Sin and Redemption

The drive back to our apartment was uncomfortable, and Ambra cried half the time, so we repeatedly had to stop. Still, I was glad when I sank down on our sofa with our baby girl. Cara and Growl had taken great care of us, but I wanted to be in our own home, and I was eager for my parents and siblings to finally meet our daughter. Until then, Maximus, Ambra, and I snuggled together on the sofa.

My family visited in the afternoon, and the moment Mom spotted Ambra, she burst into tears, which led to more tears from me, and soon from Inessa and Alea.

I could see Maximus, Flavio, and Dad exchange looks of confusion and had to laugh.

“Tears of happiness never made sense to me,” Flavio said with a shrug as he came up to me and gave me a one-armed hug so as not to hurt Ambra.

“She looks squishy.”

“She’s the most beautiful baby in the world,” Mom contradicted. Dad came over and hugged me too. He didn’t cry, of course not, but I could see that he was touched by the sight. “My little girl’s now a mom. I can’t believe it.”

To be honest, sometimes I caught myself thinking the same. Maximus’s proud and adoring expression whenever he looked at Ambra was almost the best part of becoming a mother.

“Next time, you should stay close to a hospital on your due date,” Dad said with a laugh.

“Who knew it would go this fast?” I said with a shrug. The movement made Ambra stir and open her eyes, then she did her little newborn scrunch. Dad and Flavio pretended to grab something to drink when I helped Ambra latch on and only returned when I was done breastfeeding her.

“Mom, do you want to hold her?”

Mom nodded with wide eyes and carefully took Ambra from me. “She’s the cutest. These chubby cheeks almost make me want another one.”

Dad’s expression made us all burst out laughing.

“Almost,” Mom said and rolled her eyes. “I like the number four.”

“How many do you want?” Inessa asked me, nosy as always.

“Maybe four.”

“I thought a Trevisan trio was what we were going for?” Maximus exchanged an amused look with Dad, who shrugged.

“Cancio women get what they want.”

I smiled, content in the knowledge that Maximus wouldn’t mind four.

The next day, Isabella came over for a visit, which made me particularly happy since I worried that friendships would be harder to maintain now that I was a mom, especially since my friends didn’t have kids yet.

“And people call me dramatic,” Isa said with a smile as she entered our apartment. “But I would never give birth in a forest.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t plan for that to happen.”

“Well, it will be a story that’ll make the rounds.”

“Not the first time I get caught in the rumor mill,” I muttered. But I didn’t feel bitter anymore. Right at this moment, I saw things from a new perspective and my priorities had shifted.

Isa bent over Ambra and stroked her dark hair with a finger. “She’s really cute. Almost makes me want to have one of my own.” At my shocked expression, she added, “One day in the distant future.”

“Is there someone who might become the father?” I asked, not even trying not to be nosy. Maximus had gone into the kitchen to give Isa and me some time to talk. Her bodyguards waited in the hallway. There was nobody to overhear us, and Maximus wouldn’t care anyway.

Isa wasn’t promised, and she’d never shown any obvious interest in anyone. For a while, I’d been convinced that she was into girls, but she insisted that wasn’t the case. She was always very close-lipped when the topic came up.

Isa let out a sarcastic laugh. “Not even close. Maybe I’ll just rock the single mom gig. I’ll use a sperm donor, so Dad won’t have reason to kill anyone.”

“That would give you the prime spot in the rumor mill.”

“It’s what people expect from me, considering who’s my mom. So why should I disappoint them?”

“Do what makes you happy.”

She blew out a breath. “Happiness is overrated.”

Ambra let out a little mewl and smacked her lips, a clear sign. I pulled down my shirt, and she latched on.

“I’d never thought I’d see your boob, so maybe I should be willing to expect the unexpected. You never know.”

I giggled. If that was true for anyone, it was true for Isa.

Maximus

I was familiar with sleepless nights. In my life before Sara because of parties or work, in the beginning of my life with Sara because of nightmares, hers and mine, and now?

A tiny human who ruled over our life with a minuscule iron fist.

I rocked Ambra in my arms so Sara could catch a few hours of sleep after having breastfed Ambra. Our little girl didn’t take a pacifier or the bottle, so most of the work rested on Sara, but I tried to give her small moments of rest like this. I loved holding Ambra in my arms, even if her crying tore at me, but now she was asleep against my chest, making small smacking sounds.

Bacon gave me a reproachful look from his dog bed in the living room because I’d woken him at three a.m.

“Sorry, bud. I’d rather be sleeping too.” Bacon had lived with us since he’d saved Sara from the Russian attackers. They had formed a special bond, so even though he wasn’t a city dog, he spent most of the time with us.

I had started looking for houses to buy. I wanted Ambra to have a yard to play, but the options were limited in our neighborhood.

I hummed a tune my mother had often sung for Primo and me as kids. I didn’t even remember the lyrics, just the soothing melody.

I didn’t notice Sara in the doorway until she began to sing softly. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”

Now I remembered the lyrics, but I still didn’t sing along.

Sara came toward me slowly.

“You should sleep.”

She shrugged as she stopped beside me and gazed lovingly from Ambra to me. “I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. It’s time for her next meal. My body can feel it.”

Outside, the sound of sirens made Bacon perk up. There was always a siren somewhere, and it made him nervous.

“I have been thinking…why don’t we build a house somewhere on your parents’ land? There’s enough room.”

Surprise filled me. “But what about your family? You’ll be farther away from them.” I knew how important her family was to Sara, and since giving birth, Liliana had helped Sara on a daily basis.

“Only forty minutes tops. You and Ambra are now my main focus, and it’s best for us as a family to move out of the city. Bacon will be happier there too. I won’t need as much support once Ambra is a bit older.”

“But I want you to be happy, Sara.”

“I’m happy wherever you and Ambra are.”

My heart sped up. I pressed a kiss to Sara’s lips. Ambra opened her eyes and parted her lips as if she could smell milk. Sara laughed and took her from me. I followed them into the bedroom and watched Sara feed our daughter.

I decided these moments beat the sleepless nights from my single life by far.

I was in the gym of our apartment, doing crunches on a mat on the floor when Sara came in.

“She’s down for her nap,” Sara said with a victorious smile. Now that Ambra was two months old, she slept better. Still not well, but better.

“And now you want to do some pottery?” I asked. I knew Sara missed doing pottery. She missed doing many things, like taking a shower or going to the toilet without Ambra crying.

She bit her lip, her eyes moving from the pottery wheel back to me, and the look in her eyes immediately let blood flow into my cock.

“Oh,” I rumbled. “Here for something else?”

“It’s been a while,” she said with a sheepish smile. We hadn’t had sex since Sara had given birth. The last time had been right before her due date because it was supposed to induce labor.

“I’m all yours,” I said, spreading my arms. “But I’m sweaty. Do you want me to shower first?”

Sara gave me a look. “We don’t know how much time we have.”

I grinned. “We could take a shower together and have fun there.”

Sara bit her lip, her eyes lighting up. We’d never had sex in the shower before, something we needed to rectify quickly. I pushed to my feet and took her hand. Sara wore lavender-colored pajama pants and a satin camisole, her usual clothing since Ambra was there. Not that I minded. Sara was gorgeous, no matter what she wore.

We snuck past Amber’s crib into the primary bedroom and closed the door. Sara put the baby phone on the windowsill, then turned to me. I pulled her in for a kiss, my hands gliding under her camisole, fingertips mapping her soft skin and the hardened nubs of her breasts. I briefly broke our kiss to tug the camisole over Sara’s head and toss it away, then my fingers gripped the waistband of her pants and tugged them down. They glided to the floor with a soft rustling, leaving Sara standing naked before me.

I shook my head, amazed by her beauty. She touched her belly self-consciously, where she now had a few stretch marks. I got down on one knee, moved her hand away, and kissed the spot. “The most impressive battle scars I’ve ever seen.”

Sara gave me a grateful smile, then tugged at my arms. I complied and got up. She shoved down my training shorts. “Time’s running out.”

“You’re lucky I thrive under pressure,” I rumbled in her ear as I backed her into the shower cubicle. Sara let out a little screech when cold water rained down on us before it turned warm, then clapped a hand over her mouth and cast a nervous glance at the baby monitor, but Ambra slept soundly. She lowered her hand, and I immediately kissed her again, pulling her closer and allowing my palm to caress the curve of her waist and hip before I moved inward and cupped her pussy. She pressed into me, her kiss becoming almost desperate.

I was relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one who missed this. I stroked her clit lightly, and Sara moaned into my mouth, then grabbed my cock and squeezed. I groaned, my fingers speeding up, circling her nub before I moved them lower and pushed two into her. She arched against me, her grip on my cock becoming even more demanding. I grinned against her lip as I slid my fingers in and out slowly, making sure to touch her clit. Sara came within a minute, but her lips seeking mine eagerly told me she was far from satisfied.

“I need you so much,” I growled, cupping her ass and pulling her against me so my cock dug into her belly.

Sara only nodded and gripped my shoulders. I lifted her by her ass, and her legs wrapped around my waist. Not wasting any more time, I sank into her slowly, giving her time to accommodate my length, then halted when I was all the way in her. I leaned her back against the shower stall so the water didn’t hit her in the face. She breathed deeply against my mouth, her eyes filled with the same hunger I felt burning in my veins.

“You ready for more?” I asked in a low voice.

“So ready.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled herself higher, changing the angle in a delicious way. My lips claimed hers as I supported her weight against the wall and began to thrust into her.

Sara kept her eyes on me as I made love to her. She shifted her hips in sync with my thrust, allowing me to go even deeper and her clit to rub against my pubic bone. Soon, her eyes widened, and her nails sank into my shoulder as her walls clamped down on my cock.

I groaned, unable to hold back as Sara’s core milked my cock with her iron grip. She came with a muffled scream against my shoulder. My cock kept twitching inside her as we clung to each other. I didn’t put her down even when we were both spent from our orgasm. I enjoyed feeling her naked body against mine. She rested her cheek on my shoulder and let out a yawn. “Now all I need for utter contentment is more than two hours of sleep.”

I chuckled. “I wish I could help you with that, but Ambra simply wants your breasts, which is understandable.”

Sara giggled. “Once she’s a bit older, she won’t feed as often, and then you can spend more time with her.”

I set Sara down. “I can’t wait.”

It was wonderful to watch Sara being a mother because it was obvious how much she loved being one, but I was excited about getting more opportunities to spend time with Ambra once she wasn’t as fixated on Sara’s breasts. I glanced down at Sara’s impressive chest. I’d always loved her breasts, but they had grown quite a bit since she’d given birth.

Sara followed my gaze and rolled her eyes. She lightly slapped my chest. “Don’t tell me you prefer me with bigger breasts.” She turned on the water and quickly washed herself. The sight was mesmerizing.

“I loved your body before your pregnancy, during your pregnancy, and now that you’re feeding our daughter, and I’ll love it however it looks after.”

Sara stepped on her tiptoes and kissed me firmly. “That might be one of the sweetest things you’ve ever said. See, acts of service isn’t your only love language.”

Ambra let out a cry.

I raised my eyebrows. “I fear hers definitely is.”

Sara gave me a distracted smile and a swift peck before quickly drying off and rushing into the bedroom. After I’d cleaned up and dried myself, I followed her. Sara lay on her side, feeding Ambra. She was already asleep while Ambra was still nursing. The bed guard kept Ambra safe as she slept by Sara’s side. I watched her little content face for a moment, then pressed a soft kiss against Sara’s temple before I extinguished the lights.

The same contentment I’d seen on Ambra’s face filled my body.