24. Andrey

24

ANDREY

"This is the first time in a while I haven't craved a smoke."

She twists onto her side, leaning on one elbow so that she's looking down at me. "You smoke?"

"We all have our vices."

She snorts. "An undercover drug trade isn't enough?" I dig into her side and, giggling, she pushes my hand away. "I've never actually seen you smoke."

"That's because I quit a year ago. But when things get stressful, the craving comes up again."

"And now?"

"No cravings."

Her smile lights up her face. Blushing, she skates a finger up and down my chest. "This is nice."

"All those orgasms and the best you can come up with is ‘nice'?"

She smacks my arm. "I was speaking in the general sense. Dinner tonight, having Aunt Annie here—all of it." She keeps tracing circles along my skin. "Thank you for bringing her here to live with us. She really likes you, you know."

"I like her, too. She reminds me of the mother I don't have anymore." Natalia's smile freezes on her face. I press a finger to the corner of her mouth, trying to tip it back into a smile. "Sorry. Bad joke."

"I want to meet her," she whispers.

Why did I have to go there?

"She's in a facility, Natalia. She doesn't even know who I am most days. And her memory is so full of holes. It's impossible to have a conversation with her."

"She's still your mother. And the twins' grandmother." Natalia presses a hand to her stomach. "It matters."

"If you expect her to be happy about that?—"

"I don't expect anything, Andrey," Natalia interrupts. "I just want to know where you came from."

"From crime lords and cold bastards, mostly."

Her eyebrows knit together. "Does it help you to be self-disparaging? Or is it just another wall to keep me out?"

She tries to disentangle herself from me, but I grab her and pull her back down against my chest. "Come on, stop?—"

"No, you stop," she retorts. "I'm trying to have a real conversation with you."

With a deep breath, I cup her face. "I'm trying, too, okay? You're gonna have to be patient with me."

She sighs into my touch. "I can be patient."

"That requires you to stay in my bed even when I'm pissing you off."

That almost wrings a smile out of her. "You don't have to introduce me to her right away. I don't want to pressure you. I'm just saying I'd like to meet her one day."

I nod. "One day."

"Preferably before the twins go off to college, though."

I plant a kiss on her cheek. "I'll do my best." She opens her mouth and then snaps it shut almost immediately. "What?"

"Nothing."

I roll my eyes. "Come on, lastochka. All or nothing, remember?"

"I was just wondering… did you ever introduce Maria to your mother?"

"No."

"How come?"

"Because I had no desire to show Maria my past."

Natalia sits up, straddling me. The little temptress knows exactly what she's doing as she sinks back against me. "Your past is part of who you are."

I grip her hips. "I didn't want to look back. I certainly didn't want Maria looking back with me."

"Why?"

"Are you always this chatty after sex?"

She slaps her palms against my chest. "Answer the question."

"Because my father is Slavik. And because my mother is a mentally fragile woman who was completely destroyed by him. I didn't want to give her a reason to run."

"She wouldn't have," she assures me.

"That's sweet of you. But need I remind you, you didn't know Maria."

"Yes, but I know what it's like to—" She stops short, blushes fiercely, then clears her throat and tries again. "—erm, I know what it's like to care about someone. Deeply."

I sit up, readjusting her on my lap. She flushes, and I know she's feeling the same heat between us as I am.

"I'm Slavik's son, Natalia. Aren't you just a little bit worried that I might be more like him than either one of us knows? I can be as ruthless," I tell her softly. "I can be as demanding, as controlling, as uncompromising as he is."

"But you could never hurt a woman."

Her indignation has me pulling her forward, as close to me as I can get her. For once, I'm actually grateful for her sweet naivete. I push a lock of hair back behind her ear. "I've already hurt you. More times than I can count."

She bites her bottom lip. "That's different."

"At the end of the day, pain is pain. And I don't want to break you."

Her fingers dig into my shoulders. "I know I haven't been myself lately. But you've got to trust me to set my own limits with you, to tell you when to back off or slow down. I haven't done a good job of showing it, but I'm not as fragile as I seem."

"Only if you trust me in return. There will be times I'll push your limits. Will you let me, Natalia?"

"Only if you promise to catch me before things go too far."

She's back to tracing lines up and down my chest. My skin is tingling under her light touch. So is my cock, which is already hard beneath her.

"I promise. Always." Grabbing her tight, I collapse backward onto the pillows. "Though I think we need to seal this promise the old-fashioned way."

Within seconds, the laughter and chatter have given way to low moans and fevered breathing.

There's only her and me and the heat of our bodies as we melt into each other again.

"Andrey, are you asleep?"

No. But up until a second ago, I'd been sure she was.

I wouldn't blame her for falling asleep on me—that many orgasms while pregnant can't be easy on her body.

"Sleep, Natalia. We can talk more tomorrow."

She smiles with her eyes closed and sidles a little closer to me. "I was thinking…"

"Stop thinking. It's past midnight. You need to rest."

She burrows her face into my chest. "I will. I just have one more question. It's been on my mind for a while now."

Sighing, I indulge her. "Go ahead then."

"Our girls… Will they be a part of the Bratva?"

Just when I thought I was done being stiff for the day, my body is tense all over again. But I promised her honesty. "As my heirs, they'll have a part to play."

Her eyes flutter open. She squints at me despite the muted light coming from the bedside lamp. "Oh."

I wait for her to add something, but she's silent for a long time. Her eyes stay open.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" I press.

"Nothing," she whispers. "Goodnight." She turns over, covers pulled to her chin. She doesn't say another word.

With a weary sigh, I extinguish the lamp and try to go to sleep. But sleep doesn't come for a long, long time.