“Everything will be fine.” Mikhail held him tightly and reassured him.
Twenty-Two
Mikhail
The cab ride back was quiet. Mikhail wasn’t sure if Rowan was terrified or excited, but they held on to each other’s hands tightly all the way to his hotel. Mik wanted to be excited. He wanted to scream from the rooftops, yell out loud to anyone who could hear about the fact that Ro might be carrying their child, but he couldn’t do that, mainly because one, he wasn’t sure whether Ro was, in fact, pregnant, and two, he wasn’t certain of his mate’s reaction if he was.
In the lift on the way up to the suite, Ro chewed on his lips like they were his favourite snack. Mik didn’t know what to make of it because he was also nervous—but the excited kind—and he hoped beyond hope Rowan was too.
The ride up was made in silence, but at least Rowan hadn’t stopped Mik when he’d taken his hand as they made their way across the lobby together. That, at least, quelled the initial panic that this could be what had Ro deciding to leave him. When they were standing outside the suite doors, but before he had a chance to get his key out, Ro turned to him, and for the first time since leaving the restaurant, he spoke.
“I know how all the signs point to me being pregnant, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.” There was a worried look in Rowan’s eyes that had Mikhail pulling him closer.
It occurred to him that maybe instead of worrying about what Rowan felt, he should just ask him. He couldn’t keep hiding how he felt or thought, worried that he would scare Rowan off.
“Are you worried about being pregnant because you want to be, or because you don’t?”
Rowan closed his eyes for a moment before replying. “I honestly don’t know. I know that’s not an answer, but there’s a part of me saying ‘don’t get your hopes up,’ and the other part saying, ‘it’s too soon.’ And…” Ro looked away for a moment before meeting and holding Mik’s gaze. “…there’s a part of me wondering if you’ll be upset or disappointed if I’m not. Again.”
That made Mik fall even more in love with Rowan—not that he told him that… not yet.
He lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on Rowan’s lips. “Before we go any further, let me just say that you couldn’t disappoint me. If the goddess has blessed us with a baby, we will be fine, and if she thinks we are not ready, we will still be fine.”
“I’m not getting my hopes up. I know I wasn’t all in on the idea before but...” Rowan shrugged.
“And you are now?”
Rowan didn’t answer immediately, and Mik didn’t realise he was holding his breath until he let it out at Ro’s words.
“All I know is that no one has ever looked at me the way you do.Not ever.”
Mikhail lifted Rowan off his feet and kissed him, and Rowan’s lips softened beneath his. He took it as a cue to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue inside Ro’s mouth, and his mate moaned, melting completely against him. Their tongues slid against each other, Rowan’s retreating and Mik’s chasing after it. Mikhail used his teeth to tug on Rowan’s bottom lip before thrusting his tongue in again. Mik couldn’t help it, his hands lowered and squeezed Rowan’s ass.
He knew the ceiling could cave in at that moment and he would be so caught up in everything that was his mate, he wouldn’t notice.
Rowan groaned and began to thrust against Mik’s hardening length, and Mik broke the kiss, breathing heavy.
“I think we are getting a little sidetracked.”
Rowan’s eyes were blown wide with need.
“We should probably take this inside.” They had completely become sidetracked, but Mik didn’t care. He didn’t put Rowan down as he reached in his pocket for the key card.
“Hold on tight,” he told Ro, and his mate’s legs tightened around his waist.
“I know you want to take it slow...” Mikhail started to say as he held Rowan in his arms after shutting the door behind them.
“Not too slow,” Rowan chimed in, making him chuckle.
Malek was right. Apparently, he just needed to communicate better.
“Okay, let me down.” Rowan wiggled to be let down, but Mikhail tightened his arms around his waist.
“But I like having you in my arms.” Mikhail gave Rowan a mock pout.
“I like being in your arms.” Rowan kissed him, and Mik’s heart caught. Mikhail wasn’t sure why. Ro had kissed him before, but for some reason, something felt different. “But how about we see if you went and got me knocked up. Oh by the way you know you’ve kissed my pukey mouth... a lot.”
Mik’s smile widened further. The fact that Rowan was joking about it, any of it… had his wolf howling, expressing their happiness in a way he couldn’t.
