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She licks her lips and sighs happily, which makes me ridiculously happy. "Possessive. You really know how to turn a woman on."
She lifts her wet hair off her shoulder, then looks towards the door.
"We should probably get out there, though and devour that lunch. I'm hungry. Someone drained me."
She takes a step away, but I shoot my hand out. "Do not go anywhere without Romero. Or the phone. That's a command, Mel."
"A command?"
"Will it sound any better now if I say 'please'?"
"Xander. I understand. I'll try my best. I don't want to worry you unnecessarily. But sometimes, it gets tiring."
I understand. But I was worried about her. Daniel had been right even before we'd gotten here.
She's my weakness.
Like dessert I couldn't stop gorging myself on. Didn't even want to stop at this point.
Which means I need to keep her safe. The war is on the horizon, and I haven't forgotten how it was when she'd left me the first time, either. I could feel it hurtling towards us again.
"I'll be gone very often in the next few weeks. I'll need more than your best."
Her eyes darken, and she stares at me for a long moment. "Fine. I'll always keep him with me." She leans on me and plants a soft kiss on my lips. "Now let's go. Your son is waiting, and I'm certain my sister's just about ready to break down this door."
We find Gianna and Lucian in the kitchen, already halfway through the lunch I'd brought back. Lucian lifts his head, and for the first time, he runs straight into my arms. I lift him and swing him into the air, and walk with him towards the table.
Gianna watches suspiciously, like she's not certain what's taken over me. "It's nice to see you," I say as I pass her on the way to the fridge to get myself a bottle of water.
"I'd say the same thing, but it really ain't Xander Amory."
"I'm Lucian Sedric Amory," Lucian announces into the gap before I can find a suitably good comeback for Gianna, which has me lifting my eyes to Mel's.
She smiles slowly, the smile spreading over her face like fire in a range. Which in turn burns inside me a heat that I do not want to extinguish. And just like that, I know I'm at risk of falling for her all over again.
Fuck.
"That you are my boy. How about we watch some TV together, buddy?" I ask, pressing a kiss to the side of his head when he agrees with a very exuberant nod.
Hand in hand we walk to the living room and settle onto the couch. “So what's your favorite show, bud? Who is your favorite character?"
His eyes light up and he yells “Orf Orf Officers! I want to be just like Ripper the German Shepard! He’s a police and he makes sure everyone stays safe,” he proclaims proudly.
I have no idea what this show is. I do not make it my business to know children’s television, but I suppose I will now.
I ruffle his hair and chuckle. “Maybe someday you’ll be a hero like Ripper." I make a mental note to find this… Orf Orf Officers and figure out what it is. If my son likes it, then so shall I.
With Lucian engrossed in his beloved show, I wonder if I’d ever seen this future for myself. Even with Mel, I never pictured playful nights on the couch, seeing the world anew through a child’s eyes.
Yet with Lucian by my side, the future seems brighter, open even for a dark world like mine. I could get used to this, the two of us laughing and learning together.
A boy like Lucian who looks so like me I see a reflection of myself staring at me every day now in his gaze.
I don't understand how I've slipped so perfectly into this. When my phone rings five minutes later, and I find Ryder's name flashing on the screen, I know reality is about to intrude heavily. I leave Lucian on the couch and walk to my study.
"You're sliding." Are the first words out of his mouth. "And the men will notice."
"Am I now?"
