Page 91 of Midnight Sanctuary

He pulls off his shirt and slips under the covers with me. I slide my hands over his rock-solid arms and abs while his hand lands on my belly.

“You know something I was thinking… you’re going to be a great mother,” he says gently.

“Thanks,” I say with a blush. “What makes you think so?”

“The way you look out for the two kids—Polly and Lev. You’re a mother already, whether you know it or not.”

I exhale slowly. “I always wanted to be a mother,” I admit. “I just didn’t think it would happen so early.”

“You regret it?”

I glance at him in surprise. “No,” I assure him emphatically. “Not at all. I just… I was scared when I realized I might be…”

“Scared?”

I nod. “I lost the one person I thought I couldn’t live without. I couldn’t imagine losing anyone else that I cared about that deeply.”

“You’re not going to lose anyone,” he growls ferociously.

I slide under his arm, drinking in that woodsy musk that clings to his skin. “Just so you know, I’m gonna be one of those unbearably overprotective helicopter moms.”

He chuckles. “Just so you know, I might not be much better.”

“So our kids are gonna need therapists young—is that what we’re saying?”

“Our kids will have us,” he says firmly. “That’s all they’ll need.” He kisses the top of my head. “As long as their mother remembers to sit still long enough to pop them out.”

“We’re back to this again?”

“Bed rest doesn’t have to be boring, you know. There are plenty of things we could do to pass the time.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

He raises his eyebrows as his hand slides over my belly. His fingers land between my legs, stroking at the thin fabric of my panties. “Like this, for example.”

I let out a long, drawn-out moan as my legs part instinctively for him. “I’m not sure this is what the doctor had in mind when he told me to spend more time in bed.”

Uri gives me a smug smile. “Doctors don’t know everything.”

My toes curl as he slips his fingers underneath my panties and starts grazing them over my moistening lips. “Mmm,Uri…”

“Relax, my littlekiska. This is the part where you let go of all your stress and let me take care of you.”

Well, when you put it like that…

I guess I’m okay with staying in bed a little while longer.

41

URI

I wake up spooning Alyssa, my arm draped over her hip as she breathes gently. I lie there with her for as long as my conscience allows. If it were solely up to me, I’d stay here indefinitely, living and basking in the perfect silence of the moment.

But my head activates almost immediately. Has Stepan completed the third sweep of the estate that I’d asked for yesterday? Were all the extra security measures around the property implemented? Where the hell is Boris and what is he planning?

My children will be born in just a few short months and I need for this to be over before then. I don’t want them born into a world on the brink of burning.

So with a sigh, I extricate myself from Alyssa and roll to the side. When I reach for my phone, I see I have three missed calls from Kruger.

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