Page 198 of Lovely Venom

“Good morning.” I lean into him with a happy little sigh as I study our daughter’s face. “Did you ever think we could create something so perfect?”

“Yes,” he answers without question. “Because she looks just like you.”

I turn in his arms, melting as he picks me up and carries me back to our room. It isn’t long before I feel his erection pressing against my belly as his hands start to wander.

“Sore?” he murmurs the words against my lips, reminding me of all the filthy things he did to me last night.

While he might treat me like a princess most of the time—I still love it when he doesn’t. And last night, he was far from a gentleman when I brought him a drink in his office, and he bent me over the desk and fucked me hard.

It took a while for us to get back to our usual routine, but now that we have, I can’t stop craving those stolen moments with him.

“We have guests coming in a couple hours.” I slip my hand beneath the waistband of his sweatpants and stroke his cock.

He winds my hair around his fist and angles my head back as he pushes his fingers between my thighs.

“No underwear, Mrs. Vitale?”

I bite my lip and smile. “Are you complaining?”

“Someone woke up and decided to be a brat this morning.” Amusement flashes in his eyes.

“Mmmhmm. And your point is?”

“You know what happens when you get mouthy.”

“Not really.” I shrug. “Must not have been that memorable.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to remind you.”

He flips me over on the bed, smacks me on the ass, and reminds me thoroughly—fucking me until I can no longer form a coherent sentence.

We collapse in the aftermath, and my head lolls to the side as my gaze wanders over his handsome face.

I love him when he’s like this. But I also love him when he takes care of me, or when he slows things down and spends hours reminding me who I belong to.

I just…love him.

When my brain finally comes back online, I tell him so, and he kisses me while he hauls me into the shower.

He takes his time with me in there, until eventually, we hear the baby starting to wake on the monitor.

Cristian leaves me to get ready while he dresses Thalia in the outfit I picked for the day. It’s the fourth of July weekend, otherwise known as Rafe-the-Pyro’s favorite holiday, and we’re having a barbecue before he puts on a fireworks show.

When we emerge from our wing and join the family in the courtyard, all our guests have already arrived. It’s a strange mishmash that I never would have expected a year ago, but I couldn’t be happier that these parts of my life have collided.

Jackson and Kenzie are both here, along with Andreas—who, oddly enough, has formed a quiet bromance with Cristian. Neither of them will ever admit it, but they have such similar personalities, and they found common ground as they spent more time together. I think Cristian also developed a sense of gratitude toward him once he learned that Andreas saved me from Damian.

Now, I often find them talking over whiskey and Andreas’s budding interest in astronomy.

Kenzie and I share a secret smile whenever we see them together, and they’ve been here more frequently now that she’s pregnant. Andreas helped Cristian assemble the furniture in the nursery, and I suspect it was in preparation for his own plans of fatherhood, but I’m just happy it all worked out.

Jackson, of course, is still Jackson, always a little extra, and we love him for it. Once it was safe to go back to the city, Cristian and I did pay a visit to Black Velvet so I could give the other dancers a proper goodbye. It was emotional closing that chapter of my life, but I have no regrets, because I love this chapter the most.

Before Thalia was born, Cristian came home one day, handed me a set of keys, and told me they were for my new dance studio in the city, whenever I was ready.

My priority right now is Thalia, but in my downtime, I’ve been planning for the spring opening. I want to do pre and postnatal classes to help women prepare for birth and recover in an environment that connects them with other mothers. I also have plans for a mommy and me jazz class, and of course, burlesque.

I’m looking forward to it, but for now, I’m also content to enjoy this transitional time in my life. Because it’s the moments like today that matter the most, when we’re surrounded by all the people we love.