“Don’t make me spank your ass, Maddox Locke.  Tell me how to remove it.”

He grumbles under his breath, but he takes my hand and moves me through the motions.  It’s hard since one of my hands is throbbing from having not been used for so long.  I’m twisted at a weird angle in the bed, but I manage to remove it.  Then he takes it from my hands and places it next to the bed.  He won’t meet my eye, and I hate that he still feels some shame.

“Come on.  Scoot back,” I demand, patting the bed next to me.

He gripes and complains but still sits by me.

I reach down and place my hand against his hip.  He jumps slightly but still doesn’t meet my eyes.  It isn’t until my hand has moved to rest right above his stump that his head snaps to the side and his eyes take mine.

“The next time I see even an ounce of shame darkening those sexy, black eyes of yours, Maddox, I’m going to smack your ass until it’s pink.”

His jaw drops, but I keep going.

“And then, if you still act like this part of you that I love is something you should hate, I’ll punish you every time.  You think that I don’t love every inch of this magnificent body?  Oh, you are so wrong.  This part of you that you feel shame in is something I look at with pride.  You, my brave, brave man, are a hero and it’s time you started wearing that title with pride.  Be as proud of yourself as I am.  Maybe I should just start keeping myself from you until you see just how much I mean this.”

I go to move my hand to my sex and his eyes flash for a second before his strong hand grips my wrist—softly but with enough pressure to show me that he means business.

“If you think you’re going to keep that sweet goddamn cunt from me, then you’ve got another thing coming, Emersyn.”  His voice rushes through me, and I have to shift my hips when my arousal becomes too much.  “You don’t keep your body from me…ever.  Understand?”

“I’ll do what I have to do,” I sass back.

“Emersyn,” he growls.

“I don’t think so, mister!  You aren’t going to go all sexy, growling alpha on me.  You heard what I said.  Now calm your cock down and take the over-the-top caveman down a peg or two.  You still think of your imperfections as something to be ashamed of?”

He scowls, but answers, “No, Emmy, I don’t.  But that doesn’t mean I have to fucking like them.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, big boy.”  With a smile, I run my hand over his hardened skin.  He shivers, but I know he isn’t cold.  “You’ll fucking like them, because your woman fucking loves them.”

“I should wash your mouth out with soap and then spank your ass.”

“I would enjoy that too much.”

He groans and drops his head back with a loud thump against the headboard.  “I don’t hate it, okay?  You are the only person who has ever even touched me like this besides someone medically responsible to.  I’m working on the rest.  I don’t hide it from you and you have to know that, months ago, I would still be keeping it covered whenever I knew your eyes could take sight of it.”

“I get that.  But it’s time to stop playing in the dark, baby.”

“Meaning?” he barks.

“Ugh, you are so frustrating.  Meaning that, tomorrow, when we go to family dinner, I want you in shorts.”

His eyes go from hard to shocked within seconds.  “It’s fucking winter!” he snarls.

“I don’t give a crap if you’re headed to the North Pole.  Shorts, Maddox.  It’s time to toss that ridiculous fear that others will judge you out the damn window.”

“That damn sass,” he drones.

“You love that damn sass,” I retort.

“You’re damn fucking right I do.”

Then he shows me just how much he loves that damn sass.  It isn’t until hours later, when our bodies are still covered with a light layer of sweat, that I allow myself one huge mental victory dance.

Chapter 32—Emmy

Greg and Melissa’s house is full-out chaos when we arrive.  Babies are crying everywhere.  Cohen and Sway are running around the lower level of their house with underwear on their heads and capes flapping behind them.  Dee is lying on the loveseat because she hasn’t stopped throwing up for, what she calls ‘an eternity.’  Izzy rolls her eyes from the chair where she’s nursing Danielle, their month-old baby.