Claiming The Prize (29 page)

Removing the single sheet of paper
from her clutches, Carson set it aside and held his arms out to his
daughter.

“
Come here my naughty
little Kady-did.”

Kadence ignored his offer, grabbing
Drago's cheek with one hand and pointing with the other.

“
Up!”
she
exclaimed.

A weary smile spread across Carson's
mouth.

“
I'm afraid you've made
friends with an inexhaustible playmate.
Here, I'll take her.
But
thanks again.
At least this time she didn't rip up my trainee's
schedule.”

Drago chuckled.
He tossed the barely
there weight of her again, rewarded with her deep belly laugh of
sheer joy.

“
I believe you have a
daredevil in this one,” Drago noted wryly, relinquishing her to her
father.

“
God help me!
I think
you're right,” Carson answered with a shake of his head.

Silence threatened an awkward moment
before Drago spoke again.

“
Grace would probably be
happy to take her out for the afternoon.”

He let the words linger in the air as
he headed back to the mat to resume his training.
From the balcony
overhead, Grace watched in pleased silence.
The men had found
peace.

Chapter 19

Sparring was out of the question.
It
had been for some time, and Grace, unable to sit idly, had taken up
yoga.
Peeking through her legs as she held the downward facing dog
position, she welcomed her husband cheerily.

“
Hey there, stranger!
Are
you finished for the day?”

“
Even if I were not, the
sight of you in such a tempting fashion would make it so,” he
commented in a deep, silky tone.

Coming up behind her, he wrapped his
arms around her waist.

“
Are you attempting to
distract me?”
she jested.

“
I
am
distracting you,” he replied
honestly as his hands roved her bottom.

Releasing the pose, she sank to the
yoga mat.
The peach t-shirt and leggings clung to her, outlining
her trim body, the growing belly resembling a ball stuffed under
her shirt.

“
You become sexier by the
day, milovany,” he husked, continuing his wandering
perusal.

“
Do you appreciate the
expectant form so much then?”
she questioned
mischievously.

“
Only when it is by my
doing, moja
ž
ena.”

Peeling the clothing from her, Drago
kissed his way along her exposed skin, raising gooseflesh beneath
his heated breath.

“
Go to our room, milovnik.
I'll join you in a minute.”

She retreated, casting the remaining
articles of her clothing to the floor as she went.

Drago turned on the gas fireplace to
banish the late October chill from the house and followed the
seductive trail.
He burned with desire, his arousal in full
evidence beneath the thin material of his pants as he entered their
bedroom.

Lounging on her side with a pillow
hugged in her arms, Grace's partially revealed nakedness drew him
closer as a moth to flame.
Easing onto the bed, Drago brushed the
hair from her face, trailing kisses over her jawline.
He progressed
slowly, concerned that in her condition he may cause her
discomfort.
Teasing her flesh with his mouth, his hands possessed
her, his touch commanding yet tender until she writhed with
pleading whimpers for more.
He groaned, feeling her hands tug his
shirt over his head before they pushed him away.
Waiting, Drago
watched her rise to her knees, freeing his aching arousal from the
confines of his clothing and running her hand over his length.
He
slanted his mouth over hers, grinding his body against her,
growling as she edged him to the brink of his control.

He could wait no longer.
Drago eased
her knees apart, the thick head of his erection seeking entrance to
her honeyed sheath.

“
Gracie,” he ground out,
“I want you,
ž
ena, so badly, but I don't want to hurt you or the
baby.”

His dark eyes searched hers, the ache
in his body made plain in his tortured expression, but he found
only shining softness in her returning gaze.

“
Lie back, love.
All is
well,” she assured him.

He did as she asked, thinking she
meant to ease his body with her mouth, and he closed his eyes and
cursed himself inwardly for his selfish desires when his wife was
so encumbered with his child.
Startling as she moved over him, his
eyes flew open as her lips covered his and her lush body slid down
his throbbing erection.
Pleasure gripped him, and he could not stop
his hips from thrusting upward to meet her sweet
descent.

Her moans of encouragement silenced
his fears, her body's rhythm leading him to follow.
Grasping her
hips, he held her from sinking fully onto him, thrusting into her
from beneath when she cried out in need.
Discovering a new
sensuality in watching her claim his body, Drago gloried in her
pleasure, feeling her tighten deliciously around his length as she
climaxed.
Grace tumbled into ecstasy, the waves of her fulfillment
gripping him fiercely, milking his seed from him.
He plunged into
her, his growl drowning out her cooing cries as they surrendered to
one another's love.

Later, in front of the roaring fire,
Grace reclined against Drago's chest contentedly as he caressed her
swollen belly.
The familiar kicks and rolls of the child within her
seemed completely natural to Grace in this late stage of her
pregnancy, and she laughed affectionately at her husband's
fascination with watching patiently for his or her next movement.
His hands would create gentle pressure as he informed her, “I'm
going to wake up the baby.”

“
Let's see how you feel
about it when the baby returns the favor by waking you up
throughout the night,” she retorted.

His low rumble of mirth rippled
through her.

“
I will bear the revenge
without complaint, I assure you.
However, your father may not
appreciate his fighter dozing off between sparring
sessions.”

“
No, I suppose not,” she
giggled at the thought.
“We do need to do some shopping, Drago.
We
are very ill prepared parents.”

Her teasing tone brought another
chuckle from Drago's throat.

“
Yes,
ž
ena.
I stand shamed before
you.”

He paused, the easy silence offering a
quiet peace as they stared into the firelight.

“
I always thought our
child would be born in Slovakia,” he said, breaking the
silence.

“
I did too,” she murmured
her agreement.
“But I think God has used all that happened to give
my father the gift of being near to welcome his first grandchild
and form a connection he would have missed out on had we returned
home.”

She covered his hand.

“
Are you disappointed,
love?”

The press of his lips near her ear
sent a tingling down her spine.

“
Nie, milovany.
As long as
our child is born safely, it would not matter to me if we were in
Siberia.”

“
Our child...We keep
referring to our child.
It's time we discuss a name for the baby,”
she announced.

“
Do you have any in
mind,
ž
ena?”

“
Well, if it is a girl, I
would like you to consider Elleni, after my mother.”

“
This is a good name.
Elleni Sarai it will be.
But I must confess to you, Grace, I
believe you carry my son this time.”

“
This time?”
she
exclaimed, laughing in feigned protest.
“What makes you think there
will be a next time?”

His seductive, gravelly voice at her
ear bespoke his utter confidence in his reply.

“
Because I cannot keep my
hands off you, moja
ž
ena, and you wouldn't have it any other way.”

Mmm, you know me too well, husband.
Perhaps I should be more mysterious in the future.”

Again he murmured in her
ear.

“
And what would you have
me name our son?”

She quieted, considering her
response.

“
If we have a son, you
should name him.”

* * *

Daily Drago gained strength and
stamina, and by the nearing of Christmas month's mid-point, he was
training at pre-fight capacity.

“
Push yourself!
Come on!
One more rep,” Ike encouraged, hovering over the weight
bench.

Arms shaking with strain, the Slovak
lowered the bar and pressed it toward the ceiling a final time, the
audible hiss of air rushing from his mouth.

“
That's it.
You got it
up!”

The bar clanked heavily against the
steel rack.
A few heaving breaths later, Drago sat up, toweling the
sweat from his head.

“
Down some water, Drago,
before we drill the bag.”

Drago followed orders, smiling to
himself.
Allen Eisenhower was the epitome of a boot camp drill
sergeant, but the man had a talent for producing men of iron.
Doing
as the man wanted was the surest way to be at the top of his game.
And Souva was waiting.

Jogging to the heavy bag, Drago
dropped to the mat and began the cycle.
Twenty push-ups, then up on
his feet to kick the bag on one of the three strike zones, drop
back to the mat, up-kick twice, roll through and begin again.
Eight
times he completed the process, then he maneuvered the obstacle
course which ran the length of the room on the left of the bag's
alcove.
Heaving the fifty pound medicine ball overhead five times,
he dropped it to the mat and sprinted the twenty-five meters to the
opposite end.

Ike clicked the stopwatch and barked,
“Go,” beginning two minutes of heavy punching on another
bag.

Upon hearing the signal to stop, Drago
hiked his knees to his chest in a series of burst jumps before
sprawling to the mat.
The entire cyclical event was repeated time
and again, and Drago's muscles burned with a desire for
reprieve.

Denying the pain, the fatigue, he
relentlessly urged his body to give one more jump, one more kick,
one more minute, until Ike's hand clasped his shoulder.

“
That's a wrap, Zadrovec,
Run through a cool down and hit the shower.”

Soaked in sweat, Drago hopped on the
treadmill.
A jog commenced, slowing to a brisk walk at five
minutes, and slowing further over the final five.
Humming with
energy, his body flooded with endorphins, Drago headed for the
locker room.

A shower was going to feel
fantastic.

Carson was dressing as Drago entered,
and the men acknowledged one another with a nod.
Peeling the sodden
t-shirt and shorts from his body, Drago stepped into the shower
stall's cooling spray, letting the jetted water massage his weary
muscles in gratitude before his hurried lather and rinse.
He was
ready to go home.
Tonight, he and Grace were going to set up the
crib in the newly renovated nursery and put up the Christmas
tree.

A mere week or two from now, we will
welcome our son, but I must not spoil the surprise.

The visit to Dr.
Haviland the week
before had been most enlightening.
Grace had a routine sonogram at
the hospital the previous week, and Dr.
Haviland had requested a
DVD copy.

“
Be warned you two.
If you
watch the DVD, the baby's sex is revealed at the bottom of the
screen, so if you don't want to know, don't watch!”

Amusement had twinkled in his old
eyes.

“
There's a fine temptation
for you to wrestle with.”

Drago hadn't wrestled a minute before
knowing his answer.
He would watch it, of course.
But Grace had
other ideas.
She didn't want to ruin the surprise of the moment,
and because of that, he indulged her with purchases of yellow,
white, and green for the nursery when what he wanted was to shout
from the roof tops.

It's a boy!

And order a wrestling singlet in
infant small.

In fact, he held two secrets in his
heart, the other being his son's name.
No matter how she pressed
him, he told her in no uncertain terms that he would only reveal
his name if the occasion called for it.
He knew the suspense drove
her to distraction, and he was enjoying it.