I don’t want to get up and risk losing it—losing this moment of peace and tenderness between us after what we’ve been through. It’s the closest I’ve felt to him in weeks.
Since before I made that controversial decision the night I fled with Mom.
“I filled you up, Nevi,” he muses aloud. He releases my hand to explore with his own. His palm, so giant and heavy, drops tomy flat stomach as if he’s checking to feel a difference. “Soon you’ll be swollen with our child. My legacy.”
“We don’t know when it’ll happen.”
“It’ll be soon. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll fill you up every night. Every morning. Every fucking hour if I have to. One of my little soldiers has to make it. You might already be pregnant.”
“Dr. Tulio and the gynecologist have both checked?—”
“It might be undetectable right now. That’s what enraged me even more about today outside the clinic, bella. You could be carrying our child. And those pieces of shit had the audacity to do what they did.”
“I’m guessing they’re…” I pause for a soft breath. “Not among the living anymore?”
“You’d be guessing correctly. The one that survived the scene will be eliminated later. He’s currently in agony after what I did to him earlier.”
I flinch. “Cael…”
“Nevi, your place is safe at home as my wife and the mother to my children. Your place is not mixed up in all the warring and violence that’s going on between me, my family, Nero, and the Vorones. Do not ever try to protect me. Do not ever try to interfere thinking you’re helping me.”
“But your illness?—”
“Is my burden to bear,” he interrupts sternly. “It isn’t reason for you to be involved in the fight going on.”
Though I vehemently disagree, I bite my tongue for the moment. We’ve finally reached a level of togetherness I’ve missed. I’ll have to figure out another way to convince Caelian I could be an asset. I’ve trained for the majority of my life, not just as a dancer but in espionage and reconnaissance. I was never deployed on any active missions, but I could prove useful as more than his wife and mother to any children we have.
After the life-long deceit I’ve experienced at the hands of Mom, Dad, and Ignazio, a part of me craves revenge. I’m craving the autonomy of being set free from the web of lies.
“You haven’t eaten your chocolate cake.”
I laugh, watching as Caelian sits up and grabs the small plate and fork off the bedside table. He cuts a bite-sized portion with the fork and then brings it to my lips.
It’s delicious. Sweet and rich in the best way. Unsurprising, considering Caelian’s kitchen staff is the best of the best.
Caelian cuts me another bite with the fork and feeds it to me. I hum along as he pampers me with the decadent dessert.
Once the cake is gone, he licks chocolate from my lips using his tongue and teases that it’s the start of more to come. “I’ll feed you your favorite dessert every night when you’re pregnant. You’ll look so fucking beautiful with a swollen belly. Our baby, Nevi.”
His words are wonderfully affectionate and sweet, warming my skin as he kisses me. Due to the deal Mom and Dad made and my contract with the dance company, I’ve always known I’d eventually be married off to a wealthy businessman. I’d go on to have his babies.
It was nothing I looked forward to. Certainly nothing I dreamed of.
But knowing it’ll be Caelian changes everything. It makes me yearn for that kind of future.
“Are you ready for a shower?” Caelian asks minutes later. He’s grinning as he slides a hand along my naked curves. “Let’s use the shower in my bedroom. It’s larger.”
“Which offers more room for… things.”
“You know me well.”
We’re getting up from the bed when fists pound on the door. My eyes snap to his in alarm.
His jaw tics with immediate fury for whoever’s interrupting us.
Caelian wraps the duvet around my shoulders to cover me up and then walks over to the door in the buff. The contrast would be comical if I weren’t so concerned by the frantic knocks on the door. He wrenches it open butt-naked, his girthy appendage out and proud.
From where I am on the bed, I’m offered a glorious view of the rippling muscles on his broad, tattooed back and the firm, round shape of his ass.
