Luminous

by Noelle Marie

  Nude except for her underwear, Katherine stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Specifically, she stared at her stomach. She didn’t know what she expected to see. It’d only been a little over twelve hours since she’d found out she was... well, expecting. It wasn’t like she thought she’d somehow sprout a giant beach ball of a belly over the course of a single day, but she thought that with the knowledge that there was a baby somewhere in there, she might notice at least some difference.

  But there was nothing.

  As far as Katherine could see, her stomach looked the same as it always had. The same flat planes. The same curve of her hip. It was disconcerting in a way to have no physical evidence of something so monumental going on inside her own body.

  For God’s sake, it was growing a baby.

  A baby whose father had no idea it existed.

  Katherine sighed, ripping her gaze away from the mirror at the traitorous thought and turning her attention to the tub she was running behind her. She’d accidently let it get fuller than she generally liked and quickly moved to shut off the water. Tearing off what remained of her clothes, she settled herself into the steaming bath.

  Instead of the usual soothing effect the hot water had on her muscles, however, she could feel them grow tauter and tauter the longer she sat. It was obvious to her why.

  After all, how could Katherine possibly relax with the knowledge of Bastian’s lack of knowledge heavy on her mind? It had been foolish to even try. There would be no reprieve for her until she told him.

  So that was exactly what she was going to do: tell him.

  Despite the fact that she’d just lowered herself into the water five minutes ago, she braced her hands on either side of the tub and prepared to use them to pull herself out of the bath.

  She was going to march right up to Bastian and tell him, consequences be damned.

  Before she’d even moved more than an inch, however, the bathroom door squeaked open, and in a twist of events, the man she had intended to seek out found her. He peeked his head in the door, and Katherine let her hands fall back into the water, an entirely involuntary blush crawling up her cheeks as she quickly arranged the bubbles to make sure all her bits were amply covered.

  She was glad she’d made the last second decision to add the bubble bath to the water.

  “Do you need something?” she asked, hoping the snark she injected in her voice disguised her embarrassment as he unabashedly stared.

  She’d failed to hide it completely judging by the amused uptick of his mouth. She couldn’t bring herself to be properly mad, though – not really. Not when she knew how illogical it was for her to even be self-conscious in the first place. He’d seen her naked countless times, after all, and most every instance she wound up wrapped in his embrace.

  He’d never seen her in the bath before, though, and there was something different about it. Something taboo.

  “Just you,” he replied, stepping the rest of the way into the room and closing the door behind him.

  Katherine’s blush heightened, and her eyes widened as she took in the fact that Bastian was naked. She couldn’t help but allow them to roam over his bulging arms, sculpted chest, and lower. They fixated for a brief moment on the thick organ between his muscled thighs before she forced them back up to his face... and quickly realized that his little, amused smirk had grown into a full blown grin. Katherine rolled her eyes. “Really?” she demanded, not knowing if she was responding to the cheesy line or Bastian’s blatant nudity.

  He released a full belly laugh in response that warmed Katherine from the inside out. “Yes, really,” he said, sitting on the edge of the tub. “So are you going to invite me in or what?”

  Katherine huffed. “Well, you’re hardly playing fair strutting in here in only your birthday suit.”

  “Ah, yes, I’ve heard that bubbles are much more in season.”

  “Shut up,” she said as she fought not to laugh, taking the opportunity to splash him for the teasing remark.

  Bastian’s smile somehow widened further before straightening out into a straight line. “May I?” he asked again, this time more seriously, the respectful way he held himself making it clear that “no” was a perfectly acceptable answer.

  Except it wasn’t. Not to Katherine, anyway. “Get in here.”

  Bastian wasted no time in complying. He lowered himself into the bath on the opposite side of Katherine so that they were facing each other. The tub was big enough that it accommodated both of them, but not so large that their legs weren’t entangled with one another’s under the water. It was only a slightly tighter fit than what Katherine may or may not have daydreamed about.

  She watched with a dry mouth as he grabbed the unscented bar of soap resting on the back edge of the tub and began building a lather by rubbing it between his hands. In fact, so entranced by the action was she that when one of said hands shot forward in an attempt to take hold of her elbow, Katherine startled away. “What are you doing?” she demanded in an embarrassing squeak.

  Bastian blinked, a rarely spotted flush beginning to creep up his neck. “I was going to wash you.”

  The way he seemed almost embarrassed by the urge was the only thing that kept Katherine’s own blush at bay. It seemed like such an intimate thing. The inner sap in her – small as she may have been – couldn’t help but find the notion romantic.

  Unless... was this some weird thing about her being sick, and Bastian thinking he had to take care of her?

  “You don’t have to,” Katherine argued, knowing she probably sounded more defensive than the situation warranted. “I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.”

  Bastian frowned, but didn’t seemed deterred by her response. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I know you can do it yourself, but I want to do this... if you’ll let me, that is.”

  The words were delivered so sweetly that Katherine didn’t even have it in her to be ashamed of her initial prickly reaction. “Well, when you put it that way...” she mumbled.

  Bastian’s frown quickly transformed into a smile, and when he reached forward to grab her elbow, this time Katherine let him. He slowly brought the bar of soap up to her arm, giving her ample time to change her mind if she wanted, before running the sudsy bar up and down her arm. He took his time, spending a large amount of it on her hand, rubbing soft circles into her palm with his thumb and stroking between her fingers before moving on to her other limb, giving it the same treatment.

  “Turn around,” he requested softly when he was done, and having melted into little more than a puddle of goo under the ministrations of his magical fingers, Katherine obeyed without question. He didn’t even bother with the bar of soap, abandoning it on the edge of the tub after coating his hands in another sudsy lather, and Katherine couldn’t help but release a moan of approval when he dug his fingers into the tense muscles of her back, working them into her shoulders before allowing them to glide up and down her spine. It felt so good that Katherine could almost forget why her muscles were so tense in the first place.

  Almost.

  But even that retreated to the back of her mind when she suddenly felt Bastian’s mouth on the back of her neck, his teeth scraping lightly over the claiming mark there. “Bastian,” she groaned in a half-hearted protest. She could feel the way his lips lifted into a smirk against her skin before he placed an innocent kiss there and obediently moved away.

  Katherine didn’t even have time to feel disappointed before his arms were suddenly around her, maneuvering her back around so that they were once again facing each other. Then he lifted her out of the water, setting her down so that her butt was resting on the edge of the tub. “Bastian!” she half-shrieked. “What are you doing?” she demanded, tightly pressing her legs together and crossing her arms over her chest.

  “I’ve yet to wash your legs,” he pointed out, voice so blasé that if a mischievous glint wasn’t present in his eyes, she may have just believed his actions were as innocent as he c

laimed.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Bastian...”

  He pressed a chaste kiss to the knob of her right knee in response. “Okay?”

  Was it?

  ...Oh, who was she kidding? She took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  Katherine tried her hardest to push down the self-conscious induced weariness she felt as Bastian once again used the bar of soap to build a lather before rubbing the suds into her calves. His hands were large enough that each one nearly wrapped around her entire limb. He rubbed her calves up and down, going so far as to massage her feet in his efforts to help her relax. He dug his thumbs into the arches and rubbed circles into the balls of her feet before dragging his hands back up to her knees, pressing kisses to both of them this time as he allowed his hands to trail up her thighs, stroking the outsides before daring to wedge his fingers between her inner thighs that she’d kept tightly closed, asking without words that she spread them apart.

  As silly as she knew it was to be nervous, Katherine couldn’t help the flush she could feel burning from her chest all the way to the tips of her ears. There was just something so intimate – almost endearing, even – about Bastian sitting between her legs, asking her to open herself up for him. Teeth digging into her plump bottom lip – little more than a chew toy at this point – Katherine complied.

  Bastian didn’t bother reapplying the soap that had long since worn off his hands; he just trailed them up her inner thighs, massaging her muscles with his thumbs. The closer he got to the juncture between her thighs, the more Katherine’s flush burned. Even her insides felt like they were about to catch fire as the inferno of want in her belly grew until she was trembling.

  And then one of his thumbs brushed against her outer lips, and she was beyond thankful for the wall against her back as she arched backward and sucked in a noisy breath.

  Bastian glanced up at her at the sudden commotion. She was sure that his glazed eyes matched her own love drunk stare, and without releasing her from his gaze, Bastian’s other hand crept upward until his thumb was pressed snugly against the little nub that operated as the pleasure center of her body. “Bast-ian,” she cried, her voice cracking halfway through his name when he began rubbing his thumb in slow, soft circles.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  Katherine huffed at the compliment. How could he even talk right then, let alone string together a coherent sentence? It wasn’t fair. “Please,” she begged.

  “Please what?” he asked, daring to press his thumb down harder against the little nub and sending sparks of pleasure shooting up Katherine’s spine. She swallowed down a moan, her entire body trembling in anticipation, but she couldn’t put into words what she wanted him to do.

  It wasn’t something he’d ever done before, but the very thought of his mouth on her down there... well, it was enough to have goosebumps erupting all over her body.

  “Please... this?” he asked when it became apparent that she wasn’t going to answer, and Katherine couldn’t have taken her eyes off him if she’d wanted to when he slowly leaned forward. She felt his warm breath against her before his mouth was suddenly where his thumb had been a moment before, pressing a kiss to her right there. She couldn’t control the spasms that rocked her legs when he sucked the little nub between his teeth before pulling away.

  While a small part of Katherine fumed at the teasing, the overwhelming majority of her was too submerged in mindless pleasure to even think of being mad. It helped that she could see his heavy erection pressed hard against his stomach under the mostly clear water. As a result, she was shameless in her begging. “Yes, that, please Bastian...”

  Those words were all it took for him to dive back between her legs, burying his head in her thighs as his eager mouth lapped and sucked at her most intimate place.

  The life growing inside her, and the guilt she felt about Bastian knowing nothing about it, were the last things on her mind as he pushed her trembling body past its breaking point, bring her over the edge of pleasure, into ecstasy.

  It hadn’t seemed appropriate to tell Bastian after that.

  After all, what was Katherine supposed to have said? “Thanks for the awesome orgasm. By the way, no big deal, but in nine months or so you’re going to be a daddy.”

  Not likely.

  Nevertheless, Katherine had still been intent on telling him, and she’d made an honest effort to do just that multiple times since the first attempt – one of the most prominent being when she invited Bastian on an afternoon walk to the falls two days later under Sophie’s approving gaze.

  After all, she was much less likely to get... distracted on the prickly forest floor. Unfortunately, Katherine had underestimated how tired the walk through the woods would make her in her “condition”, and she couldn’t hide the fact that she was short of breath only ten minutes in.

  “Oof,” Katherine gasped when she was suddenly grabbed around the waist. Bastian used her surprise to his advantage and easily maneuvered her so that he held her in a cradle-like position, one arm under her knees and the other curled around her middle back. She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

  “Carrying you,” he answered plainly, the intrinsic “duh” going unsaid.

  “I know that,” she snapped, “but why? I am perfectly capable of walking, you know. I’ve been doing it since I was oh, I don’t know, about one year old.”

  Bastian did little more than raise an eyebrow at her tone. “Maybe, but you sounded like you were having a hard time,” he pointed out, continuing to trudge along like he hadn’t abruptly added a solid 120 pounds to his load.

  Katherine wanted to protest – to remind him that she would have asked for help if she needed it – but she hardly saw the point when they both knew it would be a lie. Asking for assistance wasn’t exactly her strong suit, after all. It was a personality trait they shared.

  “You’re sick,” he added gently when she didn’t respond. “It’s okay to accept help. It’s what the pack is for, what I’m for.”

  Guilt caused her stomach to clench uncomfortably, and Katherine buried her head in Bastian’s chest in an attempt to hide the self-reproach she was sure was painted across her face. Because she wasn’t sick – not the way he thought, anyway – and it certainly wasn’t the reason for her shortness of breath.

  It was those pesky pregnancy hormones wreaking havoc on her body. And Bastian had no idea.

  But she couldn’t tell him that – not just yet. “I know,” she muttered into his jacket instead, acknowledging his words.

  They spent the remainder of the hike to the falls in a comfortable silence. Despite her nagging conscience, Katherine allowed herself to enjoy the sensation of being encased in Bastian’s warm embrace, and she occupied herself by playing with the dark hair that liked to curl around the nape of the man’s neck.

  It wasn’t long before they arrived. “We’re here,” Bastian announced when they reached the clearing that contained the waterfall Haven Falls was named after, easing Katherine back onto the ground.

  She took a moment to allow her eyes to drink in the sight like she always did whenever she managed to make it out to the falls. It marveled her how Mother Nature could be responsible for forming such a magnificent landmark, and she watched as water trickled peacefully down the tower of jaded rocks into the pool of water beneath it.

  “It’s so beautiful,” she muttered. “I swear it takes me by surprise every time.”

  “Yeah,” Bastian agreed softly, but when she glanced his way she quickly realized his gaze was fixated on her, not the falls, and that a little grin was tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  She rolled her eyes at the shameless flattery. “Really?”

  The tiny grin matured into a full blown smile. “Yeah.”

  “You’re impossible,” she muttered before using her hands to gesture at the ground. “Now sit.”

  Bastian raised a suspicious eyebrow at the blunt order. “Why?” he asked.

  Katherine sighed. “Just do it. Please.”

  Bastian’s eyes retained their distrustful gleam, but he complied, lowering himself onto the bed of grass beside her until he was sitting with his legs stretched out before him. “Now what?”

  “Now,” Katherine said, shifting so that she was standing behind him, “you relax.”

  Without further ado, she positioned her hands on either of his shoulders and dug her fingers into the tense muscles located there. Bastian’s immediate response was to groan at the sensation, and Katherine couldn’t have stopped the proud grin from stretching across her lips if she’d tried. Bastian pulled his legs up to his chest so he could rest his head against his knees and give her better access to his back.

  Katherine was all too happy to oblige.

  Unfortunately, only a few minutes into the massage, Katherine’s happiness had all but dissipated. Bastian’s back was a mess of stress-induced knots and was so tense in some places that it felt more like she was trying to force her fingers into the hard planes of a statue instead of the muscles of a living, breathing person.

  He already carried so many burdens, and she was about to add another one to his load. She just hoped that this one didn’t break him.

  Katherine was slowly massaging her way down his spine when Bastian finally spoke. “Not that I’m complaining, but what’s this for?”

  Oh, she was only trying to butter him up before dropping a bomb on his life as he knew it.

  “I just thought you could use a little something to remind you of how appreciated you are,” she said instead. “I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure from the council with everything that’s going on.” Katherine pressed her lips together. “I mean, you know that you can lean on me for support, too, right?” she asked, regurgitating his previous sentiment. “Asking for help isn’t a one-way street. I...” she paused, fighting a blush that threatened to overtake her, “I like taking care of you too,” she admitted softly.

  “Oh, Katherine...”

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