Chapter Twenty-Nine

Elena

Sniffing Sophia’s nappy, I wave a hand in front of my nose. “So much stink for a small little being.” Sophia’s emerald eyes stare back at me, big and bright as she giggles and gurgles with not a care in the world. I position her on the makeshift changing table we have set up in our bedroom, removing the stinky nappy and replacing it with a clean one. I’ve become an expert nappy changer these past few months. That, along with breastfeeding, and even if I’m out of sorts and not feeling like myself, my heart swells every time I look at her face.

She already has a head full of blonde ringlets, and I wonder if she’ll have a head of them like Nikk did when he was a kid. His hair is a sandy blond, but even when I was a kid, my hair was lighter. Maybe Sophia’s hair will end up bone straight in time like mine or turn a different shade as she gets older. Sophia coos at me as I tap her little bottom in the nappy.

“All done now. No more stinky poos,” I tell her, rubbing her tiny nose against mine. Her tiny features are becoming more and more prominent every day, and it’s incredible to watch them blossom.

Once Sophia is all cleaned up, I feed her on the couch, the TV playing softly in the background as we wait for Nikkita. I’ve only just gotten her into a routine of sleeping, and if I feed her before bed and burp her, I can get her down and get at least another three or four hours of sleep. I’m lucky to have a baby who likes her sleep, just like their mother.

Nikk enters a little while later from the office, right on time after I’ve finished feeding and she’s in her cot. The cot is set up in our room for now. I’m a little paranoid about her being in her own room. I know we have the baby monitor and plenty of security, but still, I want my baby in the room with us, just until I decide to go back to work. Then I’ll put her in her own room.

“How are my two best girls today?” Nikk asks, going over to look at Sophia in her cot before turning the lights out and rolling into bed beside me. Checking the time on my cell phone, I notice it’s after ten thirty.

“Your girls are good,” I relay with a tired sigh, then yawning loudly.

“Good. Mm, you sound tired. Can I get you anything? He kisses my lips as I hesitate to tell him what I want, snuggling down under the covers.

“No.” I squirm a little as I have something important to discuss with him, and given his strong Bratva traditions, I’m not sure he’s going to like it. He wraps his arms around me, spooning me from behind.

“You seem restless. What is it?”

Sighing, I flip on the bedside lamp and sit up. “I want to call Rina from Sicily,” I inform him, studying his reactions in the lamplight.

“Who is Rina?”

“She’s the nanny I grew up with in Sicily. She’s very good, and I think she would be more than willing to be Sophia’s nanny.”

“Why the hell would you want her babysitting our daughter. You’re still breastfeeding!”

“I might be still breastfeeding, but I won’t be soon. Besides, I pump the milk and Rina can feed her.”

“Why?” Nikk screws his face up as he sits up straight in the bed.

“Because I want to get back to work. You’re coming in after ten thirty at night, and I’m the Donna. You know I want to go back to work,” I explain, raising my voice and prompting Nikk to put a finger to his mouth.

Knocking it down, I glare at him as he laughs. “Shh, you just put her down; you’re going to wake the baby.”

“Shut up, Nikk, I’m the one who put her down.” Crossing my arms over my chest in a huff, Nikk tries to stroke my shoulders.

“No. I won’t allow it. You should take care of the daughter you made yourself. Sure, you might need some help, but why would I want some foreign woman taking care of our child?” he asks, the vein in his neck thickening.

“Don’t tell me how to parent,” I fight back. “You have no idea. I’m cooped up in here and I want to get out and be working. Even in our contract marriage you agreed I could work, and I wouldn’t be confined! You promised,” I hiss, pointing my finger into his chest. He grabs it, holding on to it for a second, his emerald eyes glowing through the dark.

“Watch it, Elena. I’ve had a long day. Don’t do that,” he threatens, the warning heating me up from the inside out. “And how do I not know how to parent. There’s not one of you. We’re in this together. I’m making sure everything is taken care of for you.”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it if I poke you again, huh?” I’m fully aware that he’s a parent along with me, but I don’t care. I haven’t had enough sleep, and I’m cranky about not being able to work like him. It’s also irritating that I’m horny at the same time and want him to take me. Still, I let the annoyed feelings spill over, wanting to see what he will do if I push his buttons. I push my finger into his chest again. This time he doesn’t catch it; he simply smirks at me.

“You want a fight, don’t you, my L’vitsa?” The vibration of his voice makes my panties wet, but I pout instead, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing it.

“No,” I reply with extra sassiness. “I want you to be reasonable. I can go back to work if I want. I am a Mancini, not some well-kept Bratva wife. I’m your Donna.”

Nikk’s pupils change as I poke him one more time for good measure in the chest, feeling the heat radiating off me. He catches it, bringing my finger up to his mouth and sucking on it.

My mouth drops open in awe, watching him draw my finger in and out. We still bicker like we did at the start, but in the end we both win most times.

“Mmm. See? I’ve got a better idea for this finger.” I feel my heartrate speed up as Nikk’s saliva glides over my finger, the sensation melting me and prompting my mouth to fall open. He watches with intention, his penetrating, bedroom eyes doing me in.

“Maybe that is a better idea,” I say slowly as he grabs my waist and pulls me onto his lap.

“Sweety, I know you want me, and that’s why you like to start fights. It’s written all over your face, Elena. It’s more expressive than you think it is. I don’t mind because you know how it ends. Don’t you?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Show me how it ends,” I beg seductively grinding on the bulge inside his boxer briefs, teasing him.

He groans, closing his eyes. “Elena, if you don’t stop, I’m going to have to punish you. You’re the reason for my insanity some days.”

Rising to the challenge, I egg him on, grinding even more as I flick my tongue out at him, holding on to the headboard. “Good, I hope to drive you wild for the rest of your life.”

Nikk tugs my hair, exposing my neck and licking from the base up to my ear, then biting it. I yelp in delight as his thick, capable hands reach for me in the shadows. He slides the shoestring straps of my tank top down the sides of my arms, and I shiver.

Yes. This is what I want.

He removes my sky-blue lace bra, my round mounds spilling over the edges. Breastfeeding and the pregnancy has changed them. Nikk gets to work flicking his mouth over my hardened nipples as I relax in his arms. We’ve gotten used to one another, but Nikk is still teaching me bedroom tricks that drive me wild. I watch, enamored, as he repeats the process.

“Ah yes,” I whisper, my hair falling forward as Nikk dips his fingers inside my pajama shorts, circling a finger around my soaking wet clit.

“Can you hurry up, I want that. I want you inside of me,” I confess, being the needy one.

He grins. “Ah my little L’vitsa is horny, is she? I better give her what she wants.”

“Yes, you better,” I tease.

“I like you hungry, wanting it. Wanting me,” Nikk growls as he rolls me off him for a second, slipping down his boxers. “I have plenty to offer,” he promises, his hard cock glistening in the dark. He smacks my ass hard as I re-straddle him, drawing down on his cock, riding in easy flow. I let out my pent-up frustration and he does the same, the headboard banging furiously.

“Yes, give me more.” Fire rips through my veins as Nikk moves my hips, thrusting upwards quenching both our thirsts.

I hold on as long as I can as Nikk’s fingers circle my swollen nub, but the pressure grows too great. I can’t take it anymore.

“Come for me, Elena. Come. All over this cock. Do it,” he grits out, slamming himself into me.

“Come with me too,” I demand. As his hot breath hits my shoulder, a powerful orgasm washes over me, my internal walls contracting as the waves of orgasm, drown me, and I cry out. It must be something about us fighting first that makes the sex better. Nikk lets out a guttural moan, his cock expanding inside me as he climaxes in time with me.

As we catch our breaths we lay on our backs, studying the ceiling. Coming down from the high, I find myself still wanting my way with going back to work. Only now we can talk about it without so much heat involved.

“Elena, I love you,” he starts, his heavy arm draping over my body.

“I love you too,” I tell him. “I still want to come back to work. My feelings haven’t changed.”

“You can call the nanny. I can agree to it, but she can only take care of Sophia when you’re busy, and that’s the only time.”

Leaning into Nikk, I kiss his chest. “Don’t think I don’t want to look after my baby; I do. I just want to get back to work so I feel like myself,” I admit. “I hope you can understand,” I say softly, circling a finger on his chest.

He waits for a beat before answering, cracking a smile. “Yes, I understand it. I wouldn’t expect you to stay at home the entire time. It isn’t you.”

“Thank you. Where I’m patient with you, you’re going to have to be patient with me,” I say, offering my lips to Nikk, admiring the ridge of his hard jaw, his gaze softening.

“Yes. I can do that. We’re learning together, and this isn’t a contract anymore. We set the terms and change them as we see fit. Let’s go to bed for real this time. It’s been a long day.”

“Yes, it has. I untangle from Nikk, slipping under the cool of the covers, his arms wrapping around me. As he reaches over and clicks the lamp off, I realize everything I ever wanted and more is what I’ve received. Old life is making way for new life, and such is the cycle, and I know with Nikk by my side, the ride is going to be all that much sweeter.