“Tell me, baby.”

“Yellow.”

“I’m serious.”

Sighing, I’d scrambled to the edge of the bed and grabbed her to straddle my waist. She threw her arms around my neck, and I lowered my head to take one of her soft breasts in my mouth. “Black.”

She’d arched forward, feeding me more. “Great. Family, friends, dusk, lights, chicken, cake—”

“What are you doing?” I mumbled against her nipple.

“Planning.”

“I’ll be in Moscow on Friday.”

“No, you won’t,” she’d said sternly. “You are going to stay here with me.” Her eyes had sparkled with amusement. “We’re going to celebrate your birthday this year.” She smiled.

I’d raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what do you have planned?”

Serena’s smile had grown wider as I rolled her on her back. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

And I was more than impressed with what I’d seen.

“You didn’t have to do any of this.” I kissed our son on the head and planted one on her cheek. “One night with you in our bed would have been enough for me.”

Laughing, the blue in her eyes twinkled. “That’s not exactly a memorable way to celebrate. We do that all the time.”

“And yet, I remember every single one of those times. You outdid yourself.”

Tipping her toes, she pressed a kiss to my lips. “Happy fortieth birthday, baby. Roselyn needs my help to plan Niko’s birthday next year. She thinks I could make good money from these event planning ideas.”

“I don’t dispute that. You’d be one hell of a writer and planner. But right now,”I craved a moment alone with my wife,“there’s something very impressive I want to show you upstairs.”

“But Vlad….” Her eyes flickered to our baby, and behind her, Jayden passed. I couldn’t believe I appreciated his presence more.

“Jayden.” I cleared my throat. “Jayden, may I ask a favor of you?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, and Serena looked between us. They must have been surprised that I opted to make a request rather than order him.

“Sure. What is it?”

I smiled. “I was wondering if you could hold Vlad for thirty minutes. I promise we’ll be right back down.”

Jayden’s gaze flicked to Serena, then back to me. For a moment, I thought he’d refuse. But he nodded. “Okay, not a problem. Pleased to have my nephew either way.”

Serena’s eyes met mine, a hint of mischief sparkling within them. She knew exactly what I had in mind. And as Jayden took Vlad from her arms, I reached out, offering her my hand.

“Shall we?”

****

Serena and I barely made it past the door before my lips went crashing down on hers, and I had my fingers tangled in her hair. She sighed in my mouth, smiling. “I thought you…” I kissed her, “…wanted to show me something.”

I sucked on her tongue, drinking in the way her body shuddered beneath mine. Cupping the curve of her ass, I squeezed, grinning. “I am. I’m showing you how much I fucking want you.”

She laughed, and I kissed the sound off her lips. “You have six cakes downstairs. You should want one of those.”

“Later. At the moment, the only thing I can think of devouring is you.”