“Natia Lee,” she breathed. “Without even meeting her, I know she was very proud of the boy she raised. And I’m certain she would’ve been extremely proud of the man you’ve become.”
He blinked, staring at her, struck silent.
“You’re beautiful,” she continued. “Your soul is so beautiful, and screw anyone who can’t see it. Who refuses to see it.”
“Mycah.” He clasped her hips. To push her away, draw her closer, he didn’t know.
“No.” Her grip on him tightened. “I’m not finished. You’re brilliant. You’re scary brilliant. And I hope our baby has your brain.” She brushed a kiss over his forehead. “Is the game finished yet? Have you shown it to anyone yet? Have you told your brothers about it?”
“It’s almost done, and no.” He shook his head, leaning back, releasing her. “Cain is a thorough man, so I can’t imagine him not knowing about my past, but I haven’t told either him or Kenan about the game—or me being in jail.”
“Achilles.” She sighed. “They would be your biggest supporters. If you would just let them. And I agree with you. Cain probably knows about your imprisonment. Which means he doesn’t care and has accepted you anyway. Let them in.”
Fear etched a jagged path through him. In spite of his resolve to keep them at arm’s length, the two men had become important to him. He couldn’t bear their rejection. But what if... What if they... Hope glinted underneath the doubt, the dread like a bright penny hidden in freshly turned dirt.
“It’s a lucky person who you let in,” she said, and he narrowed his gaze on her. At the note of—well, on another person, he would’ve called it wistfulness. “They must pass tests that make the ones in your video games look like child’s play.”
He cupped the back of her neck, drew her forward until their lips brushed. Until their breath mated. “Do you want in, Mycah?”
Uncertainty shifted in those mocha eyes, and her lips parted, moved, but no sound emerged. An ache, swift and sharp, sliced his chest but he smiled against her mouth.
“Better question, baby,” he said, arranging her so she straddled him. “Do you want me inside you?”
A beat of hesitation, but she nodded, and he raised the short hem of her nightgown, balling it in one fist, revealing her pretty flesh to his greedy gaze. He lowered his hand between her spread thighs, spearing her folds with his fingers. In seconds, her wet heat bathed him, and they both groaned. She rode his hand, clutching his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin.
“Take me out,” he ordered. “Take what you want.”
She didn’t hesitate this time. Quickly, she complied, and in seconds, she’d freed his cock and notched him at her entrance. Their gazes met, a silent question in her eyes, and he was sure the same occupied his. This was the first time they would have sex since she’d told him about the pregnancy. The damage, so to speak, had been done. They could go bare, and fuck, all he craved in this moment was to have her tight, hot sex squeeze him with nothing separating them.
But it had to be her decision, too.
She nodded. Again.
And it was all he needed.
With a groan that emanated from his gut—hell, his soul—he thrust high and deep inside her. And entered heaven.
And God help him, he never wanted to leave.
Fourteen
“So if you want to look through the presentation I emailed you later for more detail, you can. But to sum up—” Achilles set his tablet on the coffee table and propped his elbows on his thighs as he leaned forward and addressed Cain and Kenan “—Jacobi is a solid investment. It permits the client to manage backup and recovery through a single service. They have a full support team, and it removes the resource drain from the client as well as any significant time for training, leaving the client companies open to focus their attention on other matters.”
“I’m just skimming through the presentation now—” Cain swiped over the screen of his own tablet, frown creasing his brow “—and I’ll pass it on to Marketing and Legal, but I agree with you. And I trust your opinion. Kenan?”
“I looked it over before the meeting.” His younger brother poured more coffee into his cup from the carafe in the center of the table. “Given you’re the expert on this and not me, you still broke it down to make sense. The money saved in time alone would make the return on investment worth it. I’m going with your recommendation.”
“That’s settled, then.” Cain set the tablet down on the table and picked up his own coffee. “Thanks, Achilles, I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. It wasn’t a problem.”
Shock suffused him. Shock and a warmth that originated from a place he couldn’t quickly identify. Probably because he’d never experienced it.
Acceptance.
Trust.
These two men—who shared his DNA but were as different from him as cotton from silk—unconditionally trusted his opinion. Acceptedhim.
