“I was simply asking your lovely wife about children,” Doris said as she took her seat at the table.
Vincent choked on his pie, and Billy leaned over, giving him a helpful whack on the back. “Mother, come on.”
“No, it’s fine,” Natalie told him with a wink. “Apparently, your mother had a dream.”
“A dream? How much were you drinking before this dream?”
“Oh, you hush,” she teased and flung a dollop of whipped cream at him. Vincent hadn’t seen his mom this happy since his dad died. As much as he hated to admit it, he probably had Todd to thank for that. “I had a dream of my three grandchildren running around me. It was a wondrous sight, absolutely wondrous.”
“Three, huh? Boys? Girls? Give me a little something to go on,” Vincent murmured.
“She said they were triplets,” Natalie supplied, and Vincent had to chug water to get the food to go down his gullet.
“Triplets?” he gasped.
“Yes, and they were all girls. Fancy that,” Doris mused as she forked a piece of pie into her mouth. “Oh, come now, Vinnie, you could handle it. I have faith in you.”
“That makes one of us.”
“Two,” Natalie chimed in. “You’d be fine. Maybe deranged by the end of it, but you’d make it out in one piece.”
He hugged her close, and she leaned down to kiss him. “I’m glad to hear you think so.’’
He wanted to kiss her longer. She tasted of cherries and whipped cream and smelled like the coffee she just brewed, but he released her lips reluctantly and sighed.
“Natalie, I can’t help but notice the bit of tattoo on your arms,” Doris said lightly, and Vincent froze, ready to jump in and defend his wife if need be. “Can I ask what it is?”
“Of course. It’s a phoenix. I’m sure you all know about the car accident I was in.”
Everyone bobbed their heads around the table. Vincent didn’t want her to talk about it if she wasn’t up for it, but could only offer his comfort by wrapping his other arm around her and holding her close.
“I was burned pretty badly in the crash and thought it fitting to cover up the scars with a tattoo of a phoenix.”
“How fitting indeed,” Doris said admiringly and smiled. “Rising from the ashes.”
Natalie leaned back into Vincent’s arms. “That’s what I thought back then, but it wasn’t until I met Vincent that I really felt like I survived that accident.”
His heart swelling with love, he planted a kiss against her neck, whispering in her ear, “You have no idea how alive you make me feel, too.”
She settled even more into his arms, and Vincent swallowed the words to kick their guests out of the house. Billy finished his pie and drained his coffee before he stood, patting his stomach.
“All right, if I sit here any longer, I’ll fall asleep. Doris, Todd, can I walk you out?”
Todd appeared disappointed, but Doris patted his hand. “Come along, dear. Natalie, that is one of the best steak dinners I have had in a very long time. We would love to do this again.”
“Of course, Doris, anytime.” She pushed herself out of Vincent’s lap to walk everyone out.
When Billy passed Vincent, he reached out and squeezed his friend’s arm. “Thanks,” he whispered.
Billy winked, patting him on the shoulder. “I can tell when I’m not wanted. Besides, the tension between you two is so thick I could’ve forked it.” He bent over and added, “Go get her, tiger.” He grinned all the way to the front door.
Vincent cleared the dishes from the kitchen table and waited impatiently for Natalie to close the front door. He met her at the bottom of the steps as she locked the front door and sagged against it.
“Well, that went well,” she mused, kicking out of her heels.
Words failed Vincent as he gawked openly at her curves outlined in the tight black dress. He held out his hand for her, and she sauntered towards him. The moment her fingers touched his, he grinned wickedly and picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder as she squealed with laughter.
“I can walk, you know,” she said.
He gave her ass a squeeze, and she gasped, wiggling on his shoulder. “You looked exhausted after making such a perfect dinner. How could I let my tired wife walk?”
Once he was at the top, he set her back on her feet outside her bedroom door. His fingers lingered along her cheekbone before gliding along her jaw, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her lips. Her normally light blue eyes darkened with desire. Her mouth opened, and she nipped his thumb. Was she ready for this, to have him in her bed? He didn’t want to push, and he wasn’t sure how to ask if he could join her in bed. Both options sounded terrible, so he remained silent and waited.
Natalie stepped away from him, and he prepared to suck up his disappointment when she reached out and yanked on his shirt, dragging him into the room with her. There were no words. Her arms snaked up around his neck, drawing him down for a kiss. Vincent returned it in kind, picked her up, and carried her farther into the room. He kicked out of his shoes as she fumbled with his shirt. Her fingers tore at the buttons as his mouth devoured hers, wanting to feel every inch she had to offer him. Their tongues warred for dominance of the kiss when his shirt finally came free and he threw it out of the way. Her nails raked down his back, and he wanted to feel her. He searched in vain for a zipper, and when he failed to find it fast enough, he knelt and gripped the slits of her dress. She stared down at him, confused until he tugged hard and the fabric ripped up to her hip.
Her eyes narrowed, and the hunger burning in those depths told him this night was only beginning.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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