Her eyes fluttered open. “Max?”
“I love you.”
“I know you do, darling.” She had started calling him ‘darling,’ and he found he could not get enough of that, either. “I love youtoo.” Her eyes drifted back closed as he began massaging the muscles in her calves. “Especially when you do that.”
“You’re tense.”
“You’re worrying again.” She reached a wet hand out to slap his arm playfully. “Stop that. I’m no more tense than I was before.”
Before,he hadn’t paid as much attention to her physical state, except in a large carnal way, so he merely grunted and kept massaging. Up her calves to her thighs, and then he moved to her shoulders. Her breasts bobbed in the water, and he couldn’t resist sliding his hands down to them.
“Stop that,” Thalia said lazily, “or I shall demand you join me in here.”
“This is meant to be about you,” he said.
“Mm, and I’m saying for you to come here.” She reached for him again, arching her back in her attempt to find him, and he finally gave into the inevitable, tossing aside his clothes as he climbed into the tub with her.
There wasn’t much room, even less now than there used to be—but they had been in this position plenty of times before, and he knew exactly how she liked it. The water sloshed around them as she braced her knees against him and placed his cock at her entrance.
Ever since getting pregnant, she had become insatiable. Thalia was always ready, even without him preparing her, and this was no exception; he slid inside immediately. They both groaned, hissing out twin breaths of relief.
“I needed this,” she told him, rolling her hips.
He ran his hands across her stomach, tracing the fullness, the hardness, and then her breasts again. Her nipples were more sensitive than ever, and he flicked them lightly.
Yes, this was what he needed.
“We don’t have long,” he said.
She laughed, wrapping her hands around the edge of the bath. “I won’t need long.”
He kissed her, letting the warm water sink around them. “Neither will I.”
Later, impeccably dressed, Thalia descended the stairs on Maxwell’s arm to greet their guests. Lord Tenby, the love of Lydia’s life, was due to arrive soon. But first, Lydia burst into the house, Simon and Anna trailing in her wake.
The moment she saw her mother, she stopped and stood stock still. Simon and Anna took themselves elsewhere.
“Mama,” she said blankly. “What are you doing here?”
“We invited her,” Thalia said, stepping forward when she saw that Maxwell was unwilling to say anything. “We thought it was only right your mother should be here for your engagement dinner.”
Lydia pressed her hand to her stomach. “I thought you were feuding.”
“Some feuds have to come to an end,” Thalia said. “I thought it would be a nice surprise.”
Joyce stepped forward, uncertainly, and held out her arms. “My darling. I’m so sorry.”
A sob burst from Lydia’s lips, and she ran into her mother’s arms, holding her tightly. Thalia took Maxwell’s arm and followed their friends into the drawing room, letting the mother-daughter reunion play out as it would in the hallway.
“Do you think we did the right thing?” Thalia asked.
“Yes.” Maxwell, so ordinarily against anything to do with Joyce, smiled slightly. Lydia’s joy must have affected him more than Thalia had realized. “I think we did.”
Thalia leaned her head against his shoulder. The world was all falling into place.
To her surprise, she found Elliot waiting for her in the drawing room. He stood when he saw her, leaning down to kiss her cheek. Maxwell squeezed her arm and left her to speak with Simon.
“I haven’t seen you in some time,” she said. “How are you?”
