Chapter 27
MAKSIM
The rest of the day passes in a blur I never want to end.
We don’t talk about the report the principal insisted would be getting filed right as we were leaving the school, or the visit Child Services might schedule to come do at Ivy’s parents’ house.
Instead, we just… live.
I hold Leo’s small hand as we cross streets downtown and watch him press his nose against shop windows that we pass by, his wide eyes lighting up at the toy displays.
His boisterous energy is contagious as much as it is hard to contain.
He tugs Ivy and me toward a park once he grows bored of the window shopping, chirping at us to hurry up.
He climbs the jungle gym with no fear, calling down for me to watch when he swings from the tallest rung upside down. I stand beneath him with my arms half-raised, ready to catch him even though he doesn’t need me to. He just laughs and laughs until his breath is punching out of him.
I feel Ivy’s eyes on me when Leo begs for another push on the swings, when I crouch in the grass to tie his shoelaces right before he takes off and begs me to chase after him.
It warms something inside me I thought had gone cold forever, sharing these small, incidental moments with her and our child that I never thought I’d find precious until now.
But I also see the shadows in her eyes the longer we spend time together, the way she presses her lips together when she looks at me, her hand finding her chest and resting over her heart when she looks at Leo.
She’s torn in her decision to lock me out. That much is obvious.
Still, I don’t try to push her.
We finish the afternoon with ice cream.
Leo’s face is sticky, his hands a mess, but his grin is so wide and infectious, it has me mirroring it right back. He’s leaning against me on the bench, licking melting vanilla from a cone, babbling about an upcoming science fair project he can’t wait to start.
Ivy sits on my other side, oddly quiet, with her strawberry scoop barely touched.
The sun catches her hair, turning it to a golden brown that makes me want to run my fingers through it.
Her silence presses heavily between us, but I don’t force her to speak.
I know she’s listening to him, watching me.
Fighting with herself over her decision not to come to Russia with me.
Later, when Leo begins to droop against my side, yawning wide enough to make his little eyes water, we head home. Her parents’ house is empty when we walk in, saving us both from having to explain ourselves.
I carry Leo upstairs, his small body heavy with sleep, and settle him into his bed. He curls into the blankets instantly, already lost to dreams.
I stand there for a long time watching his chest rise and fall. I can’t believe I nearly lost him…
Ivy comes to the door, leaning against the frame.
Her arms are crossed, but her eyes are soft.
She watches me, something flickering across her face I can’t quite name.
We walk downstairs together in silence and take opposite ends of the couch.
My hand drags across my jaw, the stubble prickling against my palm
She’s the first to break the silence. “I’ve been thinking about everything. About what you said.”
I sit forward, elbows on my knees, and nod. “Go on.”
Her arms tighten around herself. “For so long… I thought Leo would never know his father. I grieved that. I convinced myself it would be fine since he only needed me. But now that you’re here…
I see how incredible you are with him. He loves having you around, and it’s really shown me what life would be like if we were all together. ”
My tongue runs along the back of my teeth. “But?”
She pulls in a shaky breath, “I’m terrified, Maksim.”
“I know what I’d be asking of you if you came with me,” I say quietly. “I know the danger… Trust me, Ivy, I don’t take any of this lightly.”
Her laugh is bitter. “I’m surprised you haven’t just kidnapped us already.”
The corner of my mouth twitches despite myself. “The thought has crossed my mind.”
That makes her laugh too. The sound cuts through the tension, if only for a moment.
Her face grows serious though once again. “Can you actually guarantee our safety?”
The question guts me because no one can guarantee something like that.
Not in my world—not ever. But I will stop at nothing to make sure it will be nearly impossible for anyone to try and cross me like that again.
“I will make sure you are the two most protected people in all of Russia. That is my vow to you both. I will build a fortress around you both so sturdy, no enemy will ever reach you.”
Her eyes search mine, wide and vulnerable. Then, something in her softens. I see it in her face, the choice tearing her in two. Slowly, she closes the space between us. Her hands lift, sliding against my chest, then up to my shoulders. She pulls me down, her lips pressing to mine.
I kiss her back, pouring every promise, every plea against her lips. For the first time in months, hope flares in my chest.
Her mouth tastes like strawberries from the ice cream she barely touched earlier, sweet and soft against mine. The kiss begins tentatively, almost fragile, but the moment her hands fist in my shirt, pulling me closer, something inside me snaps.
I grind my hips against hers, feeling the tremor wrack her body, followed by the hesitation laced through her want. She is terrified of what choosing me means, but she’s here, choosing to trust me. I would burn the world to ash before I let that go.
Her lips part beneath mine, a soft gasp breaking free when I press harder. I take the invitation, sliding my tongue against hers, claiming her with every stroke. She tastes like home and heartbreak and everything I’ve been starving for since the day she left me behind.
When I finally pull back, our breaths collide in the small space between us. Her eyes are wide, pupils blown.
“This,” I rasp, my forehead pressing to hers, “is what I’m fighting for.”
Her lips tremble. “Maksim…”
I kiss her again before she can retreat, before fear can take her from me again. This time, she melts into me, her fingers tangling in my hair, pulling me down harder, deeper.
The sound she makes when I press her down against the cushions is low and needy. I groan into her mouth, my hands sliding up her sides to tuck under her shirt, memorizing the curve of her ribs, and softness of her breasts.
Her body arches into me like she’s starving too.
I pull back just enough to see her lashes flutter, her lips kiss-bruised, her skin flushed. She looks at me like she wants to devour me and run from me all at once.
“Tell me no,” I whisper against her jaw, trailing hot kisses down her neck. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
Her nails bite into my shoulders. “Don’t ever stop.”
Her hands move again to slide under my shirt, her palms burning against my skin. I shudder, growling low in my chest as I strip the fabric off my body and toss it aside. Her eyes roam my chest, hunger sparking bright through the slowly fading hesitation.
I tug at her shirt, fumbling with the buttons, but she beats me to it, ripping it open herself. For one heartbeat, I just stare at the swell of her breasts, at the way her chest rises with every ragged breath she pulls in, at the faint scar between her hips from when Leo was born.
She’s mine, she’s always been mine, and tonight, she finally lets herself be.
“You’re beautiful,” I murmur, lowering my mouth to the hollow of her collarbone.
She shivers, clutching at me with a low moan escaping her.
My fingers trace down her stomach, over the faint scar from Leo’s birth.
My lips follow after it. I slide off the couch and tug her toward me again, half dragging her off of it when I throw her legs over my shoulders.
I stop at her scar to press my lips to it.
She gasps, her hand threading into my hair, pulling tight. “Maksim…”
“This body gave me my son. You think I don’t worship it? Worship you?” I whisper.
Her breath hitches. “Fuck… the way you talk always turns me on.”
I lift my head, meeting her gaze. “Good. Then you know exactly how I feel and what you do to me.”
Her pants go next, peeled off with agonizing slowness as I tease her, leaving her bare under me. I hold her thighs apart. When my tongue slides over her dripping sex, she breaks.
Her hips buck, a strangled moan spilling from her lips as I taste her. I keep her in a tight hold as I circle her clit, teasing the sensitive bud, then pressing my tongue flat against it until her back bows off the couch. Every sound she makes coils tighter in my gut.
Her fingers clutch my hair, tugging, urging me faster. I give her what she wants, relentless now when my tongue plunges into her over and over again until she’s panting my name. When she comes, she chokes on my name again.
I crawl back over her body, kissing her hard, making her taste herself on my tongue. She whimpers, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“I need you… please,” she begs.
I don’t make her ask twice.
I free myself from my clothes and guide my cock to her entrance. I push inside, inch by inch, until her walls are fully wrapped around me. We both groan as soon as I’m settled. She grips me like she never wants to let me go.
“Fuck,” I whisper against her ear. “You feel like home.”
She clings to me again, arms locked around my shoulders, her legs tightening around my waist and urging me deeper.
I thrust slow at first, savoring the stretch of her opening up to me, the way her breath catches with every movement.
But when she bites my neck, hard enough to leave a mark, I lose control.
I pound into her, hard and fast. She cries out, nails raking down my back, her voice breaking on my name as it spills out of her mouth like a prayer. I kiss her through it, swallowing her moans.
Her walls flutter around me, tightening, pulling me closer to the edge.
“Say it,” I growl. “Say you’re mine.”
I thrust harder, hitting that spot that makes her scream and gives in.
“I’m yours, Maksim… I’m yours!” she cries.
That does it.
I explode inside her, groaning her name and spilling deep, holding her tight as if I can anchor her to me forever. She comes again, clenching around me, trembling in my arms.
When it’s over, we collapse together onto the couch, panting and sweat-slicked. I press kisses into her hair, down her temple, over her cheek. I can’t stop even if I wanted to.
“I meant what I said,” I murmur, my hand rubbing slow circles on her back. “You’ll be the safest woman in all of Russia. You and Leo. No one will ever touch you again.”
She doesn’t answer right away. Her face is buried in my chest, her body still trembling. Finally, her voice drifts up from the junction of my shoulder.
“Then take me home.”