Page 7 of Dark Princess Ascending
Just like he had, but he was too much of a coward to admit it yet.
She caught his hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "Thank you. It means so much to me that you think that."
"I know." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "You are the most amazing person I've ever met. I feel blessed and incredibly lucky that, for some reason, you want to be with me."
A smile tugged at her lips. "The reason is that you are a great storyteller."
She was teasing, he knew that, but he also wanted to give her many more reasons for wanting to be with him.
When Morelle's breathing became deeper,Brandon patted her shoulder. "Let's get you dried off and in bed."
She didn't protest as he helped her out of the tub and wrapped her in a thick towel. He dried her carefully, trying to stay indifferent to her nudity, and then slipped one of his t-shirts over her head.
By the time he carried her to bed, she was barely conscious. He tucked her in, then quickly changed into sleep pants before sliding in beside her.
She curled into him, fitting against his side as if she'd been designed for that space. "Thank you," she mumbled.
"For what?"
"For not pushing. For being patient with me. And for all the lovely compliments. I might get used to that."
"Please do." Brandon gathered her closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
4
MARINA
Marina attacked the bathroom tiles with a vengeance, scrubbing at nonexistent spots as if they had personally offended her. The sharp scent of cleaning products made her eyes water, but she couldn't stop. Peter's mother would be here in less than three hours, and that wasn't enough time to make everything perfect.
If there was even a speck of dust anywhere in the house, Marina was sure that Peter's mother would spot it with her immortal vision and use it to put her down.
"You missed a spot," she muttered to herself, spraying more cleaning fluid on the already gleaming surface.
Did immortals even care about things like that?
The Kra-ell had, and Marina had gotten scolded more than once when her cleaning hadn'tbeen up to their standards. Naturally, it had also resulted in a loss of privileges and a cut in her allowance.
In her experience, the immortals were not as cruel, and Wonder had forgiven her many mishaps, but then she wasn't about to marry Wonder's son. Peter's mother considered her an inadequate bride, and she wasn't wrong.
From the bedroom, she could hear Alfie packing up his things, humming some upbeat tune that only heightened her anxiety. At least he had somewhere to escape to. He'd be staying with two other Guardians while Peter's mother occupied his room for an entire week after the wedding.
A whole damn week.
Marina's hand stilled on the tiles as the reality of that sank in again. She'd given up having a honeymoon to accommodate Peter's new position as head of the Avengers, and now, instead of enjoying private newlyweds' time with her husband, she'd be stuck playing hostess to her mother-in-law.
Why had Peter agreed to host his mother in their house?
Not that his mother had given him a choice. When he'd called to invite her to the wedding, she'd said she would come for the weekend and stay with a good friend, but after booking her flight, she'd called to inform him that she would be staying until next Sunday and that she wanted tostay with him and his bride so she could get to know Marina better.
What could Peter have done? Said no?
Well, yeah. If her mother had made such an unreasonable demand, Marina definitely would have told her that it wouldn't work and that she should find another solution. In fact, her parents and Larissa were arriving in the afternoon, and they were staying at a house that Ingrid had prepared for them.
The sound of a drawer closing in the bedroom jolted Marina out of her thoughts, and she returned to the task, rinsing the tiles one more time.
Alfie poked his head into the bathroom. "Did I really leave it that dirty? You've been in there for over an hour."
"Not at all." Well, it had been only surface clean, and barely that either, but she wasn't going to say that. Marina straightened and stretched her aching back. "I just want everything to be spotless for Catrina."