Page 84 of Midnight Sanctuary

“More,” I gasp. “Fuck me harder… yes, yes…more.”

He does fuck me a little harder than usual but I can tell he’s reining himself in all the same. There’s that vein in his jaw twitching violently and his eyes are fixed on me with a thirsty kind of desperation.

I lift my hips to meet his and he groans, “Baby, we have to be careful…”

“I’vebeencareful. For right now, I want to be reckless.”

He bends down and starts lashing his tongue over my ear. I cry out as his thrusts intensify.Yes. Yes. Yes.I know I’m close now but I want to stretch this moment out, make it last just another minute more. Two minutes more.

But as thethwack, thwack, thwackof skin on skin gets louder and louder, I know there’s no delaying the inevitable. I come and, moments later, I feel the sweet warmth of his release on the heels of mine.

Uri rolls off me immediately but keeps his body close to mine, one arm curled over my chest. He kisses me until our breathing calms down.

“This idea right here… inspired. Chef’s kiss.”

He grins. “You deserved to be pampered for once. What with all the looking after you do for everyone else.”

“It’s not a chore for me.”

“Which only means you deserve this all the more.”

Uri sits up, leaning against the trunk of the tree and I tuck myself between his legs so that I can loll my head back against his chest and gaze out over the lake.

“It really is beautiful here,” I whisper with a contented sigh.

He nods in agreement. “See those rocks over there? We used to jump off them when we were younger. The lakebed dips down a little deeper, so it was perfect for diving.”

I smile thinking about younger versions of Uri, Nikolai, and Dimiv running around in their little swim trunks, trying to outdo one another.

“Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun here.”

“Hopefully, our children will, too.”

That’s all it takes for me to picture them.Our children.A little boy who looks like Uri. Perhaps a little girl who looks like me. Running around in their swimsuits just like their daddy did, their laughter lighting up the lake. In my head, Lev and Polly are there, too. The Lev I see is less nervous. The Polly I picture is less scared.

It could happen. Itwillhappen.

I just have to believe.

38

ALYSSA

I don’t even realize my leg is bouncing uncontrollably until Uri’s hand lands on my knee.

“It’s going to be okay,” he says gently.

I can see why he would think that. I haven’t exactly been forthcoming about the pain I’ve been experiencing lately. Although maybepainis too strong a word. It’s more like sharp bursts of discomfort that have me stressing out about the two babies in my belly.

The last time I felt that twinge was with Lev. He’d looked at me with wide eyes and asked if the babies were coming. “Not yet, buddy. It’s too early.”

“Really? Because you look really big.”

Of course, he had then proceeded to list all the different things I resembled. A stuffed pepper. A cow. A light bulb.

Gee, just what every pregnant woman longs to hear. Truly the stuff dreams are made of.

I give Uri a tense smile and try to be grateful that we are out of the cabin, even if it’s only for a doctor’s appointment. Lev had to be distracted in his room while we snuck out, though. He wouldn’t have dealt well with being left behind. Polly emerged from her quarters just long enough to see us off. I would have invited her along if I thought that it might pull her out of the darkness she can’t seem to shake. But she disappeared back upstairs before I could even ask.

---