25. Adrian
TWENTY-FIVE
“Idon’t need to sleep,” Elias said for the dozenth time. “Please let me stay up!”
Nataliya shook her head and pressed him back onto the mattress. “You need rest, sakharok,” she said softly. “It’s already so late.”
Tears shone in his eyes. “Please, Mama?—”
I could see the hurt in her eyes, how much she hated denying him after not seeing him for days, but I could also see she was tired herself. “Hey, bud,” I said, drawing his attention to me. “We’re not going anywhere, okay?”
The boy pouted. “I know that.”
Do you?“So, because we’re not going anywhere, you can go to sleep and not worry that we won’t be here in the morning.”
Elias blinked. The crease between his eyebrows deepened. “You promise?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper, like he was embarrassed he needed to be reassured.
“Absolutely,” I said and reached out to ruffle his hair. “If you’re up to it, we’ll spend the whole day together tomorrow.”
“Can we go do something fun?”
I glanced at Nataliya. “As long as your mom says the activity is okay,” I said. “But you’ve got to get some good sleep tonight, all right?”
He sighed but conceded. “Fine,” he said. A conflicted expression flickered across his face. “Can I talk to my mom for a bit? Do you mind?”
“Of course! I’ll wait for you in the kitchen, okay?”
Nataliya smiled, soft and pretty, and my heart thudded in my chest so hard I thought they might be able to hear it. “I’ll be out soon.”
I bid Elias goodnight again and slipped out of the room. Owen and Sam were in the kitchen, cleaning up after having put Myles to bed. “Did he settle down?” Sam asked.
I waved my hand in a so-so gesture. “He’s nearly there,” I said. “He just wanted some time alone with Nataliya first.”
Sam hummed. “That’s not surprising. The sun rises and sets with her for him, you know?” I did; it was the same way for her with him. “So…you two are together.”
I nodded. “We are.”
“And you’re serious about her?”
I couldn’t identify the tone in her voice. “Why are you asking?” She crossed her arms over her chest, surprising a laugh out of me as it struck me what she was doing. “Are you really giving me the shovel talk right now?”
Her stony expression faltered. “Shovel talk?”
Owen chuckled. “You know, ‘If you ever hurt her, I have a shovel I’ll use to bury your body after I kill you.’”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Then, yes, this is what this is. Are you serious about her and Elias?”
“Sam, it’s not our business,” Owen said gently.
She glared at him, and he immediately backed down. I smirked—it was hilarious to see the big former SEAL back down to his tiny wife. “I need to know you aren’t going to jerk her around,” Sam said bluntly. “She and Elias have been through so much, and they deserve someone who’s serious and stable and?—”
“I’m serious,” I cut her off. “About her. About them.”
Owen stepped in again. “You didn’t see what he was like when Hayes had nabbed her,” he said, running a hand soothingly up and down her back, easing her down. “I’ve never seen him so frantic, and it was only over the phone. I can only imagine how freaked out Zach and Gabe were.”
“I wasn’t that bad.”
Owen snorted. “Yes, you were.” He looked back at Sam. “I trust him when he says that he’s serious.”
Sam’s shoulders relaxed a touch. “Okay,” she conceded. “Okay, I trust you.” She pointed at me, looking as fierce as an angry kitten. “But if you hurt her?—”
“Shovel,” I said with a nod. “Got it.”
“A shovel for what?”
I turned and saw Nataliya standing at the mouth of the hallway. The sheer joy that smashed into me just from the sight of her was almost overwhelming. I had been away from her for five minutes, and it felt like I hadn’t laid my eyes on her in days.
“She was threatening me in case I wasn’t serious about you,” I said, and Sam turned a bright red, making us all laugh.
“I appreciate that,” Nataliya said warmly. “Elias thinks the world of you, and so do I.”
The four of us opened a bottle of red wine and sat around the kitchen table to share it and a little dessert, and it was just…nice. After everything from the last few weeks, it was surreal to relax. Owen pulled out a deck of cards, and we played a few hands of rummy and laughed and joked, and as the night slipped on, Nataliya and I leaned into each other.
“Take me to bed?” she murmured finally, low and only for me.
Heat spread through my chest, and almost unconsciously, my eyes fell to her mouth. “You sure?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, I’m sure.”
I stood and stretched, interrupting Owen in the middle of a story about a client who wanted to hire a bodyguard for her dog. “Well, we’re bushed,” I said, vehemently ignoring the knowing grin that spread across Owen’s face. “I think we’re going to turn in,” I said. “Right, sweetheart?”
Nataliya nodded, and we waved goodnight to the couple and tried not to look like we were rushing to their guest room…even though we definitely were. We were kissing before the door even closed, and it took every stitch of common sense in me to make sure the door was fully shut and the lock was thrown into place.
I stood and watched, transfixed, as Nataliya peeled off her shirt and dropped it on the floor. She had her jeans halfway down her thighs when it hit me that I should be getting undressed too. I tried not to rush, to seem overeager, but from the teasing grin on her face, I was failing miserably.
“Keep smiling like that,” I taunted. “See what happens.”
Nataliya settled on the bed, still grinning and looking so much like a naughty angel. “Do you promise?” she asked, voice low and tempting.
It took less than two strides for me to join her. I kissed her mouth, the point of her chin, the sweet expanse of her throat, and ran my hands over miles of creamy, soft skin. She did the same, touching me as if she’d never gotten to do it properly before.
I guessed that we hadn’t done this properly, really, up to now. But we didn’t need to rush anymore. There wasn’t the sickening, jittery feeling of adrenaline pushing at us.
I slowed my touches. Found all of the places with my lips and mouth that made her gasp and sigh. When I wrapped my lips around her nipple, she moaned and bucked her hips into mine.
“Adrian.”
“What do you want, sweetheart?” I asked her, hand sliding down her belly. “What do you need?”
She caught my hand, threaded her fingers through mine for a moment, and squeezed. “Can you—?” She flushed, embarrassed.
“Anything.”
“With your mouth? Please?”
I smiled. “Of course,” I said and moved to settle myself between her thighs. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to do this again.”
I licked into her, groaning at the taste of her on my tongue. She shuddered and twined her fingers into my hair, tightening them until it was just this side of painful whenever I did something she particularly liked. “That’s so good,” she murmured, hips chasing the pleasure I was giving her.
Fucking right it is, I thought and circled her clit with the tip of my tongue, delighting in the shiver that ran through her. “Right there, huh, sweetheart?” I asked, looking up to find her staring back down at me. I groaned again; it was heady being watched giving her pleasure. “Are you going to come for me?”
Her hips hitched, and she nodded. “Yeah,” she breathed. “Yes.”
I lapped at her, feeling her grow more and more tense. “Do it,” I murmured against her. “Come for me.”
Her body went taut, and she slapped a hand over her own mouth to keep her cries muffled. Before she could even begin to gather herself, I moved up, positioned myself, and seated myself inside of her with a smooth push of my hips. Nataliya’s back arched beautifully, and her arms came around to clutch at me. “Yes,” she sighed. “Adrian.”
I peppered her throat and collarbone in kisses, thrusting against her. “You’re so beautiful,” I whispered into her skin, watching her face contort in pleasure as we found a delicious rhythm together.
“I’m—” A sob hiccuped from her throat, and she held me all the tighter, as if the idea of me being away from her for even a moment was unbearable. Her eyes shined as she looked at me as if she could see to the very depths of me. “Adrian, I?—”
God, I love her. “Me too, sweetheart,” I murmured, rolling my hips into her faster now. “I’m here with you.”
Pleasure pooled in my veins, and as much as I wanted to stay forever in this moment with her, I could feel that the tension building between us was about to snap. I reached between us, thumbed her clit in time with my movements, and she moaned, loud despite her burying her face in my neck. Her muscles fluttered and clenched around me as she soared over the edge.
Sparks shot up my spine, and I groaned out loud as I followed her over. When I tried to move, Nataliya held onto me. “Stay,” she said. “Just for a second. I want to be close to you.”
Who could say no to that?“Okay, sweetheart,” I said, doing my best to keep the bulk of my weight off her.
We held onto each other until we both needed to clean up, and even in the shower, I couldn’t let her be more than a few inches from me. When we stumbled back into the bedroom, Nataliya curled up beside me and rested her head against my chest.
“I love you,” she murmured. “I really do.”
I pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
She shifted so she could look up at me. “And you’re serious? About wanting to be with me?”
I cupped her cheek. “I am,” I promised. “I’ve never been more serious.”
“How will that work?”
Reality was pushing into our hazy bubble of happiness, but I knew she was right to ask. There was so much to consider going forward. “I don’t know,” I told her honestly. “I mean, you could go back to St. Francisville once Elias is done with treatment, or…or you could come to DC with me.”
Nataliya was quiet for a long time. “I think Elias and I would need to stay here for a while,” she admitted. “It will be a while before the treatment is finished.” She looked at me again, and there was this pervasive shyness that I’d never seen in her face before. “But afterward, if you truly didn’t mind?—”
“I want you to,” I said. “I want us to be a family: you, me, and Elias.”
Her smile was dazzling; she dropped a kiss to my chest. “I want that too.”
“We’ll get your ID back too,” I said. “I want you to live your life as Nataliya Koza again. No more aliases for either of you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“You helped to bring down an international criminal,” I said. “I think we can leverage that to get you a proper Green Card.”
“I won’t hold my breath, okay?” she said. “I’ll let you do whatever you think is best, but?—”
I squeezed her to me. “I get it.” It would be difficult for anyone to trust the same organizations that screwed them over in the past. But now that Ian Hayes was caught, I was confident things would be different. I hoped, anyway. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“Thank you for being trustworthy.”