25. Clara
Chapter Twenty-Five
CLARA
Marco’s soft voice comes through the monitor as he sings to Zoe, and it’s so sweet that my heart feels like it’s going to explode.
I climb out of bed and head next door, but I pause in the open doorway when I spy Marco sitting in the rocking chair, cuddling Zoe against him. Her tiny body is nestled into his chest, a bottle long gone in her hand, as she sleeps soundly in Marco’s arms.
If this isn’t the most beautiful, heart-melting thing I’ve ever seen, then I don’t know what is.
Tears prick the corners of my eyes as I lean against the doorframe, watching the two of them.
There’s something so tender in his expression as he looks at our daughter, as if he can’t quite believe that he gets to be her dad. That he gets to love this little girl with every fiber of his being.
And it makes me love him even more.
Without even thinking, my hand slides down to my stomach, resting over the place where a brand-new life is quietly growing inside me.
I know in my heart that Marco is going to be overjoyed at the idea of having another child.
Everything he missed with Zoe, the first time she kicked or the first ultrasound when I could hear her heartbeat, he’ll get to experience it all with this baby, and it will be wonderful to share those experiences with him this time around.
I clear my throat softly, making my presence known, and Marco glances up and gives me a smile.
“Hey, I thought you were asleep,” he says softly so as not to wake Zoe.
“I was, but I heard Zoe on the monitor, and I came to check…” My eyes flick down to our daughter. “You’re amazing with her, you know that?”
Marco’s smile widens as he brushes a curl from Zoe’s forehead.
“She’s been asleep for a while now, but I just can’t bring myself to put her back in the crib yet.”
He looks back at me, and there’s a rawness in his eyes, something that makes my heart swell and ache all at once.
“We made this,” he murmurs, like it still surprises him.
“We sure did.” I take a slow step into the room.
My hand still rests on my stomach as it flutters with nerves, but I figure now is a better time than any to tell Marco that I’m pregnant.
“What if I told you we made an encore?”
His brows furrow slightly as he looks at me, but then the words click, and his expression changes to one of utter amazement.
“Are you serious?” he breathes, rising slowly from the chair so as not to jostle Zoe too much. “You’re…you’re pregnant?”
I nod as a rogue tear slips down my cheek. “The doctor confirmed it today. That’s what’s been making me so sick.”
“Clara…”
“I know it’s a complete surprise, but?—”
Marco turns his back on me to put Zoe down in the crib, all without saying a word. For the briefest moment, I fear he might be upset, but before the thought can fully form, he’s crossing over to me and wrapping me up in his arms.
“Marco.” I wrap my legs around his waist and let him carry me out of the room.
“You’re pregnant,” he murmurs in my ear, as if he can’t quite believe it.
“I know.”
He carries me next door to our bedroom.
I need to know. “Are you happy about this?”
Marco sets me down on the bed and crawls over me, caging me inside his strong arms as he looks down at me with such love and adoration that I can’t stop myself from crying.
“I can’t think of anything I want more than to have another child with you, love.” He bends down to kiss me.
His touch is gentle and grounding, and I wrap my arms around his neck to pull him closer, needing to feel the warmth and strength of his body.
“Are you happy?”
I nod, my throat too thick with emotion to speak. “I can’t believe we’re having another baby.”
Marco pulls back and rests a hand against my lower stomach, looking down at me with such adoration in his eyes that it makes me cry even more.
“Clara, this is such incredible news!” He laughs as he slides his hand beneath my shirt so he can press it against my bare skin. “But I’m sorry it’s making you so sick.”
“It’s worth it,” I say through the tears and Marco bends down to press a kiss to my stomach.
“We must be really good at making babies.” He chuckles, his breath tickling my skin.
“I think we might want to keep up with practice, though. Wouldn’t want to lose our expertise.”
Marco’s brows shoot up as he looks up at me. “Oh, yeah?”
“You know…just in case.”
Marco crawls back up my body until he settles himself between my thighs.
“Practice makes perfect.” He kisses me deeply.
My body melts against his touch, and I part my lips to give him better access to my mouth.
His answering moan as his tongue strokes against mine has my entire body coming alive with pleasure as he moves his hips, and he is hard and ready against my core.
“Marco.” A familiar ache starts to build between my legs.
“What do you need, Clara?”
A frustrated cry escapes me as I try to move beneath Marco, desperate for any amount of friction.
“I need you to fuck me.”
Marco smiles against my lips before pulling back and ripping his shirt off in one swift motion.
The sight of his muscular chest and abdomen is enough to make my pussy pulse.
He’s so beautiful it hurts, and I want nothing more than to have him buried deep inside me.
“With what, love?” A smirk tugs at his lips. “Do you want my cock?”
I swallow a moan as he palms his cock over his pants, but I shake my head. As desperate as I am for him to claim me, there’s something else I want first.
“No? Then tell me what you want, love.”
“Your mouth on my pussy.”
Marco’s dark eyes flash with desire. “Your wish is my command.” He practically growls as he tugs at the waistband of my pajama pants.
At the first lick of his tongue along my core, I can’t help but cry out with pleasure.
My body is incredibly sensitive and hyper aware of every touch, every kiss that Marco gives me.
I am completely at his mercy, and he knows it from the way he’s torturing me with his tongue.
“It turns me on so fucking much that our baby is growing inside you,” He presses a hand down on my abdomen as he pumps his tongue inside me. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any sexier.”
My cheeks flush at his words, and I grow slicker between my thighs as his tongue explores me.
“Getting to watch your body change and swell as you grow my child inside you… Fuck, I won’t be able to get enough of you, Clara.”
My hands reach beneath my top to cup my breasts, and I rub my thumbs back and forth over my hard nipples.
“I think you like it too from how fucking wet you are.” Marco licks and sucks at my pussy. “I think you like the fact that everyone will know I’ve claimed you.”
“I’m all yours.” I writhe beneath Marco’s touch, so desperate for release already.
What I’m feeling now is a far cry from how I felt when I was pregnant with Zoe. I felt bloated and swollen, and I found the idea of a man coming anywhere near me repulsive.
But the way Marco is worshiping my body empowers me.
“You’re mine.” He wraps his lips around my clit, working me so well that my orgasm hits me out of nowhere.
His name spills from my lips as I come, and Marco eagerly continues to lick my pussy until I have to take his face in my hands and bring his attention elsewhere, the ache already starting to build once more.
“Fuck me, Marco. I need you to fill me.”
Marco screws his eyes shut for a moment, his face a picture of agony as he reaches down to squeeze his cock. But then he climbs off the bed, and I watch in awe as he strips out of his pants and reveals himself fully to me.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the sight of Marco kneeling naked before me, with his cock fully erect.
I take in the slick head. “Please.”
“I’m here, love.” He climbs back on top of me. “I’m right here.”
I cling to him as the tip of his cock nudges my entrance, clawing at his back and digging my heels into the hard muscles of his ass, silently begging him to move.
“Clara…” Marco sinks his cock inside me with one thrust of his powerful hips.
I gasp as he stretches me, but he doesn’t give me time to adjust before he’s sliding his cock out of my slick pussy.
“Well done, love.” He kisses along my neck.
“You feel so good.”
“Your pussy was made for me.” He sucks on my earlobe.
I gasp at the sensation, and Marco chuckles.
“Your entire body was made for me.”
A whimper escapes me as Marco lifts himself up and places his hands on my knees, spreading them even wider so he can take me in.
“So beautiful.” He watches his cock slide back into me. “You’re taking me so well, love.”
“More.”
Marco grins.
“So needy today.” He chuckles as he slows his pace down until he’s barely moving.
I let out a cry of frustration, but it soon turns to a moan as he thrusts his hips and fills me up once more.
My back arches off the bed, his cock hitting me so deep I can barely catch my breath.
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” He reaches up to cup one of my breasts. “I love that everyone will know I’ve claimed you.”
Marco pumps his hips faster.
“Yes.” I move my hips, trying to match his brutal pace.
“That I was the one to spill inside you.”
“ Yes !”
“And I’m going to do it again and again, Clara. I’m going to fill you up so damn good.”
My body is almost completely limp with pleasure as Marco takes what he needs from me.
His eyes stay locked on mine, our breathing heavy and our bodies slick with sweat, as we both chase our release.
The moment I climax, Marco shudders, and his cock pulses inside me as he comes, spilling into me with such force that his release trickles down the inside of my thigh.
“Oh, fuck,” he chokes as he continues to pump his hips, giving me every last drop.
“Keep going.” I grind my hips against him, my pussy still pulsing with the aftermath of my release.
Marco offers me a lazy smile as he continues to move inside me. “Oh, I intend to.”
Despite the intense sex and multiple orgasms, I’m still wide awake and no closer to sleep.
I look at Marco’s lying form beside me. “Are you awake?”
“Mmm…” Marco tightens his arm around me, pulling me against his chest.
I run my fingers over his abdomen, tracing the lines of his muscles, loving the way his skin pebbles beneath my touch.
“Are you okay with this? The timing, I mean.”
Marco shifts beside me, and I look up to see him staring down at me with a look of disbelief on his face. “Are you kidding? This is the best news I’ve ever gotten.”
“But my course?—”
“You can still do your course. We’ll figure it out, Clara. We always do.”
I nod, though there’s still a little knot in my stomach.
It’s not just balancing school with a newborn and a toddler that I’m worried about. It’s everything else.
While this life that Marco has given me and Zoe has been a gift, I can’t help but see it as a curse.
I love him more than anything, yet the constant fear that I could lose him at any moment is almost too much to bear.
A buzz sounds nearby, and Marco reaches over the side of the bed for his pants.
I watch him closely as he pulls out his phone, noticing the way his brow furrows as he reads the message on the screen.
He might think I don’t notice, but I do. Something has clearly been bothering him, and I have a right to know what it is.
I press my hand against his back. “Marco. Talk to me.”
He glances over his shoulder at me, the muscles in his back shifting as he exhales.
“Whatever it is, I want to know. You promised that we wouldn’t keep things from each other.”
His dark eyes search my face, as if he’s mentally deciding whether or not to tell me the truth.
I refuse to look away. Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean he needs to shield me from the realities of his world.
Marco moves to lie back against the pillows, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as he exhales through his nose. “It’s Cillian. He called in the favor.”
I sit up slowly at the mention of Cillian’s name. “What kind of favor?”
Marco looks at me, and the flash of anger in his eyes makes me shiver. “He wants me and Andre to collect a group of women that were smuggled into the country and drive them to a secret location.”
“That’s it?”
“Supposedly.”
“Supposedly… So, you don’t believe that.”
Marco’s jaw clenches. “He said the women will be working off their debt.”
My stomach churns, and this time it’s not from pregnancy sickness. “You mean like sex work?”
He nods, his expression dark. “They have no choice, and Cillian said it could be anywhere between weeks or years until they’re free.
But I don’t believe that for a second. I think once they’ve served their purpose, their freedom is not their reward.
More likely, they’ll be disposed of in order to keep them quiet for good. ”
“Oh, my God…” My hand flies to my mouth.
Marco’s fists are clenched tight. “Cillian sees them as currency. Nothing more.”
For a moment, I’m too stunned to speak.
Those poor women, scared and alone in a foreign country, forever indebted to someone like Cillian…
“Let me be there.”
“What?”
“When you bring the women in, let me be there with you. You said it yourself that they’re going to be terrified, and I think I can help to make it easier. Besides, they’ll trust me more than they’ll ever trust you.”
“Clara…” He reaches out to touch my stomach, but I bat his hand away.
“I’m not weak, Marco.”
“I never said you were.” He sits up and takes my hands in his. “Love, you’re the strongest person I know.”
“But…”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop wanting to protect you, especially when you’re carrying my child.”
My skin prickles at his words.
I love that he’s so protective of me and this baby, but I also want to shoulder some of this burden too.
“You don’t need to do this alone, Marco.” I squeeze his hands. “Let me help you.”
Marco opens his mouth to speak, but when he sees the determination on my face, he closes it once more. He knows me well enough by now to know how stubborn I can be and that I’m not going to back down.
“Fine. You can come, but you stay with Andre at all times. You don’t leave his side. And if at any point, it’s too much, I want you to promise me that you’ll walk away.”
“Okay.”
“I need you to promise me, Clara.” His face is stern.
“I promise.”
In my head, I’m already trying to prepare for what’s to come.
Because this isn’t just about helping these women escape from a life of sex work. It’s about fighting for the kind of world I want our children to grow up in.
A world where people like Cillian Moore don’t get to win.