wall opposite of her. He slid down and crossed his long legs over each other.
“Are you not going to join me?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. He dipped his spoon into his sundae and took a big scoop.
“I have to go to the packhouse. I have to figure out what happened with the rogues yesterday and have a meeting with a few informants in Sterling.”
“So… what exactly do you need to talk about?”
He smirked down at his sundae before meeting her eyes. His eyes looked light brown in this lighting with red focused around the pupils. The look he gave her warmed her more than the gallons of water surrounding her.
“You’re so sure I need to talk to you about something?”
She smiled and raised the milkshake up. “Ice-cream in the bathroom means we need to have a heart to heart.”
He chuckled. “I suppose that’s true. Bathrooms are for hard talks, back decks are for reminiscing, and kitchen counters are for… well, you know.” He winked.
“Graham…”
He sighed and put his half-eaten sundae on the tile beside him. He placed his hand palm up on the side of the tub and she laced her fingers through his.
“Yesterday I was only partly joking about you needing to submit to me,” he finally confessed. Catherine couldn’t help the bristle that traveled under her skin.
“Really? Cause I thought we were equals,” Catherine jabbed.
“Not in everything,” he whispered, his eyes begging for her to understand. “Catherine, you are so capable in so many ways. You’re smarter than me, tougher. You are great at running… but I’m better at standing my ground and fighting. I have made a career of it. I have experience with tracking people down and knowing what to do when I find them.” He wrapped his other hand around their already entwined ones, pleading for her to hear him out. “I know what a man like Dominic is capable of, even more so than you. I know what he did to you and what you experienced with him, but I know him tactically.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “If I tell you to stay somewhere, it’s not because I don’t think you’re capable. It’s because I know exactly what he can do to get to you. I am only trying to protect you, Baby. I can’t think if I don’t know you’re safe. Can you please tell me you understand that?” Graham asked.
Chapter One Hundred and Twelve
Catherine tilted her head to the side. “I do. I do understand that and in any other circumstance…”
“I know,” Graham interrupted. He closed his eyes and nodded. “I know why you did it but he could have so easily gotten to you outside of these fences. We have wards set up to prevent people like Curtis from portalling in. If Dominic knew you were free of the wards, he could take you without leaving a trace and if that were to happen… Goddess, Catherine, when I thought he had you yesterday, my entire world imploded.”
She shook her head. “How can you be so open to me like this but still block so much of yourself from me at the same time.”
His eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
She sighed and placed her forgotten milkshake on the soap ledge. She faced him, her face earnest. “Yesterday, I knew you were lying. I knew for a fact you were keeping something from me, but you blocked me. You do that all the time. I never do that to you… well, I guess that’s not true because I did it when I was blocking my wolf but… I saw what it did to you and I learned from it. Why do you refuse to let me see all of you?”
He leaned back, pulling her hand and forcing her to lean over the side of the tub. She rested her head on her arm. “I want to say it’s to protect you but I bet you wouldn’t buy that?” he asked. She shook her head with a smile. “Then I guess… it’s to protect me. I’ve done a lot of terrible things, Catherine. Hurt a lot of people. I feel like, if I can keep those things from you, I can, in a way, protect you and myself too. I can’t lose you.”
She smiled and touched his cheek. “You won’t lose me. You’re mine: Graham, Grey, MacTavish, whoever you are. Stop hiding from me. Let me in. Talk to me. Tell me why you don’t want me along. I’ll listen every time, Graham. You just can’t leave me in the dark and expect me to not wander around with my hand held out.”
Graham chuckled. He leaned forward, gripped her wet air and kissed her softly. Catherine started to pull him into the tub but he held himself back.
“I need to get to work, Baby,” he warned her against her lips.
“Mhmm,” she responded, succeeding in dipping his hand low into the water where her legs met. She traced his lips with her tongue and he closed his mouth over hers. His fingers twitched out, touching her wet heat.
“Aren’t you sore from last night?” he asked as she reached up to unbutton his jeans.
“Mhmm, so very sore. Come in and make me feel better,” she whispered in a breathy voice.
“Dammit,” he conceded, yanking his shirt over his head. “I suppose bathrooms aren’t only for having heart to hearts.”
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