Page 18 of Forbidden Vow

6

Darius

Darius knew something was wrong when Raven returned to the bedroom. And he suspected he was the cause of the distant, sorrowful expression marring her natural beauty. Once, he hadn’t done anything wrong in regard to her, but she was hurting. He thought he might have a solution. Now, if he could convince her. Crossing the room, he swept her off her feet and into his arms.

“What are you doing?”

He kissed her nose, smiling when she wiped it off. “Stop kissing and touching all over me.”

“You like it,” he grinned.

“You don’t know me like that,” she stated.

Darius released a hearty laugh from deep in his belly. “The fuck I don’t. I know you like how Adam was all up under Eve’s fig leaves.”

He deposited them both in the king-sized bed, not asking permission, not seeking forgiveness. With his back against the headboard, he gathered her to him. Then he broached the subject.

“You’re upset?” Darius queried.

He watched as she struggled to admit her feelings. It had to be hard for her, after four years with just her and Lexi, to have to share him.

“Of course not,” she lied.

“So if I said our son is the most important person in your life and that all that beautiful brown skin of yours actually paled when we walked through the door this afternoon and he screamed Daddy—that would be a lie?”

Though it had thrilled Darius that his son instantly wanted to love him, he knew it had cost Raven to stand there and witness the moment when her child became their son.

“Why would it bother me that the two of you played for hours?” She threw up her hands like all hope was lost. “Father and son rolling around like two brand-new puppies, separated at birth, now reunited.”

Darius grinned. “That goofy, huh?”

Admittedly, it was the best day of his life. Even though he missed Lexi’s birth, he felt like he’d been given a gift.

“It was heartwarming and breaking all at the same time.”

Raven buried her face in her hands. “I’m jealous,” she mused. “That my son loves you.”

Darius wanted her to love him, too.

Lowering his head, he placed a kiss to the top of her springy curls. “Put away your green-eyed devil,” he whispered. “I want you and Lexi to be mine. Legally bound to me.”

She abruptly sat up. Her back arrow-straight.

He pulled her back into his arms, more content than he’d been in his entire life.

“According to your father’s will, we are.”

The comment, though delivered casually, stung Darius. Never had he begged a woman to want him. But, for Raven, he would consider it.

“You said it yourself; you feel manipulated.” Lifting his hand, he captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Choose to stay. Build a life with me.”

“From moving in to marriage all in one night. That’s fast, even for you.”

“The whole two birds, one stone thing.”

“Darius,” she paused, “I can’t afford to be flighty. I have Lexi to consider.”

As if he hadn’t.