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“Well, Maks isyourdad. And if it’s alright with you, he would like to start spending time with us. What do you say?”
Sarah’s eyes grow round before her brows crumple in confusion, and she looks at Maks once more. “Dad?” she says, trying out the word.
The utter vulnerability that transforms Maks’s face is devastatingly beautiful. I can see the deep emotion in his eyes, and I know that even though he couldn’t be there in the hospital on the day Sarah was born, he’s experiencing that same earth-shattering experience now. That feeling like the entire gravity of the planet has suddenly shifted to revolve around one single, tiny human being.
“Yeah, that’s me,” he agrees, his voice rasping adorably, and he clears his throat, sniffing to pull himself together.
Tentatively, as if unsure whether it’s allowed, Sarah releases my hands to step closer to her father. Then she commits, taking two toddling steps before she wraps her arms around his neck in a fierce hug.
Maks freezes, his body tensing with the shock of her affectionate display. Then all at once, he relaxes, his big arms wrapping around her tiny frame with a delicate tenderness that puts a lump in my throat. Holding Sarah close, his palm nearly covering the expanse of her tiny back, Maks meets my eye, and I can see the unconditional love there, the devotion that goes beyond words.
How I ever could have doubted that he could love our daughter, I don’t know. But it’s clear to me now that Sarah’s life is about to get so much richer for having her father in her life.
When she finally releases him, Sarah steps back into my arms with a shy smile.
“Shall we go home?” I offer, giving her a tight squeeze from behind.
She just nods and turns to let me lift her back into my arms.
Maks and I agree that the best place for Sarah tonight is going to be in her own home, where she’ll feel safest, surrounded by the people who love her most.
Zoe’s there when we arrive, in a full-on panic as she bellows into the phone at the police about the ludicrousness of waiting twenty-four hours to file a missing persons report. As soon as she sees us, she hangs up without another word before sprinting across the room to give us both a fierce hug.
After telling her the full story of what happened once I got off the phone with her this morning, Zoe astonishes me by not just hugging me and Sarah again but also by throwing her arms around Maks in a fierce embrace.
“Thank you for bringing them home safely,” she says tearfully.
Maks gives her a gentle pat on the back, his expression baffled by her emotional display as he looks at me. I grin, shrugging to indicate he should just accept the fact that he’s proven himself a knight in shining armor today.
“Of course,” he says.
We all sit down for an early dinner together, and afterward, Maks joins me and Sarah for her favorite bedtime story. The poor thing is so tired that we don’t even make it through the children’s picture book before she’s sleeping soundly, tucked between us.
Sneaking quietly from her room without waking her, Maks and I head back to my room down the hall. As I close the door behind us, we’re finally alone, free to talk uninhibited about everything that’s happened.
Maks doesn’t waste a moment, pressing me gently back against the closed door to capture my lips in a fiery kiss. And it feels so good to have him near. I thought I’d lost him. First yesterday, when he walked out the door. Then again today, when he came barging in to rescue me. I’ve never been so scared to lose someone in my life.
It’s heavenly to have my hand resting over his heart as I feel the powerful beats against my palm. “You’re really ready to give love another try?” I breathe when he finally pauses to come up for air.
Maks releases a low, dark chuckle. “I don’t see that I have much of a choice because I’m already in love.”
My heart throbs at the sound of those words, and a slow smile stretches across my face.
“But this time, I promise I will do whatever it takes to keep you and our daughter safe.”
“Aw.” Emotion threatens to choke me once again at his deeply meaningful words.
“What?” he asks, leaning back to meet my eyes.
“You said ‘our daughter’.” I sniffle, then I giggle as Maks gives a soft laugh.
“I like the sound of that,” he agrees as he leans in to kiss me once again.
The electric connection between us starts to build as his tongue traces my lower lip before stroking inside my mouth. His hands explore me gently, careful not to hurt me in any way.
Something about this newfound tenderness makes my heart flutter. I love the rough, passionate way he fucks me, and I adore the slow, intimate sex we had during the night we spent at the spa. But this, without a doubt, is how Maks intends to make love to me for the first time, and it warms my soul, filling me up with the sweetest kind of happiness I’ve ever known.
Slowly, carefully, he undresses me before he scoops me into his arms to carry me to my bed. I watch as he strips his own clothes, his eyes never leaving my face as if he fears I might vanish if he looks away.
