Sergei glanced over at me, another sly smile on his face. “This tyrant still making you cook?” he asked.
Senna laughed and then came over to me. I looped my arm around her and settled my hand on her belly. “Nope. This tyrant won’t let me lift a feather,” she said, looking over at me, a beautiful smile on her face.
“Good. He’s cooking for you, then?” Sergei said.
She laughed even louder. “He loves me too much for that,” she said.
“I do,” I replied, and then I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers, shivered at the touch, uncaring that Sergei saw, uncaring of anything but the woman in my arms.
After a moment, I broke away and looked back at Sergei. “Sergei won’t be staying. He has work to do,” I said.
Sergei laughed and then nodded and looked at Senna. “Thanks for the offer, but I do have a lot on my plate. I’d come hug you good-bye, but Maxim might not like that. See you later, Se. See you later, little Maxim,” he said, gesturing toward her stomach.
“Bye, Sergei,” she said, her voice rich with humor and affection.
Sergei left, and when I heard the door close, I wrapped my arms around Senna and kissed her deeply, swooping my tongue into her mouth and tightening my hand on her side. I was instantly hard, but even the intensity of my arousal was nothing in the face of the deeper emotion I felt, the love I felt, so new, so deep, and something I wondered how I had ever lived without, knowing I would never live without it again.
I broke the kiss and then looked down at Senna, gazing into her soft eyes.
“You’re still buying all the houses in the neighborhood?” she asked.
“Not all,” I said, to which she laughed.
“Just most, huh,” she said, still smiling indulgently.
“You love this house, so I want you to stay here. It only needs a few alterations to make it perfect.”
She barked out a little laugh. “Only you would consider buying six houses on a block a ‘few alterations,’” she said.
I shrugged. Six, six hundred, it didn’t matter. No cost mattered so long as Senna was happy.
Senna laid her head against my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her, bringing her as close to my body as I could, smiling when I felt the baby move between us. I held her for a moment and then again broke away and stared down at her.
“Thank you, Maxim,” she said, her expression now serious.
“For what?” I replied.
“For everything,” she said.
Those words were so simple but said so much, covered the years that had passed between us, the years that were to come.
She reached up and brushed her fingers against my cheek, her touch, her eyes conveying the emotion I felt.
“I love you, Senna,” I said, though the words weren’t nearly enough to convey what I felt.
Senna possessed me heart, body and soul, and I would spend the rest of my life showing her that.
* * *