‘We’re strong,’ she agreed.
‘Together we’re stronger,’ Dante confirmed. Dragging her against his hot, hard body, his lips tugged in the familiar smile that could always melt her, as her barbarian lover kissed the woman he adored.
EPILOGUE
CHRISTMAS WAS ALWAYS a special time of year, but this year there was an extra miracle in the Baracca household as Dante showed off their son to the world. Reporters had come from every part of the globe to witness the transformation of yet another rampaging barbarian into a happily married family man.
‘He looks just like me,’ Dante proudly told the waiting press.
‘Like a barbarian?’ Karina murmured beneath her breath. ‘He’s far more beautiful than that.’
‘At the moment,’ Dante agreed with a frown as he studied his son’s face. ‘But he’ll no doubt grow rugged and tough like his father in time.’
‘I don’t care what he grows into, so long as he’s happy,’ Karina argued, once they were alone.
‘You know I feel the same,’ Dante reassured her. They had returned to the fabulous penthouse apartment in Rio that Dante had bought for his wife as a wedding present.
‘But I bet you’ve already picked out his first pony,’ Karina guessed.
‘Of course I have,’ Dante said, as if anything else were unthinkable. ‘My son will be the most famous polo player in the world.’
‘Of course he will.’ Karina smiled at her own, personal barbarian. ‘And I’m glad we’re both thinking along the same lines because, as it happens, I’ve already picked out his wife.’
‘You have?’ Dante’s gaze turned suddenly fierce as it clashed with hers.
‘No, of course I haven’t,’ she said with a groan of amusement. ‘We’ve both agreed that our children will choose their own paths through life. Our son may not even like horses.’
‘Unthinkable!’ Dante exclaimed, dismissing this preposterous idea immediately.
‘Whatever he decides to do, I know we’ll back him to the hilt.’
Dante grunted and frowned, but as he passed his infant son over to the woman he loved more than anything else in the world, he knew Karina was right. Their children would have two loving parents to encourage them in everything they did.
‘Do you think that having a wife and an infant son with reflect badly on the image of the team?’ Karina asked later, when they were standing on their balcony in Rio, watching the fireworks go off to herald the advent of Christmas Day.
‘It changes nothing about the team,’ Dante assured her. ‘If anything, it adds a new dimension, a new mystique.’
‘Giving hope to women everywhere that a rampaging barbarian can be tamed?’ she suggested wryly.
‘With the right woman—someone strong and stubborn like you,’ Dante agreed.
‘I must be a glutton for punishment,’ she said, snuggling close.
‘Talking of which,’ Dante murmured, ‘you did say a glutton for pleasure?’
‘That too,’ Karina admitted wryly as she steered Dante back into the bedroom.