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"It smells amazing," she murmurs, her warm breath ghosting over my collarbone, sending a jolt of heat straight to my groin. "What are you making?"

"Penne all'arrabbiata," I whisper, setting the spoon on the ceramic rest. "With extra crushed chilies. Just the way my fiery little wife likes it."

I don't let her step away.

I turn slightly, hooking my left arm around her waist, hauling her small body flush against my back until her front is pressed flat against my bare spine. Then, I pull her around until she is tucked in front of me, caged between my hard chest and the warm counter of the stove.

I slide both of my large, calloused hands down over the black linen of my shirt, resting my palms flat over her stomach.

Her belly is completely flat right now. Soft, warm, and smooth beneath the cotton.

My fingers splay wide across her lower abdomen, my thumbs meeting right beneath her navel.

I pick up the wooden spoon again with my right hand, giving the sauce another slow, gentle stir, while my hips begin to sway in time with the slow music playing on the record player.

Iris lets out a soft sigh, resting the back of her head against my chest, her red curls tickling my chin. She doesn't fight the movement. She lets her hips sway with mine, her small hands coming down to cover mine where they rest over her stomach.

I close my eyes, burying my face into the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of her skin.

Every muscle in my body relaxes, but my mind races into the future.

I can picture it so clearly.

I picture her standing right here in this kitchen six months from now, a year from now, her belly rounded and heavy with my child. I imagine my hands resting on skin stretched taut, feeling the sharp, miraculous kick of our baby moving beneath my palms. I picture her walking barefoot across these tiles with her stomach full of my bloodline, complaining that her back aches and her feet are swollen, while I drop to my knees to worship every single inch of her changing body.

A son with her fierce green eyes and stubborn spirit.

A daughter with her wild red hair and unbreakable pride.

The thought of breeding her, of planting my seed so deep inside her sweet pussy that she swells with my legacy, makes a possessive, territorial ache roar through my veins. She is Danny O'Connor's daughter, but she is my Donna. She is the mother of the future Messina empire, and I will tear down the sky before I let a single soul threaten the home we are building.

"Romeo?" Iris whispers, her voice soft, breaking through my reverie.

Her fingers lace through mine, where they rest on her belly.

"Hmm?" I murmur against her ear, swaying her gently back and forth to the music, the sauce simmering quietly before us.

"Your heart is beating like crazy," she says, tilting her head back to look up toward my face, her blind eyes soft with curiosity. "What are you thinking about?"

I press a lingering, reverent kiss to the silver scar running from her temple across the bridge of her nose. My hands squeeze her stomach gently, pulling her even tighter against my groin, letting her feel the heavy, rigid length of my cock pressing hard against the small of her back.

"I'm thinking about what you will look like when you carry my child, Iris," I confess, my voice thick and raw with unhidden desire.

Her breath catches in her throat. Her fingers tighten around mine, her chest rising in a sharp gasp.

"You want a baby?" she asks in a breathless whisper.

"I want a family with you," I growl softly, my lips moving against her jawline. "I want to see your belly grow round with my child. I want to wake up every morning with my hand over your stomach, feeling our baby move while you sleep safely in my arms. I want to fill this villa with children who have your laugh and your fire."

A flush of deep pink climbs over her cheeks, blooming down her neck onto her chest.

She doesn't pull away. She leans back harder into my chest, her thumb stroking the heavy platinum band on my finger.

"You're going to spoil them rotten, aren't you?" she murmurs, a small, beautiful smile curving her lips. "You already spoil me and Sofia like a lunatic."

"I will give you the entire world, Iris," I promise, turning the burner down to a gentle simmer.

I set the wooden spoon down, turn off the stove, and wrap both of my arms completely around her, lifting her bare feet off the tiles until her toes hover in the air.