Page 191 of Baby Girl
“Starting to be. She can hear us, knows where she is. Nonverbal still,” Darcy explains, his hands roving up over my ass, and oh damn, the way he rubs his thumbs into my lower back, making little circles, feels fucking amazing.
“Her bath is ready.” The bed dips to my side, and I reach out for Derek, trying to turn my head over to face him.
I manage to do it, but my hair is all over the place, and I can barely see him.
Fingers gather the strands, and suddenly I can see, thankful that no one has turned the overhead lights on.
Derek smiles down at me and takes my hand. “Hey, baby. Are you ready for your bath?”
His question travels through the goo of my mind, and once I have it figured out, I nod. Then I shake it. At least I try to; my head doesn’t feel quite connected to my body just yet. Hopefully, the massage will help fix that.
He smiles at me. “How about this—I’ll go and wait for you in the bathroom, and Darcy can finish his massage. When he’s done, he can help you join me?”
This time, I definitely nod and let my eyes flutter shut as Derek gets off the bed. Is he naked? I think so. His half-back tattoo flashes through my mind, but I can’t tell if it’s a memory or if it’s what I just saw.
Darcy’s hands continue up my spine, not applying any real pressure. Mostly a firm touch, which is making all the nerves just under my skin come back alive. It’s like he is giving me a walk-through of my own body, allowing my mind to catalog everything he touches.
Soon his fingers are splayed on either side of my neck, pushing up into the base of my skull in a way that feels ridiculously amazing. He changes to a single-handed grip, fingers moving up the column of my neck until they sink into my hair, where he grips just enough to pull everything tight.
My moan…fuck.
“Okay, princess, time for your bath. I’m sure Derek is desperate to have you to himself for a few minutes.”
I heave a sigh and try to roll over onto my back, but come into contact with Hudson’s warm body. His hand snakes around my middle and tugs me even closer to him until his stubble tickles the side of my neck as he presses a kiss there. “Thank you for coming back to us. Choosing us.”
I glance over my shoulder at him, words not filling my mouth the way they normally do. So, instead, I answer with a kiss to his lips. There is zero passion in it; instead, there is tenderness and comfort. Love.
Because of course I chose them.
It’s always been them. Even when I was furious with them. Even when I was pushing them away. I didn’t want them to leave me. To abandon me like every other family I’ve ever had.
I wanted them to fight for me as badly as I fought for them.
And they had.
They’d shown up. They’d waited. They’d stayed.
They never left me, even when I told them to.
So, of course I chose them.
I pull back from the kiss and wait for his icy-blue eyes to open, the lashes slowly lifting to stare into mine. He gives me a small smile before dropping a kiss on my nose and releasing me.
It takes more effort than I’m willing to admit to leave them on the bed, but as I ease up onto my knees, I reach out for Darcy, and when he gets close, I press our lips together and give him the same kiss I gave Hudson.
Darcy helps me get off the bed and supports my waist as we make our way toward the bathroom. Walking feels weird, like my feet weigh a million pounds, but my legs are light like feathers. My knees, though, definitely belong to a baby giraffe. By the time I’ve got cool tiles under my feet, I’m ready to go back to sleep.
Another set of hands cup my other elbow, and it’s only then that I realize that my eyes are closed. Prying them open is an effort, but I manage it. Barely.
What is with me? Waking up from the sex comas these men put me into isn’t normally this hard.
There is a gentle glow of yellow light coming from somewhere, and is that…
“Rain?” My mouth still too dry, the word comes out husky and barely audible.
“It’s just some background noise to help you stay relaxed, would you like it to be something else?”
Darcy’s presence leaves me as Derek talks, and I turn and bury my face into his chest as the bathroom door closes behind us with a quiet click. Yep, definitely naked. I shake my head inresponse to his question and hum a happy noise when his hand cups the back of my head.
