And listened.

And as he did, he memorized it all. Every wet, sleek inch of her he could feel gliding on his c.o.c.k, her thighs pressed to his hips, her hair tumbling over her shoulders, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s moving against the satin, her gaze on him heating with each stroke, her soft gasps each time she filled herself with him.

"Faster, dove," he encouraged.

"Yes," she breathed, moving faster on him as he watched.

And he watched as she raised her arms, her hands moving behind her neck, lifting up her hair as if its touch, the sway of it against her skin was too much.

His Madeleine.

Sheer beauty.

"Keep your hair up, Maddie," he groaned.

"Yes, baby," she whimpered, moving faster, her soft gasps coming quicker, deeper. "Lo, I need your thumb," she begged and he immediately gave it to her.

When he pressed in and rolled, he watched her back arch.

"G.o.d," she moaned.

"Take me, Maddie," he ordered, now bucking his hips, watching her take him, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s nearly spilling out of the satin.

She dropped her arms to arch back further, riding him now as he took her, her fingers curling around his thighs.

"That's it, poppy," he rumbled, his one hand holding her steady, his other thumb circling deeper. "Take me."

"Lo."

He bucked harder.

"G.o.d! Lo!" she exclaimed, her s.e.x convulsing around his shaft with her climax, her cries short and low but sharp.

"Keep taking me," he grunted, driving his hips up into her beautiful bucking body.

"Yes, Lo, yes. Forever, baby. I'll take you forever," she gasped, still climaxing, and he exploded.

He pressed his head into the mattress. The muscles of his neck straining, he moved his thumb so that he could clamp both his hands on her hips to hold her tight to his c.o.c.k. Thus, he shot his seed inside her on a grunt followed by a low rumbling groan that shook through him. And, at her whimper, he knew it shook through her.

He was barely recovered before he ordered brusquely. "Come here."

Instantly, she dropped forward, her weight landing on him, her hot, wet s.e.x still enveloping him. When she got close, she shoved her face in his neck.

Apollo wrapped his arms around her and turned his head so he had her ear.

"This is us. That was us. We're here my poppy. We're alive. We're together, my dove."

He felt her body still on his for a brief moment before she pressed it into his, pushing her face deeper into his neck.

"They will not take you from me," he vowed and she slid her hand up his chest to curl her fingers around his neck and held on tight.

He memorized that too, everything, burning all that was Madeleine at that moment into his brain before he slowly sat up, taking her with him, reveling in the noise that was part surprise, part pleasure that glided up her throat.

He found his feet, holding her to him. She wrapped her legs around him and he moved through the room. He stopped by the pitcher of water left for them. He lifted her gently, sliding her off his c.o.c.k and setting her on her feet. Holding her in his arm, carefully, he cleaned her as she leaned against him.

"Stay close, dove," he murmured as he let her go.

She did as asked and he disrobed, dropping his boots and clothes to the floor where they stood. He then moved his attention to her, unhooking the stays at her back and dropping her bustier to the floor.

Apollo then lifted her and carried her to the bed. Bending low, he threw back the covers, still holding her close. He placed her in the bed, joining her there the minute her back hit the mattress, covering her. He pulled the bedclothes over them and shifted his weight into a forearm.

He then looked down at her to see her gazing up at him. Her eyes warm and sleepy.

And trusting.

His chest warmed as he lifted a hand and brushed a lock of hair from her face.

"I will ask one thing more of you before I let you sleep," he whispered.

She slid her arms around him as she replied, "Anything, Lo."

"I wish you to listen to me."

She nodded, her head moving on the pillow, her eyes never leaving his. "Of course, honey."

He cupped her cheek and dipped his face close before he began, "At first, we missed it."

He watched her blink in confusion but he went on.

"The time she carried elan, like with Christophe, was uneventful."

When understanding dawned, Apollo felt Maddie's body tighten under his but he continued.

"The birth, however, was complicated. Christophe slid easily into this world. elan gave Ilsa more difficulty."

"Apollo-" she whispered and he pressed the pads of his finger in.

"Listen," he whispered back.

She closed her mouth and nodded again.

"Looking back, due to the birth, we both missed it. Even she, a physician. We thought her body was taking its time recovering from bringing elan into this world. The extreme fatigue. The constant lethargy. Though, even if we caught it, there was nothing to be done."

"All right," Maddie whispered when he didn't go on.

"And then it happened fast," he told her softly. "She just started wasting away."

She closed her eyes.

Apollo slid his hand to her neck and she opened them again.

"We disagreed about Christophe, Ilsa and I," he shared. "She thought like a physician, sometimes clinically. Thus, she felt that life was life and, even for children, it was not wise to shelter them from it too much. He was only four. So very young. I did not want him to see his mother that way. To remember her that way. She was energetic. Lively, in her way. Not like elan, the way she had was all Ilsa's. I didn't want him to see her thin, gaunt, in pain. I didn't want him to remember her that way. She wished to see her son, but I denied her. I did this for Christophe. I struggle still if I made the right decision."

"You did," she said gently, her arms around him tightening.

His Maddie, so loyal, telling him what he wanted to hear.

"I will never know if you speak true, my Maddie," he murmured. "They had a bond, much like what he has with me. And if it were me abed, my power stripped, sickness eating away at me, pain crippling me, I would wish him not to see me like that. I would wish him to remember his father as vital. Jovial. Whole."

"So you did the right thing," she replied.

"He did not see her at all the three months before she pa.s.sed. I robbed them both of each other to protect my son."

Maddie swallowed but said nothing.

"It was torture," he whispered.

She pulled her arms from around him so she could slide them up his chest, his neck, to frame his face as she murmured an aching, "Honey."

"All of it was, Madeleine, watching her waste away, watching the pain consume her, keeping our son from her. Torture. Every moment."

Her hands on him lightly squeezed.

"Tonight, the black mist took you, and I felt all that torture, months of it, condensed in an instant," he declared and her eyes grew wide. "It was the most excruciating moment of my life."

At that, he watched her eyes fill with tears.

"Baby," she breathed.

Suddenly, he found his fingers shoving up into her hair, the pads digging into her scalp and he brought his face to a breath from hers. "Tonight we learned we must hold tight to happiness, my dove. Every day...every moment...is a gift. We must hold tight to that, Madeleine, and never let go."

"Yes," she whispered.

He slid his nose along hers until their eyes were so close, if either of them blinked, their lashes would sweep the others'.

"I will not lose you," he growled.

"I'm right here, sweetheart," she soothed.

Apollo drew in a deep breath, released it then slanted his head so he could brush his mouth lightly against hers.

Only when he pulled back an inch did he reply, "You are, indeed."

She gave him a shaky smile.

"Thank you, my dove, for fighting so hard this night to save a life I cherish."

Her shaky smile wobbled as her face began to crumble but he saw no more when she lifted her head and shoved it in his neck.

"You-you-you're welcome," she stammered into his skin.

He gave her his weight for a brief moment in order to wrap his arms around her before he rolled them to their sides.

Putting his lips to her hair, he whispered, "Now you can sleep."

She took a shuddering breath that was half sniveling, half chortling and nodded, her face now pressed to his throat.

He held her close and stroked her back as she gained control of her emotions. When she did, she slid a hand from where it was pressed to his chest, rounding him with her arm, and she pressed closer.

Many minutes later, when her body had loosened, her breath had evened and he thought her close to sleep, she called a drowsy, "Lo?"

And, G.o.ds, but he treasured it when she called him "Lo."

"Yes, poppy," he replied, giving her a squeeze.

He felt her frame tense slightly when she began, "You know that I, uh...well, I um...pretty much cherish you too, right?"

Again that night, a night he would not think he would find anything amusing, he couldn't stop his body from shaking with laughter.

"Yes, Madeleine, I pretty much know you cherish me too."

She relaxed and murmured, "Cool."

He grinned at her hair and gave her another squeeze.

"Sleep, Maddie."

"Right away, boss," she muttered and again he grinned.

She settled in.

Apollo closed his eyes and saw the black mist shrouding her so he opened them again and gathered her even closer.

He took a deep breath as she snuggled into his embrace.

He took another one when, moments later, he felt sleep claim her.

Love like you build with Miss Madeleine is as she is. It is not of this world. Not of her world. It is beyond the worlds. It is beyond anything.

Meeta's words filled his head and he was forced to take another deep breath.

Tonight, he almost lost her.

Tomorrow, he would set about making certain that did not happen.

He had no earthly clue how he would do it.

He just knew he b.l.o.o.d.y would.