by Rosa Swann
“Wild...” Sterling sounds serious now and I stop my laughing. “Can you get me a wet towel so I can clean this off?” If looks could kill, I’d be dead now.
I quickly retreat to the bathroom, where I burst out laughing again as I wet a towel for him and make my way down the stairs, where Sterling is trying to get Maddy to let him take the towel off her.
Sterling’s voice is stern, but loving. “You can’t do this, Maddy. You can’t put these things on your face.”
“But Sarah does it.”
“Yeah, but not with pencils and felt tip markers. There are special tools for that.”
“But it’s pretty.” Maddy looks at me as I come back into the kitchen. “Right?”
“Yes, very pretty.” I kneel down next to her. “But remember, we don’t put shampoo on our toothbrush, we put toothpaste on our toothbrush. This is like that.”
Maddy shrugs, but as I hold up the towel for Sterling to take, she turns her face up to me, her eyes and mouth closed. I look at Sterling, I’d meant to give it to him, but he holds up his hands, apparently this is now part of my life. Cleaning a little girl’s face. Well, if I’m going to be mated to her father... fathers? The least I can do is actually do the damn job of being a responsible adult to her. It suddenly reminds me of what happened when I was here for a couple of days last time. How she’d been about to call me Dad or Daddy or something of the sort. So, maybe not just a responsible adult, but more of a real parent to her. No longer the man staying with her daddy, but actually another parent to her. I guess I need to start acting like one right about now.
I try to clean the marks off her face, but some of the streaks are just too stubborn and I shake my head. “Sterling? I don’t think this is working.”
He looks over at my shoddy work and then shakes his head too. “We’re going to need to actually get something stronger to clean this off. I agree. Thanks for trying though.” He finally laughs now. “Okay. Let’s go get upstairs, Maddy. I’ll see what I can find. Wilder, can you clean up the toys? I think it’s time for dinner right about now.”
As he walks off with an annoyed Maddy trailing behind him, I check the time. Yeah, definitely time for dinner. I quickly grab all the toys that are still on the towel and then start collecting the ones that had fallen off. How did she even do this? How did she get them all down the stairs without us noticing? I pick them up, piece by piece as I track my way back to Maddy’s bedroom.
When I pass the bathroom I can hear Maddy and Sterling arguing inside and it makes me smile a little. There are many things you can say about them, but at least they’re entertaining, but also, they obviously love each other. Even when Maddy sometimes is a little bit difficult about it.
I put Maddy’s toys back into the different baskets, and the next thing I know, I’m actually cleaning her room for her. That was unexpected, but not that much of a problem. When I’m done and look up, Sterling is looking at me, a smile on his face. “Look at you, being all parental.”
5. Sterling
After Maddy’s interesting idea about make-up, the day has actually somehow gotten better. It was so hard to try not to laugh at her, but at the same time, I was so worried that we’d never be able to get all the mess off her face, that it would stain her for days. Or that she’d have some weird allergic reaction to it and break out in spots or whatever. But it seemed none of that happened, instead, after actually cleaning it off properly and finding Wilder fixing up Maddy’s bedroom, we’re all a little easier. We’re all more relaxed and not as stressed.
Wilder is right, we’ll work it all out, but today is not that day. Today has been weird enough and we’ll have to leave some of the more serious stuff to handle next week.
“Star?” Wilder takes my hand and makes me look at him. “She’s asleep.”
I look down and Maddy has fallen asleep between or, more exactly, over us. We were watching some movie, but I’ve barely been paying attention and now Maddy has fallen asleep too. I guess it really is time for something else then. “Do you think I can move her back to her bed?” I don’t want to wake her, though.
“I’ll do it.” He moves carefully and then lifts her up, she lets out a little sound but then leans against him.
“Goodnight, Princess,” I whisper as Wilder walks past me and then I hear him walk up the stairs. I stay really still, it’s nice that it’s calm right now. I turn off the sound of whatever we were watching and close my eyes. The silence, no, the quiet sounds around the house, around the garden, they’re calming. They’re making me feel safe and it’s doing good things to my mood too.
I actually feel like falling asleep right here, right now, and before I know it, I’ve dozed off, until Wilder’s voice wakes me.
“You know I’m not going to carry you to your bed, right?”
I let out a laugh and open my eyes, looking at him in the doorway, the light from behind him hides his features in dark shadows, but I’m sure he’s laughing. “Am I not a princess then? Do I not deserve to be carried to my bed?”
I’m joking, but when Wilder comes closer, the look in his eyes stops the laugh about to spill from my lips, those are not the eyes of a prince, instead, they’re the eyes of a wolf about to devour a defenceless lamb. “You’re not a princess, you’re a king. The king of this castle.” He kneels in front of me and runs his hands over my thighs. “There is nothing childish about you. You’re a grown man who deserves to be worshipped.”
I swallow hard, not sure how to respond to that. Well, my brain may not be sure how to respond to that, my body definitely is. I’m getting rock hard with just his hands on my thighs and his eyes on mine. This man, this intense focus, it’s overwhelming. “Are you going to eat me, big bad wolf?”
Wilder grins, coming up and closer, still closer until our noses nearly touch. “Where would you like me to start?”
I have no words. No words at all. Instead I push against his chest, sitting up more and wrapping my arms around him. I want this to never end. This feeling that I have inside now, this little sliver of happiness.
“Star?” Wilder’s voice is careful. “Anything wrong?”
I shake my head. “No. Nothing wrong.” I reach up, putting my fingers to his cheek, then I come up more and carefully kiss him. Just softly, just a little bit, nothing rough. Soft kisses that make my heart beat faster and my knees weak.
Wilder wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer and then he stands up, still holding me. Our excitements are pressed together, hard against hard, separated by just a few thin layers of fabric. Enough not to be able to touch, but close enough to feel the heat. Then he deepens the kiss, his mouth eager, his breathing speeding up, and I grasp onto his shoulders, letting myself get lost in the sensations, letting myself get lost in all the different feelings. When he pulls back, his eyes are dark, looking at me in a way that makes me lose my mind a little.
“Let’s go to the bedroom.” My voice is hoarse, just above a whisper, then I start moving backward and as we stumble towards the bedroom, still wrapped around each other, Wilder keeps giving me kisses. They get longer and longer until I close the door behind us and have to break away or I’ll faint. I stare at Wilder, the man in front of me so beautiful, so perfect, that I want to run my hands and mouth all over him. Taste him, touch him, feel him.
Wilder pulls his shirt off and then he steps closer, grabbing the hem of my shirt and pulling it off of me too. Next to each other, like this, I see the difference between us, his stronger and broader body, my slimmer one. But I like the contrast, we don’t all have to be the same. I reach out and run my fingers over Wilder’s chest. I like the feelings here, the sensations so much different than when I touch myself. Then I trail my hands down, reaching the waistband of his jeans, slipping one finger under the band and sliding it to the middle.
Suddenly I touch something warm, soft and slightly wet and at the same time, Wilder lets out a surprised sound. He takes my hands and pulls them away from his body.
“I’m done
with teasing, I want to have some other fun with you.” He strips and while I stare at him, as I do each time, I realise that I want him, so, so bad.
I quickly undress too, not wanting to wait much longer. Then I feel Wilder at my back, the hard planes of his body, the way his heat seeps into my skin, it makes my own body heat up like crazy. His arms slide around me, pulling me closer and pressing his excitement against my back.
“You’re amazing.” His low whisper ghosts over my skin and I shiver, then he walks me forward until I crawl onto the bed. He pushes me onto my back and hovers over me. “I’m going to make you crazy.” The look in his eyes...
I’m not sure if I should say it to him... but I already am crazy, crazy for him. I reach up, covering my face as I feel a brush spread over my cheeks.
“Star?” Wilder stops, tugging on my arms slightly. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head. “Nothing.” I’m not going to tell him, not now.
“You sure?” He runs his fingers over my chest, down over my belly, where he stops, circling over it for a moment. “I still can’t believe it.” His voice dips and I look up at him, finally taking my hands away from my face, the look in his eyes... That look that makes me weak inside but also so hot.
I come up, no longer able to control myself, and push him over, make him lie on the bed instead, his amazing body stretched in front of me. If he’s not going to hurry up, I’ll do it instead. I run my hands over his legs up, feeling the muscles tense under my touch, then I reach the inside of his upper thighs and Wilder opens his legs, his dick bopping up at the movement. I climb between his legs, making myself comfortable before I wrap one hand around his dick, inciting a gasp from Wilder.
I look up and Wilder is staring at me intensely, I keep our eyes locked as I hover over him, sticking out my tongue and only touching the tip of his cock with it. Wilder’s eyes go wider, then he squeezes them closed before opening them again. I swirls my tongue around him, touching him, making sure he feels everything.
Wilder bites on his lower lip, his eyes still trained on me, but when I dip down and take as much of him into my mouth as possible, he lets out a deep moan and I know he has closed his eyes. I create suction, bopping up a couple of times, making delicious sounds come from Wilder, before I slide down a little deeper and swallow around him.
The deep moan this gets from Wilder almost makes me come without even touching myself. How does he do it? How does he just drive me crazy like this? I’m just touching him, but I’m the one that is going to explode if I don’t watch out.
“Star. Please?”
I look up, letting Wilder go for a moment. “What?” I smile, it’s amazing to see this man being reduced to moans and pleas, just from me touching him.
Wilder reaches for me and then pulls at me, pulling me over him, our excitements trapped between our bodies.
Fuck. I don’t just want to touch him, I want to feel him inside me. I pull up a little and then sit up. I reach behind me and wrap my fingers around him, then I come up a little, hovering over him while Wilder looks at me in awe. His fingers play over my skin, touching me. I slowly come down, the head of his cock now against my entrance, slowly starting to spread me, and Wilder’s hands grip my hips.
“Star...”
I don’t listen to him, instead I lower myself more onto him, the stretching a little uncomfortable, but I don’t care, I don’t want to wait any longer, the feelings inside me way too strong to ignore. I slide down a little, feeling how Wilder fills me up, deeper and deeper.
Wilder’s grip increases and he stops me. When I look at him, he’s out of breath and I can see the tension in his face. “Just give me a moment, don’t want to ruin this.” His breathing slowly comes back down again and his grip lessens, allowing me to adjust to his width before I slide down the rest of the way, seating him deep inside me.
I reach up, running my fingers over his cheeks, over his lips. When I lean over to kiss him, Wilder lets out a sound and I feel him move inside me. Our lips meet and he kisses me roughly, all lips and tongue and teeth, I hold onto him and he starts moving his hips, starts moving inside me more and more as we keep kissing, feeding each other our sounds, feeding each other our excitement.
Then he flips me over, his eyes on me dark and filled with lust, as he hovers over me, moving inside me harder and faster. I grip onto him, keeping him close as I reach between us with my other hand, touching myself.
“I want to come together,” Wilder whispers into my hear.
“Then, hurry.” Because I’m not going to last much longer, not with the way Wilder is moving inside me, making me go crazy and overwhelming all my senses. There is no way I’m keeping this at bay, not now.
Wilder falters for a moment before he grips my hip with one hand and changes the angle a little, making me see stars every time he moves.
I gasp, blinking, not able to do much more.
“Come for me.” His voice is the last thing that pushes me over the edge and I come, hard. I shoot stickiness between us and then I also feel Wilder push into me one last time, his cock swelling up and coating my insides. I keep coming, I’m not sure for how long, but it’s insane and so good. The way our bodies react, the way everything works so well together.
When we finally come down, Wilder slowly pulls out of me and slides the blanket over us. Then he pulls me closer, making me face him as he wraps his arms around me. The look in his eyes makes my heart flutter and maybe that, combined with the fuzziness of just having come, is why I can’t keep my mouth shut.
“I think...” I reach up, putting my fingers to his lips. “I think I may be falling in love with you.” I press closer, covering his lips with mine, making it impossible for him to answer me as my heart is beating like crazy. I know that it’s too soon, I know that this is crazy. But it just slipped out and I don’t want to take it back.
Wilder tightens his arms around me, pulling me closer and kissing me back hard.
I’m scared, even with everything going on, I’m scared of his answer. No, I’m scared if he’ll give me a bad answer. I could probably handle him keeping silent. I think... I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’ve never had to deal with this before, feelings that are so strange and weird. This uncertainty.
When Wilder pulls back, allowing us both to breathe a little, his pupils are huge and he just stares at me. Then he licks his lips. “I think... I think, me too. I may be falling for you.” He pulls me close, and I’m not sure if it’s my own heart beating in my ears, or if his heart is really going crazy like this too.
Tears start in my eyes and I can’t stop them. Damn. Wow. Fuck. I guess you really can be over the moon with joy and broken by grief at the same time... Because, I’m sure that the only thing that would make this any better is if Logan was actually here with us.
6. Wilder
Falling asleep last night wasn’t easy. Sure, I can blame it on post-orgasmic hormones and stuff like that, but I also know that that would be false and unfair to the both of us. But at the same time... Can we even fall in love right now? Can we? We’ve just lost Logan, I mated Sterling the day after we buried Logan and he’s pregnant with my baby. Is this really love or is this about duty? About taking care of family and people?
I roll over on the bed, Sterling already left hours ago to take care of the animals and all the other things he does in the morning. And I think I heard him... His morning sickness isn’t getting any better and I feel bad for being the one who is responsible for it.
A little while ago, Maddy came down the stairs and I can smell breakfast being made in the kitchen. I think it’s time to get out of bed, but I don’t know how to face Sterling. How I should look at him. What I should say. Is there something for this, a way to know these types of things. I’ve never done this before. Logan and I simply moved from friends to lovers, somewhere along the way when we were teens.
I hear someone walk in the hallway and then Sterling knocks on the door. “Wilder, you awake?”
“Yeah.” I sit up as Sterling opens the door, then he looks at me.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” He walks over to a chair in the corner and changes out his shirt. His shirt with a huge brown stain on it.
“What happened?” I look over and almost get up out of bed before Sterling turns around and waves for me to stay in bed.
“Nothing much. I got some coffee on my shirt.” When he sees me stare he holds up his hands. “Coffee wasn’t hot, it was lukewarm at best, but, you know, it stains and it’s wet.” He pulls the clean shirt over his head. “Are you coming out for breakfast? If you don’t hurry up, Maddy will have eaten it all.” He walks over to the door, then he looks at me, his gaze softening. “Thank you, for last night. For not turning me down.” And he closes the door.
I jump out of bed, ready to rush after him. Like I could ever turn him down, but then I realise I’m stark naked. Okay, so clothes should be a first priority, and then, maybe not having that discussion in the kitchen with Maddy there. I get dressed, looking around the room and then opening a window, letting the late spring air into the house.
By the time I’m in the kitchen, Sterling is sitting at the table, reading something on his tablet and Maddy is sitting opposite him, eating some fried eggs and bacon on toast. Sterling looks up at me as I walk into the kitchen, his cheeks pinking a little. So it was done on purpose, leaving immediately after saying such a thing. I grab a mug and pour myself some coffee, then I sit down at the table. “I heard there was breakfast?” I look at Sterling and then at Maddy.
“I ate it all.” Maddy grins, but then Sterling bursts out laughing.
“I’ll go make you some.” He stands up, but so do I.
“I’ll do it myself, don’t worry.” I walk over to him and make him sit down in his chair again. “You’ve done enough. I’ll do this.” I start up on the bacon and add the eggs. As I look around the kitchen, I realise that I could definitely get used to his. A house. A man who, may potentially, love me. A quiet place that is filled with love and laughter. I could definitely get used to this. And I want to, right now, there is nothing in the world that I want more than to spend my days here.