Page 66 of Dancing With Desire

He groans. “Did you catch that, Marshall?” A second later, he disconnects. “The families know. The clean-up are on their way.” He points to a set of clothes on the bed. “All we need to do is head back to the reception and carry on as normal.”

“What will I say happened to my dress?”

He pulls me into his arms, smiling. “Tell them your impatient husband wanted time with his wife alone and it was too muchhassle to put it back on.” He kisses me before picking the clothing up from the bed.

He holds up the short, white silk dress, and I smile, narrowing my eyes. “It’s new?”

“I had your wedding planner pick out a backup evening outfit in case the dress got too heavy.”

I slip into it, leaving my underwear off. I have a whole suitcase packed full of new garments he’ll get to peel from me. “You think of everything,” I say, kissing him on the cheek. “Now, let’s go and finish this.”

DMITRY

Icreep from the room, wincing with each step in case it makes the smallest of sounds that will wake my sleeping baby girl.

I head downstairs, a sense of relief filling me that she’s finally sleeping, even if it is twenty minutes later than I’d wanted.

Marshall and Phoebe pull apart as I enter the kitchen, and I roll my eyes. “Make sure you watch over my daughter instead of canoodling like teenagers,” I remind him.

He grins. “Yes, boss.”

“Where exactly are you going?” asks Phoebe.

“It’s a secret,” I tell her.

The sound of my wife’s heels clicking through the hall have me turning in her direction. Every single time I see her, she takes my breath away. But right now, standing before me in a red,fitted dress and matching heels, all I can picture is getting her alone.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asks Phoebe and Marshall.

I groan, striding over and wrapping my arm around her, leading her to the door. “They’ll be fine. Natalya loves her aunt and uncle.”

“But you know what she’s like for waking.”

“I do,” I say through gritted teeth. The last six months have been a real test on our sex life, not that I mind because my daughter’s gummy smiles make up for it. But for one night only, I need to spend time with Victoria.

I lace our fingers together and walk around the back of the manor. Victoria frowns as the small marquee comes into view. “I know you don’t like to leave Natalya,” I tell her as we step inside. She stares at the twinkling lights and gasps.

“It’s beautiful,” she tells me.

“So, I decided we would celebrate here, where we are happiest.” I lead her towards the table set up for dinner in the centre and pull out a chair for her to sit. “Happy one-year wedding anniversary.”

TORI

I starein awe at the twinkling lights pinned neatly around the small marquee. It’s perfect. The table in the centre is set for two, and towards the back of the marquee is a corner set up with blankets and cushions.

“You did all this?” I don’t know why I’m so surprised because he does so many thoughtful things just to show me he loves me.

“I brought in your favourite chef,” he adds, nodding towards the entrance. Two waitresses enter carrying trays of food. They place them on the table, and I smile at the gourmet burgers andfries. “I know how much you love the burger shack in town.” I laugh. As much as I love the expensive restaurants, all I really crave right now is these exact burgers.

I rub my hand over my four-month bump. “Your son is very happy right now.”

He grins, just like he does whenever I mention that I’m carrying a boy. The son he’s always wanted.

We eat while reminiscing back to our wedding. It wasn’t all bad. Before the altercation with his father, we’d had a lovely day, and once I’d cleaned up, we partied into the night. It was surprisingly freeing to know Vladimir and Vivian were not around to ruin it.

And the past year has flown by. We have been completely consumed in our baby girl. Natalya is everything we’ve both ever needed but didn’t realise. We’re in complete awe of her, and I know without a doubt, she already has her daddy wrapped around her finger.

We move over to the blankets and drop down on the cushions, where he wastes no time stripping me naked and pulling me into his arms.

---