“I… I…” I struggle to find my voice. The words are hoarse, and I lick my lips.
“You’re pregnant?” he says, looking at the scan and then locking eyes with me. His expression is still unreadable, a muscle in his jaw flicking. I nod my head. There’s no way to deny it. And why would I? “But how…” he begins, and then trails off. I don’t have the answer to that. He’d been so adamant that I should be on birth control.
Oh, God…
“Dario, I’m so sorry,” I whisper. My stomach’s tightened into a knot. “I don’t know…” I don’t really have an answer. As Andy had said, no birth control is a hundred percent guaranteed. And we’ve had so much sex…my God, even now I want him.
I pinch my lips together, waiting for him to say something. And then he’s sinking onto his knees beside the bed. He slides his arms around me and pulls me to his chest, gathering me against him.
“Jesus,” he murmurs, the sound muffled as he buries his face in the curve of my neck. “You’re going to have my baby…” His voice is strangled. When he draws away and stares at me again, there’s a glitter in his eye that seems entirely out of character for Dario Caraldi. A tear falls, and I stare at him in astonishment.
“Two,” I say, the word coming out on a sob. He shakes his head slightly, as if not understanding. “Twins,” I add. I feel a slight shudder against me, and I’m not quite sure what it is until I realize that he’s chuckling.
“Two!” he chokes out a disbelieving laugh. “We’re having twins?”
“Yes,” I’m teary-eyed, my throat so constricted I can barely speak.
“Fuck… Holy fuck!” He’s still shaking his head, his arms banded so tightly around me I can barely breathe. As if suddenly becoming aware of it, he releases me abruptly, rising and setting me back against the wide bank of pillows. He straddles me, hovering over me as his eyes run down my chest to the curve of my belly. And then he’s tugging at the buttons of my dress, pulling the front of it open and running his fingertips down my ribcage, tracing over my skin. He looks up at me again, as his hands explore my curves. And he grins.
“My babies are growing in here?” he murmurs. I nod silently, staring at him. He moves down my body and dips his head, pressing his lips to my belly. My heart stutters. “Hello, babies,” he whispers into my flesh. It sends a shiver right through me. He pulls the dress off me completely, leaving me in nothing more than a white lace bra and panties. He strokes the fabric, almost reverently.
“Thank you,” he whispers up at me. “This gift…so precious…” I choke on a sob. I’ve been so terrified of sharing this news. If I’d known this would be his response, I’d have told him at once. “You’ve known a while,” he says, as if reading my mind. I nod, still silent. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I…I was afraid,” I admit. He breathes out sharply, his breath hissing through flared nostrils.
“Never be afraid of me, Nikki,” he says fiercely, reaching up to cup my cheek. I lick my lips, feeling how my mouth as gone dry. “You are more precious to me than my own life…” He’s staring at me in wonder. “And now, even more. I’m not going to be like that fucker who raised me,” he says. “I’m going to be the best father to them that I can be.” I see his throat work. “I never knew what it would feel like,” he strokes my belly again, “to know my life was growing in someone else.”
I frown at him. “But Dani…?”
He shakes his head. “He’s not mine,” he says. I blink in surprise. “No…he’s mine, of course. But I never made him.” His focus is back on my belly, fingertips moving in ways that are leaving me breathless. I feel my nipples pucker, heat building between my thighs. “He’s going to be so excited to know he has brothers…sisters…” He barks out a laugh. “Jesus! Twins!”
“But Dani’s mother?” I’m still confused, wanting answers, despite the demands my body is beginning to make. I want him so badly. But I want to know these things too.
He gives a shrug. “Fucking crack whore,” he mutters. “A stupid fling at a party years ago. Arrived on my doorstep with Dani and said he was mine. Tests confirmed that it was bullshit. But it didn’t matter. He’s mine in all the ways that matter.”
“But where is she now?” I ask. It had seemed odd to me how quickly she’d disappeared after Dani’s birthday party, and no word from her since.
He gives a wry laugh. “I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re thinking, Nikki. I don’t do that anymore, remember?”
Oh God, if he doesn’t stop doing what he’s doing with his hands, I’m going to go up in flames. When his runs his fingertips down my lace-covered mound, I feel my hips bob up as if of their own accord.
“So…so what did she…?” I’m trying to get the words out and I can tell he’s not delighted to be discussing the woman now.
“I got her a place in Greece and put a million dollars in a bank account for her,” he says brusquely. “It should keep her away for a while. Though the stupid bitch will probably drug herself to death.” He stands abruptly and I want to whimper. Is he annoyed with me for harping on about this?
But then I see he’s simply standing so he can kick off his shoes and unzip his trousers. I lick my still-dry lips at the sight of him naked beside me.
Dear Lord, just looking at this man still takes my breath away. And now my eyes linger on his chest.
“What’s that?” I say frowning at a palm-sized circle of dark ink about his left nipple. I sit slightly and trace fingertip over it. A compass. The “N” of North is bold against his skin. Encircling the bottom of the compass, the words “Amore Puro” are etched in red.
“For you,” he says. “My True North, my moral compass…I was planning to surprise you,” he adds, his lips quirking ruefully. “Though you pretty much trumped me.”
I feel myself grin. He’s back on the bed, straddling me again as he unclasps the front opening of my bra. His eyes are hot enough to burn as he frees the flesh of my breasts. Though I’m not sure if I can decide what’s making me burn hotter now – the way he’s thumbing my nipples, or the thick shaft of his cock that’s brushing against my lower belly.
Jesus…he’s hard as a rock. I arch my back, reveling in the warmth of his hands on my breasts as I press my mound up toward him. His breath hisses out, his eyes moving over the flesh spilling over his palms.
“Ohhh…” he groans out. “These are going to get bigger.” He’s grinning at me again. “I fucking love that!” He takes a nipple in his mouth, and I gasp. His mouth moves to my other nipple and the zing of pleasure sparks between the two. It’s like electricity crackling through me, shooting down to my clit like a tiny earth tremor. My breath begins to hitch.
