“Prove it,” he says, curling his fingers to brush against my G-spot on his next thrust, even while I groan. His pace increases and I moan against him, my back arching. “Prove you can be good.” Like he’s answering my prayers, he flicks his thumb against my clit, teasing a third finger against my entrance.
“Andrei!” I sob as the dam breaks, pleasure coursing through me like a tidal wave, throwing me against the rocks. I ride his hand through the aftershocks until my thighs shake. He presses gentle kisses to my hair as I recover, shivering when I blink at him slowly. His expression isn’t just hungry, it’sstarved.
He pulls his hand away slowly, evidence of my arousal sticking to my thighs as he pulls down my dress.
“That’s my wonderful, beautiful wife,” he murmurs, a smile apparent in his tone. “Now we can go inside, and you can scream my name as loud as you want.”
Chapter 22
Blair
Iblink as I look around the table and realize hownormalthis feels. Andrei nods along, looking far more engaged in what Niko’s favorite bug is than he should be. It still astounds me that a man of his stature can give all his attention to my son without a care in the world.
Everywhere through the house, there are reminders that he’s here, that he’s carving out a place for himself in our home. But still, I can’t ignore the image of the full closet in his condo, patiently waiting for Andrei to return home to it.
For the most part, he either spends his days working outside the house, or tucked away in his office. He emerges for dinner, spends the evening with us, and then spends his nights sharing my bed.
But sometimes I run into him doing chores, and it catches me off guard. I’ll cook, then find him doing the dishes without prompting. More than once, I’ve run into him in the laundry room, already folding clothes before I even get a chance to get to it.
His coat hangs next to mine in the front closet. His shoes have been added to the shoe rack. His toothbrush is next to mine in the bathroom.
The way he looks after Niko is calm and gentle, but never overbearing. He defers to me whenever there’s an issue, like he’s taking care not to step on my shoes, even if it’s for something as small as letting Niko stay up ten minutes later than normal.
His coffee is seemingly forgotten as he leans forward, asking Niko whether he prefers bugs that fly or crawl, his expression as serious as it always is.
Swallowing thickly, I shove the feelings building in my chest aside and instead glare at Andrei’s phone.
I’ve told him before that I don’t want phones at the table, but it’s there more often than not. It’s face down, and every time it’s rung he’s ignored it, but still. It’s there. It’s been pinging all morning, but he doesn’t spare the thing a single glance.
I try to will myself to summon something more than minor annoyance, but I can’t find the energy for it.
But if I want to be able to keep my distance, I need to find something. Some glaring flaw, some neon sign that I can’t ignore until I remember to hold him at arm’s length.
It just seems like everything’s falling into place too easily, and I’m tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
His phone starts ringing, and he looks at it just long enough to silence it before his attention is back on Niko, nodding along to whatever topic they’ve moved on to.
I’m poking at my breakfast when Niko gasps suddenly, dropping the thread of conversation as he looks at Andrei with wideeyes. He looks at Andrei as if he holds the answer to every prayer he’s ever had.
“Can we go to the park?”
I can’t help but smile, but I cover it with my coffee.
On the one hand, it makes me uneasy how easily he’s taken to looking at Andrei as an authority figure, but on the other, it’s like watching a puppy chasing down the most dangerous man in the room and begging to play.
“Please, Andrei?”
Andrei takes another sip of his coffee, silent and unyielding in the face of Niko’s big, brown eyes. He glances at me, lifting a shoulder in question. “If your mama says it’s okay, then sure.”
Niko looks at me, morphing his face into a picture of desperation, like he’s been held prisoner and would sell his soul to see the sun again. When it’s for easy things like this, I adore his dramatics. They let me know that despite everything that’s happened, he’s still the same silly boy I love.
“Okay.”
He throws his hands into the air in celebration, and even Andrei can’t help but chuckle.
An hour later, Niko’s head is thrown back with full-bellied laughter as Andrei pushes him on the swings. The sun is warm on my skin, even as the fall air bites at my cheeks as I sit on a bench. The other kids at the park are running around, laughing and screaming as they play in the fallen leaves, climbing the playground equipment.
I wouldn’t have expected Andrei to look so content playing with Niko, but he does. He’s smiling, shoulders relaxed in a way I’ve never seen before. I use his distraction to my advantage andpull out my phone to snap a couple of pictures of the two of them.
