by Kat Mizera
“Dad?” Anton spoke quietly, hands in his pockets.
“Yes?” Toli looked up.
“Why does Grandpa think you’re a terrible hockey player?”
Toli smiled. “Because I’m so much better than he ever was, and he’s envious I made it to the NHL.”
“Shouldn’t he be proud of you?”
“I think he is, it’s just not his way to show it. It’s not the Russian way.”
“You’re Russian, and you don’t treat me like that.”
“I learned the hard way,” Toli said. “I swore to myself I would be a better father than mine was, and of course playing in the States for so long, I met a lot of guys who had great fathers or were great fathers. I wanted to be like them, not like this.”
“You’re not going to move back to Russia, are you?” he whispered quietly. “I mean, if your arm, well…”
“You mean if my shoulder doesn’t heal right and I can’t play hockey anymore?” Toli asked. “No. My home is in the U.S. now. My son and my wife are both American, and regardless of what Tessa’s ex did, it would be complicated to take Raina out of the country, so I’m definitely not moving to Russia.”
“I would miss you a lot if you left again,” he admitted, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Toli felt his heart flutter with joy that his son wouldn’t want him to move far away. “I’m not leaving,” he said firmly. “No matter what happens with my career, I’ll be okay financially and I would consider a coaching or scouting position somewhere in the NHL. I’d like to take a couple of years off, though. Tessa and I are going to have children and—”
“Plural?” Anton asked, frowning. “How many?”
Toli chuckled. “Probably two. We have a boy and a girl separately, and we’d both like at least one more together, but she wants a boy and I want a girl, so…” His voice trailed off.
“So I’m going to have four half-siblings and a step-sibling.”
“Is this bad?” Toli asked.
“I guess not.” Anton sighed. “They’re kind of cute. Most of the time.”
Toli chuckled before reaching into his wallet and bringing out a couple of hundred-dollar bills. “So. How much will it cost me to get a night alone with my wife?”
“What?” Anton shook his head. “You don’t have to pay me to watch Raina.”
“Son.” He raised his eyebrows. “An entire night. Overnight.”
Anton gaped. “Oh my God, so you can have sex?!”
Toli rolled his eyes. “Do you want the money or not? But if you do, this means you can’t doze off with your headphones on. You have to actually be alert in case she wakes up. And you can’t come knocking on the door at 7:00 a.m. when she gets up—you’ll order room service and entertain her until we’re up.”
Anton held out his hand. “Fine. But you guys can’t make noise! You’re right next door!”
Toli laughed. “You can leave the TV on and we’ll turn on some music or something.”
“God, this is gross.”
“Okay, let’s talk again in a year after you’ve had your dick sucked a few times!”
Anton groaned and put his hands over his ears. “Dad!”
“What? You’re not interested in sex? If not, we have bigger problems!”
“I’m interested—I just don’t want to hear you talking about blow jobs!”
“Who better than me?” Toli shrugged. “I’m your father, I’ve experienced them, and I won’t lie to you about it. Would you rather hear about it from someone who’s never done it?”
“Most of my friends have already done it,” he pointed out.
“But not you.” Toli looked at him carefully. “You’re a bright, good-looking kid. What’s the hold up?”
“Some girls can be—” He made a face. “Pushy? Slutty? I mean, I want to, but I don’t want it to be, like, nasty.” He sighed. “It’s hard to explain. The girls in Detroit were really aggressive—and not in a hot way.”
Toli held up his hands. “That’s a perfectly acceptable reason to wait. If these girls are not attractive to you because of their personalities, you wait until you find one who is. Again, I highly recommend older women. Especially in the beginning.”
“Great—thanks, Dad.” Anton rolled his eyes.
They were silent for a few minutes, and Toli glanced at his phone to see if Tessa had texted him the all-clear, but there was nothing yet. Then his phone buzzed and he stood up in relief.
“Hey, Dad?”
“Yeah?” he turned, his hand on the doorknob.
“I don’t care what Grandpa thinks—I think you’re the greatest hockey player ever, except for Wayne Gretzky.”
Toli couldn’t help but smile. “You don’t have to say that.”
“It’s true. When I was younger, and you were on the road for months at a time and couldn’t come see me, I would tape all your games and watch you play over and over. Mom used to threaten to take the videos away from me when I misbehaved—she didn’t have to take away my toys or anything, just the tapes of you.”
Toli moved back towards the bed and sat down next to his son. He wrapped his good arm around him and kissed the side of his face. “I don’t care how old you are, or how much bigger than me you get, you’ll always be my little boy and I love you more than anything in the world.”
“More than Tessa?” he asked in a tiny voice.
“Different than Tessa. She left me once to do what was best for her daughter—not because she didn’t love me but because the love you have for your child is like no other.”
“And what about when you have more?” Anton’s blue eyes were almost sad, and Toli just shook his head.
“You’re still my oldest, my firstborn—my son. Ten more boys won’t change what you are to me. There might be a little less of the attention I give you, because they’ll be small and I don’t want to miss everything like I did with you. Will that be okay? That I try to be a better dad the second time around?”
There was a long silence and then Anton smiled. “Can I be part of that too?”
“You’re going to be on your own by the time Tessa and I have children—I’m positive the last thing you’ll want to do is help me raise your little brothers and sisters—but any time you want to be with us, our home is your home.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too.” Toli ruffled his too-long blond hair and then went back to his wife.
Chapter 6
The big family dinner was chaotic, to say the least. Tessa watched as aunts, uncles and cousins filled the private dining room Anastasia had booked and presented themselves to Toli as if he were royalty. Toli was on edge, which was rare for him, so she stuck close, her hand in his as often as possible. Anastasia’s strange warning had her on edge as well, and she’d opted not to mention it to Toli because he’d already been acting a little weird since they’d arrived in Moscow. She was worried about him, sensing a change she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but with the kids underfoot and how tired they’d been she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about anything.
Tonight was as strange as everything else had been, with a plethora of family members who didn’t seem the least bit interested in Tessa but fawned over Toli until it was almost embarrassing. Even Anton had grown tired of it and wandered off with a group of cousins his age so Tessa was sitting with Raina, trying to keep her occupied. Sergei and Tatiana sat across from them, laughing and at ease, proud to have the family gushing over Nikolai. People made sweet comments about Raina as well, but since most of them were in Russian, Tessa just smiled politely and promised herself she was going to learn the language if it killed her.
“Mama, yuck!” Raina pushed a bowl of okroshka away, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
“I’m sorry, angel.” Tessa took the bowl away from her. “How about some bread with butter?” She reached for a piece and handed it to her, wishing she didn’t have to eat the soup either. Toli told her it was made of sour milk, turnips, carrots and other things that didn
’t sound appealing right now; she would have killed for a steak.
“You and Raina do not seem to be enjoying the meal,” Toli whispered, pushing his own untouched bowl in her direction.
Tessa glanced up at him. “I’ll eat it if you will.”
He grinned, leaning down to press his lips to hers. “Not a chance in hell,” he murmured.
“Does Anton eat this stuff?”
“Not a chance in hell!”
They chuckled together, and she leaned into him, grateful to see him more relaxed now. She slid her hand beneath the table onto his thigh, running it along the hard muscles. She moved towards his crotch, lightly scratching her nails along the fabric. His hand dropped down to cover hers and their eyes met.
“You should be careful how much you tease me,” he said softly. “I’ll take you in the bathroom.”
“That would be quite lovely.”
His eyes glittered with mischief. “Say the word, my love.”
“Please?”
He looked around and spotted Anton, motioning him over.
“What’s up, Dad?” Anton came over with a smile.
“I’m going to see if I can find something a little more palatable for us to eat,” his father said. “Do you think you could watch Raina while I do that and Tessa goes to the bathroom?”
“Sure.” Anton sank into Tessa’s chair as she got up and headed to the bathroom she’d seen earlier.
“I’ll be there in two minutes,” Toli whispered in her ear before disappearing around another corner.
Her heart beating a little faster than normal, she tried to look casual as she went into the restroom. It was just a big room, meant for one person at a time, and she let the door shut behind her without locking it. She hung her purse on the hook and moved to the mirror, a tube of lipstick in her hand in case someone other than Toli came in.
The handle turned and she met her husband’s gaze in the mirror. He locked the door behind him and leaned back against it, a smirk on his face. “I don’t think you’ve ever had a quiet orgasm in your life,” was all he said.
She put her hands on her hips. “I have so! That night in Chicago when Raina was in the room with us. And on the plane!”
He laughed. “Two times out of—how many times do you think I’ve made you come since we met?”
She turned pink. “A thousand? Maybe more!”
He moved towards her slowly, a small smile playing on his lips. He pulled something out of his pocket and she burst out laughing.
“You planned this?!”
“I did not plan this, specifically,” he grinned. “But because this is kind of a honeymoon and we have the kids with us, I thought we should be prepared for unconventional times and places. Since I know how you dislike getting messy when you’re out in public, I invested in a box of condoms.”
She crooked her finger at him and when his body was pressed up against hers, she rose on her tiptoes and locked her lips to his. Fire spread from her mouth to the warm place between her legs in a matter of seconds, and she moaned deep in her throat. They’d had the least amount of sex of their entire relationship since they’d been married, and right at this moment she realized how badly she missed it. They normally had sex twice a day when he wasn’t on the road, so due to the fact that they’d only had sex a handful of times since the wedding, in addition to the month of abstaining beforehand, she was so horny she was wet before he’d done anything.
He briefly tore his lips from hers and paused to take off his sling.
“Toli, should you—?”
“I won’t use the arm, but I can’t have it against my chest either.” He tossed it aside and unzipped his pants, letting his throbbing erection burst out like a jack-in-the-box. Tessa took the condom from him and tore open the package, quickly rolling it on, and letting her fingers linger on the heavy sacs beneath.
“How are we going to do this?” she asked, looking around.
“Turn around,” he whispered, nudging her against the sink. He slid his hands under her dress and hiked it up above her hips as she bent over the cabinet below the mirror. She wore a tiny black thong and he paused to run his hand along her ass before tugging the fabric at her hip. It fell to her ankles and she stepped out of one leg before moving her feet apart.
“More,” he said, sliding his hand between her legs and running his finger down the slit. She spread her legs further and he wrapped his good arm around her waist. “You’re so wet,” he growled softly in her ear. “I think you’ve missed me.”
“You have no idea,” she breathed as he pressed himself against her aching entrance but didn’t push in. “Toli, please—I need you!”
He thrust up hard and deep, one swift motion that forced him to close his eyes as she instantly fluttered around him. Even with a condom on, she was warm and wet, gripping his cock the moment he was inside her. His sweet, beautiful Tessa. She brought him more joy than he’d ever thought he could find in a woman, and in these moments, when they were locked together both physically and emotionally, he could barely remember what life was like before he found her.
He moved his hand down and splayed his fingers over the light patch of hair at the apex between her legs. She sighed with pleasure and he slid one finger down to the little pearl he could already feel throbbing. She was going to come any second now, he knew the signs, and he started to move faster so that he could join her.
“Toli!” Her voice was nothing more than a whisper of ecstasy, her beautiful ass surging against him as he plunged into her over and over.
It both surprised and excited him how much she seemed to need him tonight, and he didn’t bother trying to hold back; if she was ready to come, he wouldn’t be far behind. He captured her clit between two fingers, rubbing it with just enough pressure to make her lose control. He felt her tighten around his cock and then she was crying out his name as she bucked against him, her body shuddering from top to bottom as she came. He moved harder and faster, lost in the feeling of her sweet pussy gripping him like a vise during her orgasm. His own release came moments later, a growl leaving his throat as he spilled himself into her.
For a moment neither of them moved, his good arm locked tightly around her waist as she gasped for breath. It had never been this quick, but it was always this good, and he stroked her stomach until she finally stopped shivering.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever come that fast,” he murmured, his face buried in her neck.
“You’re extremely skilled in making that happen,” she said softly.
He pulled out slowly and turned her so that they were face-to-face. “I live to make you happy. I love you, Mrs. Petrov.”
“I love you more, Mr. Petrov.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I wasn’t quiet, was I?”
“You were mostly quiet,” he chuckled. “Except right at the very end.”
“Shit. Do you think people heard us?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t care. I’m paying the bill tonight—if I want to make love to my wife in the bathroom while they enjoy dinner, I will.”
Tessa sighed happily and reluctantly reached down to pull up her panties. “Tonight, Mr. Petrov, we are going to have honeymoon sex. A lot of it.”
His eyes twinkled as he met her lusty gaze. “Is honeymoon sex different than what we just did?”
“Yes. It’s longer…hotter…and louder.”
He groaned. “I like the sound of this honeymoon sex stuff.”
They slept late the next morning, after a night of passion that made up for the weeks of mostly going without. It had been a long time since Tessa had been sore, probably not since the night they got back together after a short breakup earlier in the year. This morning she definitely ached, but she smiled as she showered while Toli ordered breakfast. Raina and Anton had been watching cartoons when they checked on them, an empty room service tray on the table, so they had a little while to get ready for the day.
“Breakfast in 20 minutes,” Toli said, j
oining her in the shower.
“Okay.” She leaned up against him, smiling.
“You seem happy this morning,” he teased. “Why would that be?”
Her eyes grew round. “I don’t know what you mean? Am I happier than yesterday?”
He chuckled. “It seems that way.”
“Well, there’s this guy…” She was whispering, as though telling him a secret. “He snuck into our bed last night and did really naughty things to me.”
“And you didn’t wake me so I could enjoy it too?” he asked in mock horror.
“Oh, you enjoyed it.” She reached between his legs and began slowly stroking him. “In fact, you seem to be thinking about it right now.”
He growled low in his throat. “You said you were sore—I don’t want to hurt you.”
She smiled, pressing her breasts against his chest. “I’m never too sore for you.”
“Really?” He stared down at her in awe; he’d never dreamed he would meet a woman whose sexual appetite rivaled his own. “You want more? Now?”
“Always.” She squeezed his firm ass. “Everyone has been placing bets on whether or not I come home from the honeymoon pregnant—care to throw in?”
He smiled, pushing her wet hair out of her face. “Baby, I care to throw in big time.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were getting dressed and Toli went to let in the waiter who brought their breakfast. Tessa smiled in the mirror as she combed her hair, wondering how long it would take her to get pregnant. She and her first husband had conceived within three months of stopping birth control, and she had been off the pill for two months now. Though they hadn’t had sex the month before the wedding, and they’d used condoms a few times for practicality, they’d still managed to get in a few times where they were unprotected. She’d originally thought she wanted some time with him before she got pregnant, but now she ached to be carrying his baby. She knew he desperately wanted more children and she wanted them too, especially his. They were thinking about two, hopefully a boy and a girl, but since together they already had a boy and a girl, she didn’t care either way.
