“For now.”
“For as long as I want.”
I smile. “Cocky.”
“Realistic.” His thumb drags along my jaw. “There won’t be anyone else, Ayla.”
That does something dangerous and warm to my insides.
“And if I ever decide I need an heir,” he says, voice low, steady, inevitable, “it’ll be you giving it to me.”
I grin. “Oh hell no. I—”
He cuts me off by hauling me closer and kissing me hard enough to steal the rest of it from my mouth.
I laugh against his lips before he swallows the sound, one hand fisting my hair, the other still spread hot over my thigh like he can’t decide whether to punish me or keep me there.
Probably both.
When he finally pulls back, his mouth brushes mine once, twice, rougher than tender but close enough to count.
“Yes, you will,” he says.
I tilt my head. “Will I?”
His gaze locks on mine, dark and absolute. “Yes. Because you’ll want to.”
That makes me shiver.
So I do the only thing I can.
I smile, slow and sharp. “Doubtful.”
His phone starts vibrating in his pocket. The change in him is instant.
His arm tightens once around me before he reaches for it, already irritated, already gone colder at the edges. I catch the name on the screen just before he answers.
Vaska.
Maksim presses the phone to his ear. “What.”
I can only hear the low murmur of Vaska’s voice on the other end, but whatever he says drains the last of the heat out of the room.
Maksim’s hand leaves my thigh.
“When?” he snaps.
Another pause.
His jaw hardens. “Who knows?”
I go still in his lap.
He listens, eyes turning flatter with every second, something dark and controlled settling over his face.
“Fine,” he says at last. “Don’t do anything until I get there.”
A beat. “No. We set it up now.”
