CHAPTER NINETEEN
Even darkness can fall in love.
Maxsim
After the lights are turned off, I hold out my hand. “Ready?”
Ari’s eyes narrow, searching my face like she’s trying to find some hidden agenda. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally takes it. “I like this version of you, Max.”
“Good to know.” The corner of my mouth twitches as I gesture toward the stairs. She follows me, her steps quieter than usual. She’s wary—not like a caged animal, but like someone out of their depth.
She pauses when we step into the bedroom, glancing around as though seeing it for the first time. The muted glow of the bedside lamps cast long shadows on the walls, and the fireplace crackles faintly in the corner, its warmth barely reaching us.
“Why is it always so cold in here?” she mutters, rubbing her arms. “Do you keep it like this to see if I’ll freeze to death?”
I smirk, sliding off my watch and setting it on the dresser. “I keep it cold, so you’ll have no choice but to sleep in my arms. It’s all part of my master plan.”
She snorts before turning toward her closet. “I might go to bed naked if it wasn’t so damn cold to start with.”
My eyes snap to her, a low laugh rumbling in my chest. “Good to know.” I cross the room and adjust the gas control on the fireplace. The flame leaps to life, and heat fills the room with a subtle warmth. “Better?”
She steps out of her closet wrapped in a robe. “A little.”
After removing my suit, I join her in the bathroom and watch her eyes crawl over my chest. “See something you like?”
“Maybe.” She turns on the water. “Do you find this whole ‘domestic bliss’ thing as strange as I do?”
“I suppose.” I lean against the counter. “Nothing in life prepares you for standing beside someone and brushing your teeth, so it seems reasonable that it will take some time.”
“I wonder exactly how much time.”
I watch her brush her teeth and rinse. “I’m getting used to it,” I admit, surprising even myself with the honesty. “You know, I’ve never shared space with anyone. Not like this.”
Her hand hesitates as she picks up a towel. “Well,” she says softly, “at least we’re both flying blind.”
The moment lingers, heavy with unspoken truths, before she breaks it with a laugh. “Two clueless people trying to figure it out. What could go wrong?”
“Plenty,” I reply, picking up my toothbrush. “But you like a challenge, don’t you?”
She doesn’t answer, but the faint smile on her lips speaks volumes.
Her hair falls over one shoulder, and I lean closer, studying her closely. “You’ve got toothpaste on your nose,” I say, my voice completely deadpan.
She pauses, her eyes narrowing at me in the mirror. “No, I don’t.”
“You do,” I insist.
Her gaze flicks to her reflection, and when she realizes I’m messing with her, she flicks water at me.
I retaliate without thinking, swiping a dab of toothpaste onto my finger and smudging it onto her nose.
“Max!” she yelps, swatting at me, but there’s laughter in her voice.
“Hold still,” I say, catching her wrist and wiping off the small smudge.
“Payback, Max. It’s never what you expect.”
“I look forward to it.” She flicks her hair in my direction and saunters out of the room with a promising sway in her gorgeous hips.
When I return to the bedroom, I notice she has the covers pulled up to her nose.
Strange.
I mentally shrug it off. As long as she’s in bed with me, who cares what she does.
I lift the covers and notice a whole lot of gorgeous naked flesh. Seems my wife is more open to domestic bliss than she’s been letting on.
I keep my expression neutral, slide beneath the sheets, and flick off the lights. Only the low lights in the alcove illuminate the room. “It’s been a long day.” I lean over and kiss her forehead. “Good night, sweetheart.”
I hear a small huff as I adjust my pillows. “Something wrong?”
“No.”
She adjusts her pillows and gives me an impressive eye roll before sliding one of her freezing feet along my leg. I bite back a curse despite the fact I should be used to it now.
I lift my arm and pull her to my side. “I better keep you warm; otherwise, I’ll risk hypothermia.”
“How chivalrous of you.” She looks up and bats her eyes. “My very own personal heater.”
“I want my wife to be happy.”
“Really?”
I let my hand slide up and down her mouth-watering curves. “Yes, Ari. With every fucking bone in my body.”
I glance over and see her genuine smile. It hits me straight in the chest because she probably hasn’t had many chances to give into happiness.
The world we live in too often requires us to be the worst version of ourselves, but right now, I want to forget all that. I just want to be a husband who makes his wife happy.
Dropping my mouth to hers, I kiss her with all the feelings I’m unwilling to name.
“How do you do it, Max”
I keep our mouths pressed together. “What sin have I committed now?”
Ari lifts her head away. “You are a monster…but kiss me such gentleness.”
I feel her hand against my chest. “How else would I treat a treasure?”
Her eyes blink several times, and I know I’ve stunned her. We don’t trade compliments or kind words. But what I said is true. Ari is the only thing I’ve ever allowed myself to want, and I couldn’t treat her any other way. “You’re a fine thing, Mrs. Volkov, and I’m fortunate you’ve agreed to take this wild ride with me.”
Her eyes close as a small smile lips the corner of her mouth. “And I would very much like to fuck you until there is nothing left between us.”
“There you are.” Her hand slides down, and I raise an eyebrow. “For a second, I thought the AI version had completely taken over.”
Reaching between us, she wraps her hand around my erection and I see the uncertainty in her eyes. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
She slides down my body and props herself on her elbows between my legs. “You and Steve have a lot in common.”
“Really?” I stroke her hair and bite back a laugh.
“You’re both extra large.”
“But I’m not purple silicone.”
“There is that.” She places her fingers around my shaft, then squeezes. “Hmmm.”
It’s clear that I’m the first man she’s ever done this with, and as much as I want to offer guidance, I know it will not be welcomed. “Anything you do is good.”
“You’re just saying that.” She smirks and then licks the slit on top. Fuck me. That’s powerful. I look down and feel something in my chest explode.
The sheer pleasure of seeing my wife trying something new is almost enough to give me a heart attack. I lock my muscles just in time for her next move. She begins sucking on my crown, and I know there is no hotter sight than seeing my wife’s lips slide over the engorged head of my dick.
A low moan breaks from my chest before I can stop it. She sucks me with more force than I’m prepared for, and I know that blacking out is inevitable.
“Okay?” She asks, around my cock.
“Perfect.” I guide her hand down my shaft and flex against the pressure as she takes more of me into her mouth.
Nothing has ever felt so fucking good.
“You’re so hard, husband,” she murmurs, her lips moving against my skin.
Her strokes speed up as she leans forward and bobs her head. I dig my heels into the bed and grind my teeth. The last thing I’ll do is fuck her mouth, despite my body’s demand.
My cock throbs against her tongue, and my balls draw against my body. A white-hot ball is coiling tighter and tighter. Ari’s hand on my shaft is slick from her mouth, and every stroke drives me closer to release.
“I’m getting close.”
“So?” she mumbles.
“I’m about to come straight down your throat.”
She pauses and looks up. My fierce, beautiful wife. “Do it.”
I tip my head back and slip a strand of her hair between my fingers and tug as she sucks and strokes my cock. “My love.”
She moans around my cock and I feel it all the way down my spine. “I’m there—”
I gasp and jerk, erupting in hot pulses.
Not one to back down, she curls both hands around my shaft and sucks the crown as I come into her mouth. Lost in sensation, my heart flies out of my body, and my entire body shudders.
A hundred years later, my body is glued to the bed, and I’m panting and shaking as she gives my cock one last squeeze. “I don’t deserve you.”
Ari sits back on her heels, licks her lips, and smiles. “Duh.”
I pull her down and press our mouths together. Maybe the Universe doesn’t hate me after all.