His arm wrapped tightly around my waist as he led me to our washroom, and I leaned onto him, letting him support most of my weight, I was still far too unsteady to walk on my own. I swiveled around on the balls of my feet as we came to stand before the mirror. My hair looked a bit more dry than usual, and my lips were pale, but what stood out the most was the bruises on my throat. My hand flew up to the bluish purple skin and I pressed against it tenderly, wincing at the immediate pain. My eyes darted over to Alaricus to see him staring at my reflection, his lips pressed together tightly as he stared at my throat. His jaw was clenched tightly as he fought to rein in his temper, now that it was clear that I was going to recover fully, his concern was starting to turn to anger.

"I can't believe that mutt had the nerve to touch you, to harm his queen." Alaricus growled angrily, the veins of his forearm that was wrapped around my waist sticking out prominently.

"Calm down Alaricus, I'm alright, he got what he deserved." I consoled him gently, leaning up to press a kiss to the tick in his jaw. He visibly relaxed at my words, giving me a small nod.

Alaricus leaned forward to grab my toothbrush, handing it to me before grabbing the toothpaste and adding a long line of it to the bristles. I turned on the faucet, wetting my toothbrush, while Alaricus did the same for his. I leaned into Alaricus' side as we brushed our teeth, trying to focus on really getting the brush and the toothpaste spread all around my mouth. Looking up into the mirror I raised my brow at Alaricus who sported a goofy grin as he watched our reflections, brushing his own teeth. His smile getting wider as my eyes met his in the reflection.

"This just feels like such a couple-y thing to do." He said, his voice muffled by the brush and I snorted at him. He was undoubtedly the biggest dork I had ever known. I leaned forward to spit out the toothpaste, before rinsing the brush and my mouth. I waited patiently as he did the same.

"Undress me?" I asked hoarsely as soon as he was finished, and his eyes widened as he gulped, seeming both nervous but also desirous.

I turned to face him, looking into his eyes expectantly as his hands found the top button of my silk pajama shirt. His hands seemed to tremble a bit, and I braced myself, preparing to put all my weight on my feet despite how weak I still felt. Taking my hand off the sink, I put both hands over his, using them to lower his arms. I kept my eyes on his as I slowly brought my hands to the hem of his shirt, pulling it up slowly, and he caught on, raising his arms for me as I raised the shirt over his head.

I let my hands trail over the beautiful glowing tan skin that had been revealed, taking my time to explore his muscled chest, and his hands found my waist as my hands moved lower to his abs. I trailed my fingers over them slowly, enjoying how defined they were, tracing them for the very first time after all those times of simply admiring them from afar. I looked up back into his eyes to see them glowing brightly with desire. My teeth sank into my soft bottom lip as a wave of desire shot through me, knowing the way I affected him made me more bold and my hands were soon on his v-line. I traced it tantalizingly slowly with my index finger, following its path with my eyes, and I heard Alaricus' breathing grow heavy as I reached the top of his pants.

I let my thumbs sink under them, and I lowered them, hooking his briefs along with them. My eyes feasted over all of him, all of what was mine, and blood rushed to my cheeks as I caught sight of the evidence of his approval for my behavior. He was definitely large, larger than what I had even thought possible. I looked up at him, keeping my eyes level with his chest, suddenly feeling too shy to look into his eyes.

"My sweet angel." Alaricus murmured gently, his hands cupping my warm cheeks, as his thumbs ran over the blush of them. He raised my chin so that I was looking into his eyes, he looked at me as though asking for permission, and I simply nodded in response.

His hands were much more steady now as he slowly undid the buttons of his shirt, his fingers trailing over my cold skin as he brushed it off my shoulders, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. My chest began to heave as my breathing grew heavy. He reached around me, undoing the navy blue bra I had on with ease, but he didn't take it off of me yet. He bent down, hooking his thumbs past the top of my pajama pants, to my panties, and kept his eyes locked with mine as he slowly slid them down my legs. He rose back up, stopping to press a gentle kiss to the soft skin of my stomach, still never looking away from my eyes, he slid the bra down my shoulders. My heart pounded in my chest as his eyes finally unlocked from mine, now looking at the newly revealed skin.

He took his time exploring me with his eyes, looking at every part of me, his eyes still alight with desire, but beginning to soften to a warmer honey.

"I've seen more sunsets and midnights than I can remember, but never have I seen anything as beautiful as you." Alaricus mumbled, opening his arms up to me, and I stepped forward into them. My cheeks burning an even brighter red than before at his words, but this blush was not from embarrassment, but from my uncontrollable happiness at his words. Every part of my body was flush against his, and he leaned down to press a tender kiss to the top of my head. It felt so nice to have our warm bare skin pressed together that way.

"Meum miraculum" He whispered to me, nuzzling his nose into my hair before pulling away. He leaned down, wrapping his arm around my waist and under my knees before he swung me up into his chest making me giggle. He sat me down at the side of the gigantic square tub as he turned on the water, plugging it when the water began to turn hot, before he started pulling bottles of soaps and salts out of the cabinets. I crossed my legs as I watched his impressive form move around the tub, getting our bath ready, a sexy confident smirk tilting up his plump red lips as he caught me staring. I licked my lips and he groaned out loud making me laugh even though it hurt my throat.

The gigantic tub was finally full, and he turned off the water, before helping me stand up, he lifted me up by my hips, gently setting me into the warm water. I shifted forward to give Alaricus room to get in behind me and he did. He settled me between his legs and I moved back to lean against his broad chest. Alaricus adjusted himself so that his arousal was not so evidently pushing against my back, but really where could you hide away something so large?

I let out a quiet sigh as I snuggled into him and he tightened his arms around me. We soaked in the hot water quietly for a bit, simply enjoying being so close to one another. A sense of serenity passing through me.

I had never been arrogant or particularly proud of my appearance, and being naked or nearly so had been quite an uncomfortable thing for me, especially in the presence of others. But there was just something so peaceful about being with Alaricus this way, feeling all of him against me, being so close with absolutely no barriers between us. Surely I couldn't have done this with anyone but Alaricus, never would I feel as comfortable with another person. When you loved someone you wanted to be as close to them as humanly possible, not only physically but spiritually, and I had never felt so close to him, so one with him as I did right in this moment.

At first I had thought that the water could have been hotter, but with the temperature that Alaricus constantly ran at, it would have become too hot. Alaricus would occasionally press sweet kisses to my shoulder as we sat in comfortable silence, simply basking in one another's presence.

Alaricus grabbed my coral colored loofah off the side of the bath, and I raised my arms allowing him to gently rub them, he moved me forward so that he could do my back as well. The loofah was soon completely soaked as he ran it all over me. He massaged some of my shampoo into my hair, and a blissful moan escaped my lips at how good it felt, a quite growl rumbling through his chest at that. He rinsed out the shampoo before doing the same with my conditioner. He ran his fingers through my thick chocolate hair, separating the strands with his fingers, the slight stinging sensation of my scalp at that motion surprisingly erotic.

I turned around, straddling his lap now. I had to take a moment to compose myself upon seeing the way Alaricus looked. His dark hair messy, some strands falling onto his forehead due to the heat, clear beads of water all over his tan skin, impressive broad chest on display as his powerful arms rested on either side of the bath as he looked up at me. He looked so strong and large, like a true king. I bit my lip harshly as I tried to contain the way I was feeling right now. Letting out a deep breath, I grabbed his grey loofah, adding some of his body wash to it before I began to rub it into his chest. My hands trembled slightly as he simply sat back, watching me as I became a mess at the mere sight of him.

I washed over his broad shoulders and arms, leaning over him to get his back, feeling his warm breath blow over my breasts as I rubbed the body wash into his back. I gulped audibly as I sat back down into the water, my eyes falling to his member, knowing that is what I would have to wash next. I swallowed nervously, looking up into his eyes shyly from beneath my lashes, but he made no move so I looked back down. I ran the loofah up and down slowly over the length of him, right as I reached the tip, he suddenly grabbed both my wrists in his hands. The loofah fell into the water with a splash as I looked into his blazing golden eyes. He pulled me closer so that I was now basically perched in his lap, my legs wrapped tightly around his waist, the very part of him that I had been washing pressed against the most sensitive part of me.

"Do you know I can smell your arousal?" Alaricus growled lowly, the sound of his husky desire-laced voice not making things any easier for me.

"Do you have any idea how crazy you're driving me? Do you angel?" He whispered, his grip still tight on my wrists.

"I want you so fucking bad, but I won't do anything right now. Do you know why that is Amara?" He asked me, and I shook my head slowly in response, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I tried to regulate my labored breathing. His hands freed my wrists, and my hands fell to his broad shoulders as his arms wrapped around my waist. He pulled me flush against him, my chin resting on his shoulder as I was now completely sitting in his lap. He turned his head to slowly run his nose along the side of my throat.

"When I pleasure you, I'm going to have you screaming my name. We can't have you doing that right now, can we baby?" Alaricus whispered heatedly into my ear, flicking his tongue teasingly over my earlobe and I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my lips. My core clenched at the feeling of his strong grip and husky deep voice. A shaky breath left my lips as I pulled back slightly, looking into his eyes for a moment before crashing my lips onto his.

His lips immediately began moving against mine, dominating my mouth with his. He kissed me with a hungry fervor that had my toes curling and I couldn't help the rocking of my hips. He growled out a moan against my lips, before pushing his tongue into my mouth, battling with my own as we explored each other's mouths. My hands now trailed all over his back, fingers digging into his skin as he adjusted me in his lap, having unintentionally rubbed me in all the right ways.

I pulled away from his lips for a moment to breathe before slamming my mouth to his once again. He leaned up, strong chest arching as he responded to my ferocity. His hands traveled all over the length of my bare back, before beginning to explore my curves. I gasped, pulling away from his lips as one of his hands squeezed my upper thigh tightly. Panting desperately for air as Alaricus trailed kisses down my jaw to my throat, where his kisses became much gentler. He licked over the bruises tenderly, letting go of my thigh to hug me to him. I slumped against his chest, struggling to compose myself, letting my forehead rest on his as he took his face out of the crook of my neck, sitting up straight again. The both of us breathing heavily, inhaling some of the air the other breathed out.

Neither of us had completely gotten what we wanted, but yet I couldn't help but feel satisfied. He stroked my wet hair as I rested against his chest and I wrapped my arms around him, slouching a bit to rest my face against his shoulder.

"Sorry." I mumbled against his skin, pressing a kiss to it, and he gently grabbed my shoulder to pull me away so he could look at my face.

"For what?" He asked looking genuinely confused. I looked pointedly at what was showing that he had definitely not yet finished.

"Don't apologize my love, now is definitely not a good time for us to go there. Being with you will always be enough for me, and we will never do anything until you are completely ready. You don't owe me anything, ever. I also don't think you want to accept my curse yet, do you?" Alaricus asked, and I shook my head. I didn't want to be frozen for eternity at 19, I at least wanted Alaricus and I's ages to look similar. Not that we currently looked like a strange couple, Alaricus didn't look a day over 28, but I would rather my appearance look more mature. I also just wasn't ready to have a baby yet. Protection did not really work well for werewolves.

"Later." I answered and he nodded understandingly. He held me in his arms for a few moments, the both of us staying still until our breathing and heart rates had gone back down to their normal pace. I was so content I could have stayed there for forever.

"Lets take a shower to get all these salts off of us." Alaricus said, helping me up to stand in the bath by my hips. My cheeks turned red as I saw him bite his lip as he looked at my naked form. Shaking his head to get himself out of his trance, he stood up, hoisting me into his arms again, he stepped out of the bath. He let out a laugh as he saw me making a face at all the water that dripped off of us onto the floor as he carried me into the shower. He turned it on and the large shower rained cold water down on us that had me clinging to Alaricus.

He yelled his apologies as he immediately put me down and out of the way of the icy cold water, pulling me back into his chest by my hand as the water began to warm. He gently massaged my hair, making sure all the conditioner that had managed to stay in there got out. I had to go on my tip-toes as he leaned down so I could shampoo his hair, realizing we had never gotten that far in the bath.

I turned off the shower as Alaricus grabbed both our towels, wrapping me up in mine, before he began drying himself off. I took the towel off to run it through my hair, sending Alaricus a daring wink as I caught him giving me a discreet once over. A boyish grin spread on his face in response. I loved how easy our relationship was, I could quite contently spend the rest of my life simply fooling around with Alaricus. Truthfully I could happily spend all of eternity with Alaricus by my side.

Alaricus passed me my bathrobe from one of the cupboards and I wrapped that around myself, reveling in how soft the fuzzy material was as I towel dried my hair. Alaricus ran his fingers through his dark wet hair, his biceps flexing as he ruffled up the drying strands.

I let my hair be, it would dry on its own eventually, the dark damp strands splayed all over the shoulders of my bathrobe. Alaricus wrapped his arms around my waist, tugging me into his chest. I rested my hand on his chest, catching myself there.

I looked up at him curiously to see him grinning down at me. His dimples prominent in his cheeks, thin sharp jaw expanded slightly with the smile he wore, honey eyes crinkled at the corners. He was breathtaking.

"You're so beautiful." He mumbled, brushing back a lock of hair that had fallen onto my cheek, and he cradled my cheek in his hand tenderly, rubbing his rough thumb over the soft skin at the apple of my cheeks.

"The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. But everyday that I spend with you, the more that I get to know you, the more beautiful you become to me. I can not believe how lucky I am to have you in my life." Alaricus said and I nuzzled my face into his palm in response.

"I love you." I whispered to him, meaning every word with every fiber of my being. I loved him so much it overwhelmed me, it was in every breath I took, every move I made. It made me his, and it made him mine. His eyes softened with delight at my words, his smile melting to a more sincere one, the kind that forms uncontrollably when experiencing absolute bliss.

"I love you." Alaricus whispered back.

The End.