I wasn’t sure I could handle a child who would eventually become a vampire.
The popping sound severed my thoughts when Sam tore the doorknob off. He swaggered in like an ethereal being, six plus feet of sexiness on a damn stick.Shut the fuck up, brain. Get your mind out of the gutter.
That crooked grin of his along with his forest-green eyes, which seemed darker in the light of the bathroom, sent waves of heat to my belly. Who was I kidding? My lady parts were drooling to have him inside me.
Shut the hell up, brain! I’m supposed to be mad at him. He did this to me.A crazy laugh thundered in my head.It takes two, darling.
He swept his gaze over the sea of boxes surrounding me.
Sam picked up one pregnancy stick. “Mm.” Then he examined another.
My arms were numb from hugging my knees to my chest. “They’re all positive.”
“I see that.” He joined me on the floor and kicked out his muscular jean-clad legs. He seemed out of place in the small bathroom.
Silence ensued as we each fixated on something ahead of us, which for me was the toilet paper. I smiled as a memory surfaced of when my sisters and I were just barely teenagers with rebellious streaks.
“Come on, Lay,” Rianne whined. “I want to TP her house. She’s such a bitch.”
“Yeah,” Jordyn had chimed in. “It will be fun. And I don’t like Kari, either. She stuck a dead rat in Taylor’s locker.”
I would have given anything to go back to happier days when life was simpler than it had become. A tear slid down my face. I hated that Sam was witnessing a weaker side of me. But the tears wouldn’t stop. “Jordyn is heading to Chicago for a job interview, Rianne hates me, and I want my mom.” I sounded so pitiful. I had no idea why I was telling him all that.
“I wish I would’ve known my mom.”
The pain in his voice made my own heart hurt, but underneath that—shock. The vampire had feelings, strong ones, for his mom. Not that Sam hadn’t given me glimpses of a softer and caring side of him. He’d all but begged me not to return to Montana. He’d shown up to protect me for fear that Roman would kidnap me. He’d texted me nonstop and tried to check on me. He would die for his sister. He didn’t just talk a big game. His actions definitely showed who he was, despite whatever stupid shit that came out of his mouth.
His hand slid over to settle on my thigh. I had yet to take a shower. I was still in an ugly hospital gown. Blood was caked in my hair. I probably smelled like a dead cat, and I needed a pedicure.
He rubbed a path up and down my leg. “Want me to take a shower with you?”
I snorted, and spit sprayed out. “Are you in my head?” Surely, he couldn’t read my mind. That wasn’t his specialty. “And how can you think about sex?”
“Who said anything about sex?” He sounded appalled that I would say such a thing.
My eyes widened at his profile—sharp jaw, patrician nose, and a five-o’clock shadow that was more than a shadow. My hand was on the move before my brain caught up with my actions. As soon as I touched his face, he leaned in and moaned.
Oh, for all that was holy. The man—the vampire—would be my undoing.
I traded his jaw for the hand he had on my leg. I interlaced my fingers with his, and minutes ticked by as a calming silence hung over us. As much as I had no idea what tomorrow or the next nine months would bring, I knew one thing—I would forever be tied to Sam, and at that moment, I was beginning to realize that might not be so bad. He was protective. He loved hard, at least according to Harley. Oh my. When the strawberry blonde found out I was pregnant, she would be giddy.
“How’s Harley?” I asked.
He whipped his gaze at me. “We’re pregnant, and you want to talk about Webb’s assistant?”
“Let’s get one thing straight, vampire. I’m pregnant. Not you.” Just articulating that out loud made me shiver. “She’s my friend. Friends ask about each other.”
Before I could take a breath, he lifted me up onto his lap as though I was light as a feather. He curled my hair behind my ear before his calloused fingers danced down my neck to settle on my carotid artery.
“Are you hungry?” Normally, his eyes changed from green to silver when hunger struck or his emotions changed. But he was still in human form, no fangs or anything.
“I want to taste you.” He traded my neck for my inner thigh and circled a spot he wanted to sink his fangs into. “But here.” Then his fingers lightly brushed my clit. “And here.”
I quivered as lust consumed me then I flattened my palms on his face. “Why am I drawn to you?”
He propped his head against the wall, grinning. “You tell me.” I thought he would answer with some snarky remark about his blood or being a god among gods, but his tone had a curious lilt to it.
I brushed my fingers over his lips. “I like these on me. Your eyes are mesmerizing, especially when they change colors.” I shifted my gaze back and forth, studying him and thinking.
