Page 74 of Delicious Prey

“Looks like someone’s hungry,” Lydia says, giving a soft laugh at the way our daughter is still rooting around in my arms.

The labor was only a couple of weeks ago, and as much as I try to help, I know my wife is exhausted, but she’s still so breathtakingly beautiful that I can’t help but just stare at her.

“What are you looking at?” She gives me a smile and reaches up to cup my face, running her fingers along my scar.

“My beautiful wife,” I tell her.

“Yeah,” she says, rolling her eyes at me. “It’s the sweatpants and stained T-shirt, isn’t it? So sexy.”

“It is on you.” She laughs like she thinks I’m joking. “Don’t laugh at me, zaika. I think you’re breathtaking.” When Natalya gives a fussy whimper, I lean down and kiss her soft head. “Don’t worry, little one. Your beautiful mommy is about to feed you.”

Lydia leans in and kisses our daughter’s head before stealing a quick kiss from me. After she sits in the rocker and gets situated, I put Natalya in her arms so she can breastfeed her. I watch, in awe yet again at how amazing my wife is. When she’d gone into labor, I’d never been more scared in my life. Dangling from roofs, being outnumbered and having to shoot myself out of a situation—no problem, but watching her in pain nearly broke me. I’d almost gotten my ass kicked out of the hospital. I was so worried that I ended up forgetting my English and what little Greek I know and had just started yelling at the nurses and doctor in Russian. It had taken all my willpower to calm the fuck down, well, that and the fact that there was no way in hell I was going to miss the birth of our baby. Lydia had been amazing, though. She knew I needed to do something, so she kept sending me out for ice chips and giving me other little jobs to do. She’s never looked more like a queen than in that hospital bed, squeezing my hand while the contractions racked her body, taking it all like a goddamn champ.

“Have I told you today how amazing you are?”

Lydia looks up from our daughter and gives me a big smile. “Such a softie.”

“I am for you two, yes.”

When we hear the fast tapping of little dog nails on the floor in the hall, we both look to the door right before Peanut comes barreling in. I bend down and give him a pet before he jumps up, resting his front paws on Lydia’s leg so he can see the baby. One of the first things we did after bringing her home was introduce her to the dogs. I swear they’d all immediately fallen in love with her. I know as soon as she starts crawling around, she’s going to have five constant companions. I almost pity any future boyfriends. Almost. Vadim’s quickly become like an uncle to her, which means he can guard the backdoor while I guard the front. Those boys don’t stand a chance.

After Natalya’s nursed herself to sleep, I pick her up and work on burping her while Lydia buttons her shirt back up. We’re still on no-sex orders from the doc for a few more weeks, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t killing me. I miss my wife. I miss the feel of her, of being inside her, but I’d wait forever for this woman.

I let out a soft laugh when I finally hear Natalya burp and kiss the side of her face. She burrows in closer to my neck, and I hold her for a few more minutes because I can’t tolerate the thought of letting her go just yet. Lydia’s right. I am a giant softie. I rub her small back and cup the back of her head before laying her down in her crib. When Lydia walks over, I wrap my arm around her as we watch our daughter sleep.

“Someday I guess it’ll get old to just watch her sleep,” she whispers. She looks up at me. “I mean, I hope so anyway. She’ll hate it if she’s sixteen and wakes up to find us both standing over her bed, watching her sleep like a couple of psychos.”

I laugh and squeeze her tighter. “I’ll be standing by her window with a baseball bat, making sure none of the local boys get any ideas.”

“I’m sure she’ll love that,” Lydia says, and her tone makes it clear that Natalya will most definitely have something to say about her overprotective daddy. I’ve already decided I’m going to give her self-defense training and teach her how to use some weapons. My little girl is going to know how to protect herself. She may not appreciate it at first, but it’s happening.

Lydia grabs my hand and leads me from the room, keeping the door open enough so we can hear when she wakes up. We go down the hall, and when she crashes onto the couch with a tired sigh, I sit down next to her. Putting an extra pillow behind her, I position her so she’s stretched out with her legs resting in my lap. When I start to rub her feet, she lets out a sigh of pure pleasure.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she says, giving me a lazy smile. “You know damn good and well I think your cock feels better than a foot rub.” Her smile widens. “But this does feel damn good.”

I laugh and press my thumbs into the arch of her foot, pulling another moan from her. Turns out I love bringing her pleasure in more ways than one. I’ve become an expert on foot and back massages, and I’m more than happy to give them to her anytime she wants. Anything that gets my hands on her body is a win.

After I’ve rubbed away the tension from her feet and calves, I get up, and when I return, her whole face lights up when she sees the bag of Twizzlers I’m holding.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

I laugh and hand her the bag while I sit down and pull her up against me. We share an ottoman while she finds us a movie to watch. I went from having the exciting life of a notorious hitman to being the kind of guy who thinks the perfect evening is staying at home with my wife and baby, and I couldn’t be happier.

Everything I need is under this roof, and I’d be a damn fool to not realize how unbelievably lucky I am. I take the licorice Lydia offers me, because as much as I hate to admit it, the damn things are tasty, and kiss the top of her head. Our life together is amazing, and I’m convinced it’s only going to get better. All we need is a houseful of kids to make this absolutely perfect. Our little girl needs some brothers to play with. With that thought in mind, I relax into the couch with a smile on my face, already imagining the future that’s headed our way.

* * *

Lydia

One Year Later

Natalya grips my hand as she stomps her cute chubby feet into the sand, laughing when a new wave comes in, soaking her legs. She’s a beach baby to her core. Ever since the first time Kirill held her against his chest and walked her out into the blue water of the Ionian Sea, she’s been mesmerized by it.

Looking down, I watch her grey eyes widen before she raises an arm, pointing at the birds flying above us. She gives a squeal when Boris comes up and licks her hand.

“Dog!”

I laugh at the sound of her cute voice. She doesn’t know too many words yet, but she’s got dog down. They all adore her. Peanut runs around at her feet, darting away anytime a wave comes too close to him, but everything gets put on hold when she turns her head and spots her daddy.

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