Nathan answered her with a kiss that he hoped conveyed every bit of the happiness and love he was feeling in his heart. He was happy. Carter, Aleksandr, and Maksim made him the happiest man in the world.
Their shower was relaxing, intimate, and exactly what they’d both needed after the long night they’d had. They washed away the night, held each other close, and finally made slow, passionate love against the shower wall under the soft streams water falling down on them. Nathan found her hand above her head and intertwined their fingers as their bodies moved together in sensual, fluid motion. He never once took his lips from hers. Even when the heated sensations coursing through his body intensified they remained connected. He caught every single moan and cry of pleasure that she gave him with his kiss. When the combination of both emotion and intense sensation pushed them over the edge, they came together. Nathan released her hands and she clung to him tightly as her body shook in his arms.
Once their bodies calmed, Nathan took a moment to relax against her as the water continued to fall over them. Carter locked her legs around him and kissed his face gently. Nathan felt better now; he felt balanced again. Now all he needed to do was go downstairs and get their sons.
He carried Carter from the shower to their closet, where they slipped on some comfortable clothing, and then journeyed to the basement hand-in-hand to get their babies.
~*~
Carter held tight to Nathan’s arms as he unlocked the basement safe house door. They descended the stairs together, both of them excited to finally see the twins. Carter knew they were sleeping, but she selfishly planned to wake them. If only for a moment, she needed to hear her babies’ voices.
Once they made it down the steps, Carter looked around until she heard soft snoring coming from the living area. She squeezed Nathan’s hand and he nodded, silently telling her that he’d heard it, too. She was unable to hide her anticipation and desire to hug her brother and her babies.
They were perfect. Perfect, healthy, and sleeping soundly on the living room couch. The twins were both balled up next to their snoring Uncle Gabriel. Their little faces were flushed and their tiny bodies shook with hiccups as if they’d been crying all night. Smiling, Carter leaned into Nathan’s arm while taking a deep breath in effort to calm her emotions. She knew that if she didn’t she’d run over to her babies a sobbing mess. Carter had just been so scared last night; she didn’t think it was possible for her to not cry when she finally got the chance to hold them in her arms.
Not wanting to disturb the boys just yet, Carter released Nathan’s hand and went over to her brother. She knelt down in front of him and placed a soft kiss to his cheek.
“Wake up, my love,” she whispered.
Gabriel’s hazel eyes peeked open and focused on her. When he realized who she was he gasped, immediately pulling her up from the floor into a crushing embrace.
Carter hugged him back, feeling her eyes becoming misty. “Gabriel, honey. I’m okay …”
“You scared the shit out of me, Carter.” Releasing her from the tight embrace, he reached forward and cupped her face. “How many times a day do I tell you that I love you?”
Carter gazed into her brother’s teary eyes and smiled warmly. She’d never understand why anyone would think him heartless, emotionless, or mean. He was so sweet to her, and to his nephews. The time in their lives that they’d spent apart seemed to not even exist. She loved him with her whole heart, like she’d known him her entire life.
She placed a gentle hand on his cheek. “You tell me every day, my dear brother.”
They placed their foreheads together and he closed his eyes. “Then I will tell you twice a day from now on. Sometimes three times a day.”
“But I already know, Gabriel …”
“I nearly lost you again. I prayed for the first time since I was a child. I promised God that I’d cherish you and Nathan, that I’d be a better person … and that I’d try my best to be nice.”
She laughed softly. “You are nice.”
He gave her a wicked smile. “I’ve met many people throughout my twenty-five years on this earth, love, and you are the only one to ever say that I’m nice.”
“They just don’t know you like I do.” Carter lightly kissed her brother on the lips, then his cheek. “No one will ever see in you what I do, my love. We’re connected. We’re twins.”
Gabriel nodded in agreement. “Really good looking twins …” he muttered.
Giggling, she hugged him as tightly as she could. “Really sexy twins.”
Gabriel chuckled. “You are a crazy girl.”
They pulled back from their hug and Carter gave him a playful punch on the arm. “I’m not as crazy as you …”
He smirked and went to go hug Nathan. “She’s crazier than me,” he said to her husband.
“Ten million times crazier than the both of us … combined.”
Gabriel laughed … a little harder than Carter thought was necessary. She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t that damn funny, and I’m not that damn crazy. But she didn’t get that upset at their jab at her sanity because she loved to see how much they loved each other. Nathan and Gabriel hitting it off as well as they did when Gabriel first moved on the estate had been a huge relief for Carter. They were both amazing, loveable, anti-social assholes. They completed each other.
The two of them hugged and spoke to each other in soft tone while Carter knelt down in front of the couch, where Aleksandr and Maksim were still sleeping.
First she kissed her precious little Maksim, then her equally as precious little Aleksandr. They stirred and stuck out their little lips like they always did when they first woke up. Unable to resist their adorable ducky lips, Carter gave them both kisses.
“Aww, my precious babies,” she whispered, “Mommy and Daddy are home …”
As soon as they heard her voice, both of their tired grey eyes peeked open. Carter rested her head in front of them, staring into their eyes until they focused on her face. Maksim was the first to react to seeing her. His eyes opened wider right before he made the most heartbreaking little boo-boo face Carter had ever seen.
He got up into the crawling positing and came across the couch to her as quick as his tiny legs would allow. “Ma-ma?” he cried.
“Come here, my Maksi.” Carter already had her arms open. Maksim came straight off the couch and into her arms.
“Ma-ma! Ma-ma ...” Aleksandr jumped up.
He moved as quickly as his brother had. Carter had already gotten up on the couch so that it’d be easier for him to come into her arms. “It’s okay, my Sandr … Mama is here now.”
“Some go, Ma-ma,” Aleksandr cried. “Maksi have m-monster.”
“Have monster, Ma-ma?” Maksim added through his tears.
Carter squeezed both Aleksandr and Maksim harder than she ever had before as they cried to her. God, there were no words to describe how much she’d missed them; she’d been so afraid that something had happened to them. They both continued telling her about the monsters and she couldn’t help but feel so bad that she and Nathan hadn’t been here to protect them. They hadn’t felt safe; that just didn’t sit well with Carter. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy for her to forgive herself for not being here for her babies.
Closing her eyes, she breathed them in, trying her best to calm her emotions and take comfort in the fact that they were safe. They still smelled like the baby shampoo she’d washed their hair with before she dressed them for bed yesterday evening, their lotions still smelled fresh on their smooth, light-brown skin, and their pajamas still gave off that fresh laundry scent. It was perfect … It was home. It felt so good to be home.
She opened her eyes when she felt Nathan sit down next to her. Just like he always did, Aleksandr perked up when he saw his papa. His legs started bouncing on Carter’s lap and he gripped her shirt, shaking her as if to tell her that da-da had just arrived.
“My da-da!” Aleksandr exclaimed excitedly. “Da-da, Ma-ma! My Da-da.”
>
“Hi bambino. Come here to Papa …”
Carter shifted on the couch to make it easier for Aleksandr to lunge into his father’s arms.
“Oh!” Nathan laughed when Aleksandr hugged him tightly around his neck. “Did you miss Papa, bambino?” he asked, kissing his cheek.
Aleksandr lifted his head and nodded with teary eyes. “Mish-u, Da-da. Maksi and Sandr have monster out-side.”
“Out-side, Da-da …” Maksim added.
He had switched to the other side of Carter’s shoulder so that he could grasp on to Nathan’s shirt without leaving Carter’s arms. It was Maksim’s way of saying ‘I love you, Papa, but I’m not leaving Mama’s arms no matter what’.
Nathan leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “You want Papa to go get the monster’s outside, bambinos?”
They both nodded in reply to Nathan’s question.
Aleksandr stood in Nathan’s lap, tugging on his shirt. “Maksi crying, Da-da. Some monsters.”
“Just Maksi was frightened, bambino?”
He shook his head. “Sandr …”
Carter turned Maksim to sit him down on her lap as she brought her legs under her body and curled in closer to Nathan. She and Maksim leaned into his side and listened to him and Aleksandr’s conversation. Aleksandr became more and more animated as he relayed the harrowing events of the night in full—somewhat unintelligible—detail.
“I sleeping, Ma-ma,” Maksim said softly.
Carter turned him back around in her lap and he clung to her. “You sleepy, babe?”
He nodded. “Sleeping, Ma-ma …” He yawned. “Night-night in Da-da bed?”
“Of course you can sleep with Mommy and Daddy.” As if she’d let them sleep anywhere away from her and Nathan right now. She looked over to the chatty two next to her and gave Nathan’s shoulder a nudge. “Come on you two. Maksim and I are sleepy.”
“Ma-ma go sleeping,” Aleksandr said in soft voice.
Carter smiled. She loved when he did this. Every time she, Nathan, or Maksim said they were sleepy, he would sweetly rock them to sleep the way she rocked him to sleep whenever he was tired. She nodded her head and rested on Nathan’s shoulder. “Yes, baby, Mama is very sleepy.”
He reached his tiny hand over and touched her face. “Sleepy, Ma-ma,” he whispered. “Shh, Da-da. Shh …” Nathan nodded his head firmly in mock agreement while Aleksandr rocked Carter to sleep. “Sleeping Ma-ma, sleepy baby …” He softly sang his own little lullaby to her. Most of the words came from the song she sang to them at naptime and bedtime, and the other words were his own original style added.
Nathan rested his head on top of Carter’s as they both smiled at their singing little boy. Once he hit the last note of the song they both clapped softly, as to avoid waking the now relaxed and sleeping Maksim, and gave him kisses on his chubby cheeks.
“Are you ready to go upstairs and go to sleep with Mama and Papa now, bambino?”
Aleksandr held on tightly to Nathan and nodded his head. “Tired, Da-da …”
Nathan stood first, then held out his hand to help Carter get up from the couch since she still held Maksim. They walked upstairs and through the house until they reached the front door. Aleksandr had wanted to stop so that Nathan could check outside for the presence of any monsters. To appease their son, Nathan opened the front door only to find that the rain had begun to pour down once again. After convincing Aleksandr that the monsters had gone and weren’t coming back, they finished the short walk to the stairs.
They were just about to ascend when they spotted a shirtless Lucca, walking out of the kitchen eating an apple. Gasping, Carter stopped abruptly, sadness and concern overtaking her. “Lucca,” she whispered, rushing over to him.
He had one big bandage wrapped around his waist, and another that went around his shoulder and down half of his arm.
“What happened to you?”
Lucca opened his good arm to draw her to him. “Shh, shh. Come here and hug me.”
Carter did so as gently as she could with her free arm. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at his face.
Smiling that gorgeous Salerno smile, he gazed down upon her with beautiful stormy gray eyes so much like those of her husband and her sons.
“Just a couple of scratches, sweetheart. A small price to pay …” He reached forward and ran his hand over Maksim’s hair.
Fuck it. Carter had fought the damn things long enough tonight. She let the tears fill her eyes and spill down her face. Her shoulders shook with soft sniffles as she stood on her toes to kiss Lucca’s cheek. He met her halfway so that she could reach him.
“Thank you,” she cried softly, hugging him once more. “I love you” she whispered.
“Stop that, cugina,” he said softly into her hair. “I love you too.” When they broke their hug he kissed her forehead and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. “Stop that crying now. I may be mean as hell, but I have a soft heart like my uncle, Angelo. Nobody wants to see a six foot four and a half man crying.”
Carter laughed softly. “You’re not mean, Lucca Salerno.”
He smirked. “Well not to women that can throw knives I’m not.”
She softly hit his non-injured arm playfully and shook her head in mock exasperation. “You should go rest. I’ll be up later to make everyone a meal fit for a royal family.”
“Mmm.” He kissed her forehead once more then walked past her to Nathan. “Truly a woman more than fit for the Salerno name, cugino.”
Nathan smiled and gave his cousin a nod. “That’s why I gave it to her.”
Lucca chuckled and hugged Nathan. Aleksandr slipped his arm over Lucca’s shoulder, too, hugging him and lightly patting his back.
“Hi, Wucca,” he chirped.
Amused, Nathan and Lucca laughed as they began talking to each other in Italian. They both asked each other how they were, then agreed to talk about it after they’d gotten some rest. Carter walked over to stand on the first step and wait for Nathan.
“Thank you, brother,” Nathan said, hugging Lucca once more.
“No thank you, all right? We’re family Nathan.”
“Always …”
As he always did often, especially after a battle or something involving Nathan nearly losing his life, Lucca cupped the back of Nathan’s head and kissed the side of his forehead.
“I love you,” he said, sounding so much like his father.
“Love you, too.”
Literally every time Carter saw him do it she couldn’t help but smile. It was the cutest big brother move she’d ever seen. Alessandro did it to Angelo often, too. It always made her want to have another son in hopes that Aleksandr and Maksim would be as good of big brother as Uncle Lucca and Uncle Alessandro were to Nathan and their grandfather.
“Get some rest you all, and I’ll talk to you later,” Lucca said.
Lucca was just about to walk back to the guest room he occupied when Aleksandr stopped him in his tracks.
“Wucca me, too,” he whined, hanging over his father’s shoulder. “Me too, Wucca!”
“All right, all right …” Lucca chuckled.
Aleksandr poked out his lips and Lucca kissed them, then ruffed up his curly black hair.
“I wove vou, Wucca.” Aleksandr smiled.
“Love you, too, Sandr.”
Once Lucca went off back to bed, they finally made it upstairs, and Carter exhaled a deep breath when they walked into the room. Giving Nathan a kiss, she walked to the bed. Much too his delight, Nathan tossed Aleksandr on the bed and went to the restroom. He giggled as he crawled to the head of the bed and got under the comforter.
“Ma-ma!” he called her from under the blanket. “Ma-ma. Come fine-ju.”
“Shh, please stop, Aleksandr. Maksim is sleeping.”
“I come fine Ma-ma …”
“We’ll play find Mama after we take a nap, baby.”
“Play, Ma-ma!”
Maksim whimpered in her arms and Carter rocked him bac
k and forth. Maksim was her cranky one if he didn’t get his rest. Carter knew if his sleep was interrupted again he’d wake up crying.
“Aleksandr Salerno, I said no. We’ll play later. Enough now. Maksi is sleep.”
Of course their little ball of energy had absolutely no plans of stopping. He had no mercy on her and she blamed herself for it. The hyperactive, disobedient behavior was inherited from her. Carter had to learn discipline and obedience because they damn sure didn’t come naturally.
Just like she knew he would, Maksim became irritated by Aleksandr’s loud behavior and began to weep. He hated to be woken up before he was ready, and the louder his brother became, the louder his crying got.
“Aleksandr, I’m not going to tell you again. Get from under there right now!” It was a sharp whisper that she had to use with Aleksandr often. The boy only listened to his father. Carter had to be honest with herself … she had yet to establish herself as the authoritative parent. She was just like her father in that department. He didn’t get tough with her until training started. Before that, he spoiled her rotten.
Thank God she had Nathan.
The comforter was pulled back until the tiny boy beneath was revealed. When he looked up and his eyes met the intense glare on his father’s face, his mischievous smile instantly fell from his face.
“Naptime.”
It was completely ridiculous. After everything Carter had said to get him to behave, all it took was one damn word from Nathan. Suddenly, Aleksandr was scrambling to the head of the bed and lying back on the pillows.
Carter’s mouth dropped open as she continued to rock the crying Maksim in her arms. Shaking her head in disbelief, she plopped down on the bed, looked up at Nathan, and rolled her eyes.
He chuckled. “I’ll go get Maksim’s favorite blanket …”
Carter nodded and focused on calming Maksim back down. “Shh… it’s okay, baby. Mama’s sorry, go back to sleep.” Meanwhile, Red Bull baby was crawling behind her. “Aleksandr, where are you going, babe?”
“Mom-meee …” He stood up on his feet and came to rest his chin on her shoulder. “Kiss, Ma-ma.”
When he poked his little lips out, she gave him a kiss. He blew a raspberry on her lips and giggled. Carter couldn’t help but chuckle.
Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War Page 63