Page 136 of Lethal Alliance

He takes me like the warrior he is, and he claims me for the woman I am.

He pounds deep within me until the world disappears and there is only the place where we meet. He drives me into screaming submission again and again, and when he finally hits his own bone-shattering release, his primal roar seals the bond between us like a covenant.

I am his. He is mine.

We’re all in.

Now and forever.

41

ROMAN

“Inever want to be cold again.” Darya turns her face up to the Spanish sun, sighing in deep contentment. “It’s so good to be home.”

“It’ll be even better after the wedding.” I turn on the sun lounger to face her. The soft swell of her belly is barely noticeable, but it’s an exercise of will not to touch it all the time, particularly now, when she looks absolutely delicious stretching a blue-and-white polka dot bikini in all the right places. I brush my lips across her knuckles, and she blushes in a way that makes me want to pull her inside. “You’re absolutely certain a small wedding is what you want?”

“It’s hardly small.” She casts a wry look at the field next to the finca, where a small army of men are laboring to create the garden wonderland in which we’ll soon make our vows. “By the time we factor in all of your business associates, then Mak andhismen, not to mention my brother andhis...” She rolls her eyes. “Your idea of small is very different than mine.”

I snort. “I never planned on having a wedding at all.”

“You have to marry her,” Mickey yells from the pool, grinning at me. “You knocked her up, remember?” He tosses Masha in the air, and she shrieks as she falls back into the water.

“Watch it,” I hiss, casting a wary look in Sergei’s direction. The old man, however, just smiles and claps as Masha surfaces, paddling frantically. Rosa’s presence seems to have had a transformational effect on Sergei’s health, despite the fact that the two of them bicker so much that it’s amusing to watch. His mobility is getting better every day, and his speech is almost completely restored.

I didn’t so much as ask the old man’s permission to marry his daughter as I informed him it was going to happen, in the same conversation I informed him he was going to be a grandfather. To Sergei’s credit, he took both pieces of information with remarkable equanimity.

He almost looked happy.

Not that I give a fuck.

The only happiness I care about is that of Darya and my children. And right now, they all seem in the best spirits I’ve seen them since Miami.

Masha has finally ditched her arm floaties and is paddling across the pool toward Mickey’s waiting arms, cheered on by Sergei. Ofelia is sitting beneath an umbrella opposite us, her booted leg propped up on cushions. Wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat, dark glasses covering her eyes, she’s still pale. She’s also still too thin for my comfort, though Darya assures me her appetite is improving every day. Even thin and pale, and with a heavy boot on her leg, nothing can diminish her extraordinary beauty. I dread to imagine what challenges the next few years will bring. I’m grateful as hell I have Darya beside me to help navigate them. A willing father I might have become, but handling beautiful teenage daughters isn’t something I’m any better prepared for than I ever was.

“You’re getting lazy, brother.” Dimitry collapses in a lounger beside me, grinning. “The geeks at the lab are starting to forget what you look like.”

“Bullshit.” I toss him a beer from the cooler beside me. “I saw Pavel this morning.”

“And we’re going back this afternoon,” Mickey calls from the pool. “Aren’t we, Roman?”

I barely stifle my groan. “I never should have agreed to that.”

Dimitry snorts. “Bet you can’t wait until he gets his license.”

“The day cannot come fast enough, my friend.” It’s not entirely true. I could insist Luis drive Mickey where he wants to go. The truth is that I enjoy the time I spend in the car with him. Mickey’s mind works in a hundred directions at once, most of them leading to interesting places. He’s already working with Pavel to tighten up a number of processes associated with Mercura.

And he’s stayed in close contact with Lars Andersson.

This last is a development I’m not entirely a fan of. Lars will be arriving with Alexei before the wedding, so at least I can finally get the measure of the man who has been side hacking my project for the past few months. I’m not sure whether I want to hit him or shake the man’s hand.

I glance over at Abby, who is walking with Darya into the house to refresh the drinks. “So you’ve convinced her to stay, then?” I ask Dimitry.

His smile fades. “Only until the wedding. She insists she has to go home to Australia, spend some time with her family. But she won’t let me go with her, and I get the feeling it’s just an excuse.”

“You still think there’s more going on with her than what she’s telling you?”

Dimitry shakes his head. “I dunno. Abby doesn’t shake easy, but what went down at Pillars would have knocked anyone sideways.” He shakes his head, expression dark. “I can’t stop her going. I’ve just got to hope she comes back.”

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