Though a spare bed had been pulled into the newly decorated room for Maxwell, Reyona insisted he slept with her in hers.
His protest that he might jostle her in his sleep and hurt her went unheeded.
She told him she believed he would not hurt her.
"Not even in your sleep," she said as she patted the space behind her.
So, after a day filled with Toria and Celia's decorating frenzy of Reyona and Allysyn's room, they finally settled in bed.
They reminisced about the antics Toria and Andreas had pulled to keep Allysyn entertained and to keep her mind off the fact that she could only lie down in a certain position.
They laughed about Mira's intention to be involved in the adults' activities as she would screech from time to time and babble non-stop whenever someone stopped cooing over her.
Eventually, Toria put her to work by letting her "help" with the streamers.
They mused about Andreas' slight reluctance when they offered him the house to stay in instead of the hotel he had booked beforehand.
"I think he wanted to have her all to himself for a while." Reyona chuckled as she remembered his thinly veiled exasperated look. "Do you think I shouldn't have insisted?" She asked Maxwell. "Toria looked so clueless though."
Maxwell kissed her on the nose and said "You did the right thing, babe. You were being practical. What is the point of the extra charges for the hotel when they could use the house? What more? Junior is there to keep them company," he added with a sly smile.
"Oh my, I think Andreas would hate me right now," Reyona said with a sheepish smile.
"He wouldn't dare," Maxwell said again as he kissed her forehead.
"You are enjoying this, ain't you? Is that why you agreed with me so fast?"
"Absolutely. I even made sure to tell Maggie to give them separate rooms. On different floors", Maxwell chuckled without remorse. "Let the man work for it a little."
Reyona laughed softly as she drilled her finger into his chest. "Glad to know I am not the only one he would hate. When his family is coming for us, I will point them directly in your direction. I am just a weak, guileless woman after all."
Maxwell sighed and said "Oh, what we do for love," then he added, "Do you think your sister will let something as silly as different floors stop her if she really wants him with her?"
Reyona grinned as she added "Just as being cooped up in a cave together wouldn't have made any difference to her if she wanted nothing to do with him. She is much more assertive than I am." She mused.
"You?" Maxwell asked with a shocked expression. "That was you not being assertive? Phew! Thank God I never met the assertive you. I wouldn't have stood a chance."
Their laughter ended in an impregnable silence as their looks went from cheery to heated in seconds.
"Reyona" Maxwell whispered before their lips fused in a passionate kiss.
As much as he wanted to run his hands all over her, he was conscious of her bandaged sides.
As badly as he wanted to strip her right there, have his way with her and brand her as his over and over again, Maxwell held back.
Their lips, tongues, and hands had grown minds of their own, and they were busy devouring each other without a consciousness of time, place, or circumstances.
When her roving hands reached for his shaft, Maxwell swore as his already hardened member flared dangerously.
"Babe, we need to stop" he groaned out as he held her hand.
"Why?" She looked at him with heavily aroused eyes.
"Because…" he swallowed hard and got off the bed to calm himself down with the distance from her alluring body. "Because you are still very much in pain and I just can't overlook that."
Reyona looked at him with inviting, blood-stirring eyes as she said "I am not feeling any pain."
Maxwell held his hand to his head as he snorted out laughter and said "Remember what Allysyn said earlier?"
Her eyes narrowed even as a smile tickled her lips "Are you calling me a liar?"
"I wouldn't dare," Maxwell said innocently as he went back to bed and said "Let's take care of you first, babe. We will have enough time for every other thing later."
She sighed and looked up at the "Get well soon" banner that Toria had roped Andreas and Andrew into hanging in her range of vision.
When she wanted to smile at the memory, she sighed again as she said "You are no fun."
"I am glad I got you to marry me before you realise that. What a lucky fella I am."
"You tricked me!" She said in a mock agitated voice.
"Like I said, I am a lucky one."
She glared at him and said, "You are not funny."
"I know," he said as he gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.
"I guess you will want me to sleep now?"
"As annoying as it is, you need it. On the bright side, the faster you heal, the earlier we can get to other…activities."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Get in bed and hold me to sleep."
"Gladly," he said as he held her in a spoon fashion on the bed.
While turning around, she wiggled and wiggled, while brushing up against him at every shift until he was holding his breath to tightly control his raging blood.
"Reyona" he groaned as his hand unconsciously tightened on her lap.
"What? I am sleeping. Keep your hands to yourself, mister. Goodnight", She said in a not-so-innocent voice.
Soon enough, he felt the change in her body and the change of rhythm in her breathing as she slid into genuine sleep.
Maxwell was so conscious of hurting her in his sleep that it took him a while to sleep off.
The same consciousness made his sleep light, and he found himself jolting awake some minutes later.
He tried to sleep again, but then he frowned as he thought back about why he woke.
Was it the state of his mind or something had woken him?
He turned over in bed to look around the room, but there was not so much as a flicker from the cheery streamers in the room.
Maxwell wanted to curl up against Reyona and tried to sleep again, but he couldn't.
He decided to check the hallway to see if someone was passing by.
"Who would be passing by this time of the night?" He asked himself, even as he thought it could be anyone at all.
Ranging from the nurse at night doing routine checkups to cleaners or anyone at all.
He silently opened the door so as not to wake Reyona.
He looked to the left but saw nothing.
Then his head swerved to the right as he heard a barely-there sound.
At the farther end of the hall, someone just turned the corner.