Chapter 46 #2
“I know,” I say softly. "But you were just so bad at it."
"That's not funny," she says, but her lips twitch. "I was terrified."
"I know," I say, my lips against her hair. "I'm sorry, baby. I wanted to hear you say it. But I couldn’t wait any longer.”
She points at the table. "This is diabolical."
"I know," I say.
"You're a monster," she whispers.
"I am," I agree, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
She looks at me, her eyes searching mine.
"How long have you known?" she asks.
"I picked up your purse last night and caught a glimpse of it," I said. "I didn't want you to have to carry that alone for one more second."
She pulls back a little, her hands braced on my chest. Her expression shifts. The humor fades. The relief fades.
And what’s left is fear again.
Real fear. The kind that sits deep in your bones.
“I’m scared,” she whispers, and the words are so small they almost disappear between us. “Nico, I’m really, really scared.”
I hold her tighter, my arms a solid band around her.
“Of what?” I ask, pressing my lips to her hair.
“Everything,” she says. “My dad. The baby. Us."
"Why us?"
She looks down at her hands on my chest, her fingers tracing a pattern on the fabric of my shirt like she’s trying to find the right words.
“Because this is… huge,” she whispers. “We haven't been together very long. I'm not even really sure that we are together. And I didn't want you to feel trapped."
I tilt her chin up, forcing her to meet my gaze. "Oh, I do feel trapped," I say. "Very much so."
She flinches.
"What do you mean?" she asks, her voice shaking.
"When I found that test yesterday, and I realized that we now have this living, breathing, very permanent thing binding us together, I felt like the luckiest man in the world." I kiss her. "I'm not going anywhere. Not now, not ever."
Tears spill over her lashes.
“You mean that?”
I cup her face, my thumbs stroking her cheekbones.
“I do,” I say.
Her breath catches. A sob escapes, raw and sharp, and she buries her face in my chest again, shaking in my arms.
"You're not mad?" she asks, her voice small. “I just… I don’t want to be a complication.”
I stare at her.
Her face is open and vulnerable in the candlelight. She’s not trying to manipulate me. She’s trying to protect me.
From her.
It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
“Erica,” I say, my voice low. “You think I want an easy life?”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide.
“I want a life that matters,” I continue. “Once that's worth the effort. I want a life that’s real. A life with you. A family. With you. You’re not a complication. You’re the whole damn thing.”
She looks up at me, her tear-streaked face filled with a fragile hope.
"Erica, I love you. I'm in love with you. I have been for a while now. This baby isn't a complication. It's a gift. Our gift."
A single tear rolls down her cheek.
"You love me?" she whispers.
"I do," I say. "So much it feels like a liability sometimes."
Her lips curve into a watery smile.
"I love you, too," she whispers, her fingers tightening on my shirt. "Even when you're a monster."
"Good," I say, and my voice goes dark and dangerous. "Because you were not going to get very far if you didn't." I kiss her again, slow and deep, possessing her with my lips and my tongue. She melts against me, her body soft and pliant in my arms.
"You and this baby," I murmur, "belong to me. And don't you forget it."
She shivers in pleasure, and I already know how wet and achy she is by the way she's straining against me.
"Now," I say softly against her lips. "Let's eat."
"Hmm?" She's practically melting into me, making me smile in smug satisfaction at the way she so easily succumbs to my touch.
I indulge for another minute before I give her a hard smack in the ass, making her jump and yelp.
"I said let's eat. You're eating for two now," I say, my eyes glinting with mischief. "And I have a feeling my baby is going to be just as hungry as her mother."
Her eyes are still full of desire as she tries to shift gears.
"Eat? Eat what?" she asks as I guide her back to the table.
"Sit," I command.
I gesture to David, and he walks out with a covered dome.
Erica looks at me, her head cocked to the side, her curiosity piqued when David sets the platter down.
"Nico," she starts, but I cut her off with a look.
"Patience, Erica."
I take my seat again, where some of the foods she couldn't eat earlier are placed in front of me again. I don't intend to waste such good food just to prove a point.
Once we're settled, I give David a nod. "David, you may reveal the final course," I say.
He lifts the silver dome, and Erica gasps.
On the platter is a feast fit for a queen. Or a pregnant woman, rather.
Chicken wings, fries, onion rings, and a milkshake.
Her face lights up, and she laughs, a real, genuine laugh that makes my chest feel warm.
"You're impossible," she says, her eyes shining.
"I'm a man in love," I say. "Now eat."
She takes a chicken wing and takes a big bite, her eyes closing in pleasure.
"Oh my God," she moans. "This is so good."
"Good," I say, my voice husky with desire. "Eat as much as you want."
"I'm not going to be able to stop," she warns.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
She eats and eats, and I watch her, my heart swelling with love. She's so beautiful, her hair tumbling down her back, her face flushed with pleasure.
I think back to how all this started.
I can still see her standing on the raised platform in front of the crowd of hounds bidding on her. Spend the night with a virgin. That's why most of them had been there.
But I won. I was determined to win. To protect her. To protect my family's reputation.
I was supposed to put her in a car and send her home.
In the end, I took her home with me, and I intend to keep her here.
Forever.