She nodded, and she did this to his ear.
What in bloody hell?
When she didn’t move, he prompted, “Wine would be warming, poppy.”
Her eyes flitted through his before she skirted him and moved quickly down the hall.
He watched her until his attention was taken with the outer door opening. He looked over his shoulder to see Achilles and Gaston joining them.
“The children,” he said to them.
“Laures and Hans are patrolling the grounds,” Achilles stated, walking in and stopping close to Apollo. “You’ve spent the day with your children and there’s much to be discussed.”
Apollo nodded and moved into the room. This commenced their discussion which took them through dinner.
And through this, when his mind wasn’t on the matters at hand, it was on the fact that Maddie was there, but she wasn’t.
That was to say, she was there, smiling, answering a question if one was aimed at her from one from the men, talking to them softly, even laughing twice at something Remi had to say.
What she wasn’t was giving any indication she knew Apollo existed.
The only time he forced his existence on her was when Cristiana cleared the dishes. This was because Maddie rose to help her, but when she neared him, Apollo caught her hand and forced her into the chair beside him, a chair vacated by Gaston, who had gone to the main house.
He leaned into her and shared, “Lady Ulfr does not clear.”
She turned wide eyes to him then moved them through him and nodded.
It was at that point that his bemusement at her behavior turned to annoyance.
And this annoyance escalated when they moved from the dining table to the sitting room with their whiskeys (though Maddie was still drinking wine) and she continued to be jovial and animated with his men but distant with him to the point of ignoring him.
Thus he was glad when the business was concluded, the plans made, the men had their orders and they took their leave.
Apollo and Maddie saw them to the door.
And the minute the last farewell was thrown she ducked by him and moved into the house.
Much more slowly, he followed her.
Further irritating him, he found her tidying the glasses in the sitting room.
Her eyes slid through him once again as she passed him and he watched her walk to the kitchen.
He walked into the room, sat and took a deep calming breath.
She returned, her eyes avoiding his, but she bent not close, but not far, to grab a glass.
He bent deep, to grab her hips.
He then sat back, taking her with him, and planted her arse in his lap.
She stiffened completely except to look at his face then drop her gaze to his throat.
“What did I say about clearing?” he asked softly.
Her teeth appeared to worry her lip a brief moment before they disappeared and she mumbled, “Sorry.”
He kept his voice soft when he queried, “Is there something amiss?”
“Amiss?” she queried back, but she asked his ear.
He gave her a gentle shake. “Maddie. Look at me.”
Her eyes, with difficulty and two damned much time, finally found his.
There was fear in them.
Bloody hell, did he frighten her last night with his lovemaking?
On this thought, he gentled his tone further and slid his hand up her spine to her neck, pulling her down to him as his other arm rounded her waist and he remarked, “You’re behaving strangely tonight.”
“Um…” she mumbled but said no more.
“Maddie,” he prompted.
Her eyes started to drift away but his hand tightened on her neck and they shot back.
But she said not a word.
“Madeleine,” he growled, his gentle tone slipping as did his patience.
“I’m not crazy,” she whispered.
He blinked at this bizarre declaration. “Pardon?”
She shook her head sharply then announced, “You’re being very cool.”
Another bizarre declaration.
When she did not explain, cautiously he asked, “How am I being very…cool?”
“Not bringing it up or flipping out about it. I mean, sure, right after, you slit his throat but you’re a dude in a parallel universe. You cut off Pol’s hand. Gutted that other dude. Then there was the neck slice you delivered to that other other dude. I’m getting that here, things are a little bit more vio—”
She was rambling, and making little sense doing it, so he gave her another gentle shake and interrupted her with, “Maddie, I don’t know what the bloody hell you’re on about.”
“I stabbed a man,” she whispered, her voice horrified. “And I would guess, I think…well, I don’t know about this world, but in my world, we’re not hot on that. So I’m thinking that’s not all that, um…attractive and that you might think me going half-cocked like that is actually, well…crazy.”
He felt the tension release in his shoulders.
She was worried what he thought of her behavior the night before.
“You were overwrought,” he reminded her quietly.
“You can say that again,” she mumbled.
He dropped his voice low. “And you will remember how I reacted to your behavior when I joined you in bed last night.”
She closed her mouth and pink again tinged her cheeks.
She remembered.
“After that, Maddie, how can you misconstrue my response to your actions?”
“He was tied to a chair.” She was still whispering, her voice troubled. “Defenseless.”
“That man was not defenseless,” Apollo declared.
Surprising him at her swift change in tone, she cried, “He was, Apollo! He was tied to a chair!”
“Poppy, he came to my home with the intent to murder my children. He might have been defenseless in that moment, but do not mistake, my dove, even for a moment, that if he was not tied to that chair and given opportunity and a weapon, he would not have brought you low. Me low. Any of my men low. Or Christophe and Élan low.”
She was wide-eyed and it was no less adorable but it had less of an effect on him due to why.
She was also breathing heavily.
And through her breathing, she stated, “Maybe I need to understand what the fuck is going on.”
“You’re aware that I was worried we were in danger, Maddie, and the past few days proved we are.”
“But…children?” she asked quietly.
“Unfortunately, this thoroughly defines the wickedness of our foes. Although unfortunate they are this wicked, it is a twisted boon for we now know what to expect.”
Suddenly, she turned toward him and lifted a hand to curl it around his neck, dipping her face closer to his.
“Right. Here goes. I’m laying it out there,” she began, then announced, “I’m scared, Apollo. Freaking terrified. This shit is whacked. Totally whacked. I’ve had a day to think on all this crap and it freaks me out! I stabbed a man. You killed three. Right in front of me. Your kids in danger. And your guys are drinking ale, playing tuble like nothing’s the matter when it is! Last night you tortured information from an assassin! Tonight, you’re sitting around the dinner table talking about witches and missives and scouting parties and inventorying the armory like you’re discussing the scores of the Lakers vs. Celtics game. That shit is not right!”
“My dove—” he began but she shook her head vehemently and dug her fingers into his neck.
“Unh-unh, you can’t give me one of your sweet, sexy, tender, kickass ‘my doves’ and calm this storm, baby. I’m…freaked…out!”
He fought back his humor at her words and remarked, “I can assume that means frightened.”
“Fuck yes!” she cried.
He started to stroke her back and whispered, “Calm.”
Her eyes got huge again, it was still adorable, and this time the effect was what it usually was even when she
went on.
“Calm? You calm!” she returned. “I stabbed a man!”
“Madeleine—”
Abruptly, her forehead dropped to his and she whispered, “I stabbed a man. And honestly? If you gave me those hedge clippers? In that moment, I don’t know what I would have done. I was totally out of control. And you didn’t even blink before you cut his throat.”
He was belatedly seeing his mistake. One he would from then on rectify.
“I should have sheltered you from that. Alas, I was not thinking clearly at the time,” he told her and she lifted her head.
“I think it’s safe to say neither of us was.”
“That happens when you love your children,” he told her and she pulled in an audible breath.
He wrapped his arms around her and gathered her closer.
“Listen to me,” he said gently. “A great deal has happened in the last two days and unfortunately, some of it you weren’t shielded from due to necessity. And, I will remind you of the fact that in the beginning, when we were set upon in Vasterhague, I told you to run and you did not run so I couldn’t shield you from seeing me do what had to be done.”
Her eyes grew sharp and he nearly smiled.
He didn’t. He carried on.
“And the men spoke freely tonight around you. You’ll be shielded from that in the future as well.”
“I prefer to know what’s going on.”
“And I prefer you don’t if it frightens you.”
She drew in a very deep breath and sat back, pulling at his arms. He didn’t gather her closer again because, for some strange reason, she drew a cross over her heart and lifted up two fingers.
Then she declared, “I’ll put my big girl panties on and suck it up from now on, cross my heart, scouts honor, swear.” She dropped her hand. “But, I’d really rather not stab anyone in the future, especially not if they’re tied to a chair.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he murmured.
Her head tipped to the side and her eyes narrowed right before she asked. “Do you think this is funny?”
“The situation? No. Your reaction to it? Absolutely.”
She glared at him.
He’d allowed her distance and now he was done allowing it.
So he again gathered her closer.
And his tone was very gentle when he explained, “Maddie, for many, many months we have lived under the threat of knowing very powerful conspirators with evil motives may unleash mayhem across the land. Today, you breathe, my children breathe, I breathe. So I feel relief and now we can take this as an opportunity to read their first strike, glean what we can from it and prepare. All this is foreign to you, thus frightening. But in the end, it’s good.”
“I’m uncertain I can see the good, Apollo,” she admitted.
“Then I’ll share that they didn’t use magic. This could mean Minerva is weakened more than we knew, the witches she’s aligned with not as powerful as we’ve assumed, or they fear the combined magic of Lavinia and Valentine, not to mention Frey, who commands both dragons and elves.”
“None of that seems definite,” she noted.
“It’s not, but I’ve never known a battle where a warning shot was fired with a dart.”
She blinked and asked, “What?”
“If you have a cannon or a flaming arrow, you would use that.”
“Oh,” she whispered and he felt his lips curl up.
He wrapped the tail of her hair around his hand and brought her face closer.
“It has begun. We don’t live under the threat of it, it’s happening. This may not seem an advantage, my dove, but it is. It is much better to be doing something than awaiting the unknown. Now, I fortify the men at my home to keep my children and you safe for I know you are not, rather than guessing it or how I might protect you from it. Now, Queen Aurora can gather her troops. Now, Lavinia and Valentine may be able to focus their attention, for we may have knowledge of where the conspirators hide. But to end, poppy, now we can do something.”
“I’m seeing the benefits of this for an action man,” she noted.
He grinned.
“But for a chick from another world, this shit is still whacked,” she concluded.
“Then let’s agree that I shield my chick from another world from all of this so she enjoys her days making snowmen, playing tuble with her friends, her evenings with the company in her bed, all of this as she raises the courage to meet my children and tries to figure out what she intends to do with her life in her new world, shall we?”
“I really don’t like things kept from me, Apollo,” she whispered.
“I have received that message clearly, Madeleine,” he whispered back. “So part of our bargain will be that you trust me to share with you what you need to know and the rest of it, I will keep to myself so you can be free to find your footing in your new life? Are we agreed?”
She held his eyes and she did this for some time.
He fought against holding his breath.
Finally, she nodded.
Thank the gods.
“Excellent,” he muttered, rising and lifting her with him. “Let’s go to bed.”
As he moved from the room, he heard her mumble, “Oh boy.”
And again, he smiled.
* * * * *
“Baby,” she breathed.
Apollo slowly slid out but he didn’t slide back in.
He gave her just the tip of his cock and whispered against the skin of her neck, “Again.”
To which, instantly, she whispered back, “Baby.”
He slowly slid inside, then glided out, and repeat, and again, his hands moving on her skin, his lips skating across her neck, down her jaw and up. His eyes open, holding hers captive, he took her mouth, sliding his tongue in and coaxing hers to dance with his.
Gratifyingly, with but a moment’s coaxing, she gave him what he wanted.
When he broke the kiss but not the connection of his lips, she whispered, “You need to go faster, sweetheart.”
Instantly, he gave her what she wanted.
He felt her tighten her legs that were curved around his thighs and she slid her cheek along his, lifting her head to bury her face in his neck.
So bloody sweet.
“Maddie,” he groaned into hers.
“Harder, baby,” she begged, and his hand at her side drifted down to her waist, in over the small of her back and down to cup her arse.
He lifted her and gave her harder.
And deeper.
He heard her breath hitch and she ran the edge of her teeth along his shoulder.
When she did, a shudder tore through him. He shifted all his power to his hips and his thrusts turned to pounds.
“Apollo,” she breathed and he felt her sex clutching him tight.
Gods.
Magnificent.
“You grow close,” he grunted. “Look at me, poppy. I wish to see your face as it takes you.”
She dropped her head to the pillows and at the sight of him, her eyes heated, she gasped, he thrust and it took her.
She pushed her head into the pillows as her hand shot up and fisted in his hair.
“Magnificent,” he growled.
Her orgasm shook her then started drifting away and he saw her eyes open just before his head jerked back, he felt the muscles in his neck straining, his hips bucking, before his head fell forward and he buried his face in her neck, driving deep, staying planted and he groaned.
Yes.
Magnificent.
She held him to her as it shuddered through his frame, and he felt her press her lips to his neck.
So damned sweet.
Finally, he drew in a deep breath before he slid his tongue up her neck.
At that, he absorbed her shiver.
He lifted his head and caught her eyes.
“How’s this for in there, dove?”
She lifted her head, shoved her face in his throat and let out a giggle.
That
giggle, another triumph.
He twisted his neck and skimmed her temple with his lips. She dropped her head to the pillow and he smiled at her.
Her hand moved from his hair to his cheek and she whispered, “God, you’re beautiful.”
Those words cutting through him, he closed his eyes, turned his head and kissed her palm.
Then he moved his lips to her nose where he kissed her before he pulled back an inch and looked into her eyes.
“I don’t know what you prefer, Maddie, but I’ll tell you, I prefer you sleep in nothing. I want to feel your skin against mine tonight.”
“Okay,” she agreed quietly.
He dipped his head to brush his mouth against hers.
“I’ll deal with the sheath and return.”
“Okeydokey.”
At that, he gave her another brush of his lips and, with great satisfaction, he watched her lips part as he slid slowly out. Once he lost her, he bent his head deeper and glided his lips across her throat before he rolled off the bed.
He tossed the covers over her and watched her turn to the side, curling into herself. Only when she settled did he move away from the bed and into the shadows.
He made short work of dealing with the sheath and emerged from the darkness. He felt her eyes on him as, naked, he moved to the fire, threw on some logs, stirred it then went back to her.
He joined her in bed, yanked the covers up to his waist and pulled her into his arms, tangling their limbs and doing it tight.
She pressed her cheek into his chest.
“I’m assuming from what just occurred, you also enjoy gentle and slow,” he noted, sliding his fingers through her hair.
She emitted a short, sweet giggle and replied, “Yeah, that worked for me.”
He stopped moving his fingers through her hair and pulled her closer.
She snuggled even deeper.
Then he felt her draw in a deep breath before she murmured, “Just so you know, honey, if your intention in bringing me to this world was to give me better, swordfights and bloodshed notwithstanding, you’re succeeding.”
His chest warmed, his heart squeezed, his arm around her got tight and he felt a rumble roll up his chest.
But instead of howling his elation, Apollo put his other hand to her jaw, tipping it so his mouth could crush down on hers.
He took her open-mouthed and wet. He did it deeply. He did it thoroughly. He drank from her, taking as much as he wanted for as long as he wanted. And as long as he wanted meant he did it a bloody long time.
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