Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Ivy
Waking up to warmth surrounding me, I snuggle deeper into Reaper. With my ribs bruised and my body still healing, I’d slept most of the night on my back. I don’t know what time Reaper finally came back from handling whatever it is he needed to take care of.
I love the way he holds me close, even with me lying on my back.
Reaper curls around me, our legs tangled together, one arm laying gingerly over my stomach and the other under my pillow curling around my shoulders.
Even with us laying like this, Reaper’s head is still a head above mine, and my face cocked to the side is in his chest.
If I weren’t hurt, I know our sleeping arrangements would be slightly different.
I would more or less be sleeping on top of him with my head resting on his chest. Most likely, his cock would be inside me.
Reaper usually slides inside me sometime in the night if his cock isn’t already seated within my channel.
“Morning, Precious,” Reaper grumbles, his deep voice pulling me from my thoughts before I can go any further. I miss having him inside me. I already know he won’t fuck me again until the doctor tells him it’s safe.
Tilting my head, I smile at Reaper and kiss his jawline. “Morning.”
“You have a good time with your friends yesterday?” he asks, tilting his own head to meet my gaze.
“Yes, I did. What time did you come back in?” I ask, wondering how he can be so alert this morning.
“Late,” he grunts and pulls back slightly in order to brace himself up on an elbow. “You wanna tell me what was up with the song you had playing on repeat last night?”
Um.
I forgot about that.
I’d fell asleep with the song Sutton sent me on repeat. Meaning he would have heard the song when he came into the room.
A blush creeps up my cheeks, and I’m slightly embarrassed. I haven’t told Reaper about my fears yet, and I don’t know how he will react to them.
“It was just a good song.” I try to brush it off.
“Yeah, it is a good song, but why did you play it on repeat until I turned it off?”
Sighing, I reach up and trail a finger on his chest, brushing it through his chest hair. Reaper isn’t one of those men who shave their chest, but he doesn’t have to. The hair on his chest isn’t bushy or anything like that. I like to touch and play with his chest hair when I have time.
“Sutton sent the song to me to listen to because I was scared.”
“What has you scared, baby?”
Closing my eyes, I do my best to keep the tears at bay. “I’m scared I won’t be a good mom. That you’ll change your mind about being with me. That I might turn out like my mom and run away from being a parent . . .”
“Stop right there, Ivy,” Reaper says firmly, interrupting me. “Open your eyes,” he commands. I do as he tells me and lock eyes with him, trying not to let the tears threatening to spill to fall. “You’re nothing like your mother. You wanna know why?”
“Why?” I croak out, barely able to talk.
“Because, Precious, that bitch didn’t raise you.
Your dad did. He raised you to be a strong independent woman.
You are going to be a great mom, and you would never run out on your family like she did.
I see it in your eyes. The loss of the sense of family.
You want that back, and I intend to give it to you.
As for me changing my mind, Ivy, that ain’t gonna happen.
If I didn’t want you right here where you are, I wouldn’t have put you here.
I wouldn’t still feel the dread of nearly losing you. ”
Tears start to fall and Reaper lifts a hand to brush them away.
“Don’t cry,” he mutters.
“I can’t help it,” I whisper, my breath hitching as I try to catch it.
Reaper’s right. I do feel that loss and want it back.
I want that feeling with him. With the child he and I had created.
We still barely know each other, but I know I want to be with him.
This is good since the man already holds my heart in his hands, and I don’t want to ever lose him.
“I’m here and promise you now, you won’t lose me. Not without a fight. I’ll die before I allow anyone to hurt you again. I won’t allow anyone to take you or our child away. I want you, Ivy. I want you as my woman, my ol’ lady. And I intend to put a ring on your finger and make it legal.”
“Is that your way of proposing?” I ask breathlessly.
“No, baby, I’m not asking. I’m telling you.
Told you that day in the office you were mine, and I won’t be letting anything come between us.
” He grins and leans down to press his mouth to mine, laying a kiss to them that feels heavenly.
“You’re my world, Ivy,” he says, with each word his lips brush against mine.
“You’re mine as well, Daniel.” I use his name rather than calling him Reaper at this moment. It’s just him and me in here, and that means he’s not the big bad President of the Satan’s Keepers MC with me. He’s only the man who holds my heart.
Even out of this room, he’s just this man to me.
The only difference is he’s Reaper. A man who is feared by others, but allows me close to his heart and keeps me close.
Keeping Reaper as mine is something I never thought would be possible, but he is, and in return, he’s keeping me as his. I couldn’t be happier.
Pressing my lips firmly to his, I deepen the kiss further. We might not be able to do anything else right now, but I can show him with this action just how much he means to me.