Page 63 of Emerald Vices

“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.

25

NATALIA

As I lounge back under an umbrella Andrey spent twenty minutes getting juuust right with Remi yapping at crabs in the sand while Misha chases after him, laughing, I know that squeezing my pregnant body into this swimsuit was worth every grunt, groan, and curse word.

The grunting, groaning, and cursing was from Andrey, obviously, since I can’t touch my toes, let alone reach around to tie a bikini into place.

“This is so cool.” Misha waves a seashell over his head for me to see. Then he presses it to his ear.

Yep, perfect.

The only thing that would make it better is…

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