The following day, two minutes before his five in the morning alarm took off, Maxen's knee jerked.

For a second, he laid flat like a starfish on the bed whilst he gathered his thoughts. He grunted at the heaviness of his eyelids and how his eyes refused to cooperate from opening. 

Overall, he was groggy from the lack of sleep, which was four hours in total, but he had a routine to follow, thus he had to get up and running, or else he would be out of focus the entire day.

Turning his head to the side, Olivia's sleeping face greeted him. He smiled at how her face glowed and was free of worry lines. 

He loved seeing this serene side of Olivia—the one where she need not think of which choice to pick. 

For a frozen moment in time, Maxen wanted to steal her sadness away, even for just a second. He wanted to fill the void that was slowly eating into her soul.

Two minutes passed, and Maxen was still staring at Olivia's face, etching every nuance she made while she slept—from the twitch of her lips to the slight scrunch of her nose.

It was when his alarm rang, echoing inside the bedroom, that Maxen snapped out from his ogling.

"Let's fly, Max," Olivia murmured in her sleep. She then sn.a.k.e.d an arm on Maxen's waist and buried her face in his c.h.e.s.t. 

"As you wish, baby. As you wish," Maxen agreed. He returned her hug, and in an instant, a sense of belonging flooded his soul. "Five more minutes," Maxen said to himself. Five more minutes to savor this tranquil escape.

Hours later, Olivia woke up to the pitter-patter of footsteps on the main floor of the cabin. She swiped her hand on Maxen's side of the bed even though she knew he was up on his usual body clock.

As expected, Maxen's side of the bed was cold, although it didn't matter to Olivia since his scent rubbed off on the sheets, which meant Maxen would be back soon before she finished inhaling every molecule of his trail.

Training her gaze to the window, she took in the beauty of the woodland that's covered in gray fingers of fog in the aftermath of a storm.

Suddenly, the bed dipped behind her, surprising Olivia. Her hand flew to her c.h.e.s.t and her mouth formed an 'O'. She hated how Maxen could stealthily sneak up sometimes.

"Rise and shine, baby!" Maxen greeted, hugging her from behind with his arm coiling her waist.

Olivia twisted in her spot and reciprocated Maxen's hug. "Good morning," she greeted him with a small smile. She ran her palm on his c.h.e.s.t, smoothening the creases that formed on his dark gray hoodie. "You didn't look like you ran," she commented.

Planting a kiss on the tip of Olivia's nose, Maxen's eyes shone with mirth as he locked gazes with hers. "Really? But Wyatt and I ran ten miles this morning."

"Nope." Olivia jutted her bottom lip out as she regarded Maxen. "That's quite unfair. I spent hours priming myself and you… you ran… and not a hair out of place?"

"Thank you for the compliment. I had to look the part when I'm waking up beside a goddess." 

Olivia dramatically rolled her eyes and earned her a pinch on the chin. 

Pushing himself off the bed, Maxen picked up a tall glass of green juice on the bedside table. "Courtesy of the queen." A healthy chuckle rambled on his c.h.e.s.t when Olivia's face turned as green as the juice he was holding.

Olivia sat on the bed. She accepted the concoction from Maxen and spaced out a little before chugging it down straight until she could see the clear bottom of the glass. Handing the glass back on Maxen, Olivia's brows knitted.

She wondered why Maxen was stripping down n.a.k.e.d right before her eyes. "Hey, go to the ensuite. And please, dirty clothes go in the hamper." To her surprise, Maxen dove on the bed with nothing but his birthday suit. "Maxen!" she said in a reprimanding hushed voice.

"Olivia!" he mimicked, grinning like a fool, much to Olivia's chagrin. 

She knew how much Maxen preferred charging at her in the morning, where his energy was at its peak. Her eyes darted from his face to her c.h.e.s.t where he was busy unbuttoning her silk pajamas. Gritting out her teeth, Olivia seethed, "Seriously? Maxen?"

"Seriously," Maxen breathed out his response, not backing down. "We can squeeze in a round… or two before our guests arrive."

As if she was taking up a challenge of chasing o.r.g.a.s.ms, Olivia stripped her silk pajamas and knickers together, placing it on the bedside table. And when Maxen peeled the last thing that covered her body, Maxen positioned himself between Olivia's parted legs.

The tip of c.o.c.k brushed against her wet slit, eliciting a soft m.o.a.n from Olivia. It then that Maxen dipped his head and captured her lips, silencing her as his hardened length penetrated her in one deep stroke.

After their brunch, the group split in different directions. Ava, and Emily, together with the three children stayed in Maxen's cabin while Maxen, Wyatt, and the Lin siblings headed out for a day outside dressed in their sporty jumpsuits.

Reaching their destination, Olivia snorted. "Is Mr. Grey taking us for a flight this morning?" Ollie and Wyatt laughed at Olivia's comment. They were walking inside towards a hangar's direction when Maxen stopped in his track. 

"No, Ollie will be flying the plane for us."

"That's a bad idea, Maxen."

"That's a bad idea, Max."

For the first time ever, Olivia and Wyatt agreed on something. Maxen and Oliver didn't know if they would be glad about it or annoyed that they didn't trust Oliver with their lives at all.

"Hey!" Ollie sneered. "You're lucky I'm flying the plane for you. I'm even a better pilot than Maxen!" Ollie ignored his detractors, bumping his shoulders on Wyatt as he left them behind to eat his dust.