Page 19 of Thicker than Blood

“You look ready to drop, sweetheart. Go home with Capsian so me and Eddie don’t have to worry about the two of you.”

“Actually, I plan to stay at the penthouse, so we’ll be closer than the Manor,” I say it more for Maple than Maria since she would already suspect that's what I would do anyway.

“I can stay with Eddie tonight. I don’t mind and I won’t fall asleep.”

Before I can forbid her to stay, putting her own health at risk by running herself into the ground, Maria speaks up, “Go with Caspian, Mae. Rest. You can take the first shift tomorrow morning. And I’ll call you two if anything happens.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, sweetie. Go with Caspian and get some rest so you can be your best tomorrow.”

I still have to take her by the arm and all but pull her from the hallway. She’s quiet in the car on the way over and on the way up to the penthouse. Once I let us in, she’s tentative about going too far in.

“Look, make yourself comfortable. I’ll go get the spare bedroom ready.”

“You don’t have to go to any trouble. I can just sleep on the couch. It’s not like I’ll get much sleep anyway.”

“You have to get some rest, Sweets.”

She turns away from me but not before I spot the wobble of her chin. I'm one hundred percent certain she’s going to cry again.

“Maple.” I walk over to her and turn her, tears already leaking down her face. “Sweet girl.”

“I should have been there for him, Caspian. I should have…”

I pull her into my arms and sit on the couch with her on my lap. “Baby, you know it wouldn’t have made any difference. You did all you could do for him. You stayed with him while he made the ambulance ride to the hospital, kept him calm while they came, and I know how much he loves you because of all you do for him and how much you care for him.”

I brush my mouth against hers in a soft kiss that isn’t designed to be sexual so much as it is to be comforting. I taste the salty tears on her lips but underneath it all, I also taste her. The sweetness can’t be covered up even despite her sadness. She looks at me with big watery eyes that break my heart. I realize how awful this is for her since she lost her parents when she was old enough to remember having them...and lose them. I rub the tears from under her eyes and those that have slipped down her cheeks.

“Everything is going to be alright, sweetheart. He’s going to be alright.”

“How do you know?” Her eyes pled with me to give her a good reason.

“Because I wouldn’t allow it to be any other way.”

Chapter Eighteen

Maple

I give him a watery smile as I think about the enormity of his ego. It really does know no bounds, but for once I'm grateful for it. “You know… you can’t always get what you want. Right?”

His lips come back to mine to gently rub against mine. “Hmm, I suppose I see that, but I can come close. And never stop trying to go further.”

Are we still talking about his grandfather’s health, or have we moved on to something else?

His lips are warm against my own and I can’t stop myself from leaning into the kiss and soaking up the heat from it. It's like I’ve been cold -lost- since I left the bed this morning when I thought he might want to hide what we were doing, what he wanted me to be. His lips against mine are like coming home. They feel like being found.

I don’t even realize I’ve raised my arms so I can wrap them around him until I’m being pulled in closer to him as he reciprocates my hugs and gives me one of his own. The kiss turns deeper with him adding more pressure as I open for him, and he slips the tip of his tongue inside.

I moan out his name as I stand and turn so, I can straddle his lap, bringing us closer to one another still. His hands are locked in my hair, and he finally pulls his mouth from mine. “Sweetheart, we need to stop. I don’t want to take advantage of you because you are in a vulnerable state, sweet girl.”

“Right.” I curl my lips around my teeth so I can take one more taste of him from my wet lips. “We should… we should stop.”

“It’s the right thing to do.” I nod in agreement with him.

“It is. Just…just one more kiss and then we have to stop.”

“One more kiss.”