Chapter 53 053

Chapter 53 053
Mikhail

I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw Natasha with the children.

It was late afternoon, and I had been walking back from training when I heard laughter coming from the clearing near the healing quarters.

I rounded the corner to find Natasha sitting on the ground, surrounded by at least six pack children, all talking over each other.

"Tell us the wolf story again!"

"No, show us the braids!"

"I wanna learn knots!"

Natasha laughed, holding up her hands. "Okay, okay! One thing at a time or my head's gonna explode. How about braids first, then the story if everyone behaves?"

The kids cheered and settled around her. I stayed back, hidden partially by a building, watching as she gathered the girls and started working on one's hair.

"So the trick is you gotta keep it all even, yeah? Not too tight or it hurts and not too loose or it just falls apart on you."

"It's so pretty!" The girl breathed, touching her new braid.

"Your turn. Try it on Anya."

While the girls worked on each other's hair, fumbling and giggling, a boy squirmed closer to her. "This is boring. It's just hair stuff."

"Fair enough," She pulled him into her lap easily. "You know how to tie knots?"

His face lit up. "Real ones?"

"The realest," She produced a length of rope and soon had three boys crowded around her, showing them different knots.

"This one's a bowline. You'll use it for everything, and this is a clove hitch, see? Yeah, like that, you've almost got it."

Her patience seemed endless. When they got frustrated, she would just say "Try again, you're close," and when they got it right, her whole face would light up. "There you go! See? Told you."

She would be an incredible mother.

The thought slammed into me out of nowhere. I could see it so clearly, Natasha with a baby on her hip, maybe her hand on a rounded belly, that same easy smile as she dealt with chaos, love and life.

Our child.

Christ. I wanted to give her a baby. I wanted to see her pregnant with my child. I wanted to watch her hold something we made together. The feeling hit me so hard, I could barely breathe.

This wasn't just sex anymore. It wasn't just the thrill of sneaking around or having someone who got it. This was real and it was dangerous.

I was falling in love with her. Maybe I had already fallen.

We were supposed to be siblings. What we were doing was already insane, but feelings? Feelings made everything worse. It made you stupid. It made you weak.

But watching her with those kids, the gentle way she moved, the natural warmth, I knew it was too late to stop it.

"Alright, story time," She announced, and the children abandoned everything to crowd closer. "So once upon a time, there was this wolf who fell in love with the moon..."

I should've left. I should have gotten back to work, but I stood there like an idiot, watching her tell some story about impossible love, watching her tuck hair behind a girl's ear, adjust the boy in her lap when he started nodding off.

She looked up suddenly and caught me watching. Her smile changed. It went softer and more private. The kids didn't notice, but I felt it like she had touched me.

Completely fucked. That's what I was.

That night I couldn't sit still. I kept pacing my room like something caged. Every instinct said go to her, but for the first time I hesitated. Because going to her tonight felt different.

It felt like something I couldn't undo.

The knock was so quiet I almost missed it.

Natasha stood there wrapped in her cloak, her hair down. We had gotten careless with these visits, probably too careless, but I couldn't think about that right now.

"I saw you today," She said as I pulled her inside and locked the door. "With the kids."

"You're good with them."

"They're sweet," The cloak dropped, and she was wearing almost nothing underneath. "Why didn't you come over?"

"I didn't wanna interrupt. You looked..." I couldn't finish it.

She stepped closer, hand coming up to my face. "What's going on? You're being weird."

Everything was going on. Everything was wrong, right and terrifying. I didn't know how to say it.

So I kissed her instead, but not like the usual. It was not hungry and desperate. This was soft and careful like I was trying to say something I didn't have words for.

She made a small surprised sound, then melted into me.

"Mikhail." She whispered.

"I need you," It came out rough. "But not—not like we usually—"

She pulled back to look at me. Something in my face made her expression change. "Okay."

I picked her up and carried her to the bed. Usually we would be tearing at clothes, all urgency and heat, but tonight I undressed her slowly, kissing new skin as I revealed it.

"You're so fucking beautiful," I murmured against her shoulder. "I don't think I've told you that."

"Not like this," Her fingers slid into my hair. "What happened? What changed?"

Everything. I didn't know how to explain so I just showed her.

I stripped off my own clothes and covered her body with mine. The feel of her underneath me was like something clicking into place.

I moved slowly, taking my time with every touch. I wanted to remember all of it, how her skin felt, the sounds she made, her pulse under my mouth.

"Mikhail." She breathed when I pushed inside her, and the way she said my name made my chest hurt.

I fucked her with long, deep strokes. No rushing. Her legs wrapped around me and I buried my face in her neck, breathing her in.

This meant something. This was different.

"Look at me." I said quietly.

She did. Her eyes were dark and wide and trusting, and I had never seen anything better. I kissed her while we moved together, swallowing her quiet moans.

"I've never..." She bit her lip. "Felt like this with anyone."

Something fierce and possessive flared in my chest. "Good. Don't ever let anyone else—"

"Just you." She promised, and I felt her getting close.

I shifted the angle, made sure to hit that spot that made her gasp. I kept the rhythms steady without desperation.

"Mikhail, I'm gonna come." Her nails dug into my shoulders.

"I know. Let go. I've got you."

She came with a soft cry and I watched all of it. Her eyes closing, mouth falling open and the flush spreading across her chest.

She was perfect. She was mine.

That thought pushed me over and I thrust deep, feeling it build, and as I came and spilled inside her, the words just tore out.

"I love you."

She went completely still.

Fuck. I hadn't meant to say it. I hadn't meant to make it real like that, but it was out now and I couldn't take it back.

I started to pull away, to say something, anything, but her hands grabbed my face and held me there. She just looked at me for a long moment.

Then she pulled me down and kissed me.

The kiss was deep and desperate and it was saying everything she couldn't put into words. When we broke apart we were both breathing hard.

I waited for her to say something, but she just traced my jaw with her fingers and kissed me again.