I’m already close, my stomach tightening, sweat slicking my skin, my toes curling, when one of Evgeny’s hands finds my swollen clit and begins to stroke it.
It takes only seconds before I explode and arch back, screaming his name as my world whites out.
Still shaking, jerking, I ride Evgeny for all I’m worth until he bellows as he finishes, the sound ripped from his very core, his hands clutching my hips as he jerks inside me.
We don’t say anything as we clean ourselves off and seek each other under the covers, Evgeny’s arm winding around me and our children as we drift off to sleep.
33
EVA
Three weeks. Three weeks with a ring on my finger. Three weeks since Evgeny and I became a family, with babies on the way. Three weeks since he promised to care for me for as long as I would have him, to love me, to be my partner in life and love, words he keeps repeating.
As I look out one of the library windows at the stormy Pacific, one of the twins kicks. It happens far more often now. Evgeny can’t feel them yet, but he’s gone to every doctor’s appointment with me. He saw the ultrasound, heard the heartbeats, and I teared up at the look of wonder on his face. I could’ve sworn I saw a glimmer in his eyes, but it had to be the screen’s reflection or the room’s dimness. Evgeny Kucherov does not cry.
Except maybe when he sees his children for the first time.
“Eva.”
Lost in my head, I don’t hear the library door open. When I look up, Vasya stands in the doorway, and I jolt.
“Vasya?”
I haven’t seen him in weeks, which is odd, but I don’t pretend to know what Evgeny has him doing. I know better than to ask.
As I start to stand, his gaze drops to my belly. He goes still for a moment, then hurries toward me, waving off my attempt to get up.
“Don’t you dare get up just for me.” He flashes me one of his grins as I settle back, and I can’t help but smile back.
“Hey, don’t get all mother hen on me, too. I’m not that big. I can still move just fine.”Mostly. “Evgeny is bad enough.”
Vasya’s smile slips for a moment into something that sends an alarm spiking up my spine. But the grin is back a second later in all its mischievous glory.
He sinks onto the arm of the chair catty-corner to mine. “You doing okay? I heard you were in a car accident.”
“I’m fine.” I wave my left arm. “This shoulder is almost fully healed, and the doctor said I could take off my sling last week, as long as I’m careful with it. And I just have this scar now.”
I brush back my hair with my left hand, showing him the thin silver line across my forehead, the edges still tinged purple and red.
He draws a breath to say something, then freezes, his gaze locked on my hand. I follow it and realize he’s looking at my wedding ring.
“Oh.” I flush and shrug, a small smile I can’t hold back. “Yeah. Didn’t Evgeny tell you?”
Vasya swallows and licks his lips. “No.He didn’t.”
His voice is flat, his eyes the same, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. I meet his gaze. “Where have you been?”
He shrugs, stiff, before he answers. “Oh, here and there. Always keeping busy. Ev sent me to get you, by the way.”
“Oh, yeah?”
His blue eyes find mine, and something off in them sends another shiver down my spine.
“Yeah, he wants me to bring you to him for lunch.”
Something is wrong. I don’t know how or why I know, but I do. My stomach flips, and my heart starts hammering. I know Evgeny didn’t send him, since he’s tied up in corporate meetings all day, and I’m under strict orders to rest.
“Okay, yeah. That’ll be nice.” I give Vasya a bright smile, hoping it looks real, or at least real enough, and push myself to my feet. “Let me get changed, and we can get going. I’ll be right back.”
