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It was about five the following afternoon when Zsadist finally woke up properly It was good to be in his own bed It was not so great having a cast on his lower leg

Rolling over, he opened his eyes and looked at Bella She ake and staring back at him

"How are you feeling?" she asked

"Okay" Physically speaking, at least The rest of him, his mind and his emotions, were open to question

"Would you like so to eat?"

"Yeah In a little bit" What he really wanted was to just lie around and stare into his shellan's eyes for a while

Bella eased over onto her back and looked up to the ceiling

"I'lad we talked," he said Asto keep her fro, and if that meant conversation, he'd blabber on until his voice box bit it

"Me too"

He frowned, feeling the distance "What's on your mind?"

After a moment she said softly, "Do you still want me?"

He actually had to shake hi"Good Lord, of course I want you asis just--"

"Sexually, I mean"

He blinked, thinking about the hardcore arousal he'd gotten the night before--just fro her towel off "How could I not?"

She turned her head to him "You don't feed and you haven't reached for mewell, I haven't either, but I mean--"

"Nalla needs you ht now"

"But you do, tooat least forhave broken if you'd been fed properly? Probably not"

"I don't know I fell through a flooronto glass"

"Glass?"

"A chandelier"

"God"

There was a long silence, and he wondered what she wanted hi the door to?

At even the prospect of sex, his body woke up sure as if it were a gong she'd banged with one hell of an over-the-shoulder shot

Except Bella stayed where she was And he stayed where he was

As silence stretched, he thought about how close to the edge of no return they were If they didn't take steps to reconnect

He reached through the sheets, took her hand, and brought it forward to his body

"I want you," he said as he placed it on his erection At the contact, he let out a groan and rolled his hips, pushing himself into her palm "OhmanI've missed you"

The fact that Bella seemed surprised shamed him and made him think about her in the bathroom with that towel When she'd stopped and looked at herself in theher body, he realized now--looking for flaws that weren't there And she'd covered herself when she'd seen him not because she didn't want to attract his attention, but because she was sure she didn't have it anymore

He moved her hand up and down on his shaft "I'ain All over"

She cah the sheets "You are?"

"How could I not be? You're the most perfect female I've ever seen"

"Even after--"

He shot forward and pressed his lips to hers "Especially after" He pulled back so she could read his eyes "You are just as beautiful as the first tio You stopped my heart then--just froze it in my chest And you stop it now"

She blinked quickly, and he kissed her tears away "Bellaif I had known, I would have said so I just assued for me"

"Since Nalla's cohts and days My body You and me So I just assumed--"

"Feelinto her "Feel me and know--Oh, God"

She felt hiht Wrapped both her hands around hith

"Is this good for you?" she whispered

All he could do was nod andhi him, his brain had pretty much shorted out "Bella" He reached for her with his bandaged hands, then stopped "Daauze--"

"I'll take it off for you" She pressed her lips to his "And then you can put your hands wherever you like--"

"Fuck"

He ca let down, Bella just laughed in the deep, throaty way of a feet sex from her male

He recognized the sound Loved it Missed it Needed to hear--

From across the room Nalla let out a warm-up wail that quickly escalated into a full-blown, carrier jet-launching, I-need-my- mahmen-NOW cry

Bella felt Z's erection deflate and ell aware it wasn't because he'd just had a release He was capable of going four or five orgasht, not after a dry spell of months and months

"I' over her shoulder at the crib, feeling torn as to which one she tended to

Zsadist took her face in his bandaged pal I'll be fine"

There was absolutely no censure in his eyes or his tone But then, there never had been He'd never been resentful of Nalla; if anything he'd been too self-sacrificing

"I'll just be--"

"Take your time"

She got off the bed and went to the crib Nalla reached her little hands out and calmed some--especially as she was picked up

Right Wet diaper and hungry

"I won't be long"

"Not to worry" Z lay back against the black satin sheets, his scarred face no longer pulled in hungry lines, his body still, not straining

She hoped it was because the orgasm had relaxed him Feared it was because he didn't think she'd be back anytime soon

Bella nipped into the nursery, executed a fast diaper swap, then went to the rocker and gave Nalla what she needed As she held her young and rocked, she realized how true it was that having a baby changed everything

Including the concept of ti turned into a two-hour fuss, throw-up, fuss, feed, throw-up, burp, cry, diaper-change, fuss, feed marathon

When Nalla finally settled, Bella let her head fall back against the rocker in a familiar state of exhaustion and satisfaction

The , transformative, and a little addictive--and she could now understand how fe You were fed by taking care of and doing right by the she said hen it came to Nalla

Thing was, though, sheon top of her, hot and hungry Missed the feel of his fangs going deep into her throat Missed the way that scarred face of his looked after they'd made love, all flushed and soft and full of reverence and love

The fact that he was so hard with everyone else, even his Brothers, made his sweetness with her even more special Always had

God, that drea between theh so that she wouldn't leave him now What she wasn't sure of hat came next Z required more help than she could provide hi support from his mate

Maybe there was a way Mary could step in She had a counseling background and had been the one to teach him to read and write There was no way he would talk to a stranger, but Mary

Ah, hell, there was no way he'd talk to Rhage's shellan about the ins and outs of his past The experiences were too horrific and the pain went too deep Plus he hated getting emotional in front of anybody

Bella got up and put Nalla in the smaller crib in the nursery--on the off chance Zsadist was still in bed, naked and in the mood

He wasn't He was in the bathroo sound and the spray of water, he was tri his hair in the shower On the bedside table there was a pair of scissors and the bandages that had been on his hands, and all she could think of was that she wished she had done it for him No doubt he'd waited and waited and waited for her, and then given up, not just about the sex but about the help He et the scissors to ith just the top half of his fingers showingbut given what tiauze hiht

Bella sat on the bed and found herself arranging the split in her robe so that when she crossed her legs they'd stay covered This was a fa for hied in a towel, they would talk about nothing at all while he dressed in his closet Then after he went down for First Meal, she would bathe and dress with equal privacy

God, she felt small Small cohter and the fact that she wanted a lover for a hellren, not a polite roommate

The knock on the door made her jump "Hello?"

"It's Doc Jane"

"Come on in"

The doctor poked her head around the door "Hey, is hies--Okay, clearly you two have covered that part"

As the doctor ju conclusion, Bella kept her mouth shut "He should be out of the bathroom soon Can his cast come off?"

"I believe so Why don't you tell hi on thearound with my tool belt"

"Will do"

There was a longin the background

Doc Jane frowned "Are you okay, Bella?"

Forcing a smile, she put both hands up in ward-off mode "I'm perfectly healthy I don't need another examination Ever"

"That I believe" Jane slanced at the bathrooo wash his back, if you knohat I mean"

"I'll wait"

Another silence "May I estion that is completely intrusive?"

"Hard to iine you can be more intrusive than you already have," Bella said with a wink "I'm serious"

"All right"

"Keep Nalla's main crib in the nursery and leave the door mostly closed as she sleeps in there Get a baby monitor so you can hear her" Doc Jane swept her eyes around "This is the roo more than mommy, and he needs you to himself for a little bit each day Nalla will be fine and it's i on her own"

Bella looked at the crib The idea ofAs if she were throwing their daughter to the wolves Except if she wanted more than a roo to do with square footage