Page 116 of Maximus

“Sure. Did you have a good time?” I asked even though I knew he did.

Since we’d gotten home from Alaska, the vibe in the house had shifted. Eva had changed, she relaxed, the tension she’d carried had diminished, and because of that, the boys had changed, too. All of us had fallen into an easy routine, but what was most noticeable was Elijah had come out of his shell. He talked all the time. Liam was still watchful, but I figured the trauma the kid had endured would take longer than a week to dissipate.

“Yeah, I like seeing Mom smile,” Liam told me.

Christ. Some of the things the kid said undid me.

Always looking out for his mom and brother.

I was torn between wishing Liam was a regular kid thinking about what video games were coming out and proud as hell that at six he understood what it meant to look after those he loved.

The next thirty minutes went by in silence. Liam and Eli’s attention on the TV and my mind filled with Tex’s call.

His team had tracked Joshua Lemont—the second man Kenneth had contracted to kill Eva, and it had taken them less than an hour to get him to talk. The Eklunds were well and truly fucked. I wasn’t sure if Bubba would be relieved the ordeal was over, or if the news his father’s longtime friend and attorney was a dirty asshole would be another hit in a long line of shitty events. Either way, he had Zoey, and I was fast learning with the right woman by your side, there wasn’t anything you couldn’t survive.

I heard Eva’s footsteps and I craned my neck to watch her walk into the room. She stopped near the couch and took the three of us in with a megawatt smile that stole my breath.

Damn, she was stunning. There was nothing average about her, and looking back to the first day I saw her walking out of the grocery store, I can’t for the life of me remember why I’d thought that.

She’d pulled her hair up into a ponytail which gave me a clear and unobstructed view of her slender neck. The sight of it never failed to conjure up memories of the sounds she made when I kissed the sensitive skin there. Eva didn’t have a “spot” or even a few of them that turned her on. It didn’t matter where I touched or licked or nibbled, her body responded in a way that had me harder than I’d ever been in my life. Everything about her was perfect.

“Why are you smilin’?”

“Just looking at my guys.”

My gaze slid from her so I could take in what she saw. Elijah had fitted himself to my side, his little boy body pressed against mine, Liam had scooted closer to his brother. The three of us only took up half the couch instead of sprawling out, which there was plenty of room to do.

This was what I’d been missing all my life.

Hell, I hadn’t even known I was missing it all those years because I hadn’t known it existed.

Until Eva and the boys.

“Bedtime when this is over,” she told her sons.

“Okay, Mom,” Liam muttered.

I turned back to Eva, happy to see all earlier traces of worry were now gone.

No anxiety, stress, apprehension.

The longer I studied her, the more realization dawned—this was us.

This would be our life. Lazy Saturday afternoons hanging with our friends, the boys running around out back, lounging on the couch doing nothing but enjoying each other’s company.

Fuck yeah.

This was the very definition of nirvana.

* * *

“The boys go down okay?” I asked when Eva closed the bedroom door behind her.

“Yeah.”

I watched her walk toward the bed and tamped down my desire to demand she strip naked before she joined me under the covers. Yet, I held my tongue—we had things to talk about and if she got into bed undressed, there would be no talking.

The determination and resolve that had served me well over the years was nonexistent when it came to Eva. The slightest press of her silky skin against me would chuck all of my good intentions out the window and I’d have her on her back, my cock buried deep, and her moaning in two-point-five seconds.