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Just a few more minutes.

“I should have known better.” Nikolai entered the kitchen twenty minutes later, showered and dressed, his hair still damp and sticking up in all directions.

“You definitely should,” I agreed. “Coffee?”

“Thanks, baby.”

We drank our coffee in silence, one of his arms around me and my back against his chest.

This was our little ritual. I loved it more than Nikolai knew.

The stillness of our kitchen, his feet planted wide, and him holding me in the cradle of his body as the forest awoke outside the windows.

This is my version of paradise.

“I should stop waking you up,” he mused, breaking the silence. “But you look so beautiful in your sleep I think I’ll die if I don’t get to kiss you and tell you how much I love you before I go.”

My heart soared at his words.

“I’m glad you wake me up every morning, Bunny. If you weren’t, I’d have to dig out my old mechanical alarm clock. Believe me, you don’t want that.” I drank from my mug, one of the first things Nikolai had made in our new workshop. He had presented me with the pastel green, slightly crooked cup on our first anniversary. The coffee had tasted even better since then.

“Idon’t want that,” I added, snuggling back into his embrace. “You waking me with a kiss is much better.”

Bunny’s hand slipped under the Pumas shirt—his shirt—I wore around the house afterborrowingit from him a couple of months ago.

“I’ll keep doing that, then.” He kissed my shoulder and caressed my bare stomach with his fingertips. “I got to go in a few minutes. What are your plans for the day?”

“I’ll pick raspberries for jam. It’s a berry picking day.”

He never understood how I knew and had given up questioning me.

“Are you making more of the raspberry and white chocolate cookies when you can find enough?”

“I wasn’t planning to, but I guess I will.” It was a white lie. Of course I had. They were his favourite. “Pick up some chocolate for me on the way home, please.”

Nikolai plucked the cup from my hands, set it down on the counter next to his, and spun me around.

My body reacted before the rest of me caught on, face tilting up as he palmed my cheeks and kissed me hard.

“Yes, baby boy,” he whispered against my lips. “You are my home. And I am yours.”

THE END