It’s the first time I’ve been with anyone since I gave birth. The first time I’ve been with anyone since I got pregnant.

It feels right that it’s Dima both times.

Part of me worried it wouldn’t feel the same. That something in me would be different.

But when our bodies finally connect and I’m filled with him, it feels as good as I could ever imagine. I tip my head back and moan. “Oh, Dima…”

“You’re so tight.” Dima rocks himself against me gently, letting me accommodate to him. “It’s unreal, Arya.”

I press my palms against his chest and lift my hips, bringing me to the very tip of him before I slam back down.

We both shudder.

So I do it again. And again. And again.

Until Dima’s fingers are digging into my hips and his teeth are gritted with the effort not to come.

“It’s been so long,” he growls, grinding me against him when I come down. “I only wanted you.”

I lay forward on his chest and suck his lower lip into my mouth. “You have me,” I tell him breathlessly. “I’m all yours.”

Dima grabs my ass and pounds into me. My body shakes. I gasp. Writhe. Cry out louder and louder.

I may be the one on top, but Dima is firmly in control. He’s guiding me onto him, pulsing into me quickly and pulling out slowly, luxuriating in every delicious second.

I feel when his composure begins to break. His breathing becomes uneven. His movements jerky. I clench myself around him and the moment he spasms inside of me, I come along with him. Hard.

We twist and moan together. Dima wraps his arms around my back, binding me to him, and I keep making love to him, milking every bit of pleasure out of his hard cock with the roll of my hips.

When we’re done, I collapse on his chest, breathing heavily.

He pulls on the ends of my hair, twisting it around his fingers. “Am I really the only one you wanted?” I whisper.

I learned a long time ago that men say crazy things during sex. They’ll say anything to get themselves off, even lies. So I try to guard myself in case it wasn’t true.

But I still have to ask.

“Yes.” He answers easily. Confident and clear. “That night at the clinic, I thought you were one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. And then, my God, the sex. You were wild.”

My cheeks flush. I bury my face in his chest with a shy giggle.

“It’s a good thing,” he reassures me. “A very good thing. I couldn’t get you out of my head. But you were an innocent girl. A nice girl. A good girl. I’m not a good man, Arya. I didn’t want to bring my dangers into your life. Of course, little did I know, I already had.”

“I don’t regret it.”

His hand stills on my back at once.

I lift myself onto my elbows, looking down at his square jaw and dark stubble, at the blue-gray eyes our son inherited from him.

“I don’t regret it,” I say again. “I don’t regret you or Lukas for a second. How could I?”

“Because I’m the reason you were kidnapped. The reason Lukas is missing. I’m the reason—”

I cut him off with a kiss. “The reason Lukas exists in the first place. And that is worth everything else, okay? Everything.”

He nods and his expression turns grave. “I’m going to get him back for you. For both of us. I’m going to save our son.”

“I know you are,” I whisper, tears burning at the backs of my eyes.