“Want inside you.”
She sighed but kept up the tugging on my dick. “I have my period.”
“Don’t care. Get naked.”
She sat back, eyes wide. “You still want—”
I scooped her up so quickly she squealed. Blade lifted his head from his bed but grunted and closed his eyes. The dog had gotten used to me manhandling his human—I did it a lot because we both liked it.
I brought her to the master bathroom and set her down in front of the shower’s entrance. I had one of those showers where three walls were tiled and the opening on the fourth was far enough away from the showerheads to not need a door. Ida Jane called it luxe, but I called it easier to clean.
“Get naked and do what you need to do so I can fuck you, Ida Jane Dolov.”
She stripped off her shirt, as I turned on the water.
Twenty minutes later, we were boneless and clean.
“I like celebrating things with you,” I mumbled into her wet hair.
She turned in my arms, set down her hairbrush, and hugged me tightly. “I like it, too.”
“Have you talked to Millie?” I asked. I’d asked her often, but she always shook her head and worry seeped into her expression.
“Not since she told me she was heading to the hospital last week. If she really has that local fever…” She raised her eyebrows, knowing I knew the name.
“Dengue.”
“If she had that, she should be better by now, right?”
“The website said up to seven days.”
“It’s been six,” she said.
“So, call her again.” I fiddled with my towel, unsure if I should mention that Stol had been texting Millie, too. And she wasn’t answering him, either.
Chapter18
Ida Jane
Itried calling but didn’t manage to get in touch with Millie—again. Worry built each time I thought of my friend, but I couldn’t make her answer my messages.
I just had to hope she was well enough to do so soon. I closed my laptop and lay back, staring up at the ceiling.
“How would you feel about having your brother’s football team come to a game?” Maxim said as he stepped out of the closet. I knew what he was doing in there: looking at the dress I’d just bought for a gala benefiting local children’s charities we were supposed to attend in a couple of weeks. Maxim didn’t like surprises, even in the form of dresses, probably because of his sister. And I wouldn’t make the situation more difficult by scolding him for looking. He had every right to look and be settled and happy in our relationship.
“My brother? You mean Amos?” I settled on my side and peered at him.
“Yeah. He texted me, said a bunch of his buddies would like to come down for the game tomorrow night—are you good with that?”
“Um, sure, if you are.” I nibbled my lip. “Does that mean they’ll stay with us?”
Maxim settled his hip next to my belly and brushed my hair off my neck so he could kiss the spot. “I asked him that, and he said yeah. There are four of them. Sound okay?”
How could I not love this man? He was so generous with my family, always giving. I touched his cheek as tenderness welled inside me.
“I’d like that. You’re making memories with my family.”
His grin took my breath away, just as it always did. I needed to do something for Maxim. Something special that no one else could. For now, I fell into his kiss as his lips settled over mine.
