Her fingers wrapped around my wrists as she looked into my eyes. “He’s the only man you’ll ever have to share me with.”
“I’m okay with that.” Now I only had a small fraction of her heart because her son had everything else. He had her heart, her spirit, her soul. But that was exactly how it should be, exactly how my mother loved me.
“What do you think of him?” she whispered.
I grinned. “What do I think? He’s great. Sweet kid. Now he shakes my hand every morning when he sees me…pretty cute.”
“He is cute.”
“He’s great, honestly.” I didn’t have any experience with kids, and I’d thought having one around would just be a nightmare. But I retreated up to the third floor when I needed my own space. “He has your spirit. I see it every time I’m in the same room as him.” Some of his features were inherited from his father, but I pretended otherwise. That man didn’t step up when he should have, so he had no claim as Luca’s father. As far as I could tell, the boy was completely hers. My thumb brushed across her bottom lip, and I missed the days when I would lift her onto the counter and take her then and there. Now we shared the house with a third person, a little man who’d changed our lives forever.
“I’m glad you like him. It seemed like you two were connecting.”
“I didn’t realize kids could be so cool.”
“Well, Luca is amazing. I know I’m biased because I’m his mother, but he really is. He’s grateful for what he has and wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s the kind of boy that will catch a spider in the house then let him go outside. He’s sensitive…”
“I’m sure he gets all of that from you.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
I leaned in and kissed her on the mouth, unable to resist an embrace. It’d been so long since I had that mouth on mine, been the recipient of those fiery kisses. I wanted to take her to bed upstairs, but I had no idea where the little man was. So I made the passionate kiss short, knowing I would have to finish it later.
When she pulled her lips away, her eyes were lit up with desire. Her hand moved up my chest, and she gripped the fabric of my t-shirt, like she wanted to keep kissing me. Her fingers were always demanding, gripping me the same way I gripped the back of her neck. She licked her lips then nibbled on her bottom lip for a second.
I nearly kissed her again.
“Carter?” she whispered.
“Yes, sweetheart?” I knew whatever she was going to ask me was serious, based on her tone. “There’s something I want to ask you. I just don’t know how to ask it. I’m not sure what I’m trying to say.”
“Try and we’ll figure it out.” My arm rested around her waist, hugging the curves of her hips. My chest was pressed to hers, and I could feel her plump tits. This woman had the kind of body that drove me wild. Fantasies popped into my mind, all involving her tits and ass.
“Alright…” She broke eye contact for a moment, staring at my chest before she lifted her gaze to meet mine again. “Now that I have Luca back, I never want anything to happen to him again. Knowing he was in that orphanage all alone still keeps me up at night. I want him to be safe, to grow up without being afraid of what might happen. I’ve always considered myself to be a strong woman because of everything I’ve accomplished, but being Egor’s prisoner just showed me how incapable I really am.”
“That’s not true, sweetheart.”
“It is true,” she whispered. “I’m not strong enough to protect Luca. If someone wanted to cause us harm…I wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it. That thought terrifies me, not because of what might happen to me, but what might happen to my son.”
“What are you asking me, Mia?” I wasn’t sure where this was going. I told her she could live here as long as she wanted and continue to work for me. As long as she was under my roof, she would never have to worry about stuff like that.
“I…I don’t know. I see the way you are with him, and I see how powerful you are. You’re the reason we’re both here. You’re the reason we’re safe…from everything. I always got the impression that you weren’t interested in relationships or commitment, marriage or a family. But you and I seem to have something special…a unique connection. Unless I’m wrong?”
Now was the time to tell her otherwise, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t pretend that there wasn’t something here, that she didn’t make my heart beat to a special rhythm. “Yes, we have something…” I’d never bedded one woman this long before. I’d never gone through so much work to have a woman. I’d never risked my neck for someone else the way I did for her. I constantly bowed to this woman, moved mountains to give her whatever she wanted. It didn’t matter that she’d been beaten and raped. My attraction to her never waned. I didn’t think about what happened to her before I came along. I only thought about the two of us.