His Hostile Takeover

Chapter Nine

Sunlight streamed in and Elise burrowed tighter into Dmitri. She had no desire to get out of bed and leave the intoxicating bubble of Dmitri’s care and attention. He stirred and his hands roamed over her back and down to her bottom. She reveled in his touch. A thought flashed and she cursed and moved away. She had forgotten to take the pill last night, he clutched her hand and she told him why so he let her go.

No longer bothered by her own nudity, she didn’t bother with a robe. Another curse escaped her. She had missed two previous days, not one. As she studied the packet that still had several pills, she realized she really was bad at this.

A curse came from beside her and he was there studying the packet in her hand. Taking the packet from her, he counted the pills that remained. He said nothing and his face had gone granite hard.

Fear niggled at Elise and she took the packet back. “I can just double up again.”

“Again, you mean even with as many pills that remain in this packet there were other times you forgot and doubled up?” His voice was soft and she couldn’t tell what he was feeling.

“Yes, the doctor said doubling up was okay. I did a little better with the first packet and last month’s wasn’t quite this bad.” She felt obliged to tell him.

Shaking his head, he took the packet from her. With a flick of his wrist he tossed the packet in the trash. “You could already be pregnant. No more pills, they could hurt the baby.”

He studied her body intently and slid a hand reverently over her stomach. His touch soothed her and the tension eased within her, but didn’t leave completely. “What if I am pregnant?”

Slowly, his hand caressed up her body until he reached her cheek, and he brought her mouth to his. A kiss so soft it was a mere whisper told her everything she needed to know, it was a promise from him.

“Then we get married. And I guess we get to go house shopping this week instead of after we get back from our trip next weekend. Sonia has found a few I think you’ll find promising.”

Her breath caught in her chest, “And if I’m not pregnant?”

“Then we keep trying until you are. Misha told me you wanted a baby, but I was sure he was teasing, and I wanted you to be the one to tell me it was what you wanted. Seeing the pill packet, I can’t help think there is perhaps wish fulfillment there. I think we should still get married sooner, rather than later, so there’s no counting months for our baby.

On second thought, maybe Sonia should be looking in the suburbs, isn’t that where you’re supposed to live with children? Sonia found several homes that have the large yards I thought you would like, but they’re in the city.”

Seeing the concern etched so clearly on his face Elise smiled. Dmitri never questioned his own judgment. “I didn’t do it on purpose, you make it easy to forget them. I wouldn’t do that to you, it would have felt too much like I was trying to trap you. I think your children would thrive in the city and find the suburbs as boring as you would. I like the idea of staying in the city. There’s just one question about this marriage thing that I have to ask. Why?”

Surprise was clear on his face and he dragged her behind him as he went back into the bedroom and sat on the bed. He settled her into the v of his legs and trapped her there. “I’m not saying you were trying to trap me, and I would have welcomed it no matter if you were or not. I would have been quite willing to trap you to me, actually.

How could you ask ‘why’? I know that you love me. It shines from you, and knowing that has been the only thing keeping me sane while I’ve waited for you to figure it out. I’ve bitten back the words again, and again, afraid of pushing you too far too fast. You are still so young and I feared you needed more time to know for sure. But I have to say I don’t care anymore. I’ll take you any way I can get you.

I’ve loved you from the beginning. Okay, so I wasn’t sure it was love until you ran away, but I needed you like I needed air, even before that. Have I done such a poor job of showing you that? I love you and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you know that. Tell me what you need me to do.”

Blinking back the tears that threatened to fall, she shook her head, “You just have to tell me. I was so scared it was just me, and all the amazing things you have done and the way you treated me was because I was a virgin, and you didn’t want me to regret our relationship. I was scared that you wouldn’t value my words because of how stupid I was about Greg.”

Tightening his arms around her, he fell back onto the bed and his smile was wide, “In the beginning, yes, I was more cautious and careful because I knew, as your first lover, I could make or break your entire outlook on love and sex, and I was very honestly terrified of getting it wrong. Then I realized I loved you, and I just wanted to take care of you and make you feel as good as you made me feel. I love you, I love you. Now tell me that you do, too, and I’ll call Sonia and tell her to bring over the ideas she has so far for our wedding. She’s been eager ever since I confessed to her that you were the one.” At her look of shock he shrugged, “I told her when I told her we were moving to Chicago permanently; she questioned my desire to move. I knew you felt more comfortable in Chicago, and I told her then if I needed to make the move to make you happy then I would. She teased me, and I told her I had found my woman. I wanted to make my life with you and that I wanted us married by this time next year. I’ve never even mentioned marriage before. She got quite excited and has been poring over swatches and bridal magazines ever since. But don’t think it’s all Sonia, it’s all up to you. You’ll have whatever you want for your day.”

“I love you Dmitri. Everything else is icing on the cake. The only thing I want on our wedding day is you.”