I’m sure she’d like a few minutes of privacy, but I can’t bring myself to give them to her.
Joaninha huffs, finally giving up, and lets the blanket drop to the side, her full breast exposed save for the back of César’s head blocking my view of her nipple.
She visibly swallows and won’t meet my gaze. It’s fucking adorable. Not that the thought should be running through my head. I’ve cooled off some since last night but I still can’t shake the feeling that she did this on purpose. That she didn’t think I was good enough for our son or that being a shifter is what made her keep him from me. I hate that.
“You good?” I ask. Not that I should care, but seeing her feed our son, take care of him, it awakens something primal inside of me. Fire burns in my throat as she turns her head and meets my stare head on, while want flickers in the recesses of my mind. What the hell is wrong with me? My wolf surges to the forefront, pressing against my ribcage in a bid to come out. At first I think it’s in challenge. That her meeting my gaze set my wolf off, but the closer I examine his reaction, I realize he doesn’t feel challenged or threatened by her. Nor does he carry the same apprehension toward her that I do.
His reaction to her is centered on a single all-consuming train of thought.Mine.
“Yeah. Just…didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” She shrugs.
A savage smile curls my lips. “You can pop those out anytime you’d like. Trust me, I’m far from uncomfortable.”
Her cheeks go from pink to scarlet. I like it. Like making her uncomfortable. Uncertain. My wolf wants to play with her. See what makes her tick. What riles her up.
What she’s doing isn’t sexual. Far from it, in fact. But…I exhale a harsh breath. Without letting myself think about what I’m doing, I get up from the floor and move to sit beside her. She gazes up at me, a furrow between her brows, but I’ve already turned my attention to César. His little fists are balled up against her breast, his eyes closed and a relaxed expression on his face.
Emotion threatens to overwhelm me and I almost don’t recognize the sound of my voice as I utter my next words. “Marry me,” I say, surprising myself, but I don’t try to take back the words. Actually, now that they’re out in the open, it makes sense. Getting married, I mean. It would resolve all our problems. We wouldn’t need to work out custody or visitation. There wouldn’t be any worries or unknowns. We’d be a family, for César.
My wolf hums in agreement. This is the obvious decision. She isn’t Pack now, but we’ll make her Pack. Our Pack. Our family.
Her head snaps up. “What? Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
“No.”
A growl rumbles in my chest. I grit my teeth and try not to be offended by her response, even as my chest squeezes all the air from my lungs. “Why not?” It comes out angrier than I intended and her eyes narrow. I was right, a voice in the back of my mind tells me. She is rejecting me because I’m a wolf. I won’t ever be good enough in her eyes.
“Because I don’t know you. And you don’t know me. We can’t go off and get married just because we have a child together.”
“Yes, we can,” I bite out. It would make things easier, too. We’d be a family. That’s what César deserves. Why wouldn’t she want that? “César deserves both parents—”
“And he’ll have them. But I’m not going to marry someone I don’t even know—who doesn’t even like me—just because we have a child together.”
My jaw tightens. I like parts of her just fine. Her ass. Her tits. Her tight pussy. There are plenty of things I like about Joaninha, but I don’t bother voicing them aloud, already aware that isn’t what she means.
I glower at her as though my stare alone can change her mind, but she doesn’t cower. If anything, her chin lifts higher in the air. My wolf likes her fire, though he disagrees with her decisions.
Okay, so no marriage. For now. We’ll shelf that conversation for another day because I sure as shit am not giving up on it. My son deserves everything I never had and more. “Fine.”
She releases a breath.
“We’ll date first.” I can be reasonable. Compromising is important in a relationship. See, very reasonable.
Her blue eyes widen and she shakes her head in a definitive no.
I try not to let my annoyance show. But why is she being so difficult? I know she’s attracted to me. We have chemistry that’s off the charts. The fact that my wolf wants her just as badly as I do is a good indication we could make this work. This is a win-win situation.
“Let me guess, you have reasons for not wanting to date me too? We’ve already fucked. Is dating really such a big leap here?”
Her lips press together and she turns her attention back to César, who’s fallen asleep in her arms, his mouth open and her glistening nipple on full display. She covers herself up, careful not to disturb César before she rises to her feet. My dick twitches in my jeans and I glower down at my crotch. Now is not the fucking time.
“I’m going to lay him down in his crib. I’ll be right back.”
I suck on my teeth as I watch her all but run from the room without answering my questions.
She returns a few minutes later and I decide I’m not going to give her the easy out she clearly wants. “Date me,” I say again, ignoring my semi. I swear my dick gets excited just by her walking into a room.
