Page 121 of In the Dark

He hummed. “Well, I might have met you in the dark, my love, but I want the world to know you’re mine in the light too.”

“You made it very known.”

Then I waved a hand at the sprawling top deck—the glass-bottomed jacuzzi, the hidden bar, the crew who disappeared like ghosts the moment we wanted privacy.

“And you’re grotesque too,” I pointed out.

He was wearing nothing but dark swim trunks that hung dangerously low on his hips. His skin was bronzed, glistening with a light sheen of sweat and sea spray. His chest was an expanse of hard, sculpted muscle—a landscape of scars and strength that I knew the map of by heart now. His abs were a sharp, deep-cut testament to his discipline.

I let out a low, frustrated moan. “Can you be less appealing, please? You actually look like you belong on this ridiculous yacht. It’s offensive.”

He laughed a loud, unrestrained laugh that echoed over the water. It was a rare, beautiful sound, and I felt my heart do a slow, traitorous roll in my chest. I was falling. No, I was already gone.

“Offensive, am I?” He moved then, crawling onto the sun pad with a predatory grace. He didn’t stop until he was hovering over me, casting a shadow that cooled my heated skin. The scent of him—expensive sunblock, saltwater, and pure, unadulterated man—clogged my senses.

“Visually aggressive,” I whispered, my breath hitching as his gaze dropped to my mouth.

His eyes were dark, swirling with the kind of intent that made my thighs ache. He reached out, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw before dipping down to the pulse point at the base of my throat. He could feel it. He knew my heart was racing for him.

“I’m just getting started, Viper,” he murmured, his voice vibrating against my lips. “If you think the ring is grotesque, wait until you see what our life will look like together.”

I put my hands on his chest and stopped him before it was too late. I had to.

Because I needed to know what he meant. “When this is over—”

“This between us?” He frowned and stopped.

“Well, if you don’t want children with me—”

“I never said that, Jas. I said I don’t want children because of that contract, which I’m ripping up.”

“Cal—”

“We’ll protect who you want at all costs, because your family is mine now, but I’m not holding you to a single damn thing other than being my wife.”

“And a child?”

He touched my stomach. “That, I’ll try to have with you for the rest of your life if you want, but it won’t be because of a trust.”

Then I whispered the words I had been scared to tell him. “What if we already have one?”

“What?” His blue-green gaze seemed confused, then he said louder, “What? Are you …” He rubbed my belly once and then again. “Baby, are you serious?”

“I don’t know. I just …” I shrugged, tears starting to stream down my face. “I think it might have happened. I’m late, but I didn’t get a test.”

He jumped up.

Then he crouched down like he didn’t want to forget to tell me as he took my face in his hands. “I’m going to be the best dad and husband for this family, baby in you or not … but I hope she or he is in there. I’ll get a test, okay?”

“We’re out at sea, Cal.” I chuckled at him. He’d lost his mind.

But in the best way.

He wanted this. He wanted it like I wanted it.

And within ten minutes, I heard a helicopter flying in and a man rappelled from it like we were in Black Hawk Down.

“Are you serious?”