Page 45 of Her Righteous Protector

“Zephyr is my priority. He’s our priority. I’m staying.”

She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh my God, Max. Do you mean it?” Her beautiful green eyes beamed up at him.

Her eyes shimmered, her lips were wet with her tears.

“Yes,” he said hoarsely.

“Max,” his name was a mere whisper, and he was lost.

He bent his head and brushed his lips against hers, testing, tasting.

Hannah parted her mouth hungrily, her fingers speared into his hair, her fingernails scoring his scalp. He feathered his tongue along Hannah’s lips, but she was having none of it. She suckled him deeper and an overwhelming need roared through him in response.

Max did what he’d been wanting to do for two days. He played with her thick, silky hair, then pulled it back so he could kiss her deeper as his other arm pulled her closer. She was warmth and beauty in his arms—not just physical, but so much more. She yanked away from him and a sense of pain began to form when he too heard small feet stamping down the stairs and Max smiled.

* * *

Max finished heating up the dinosaur pasta while Hannah freshened up. He and Hannah had talked about how to broach the ‘daddy’ talk with Zephyr, and it sounded good, so she was going to take the lead.

“Max, is it done yet?”

“Yep.”

The microwave dinged, letting him know that last night’s eggplant parmigiana was also done. Max got everything dished up and on the table by the time Hannah was back to get the drinks. He settled down at the table and picked at his food as he watched Zephyr plow through his SpaghettiOs.

“Can we play t-ball before it gets dark?” he asked, looking between the two of them.

“Sure,” Hannah answered, “but first, Max and I want to talk to you about something.”

Zephyr cocked his head. “About what?”

“Do you remember asking why you didn’t have a dad like some of your other friends at pre-school?” Hannah asked him.

“No.”

“It was after they had field day and there were all of the father-son games, remember?”

Zephyr frowned. “I don’t remember.”

Hannah gave Max a helpless glance.

Max got up from his seat at the dining room table and crouched down beside Zephyr so that they were eye to eye. He lightly rested his hand on the little boy’s shoulder. “Do you know why your mom named you Zephyr Maxwell?” Max asked quietly.

The little boy shook his head, his eyes wide.

“It’s because she named you after me. I’m your dad, Zephyr.”

“Really?” the boy whispered his question.

Max felt the burn of tears and he forced them back, not wanting Zeph to think this was a bad thing. “Being your daddy is the best thing in my life. I am so glad I finally found you. I love you so much.”

Zephyr looked over at Hannah for confirmation and Max saw her nod. His eyes got even wider as he looked back at Max.

“How’d you get lost?”

“I was far away in Virginia,” Max explained. “Your mommy and I couldn’t find one another, but when she died she made sure that I could find you.”

Zephyr’s face crumpled and he turned back to look at Hannah. “I don’t want Mommy died.”