I pout. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t.”
No. I really don’t.
He crawls up my body, all lean muscle and warm skin, and kisses me deeply enough that I taste myself on his lips.
My fingers find his hair and grip.
“We should talk about the board meeting,” I murmur against his mouth.
“Fuck the board meeting.”
“And Tatiana’s announcement. She’s going to kill me if I haven’t planned a properreaction.”
“Fuck her. And fuck you.”
“Oh yes, fuck me,” I moan, finally giving up.
But then an urgent thought cuts through the pleasure.
“We should probably discuss the whole...” I trail off. We’ve been dancing around this for weeks. The trying-for-a-baby conversation that somehow feels bigger than marriage, bigger than building a foundation, bigger than everything.
He pulls back to look at me. Those dark eyes that used to be weapons are now something gentler.
“You’re nervous,” he says.
“I’m not nervous. I’m... cautiously contemplative.”
“You’re nervous.”
Damn him for knowing me so well.
“Maybe a little nervous. It’s just... big. You know? Like, we can barely keep plants alive and now we’re talking about an actual human person.”
He shrugs. “The plants are thriving. Thessaly waters them.”
“That’s my point! What if our hypothetical baby needs a Thessaly? What if I’m terrible at it? What if I turn into my mother? What if you turn into your father?” I’m rambling now, anxiety bubbling up through the domestic bliss like it always does.
What if I’m not enough?
Nico cups my face in his hands. “Bree.”
“What?”
“Shut up.” And he kisses me again, slower this time, like he’s trying to transfer confidence through his lips. When he pulls back, his thumb traces my cheekbone.
“We’ll figure it out,” he says. “Like we figured out everything else.”
“By nearly destroying each other first?”
He presses his lips together dismissively. “If necessary.”
I laugh despite myself. “That’s not reassuring.”
“You want reassuring, talk to Thessaly. You want honest, you’ve got me.” He reaches over to the nightstand on his side. Opens the drawer. Pulls out the small purple vibrator we’d purchased together a few months back during a spontaneous trip to the sex shop. His eyebrow arches. “Now. Do you want to keep worrying, or do you want to play?”
Heat rushes to my cheeks.
