Innocent - Roe Horvat Page 0,61
He pecked Zana on the spot between his brows. “I have something to tell you.”
With his eyes closed, Zana savored the feeling of Navid’s fingers dancing on his face. “I’m listening.”
“I’ve chosen a name for him.”
Zana’s eyes popped open, and he blinked at Navid in the sharp sunshine. “You have?”
“Yes. It’s perfect. It means with his whole heart.”
Throat thick with emotion, Zana swallowed. He wanted to ask what the name was, but he feared he couldn’t speak without his voice faltering.
“Caleb,” Navid said.
Zana exhaled heavily. “Caleb.” It was perfect. He hugged Navid to him and inhaled the scent of his soulmate and their growing child. “I love you, Navid. With my whole heart.”
Navid pressed his lips to Zana’s temple. “I love you, my sun.”
They sat in silence for a moment until Navid shivered in the chilly breeze.
“Come inside, love. It’s still too cold to sit here only in a shirt.”
“Can we go for a walk?” Navid asked. “Together?”
The reports to work would have to wait. “Of course. And when we come back, I could draw you a bath.”
Navid smoothed his hand over the backrest of the bench. “I love how it feels. The wood is so warm. Thank you.”
Navid’s belly was turning into a magnet. Zana kept touching it without being aware of it. Even now, his palm drifted there on its own.
“We should travel somewhere before he’s born,” he said. “I told you you’d see the world if you came with me, but we’ve barely been anywhere. I lured you out of your childhood home with a false promise, it seems.”
Smiling brilliantly, Navid kissed Zana on the lips. “I didn’t say yes because of the traveling.”
A question reappeared in Zana’s mind, one he’d thought of many times but never asked. “Why did you say yes, Navid? You didn’t love me back then.”
Navid looked down at his hands. “I didn’t know what love was. Now I do.”
“Why did you say yes?” Zana repeated. It felt vital for him to know.
“When I turned seventeen, three different men had tried to gain my father’s friendship and claim me. They visited several times, and I was afraid of them. But with you, I felt safe. Since the first moment I met you, I’ve never feared you. I knew you were a good man who’d treat me with compassion.” He grimaced, his mouth curving in a bitter smirk. “Better than my father.”
The explanation filled Zana’s chest with sadness. “You married me because you were afraid that your father would give you to someone else? Someone you were afraid of?”
Navid shook his head, blushing a little. “I liked you, Zana. I was drawn to you in a way I didn’t understand. I think I fell in love with you the morning after our wedding.”
“You did?”
“I woke up in your arms, and you were still asleep. I was naked, and it could have been terrifying, but it wasn’t. I had this strange, restless joy in me. And then you stirred and kissed me right here.” He drew his finger from under his ear down his neck. “Fireworks exploded in my chest when you did that. You spoke, and your voice made my heart pound against my ribs.”
Zana leaned in and kissed the line Navid had painted on his neck. He took a deep breath, drawing in the unique perfume from his husband’s skin. “I remember. I couldn’t get enough of your scent.”
“We don’t have to travel anywhere, Zana.”
“No?”
Navid shrugged. “We can. But we don’t have to.”
“Then what would you like to do before the little one arrives?”
The expression in Navid’s face turned almost coy, and Zana grinned like a fool.
“Tell me, Navid.”
“I want you for myself as much as possible. I don’t care where we are.”
Feeling wicked, Zana brushed his hand over Navid’s groin lightly, then harder.
“Not here,” Navid blurted, and Zana laughed out loud.
“How about we go for a walk? After dinner, I’ll bathe you, then kiss you from head to toe.” He flicked his tongue over Navid’s lips. “I’ll make you come again and again until you pass out.”
The fire in Navid’s eyes was irresistible.
That evening, Navid leaned against the pillows on their bed, bathed and relaxed.
“Remember these?” Zana asked, dangling the gold in front of Navid’s eyes.
Navid’s jaw dropped open. “Oh.”
Zana licked one enlarged nipple and pulled it into his mouth, then released it. For a moment, the flesh stuck out obscenely. He fastened the clamp on it before it could return to normal. Then he did the same with the other one.