Chapter 91 Chapter Ninety-One

Chapter 91 Chapter Ninety-One
Ellie stood under the spray in the shower, letting the warm water run over her body, savoring it in a way she wouldn't have thought to before today. 

Something had shifted in her since the hospital, since the fear of the afternoon had given way to relief — she'd never take anything for granted again, not the water, not this house, not one single ordinary moment. She'd promised herself that much.

She jumped when she felt arms wrap around her waist, her body tensing on instinct before her mind caught up — but the moment she recognized the familiar warmth and weight of him, she relaxed, leaning back against Cesar's chest with a soft sigh.

"I've missed this," she said, her voice barely above the sound of the water.

"Me too." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, unhurried, before reaching for her shampoo. 

He dropped a generous amount into his palm and worked it into her scalp, his fingers massaging slow, deliberate circles that seemed to melt the last of the day's tension right out of her.

Ellie moaned softly and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensation entirely. His hands felt wonderful against her scalp, and for a moment there was nothing else — no hospital, no gunfire, no fear. Just this.

"Feels good?" he asked, a note of quiet satisfaction in his voice.

"It's heaven," she sighed.

Cesar chuckled low in his chest, the sound vibrating against her back, and he gently tilted her head down to rinse the shampoo away. Then he reached for her shower gel, lathering it between his palms before smoothing it over her shoulders and down her back, unhurried, almost reverent in the way he touched her — as if he was memorizing the fact that she was still here, still whole, still his to hold.

I could have lost this, he thought, watching the water trace over her skin. I could have lost her. The thought sobered him even as his hands kept moving, gentle and sure.

"You're so beautiful, Ellie." His voice came out hoarse, graveled with something rawer than desire.

She turned her head slightly, catching the emotion behind the words. "You make me feel beautiful," she said, and meant every part of it.

His hands moved around her torso and slid up to palm her breasts making her shudder.

“Cesar.” She whispered as her head fell back against his shoulder.

“That’s right baby, keep on moaning my name. Moan my name while you come." He rumbled as his thumbs circled her sensitive nipples.

Her core clenched almost viciously as Cesar lightly pinched the hardened peaks of her breasts and set her body on fire with desperate need.

“Please, Cesar." She whimpered. His hard erection was right against her lower back. "I need...I need...”

“I know what you need." He answered gruffly. His hand slid down her belly and into the trimmed hair at her mound. "You need to get off, and I’m going to get you there.” He growled in her ear.

“Yes.” She breathed a tortured sigh of relief as his fingers delved between her thighs, while his other hand continued to tease her nipples relentlessly.

“Jesus. You’re so fucking wet for me, Ell, so hot, so tight." He probed her sheath with his index finger. "Are you so slick because you want my cck inside you?”

“Oh God yes!” She cried. He was hot and hard and she needed him like she needed to take her next breath. "Fk me Cesar, please.”

He pinched her nipple a little harder and demanding fingers sought and found her clt. He stroked over the pulsating bundle of nerves roughly.

“Do you know what it does to me to hear you begging me to fk you? It makes me want to give you exactly what you want.” He rasped in her ear.

Ellie moaned as her slick body slid against his muscular form and she arched her back as he worked her cl"t harder with his thumb and index finger.

“Oh Jesus, I can’t take it anymore." She screamed. The coil in her belly started to unfurl.

“You can. Take it, Ell... Use it to come for me baby." He commanded harshly in her ear.

His husky, lust filled voice made her body quiver and as his mouth moved to her neck lightly nipping and lapping at her sensitive skin, Ellie completely shattered.

“Cesar!” She cried out. The ripples in her channel became massive spasms. Her climax gripped her hard and refused to let go.

“Need to feel you coming.” Cesar growled.

Ellie turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck and jumped, locking her legs around his waist.

“Then feel it now." She panted heavily. "Right now.”

Cesar lowered her gently onto his length. Heat met heat, coiling so tightly in their bellies, they could only cling together and enjoy the burn. Their sighs rose and mingled with the spray from the shower as they shuddered in each other’s arms.

Cesar had never felt like this with anyone else but Ellie; his love, his life, his wife.

"I love you so much, Ell." He kissed her passionately, pouring everything the day had put him through — the fear, the fury, the relief — into that single point of contact.

"I love you too, Cesar... so much." She rubbed her nose against his, a small, tender gesture that felt more intimate somehow than the kiss itself.

"Don't ever leave me." He muttered it against her skin, and there was something almost vulnerable in the words, a crack in the composure he wore so easily for the rest of the world.

He's never sounded like that before, Ellie thought, something in her chest aching at the rawness of it. 

"Never," she said, shaking her head. "Forever and always."

Cesar smiled, and for a moment the weight of the day seemed to lift off him entirely. "Forever and always."

She woke at midnight, heart hammering, breath coming too fast. The nightmare clung to her even as her eyes adjusted to the dark of the bedroom — she'd dreamed she was back there, taken again, but this time no one had come for her. And it hadn't been Dante's face looming over her in the dream. It had been Cassandra's.

"You okay, babe?" Cesar's voice was already alert beside her, sleep gone from it in an instant.

"I had a nightmare," she said, her voice smaller than she wanted it to be.

"You don't have to be scared. You're safe now." He reached for her, wanting to pull the fear out of her with his hands if he could.

"You don't understand. I'm not safe." She pushed the words out before she could stop them. "I'll be safe until…" She stopped herself, the sentence hanging unfinished in the dark.

"What do you mean?" He frowned, propping himself up on an elbow now, fully awake. "Do you think someone's still after you?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Something cold and sharp settled into Cesar's stomach. Not again. Not another threat I didn't see coming. "Who? Tell me this fucker's name," he growled.

"You'd be surprised," she said.

"Tell me anyway."

"Cassandra Nash."

Cesar blinked once, then twice, the name taking a moment to fully land. "Cassandra?"

"She paid Dante to kidnap me and kill me." Ellie's voice shook as she said it. 

Even now, weeks removed from it, she didn't think she'd ever fully climb out from under what those two days had done to her — the locked room, the hunger, the not knowing if she'd ever see her children's faces again. Some fears didn't fade; they just learned to stay quiet.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I guess he thought he was going to kill me, so he told me." She shrugged, the motion small and tired. "After all, a dead person can't talk."

"Oh, she's dead." Cesar let out a chuckle with no humor in it at all, something dark settling behind his eyes. "Dead, I tell you."

"I wouldn't have hurt her niece if she'd not tried to kill…" Ellie stuttered, the words tangling as old guilt and old fear collided.

"Don't worry your pretty head about it." Cesar cupped her face, steadying her. "I made a promise to protect you, and I'm going to. You have nothing at all to worry about."

I let this get past me once, he thought grimly. It won't happen twice.

"What will you do?" she asked.

"Don't know yet, but I'll make her pay," Cesar said. "Dearly."

"Just don't... get into trouble for my sake, please."

"I'll be careful," he promised, though even he wasn't entirely sure it was a promise he could keep. "Can you sleep back?"

"No." She shook her head. "I want to watch a movie with you."

"Which one?"

"Um... the princess switch."

"I don't like chick flicks." He made a face, and despite everything, Ellie felt a laugh bubble up in her chest.

"But it's not..." she started, chuckling.

"Next," he said, unmoved.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Starship troopers."

"Er… I don't think I want my baby to watch something like that." Cesar shook his head, mock-serious.

"Okay. Kingsman: The Secret Service."

"Better." He was already sliding out of bed. "I'll bring my laptop and have one of the maids make popcorn for us."

"Popcorn? It's 12:30."

Cesar just shrugged, said nothing, and left — and Ellie watched him go, something settling and steadying in her chest despite the night's fear. 

Forever and always, she thought. He meant it. He always means it.