I heard Cole calling out to me, his footsteps coming, but then Mason urged him to let me go, telling him I was more trouble than I was worth, little more than a club whore.
Pain radiated through me.
But I had to let him believe that was the truth.
I had to protect him.
For the first time, something trumped my own survival.
That was when I knew for certain.
I loved Cole Taylor.
We just could never be together.
I blinked out of my thoughts and stared at the view of the city from the balcony of my penthouse.
“I want to see it.”
I started at the sound of Cole’s voice behind me and I turned to see him leaning against the balcony doors, his inked arms folded across his chest.
He hadn’t spoken in almost an hour ever since I’d revealed that I was pregnant. I got that it was a shock. Hell, it had been to me as well. It still was. But for him to stonewall me, giving me absolutely no idea as to where he stood, or anything, was brutal.
“See what?” I asked, giving him a hard glare.
He didn’t address my mood, instead circumventing it to press on with his own thing.
“The sonogram,” he said, surprising me. “I know you. You’re thorough. There’s no way an over-the-counter pregnancy test would’ve been enough for you. You would’ve had it confirmed by a doctor.”
I frowned. “You need proof.” I brushed past him, putting my elbow into it for good measure. “Fine,” I muttered. “I thought we were past the whole broken trust thing after all this time. That incident at the clubhouse with Mason was ages ago and I explained it to your satisfaction. But, whatever.”
I stormed back inside. But I didn’t make it very far before Cole snagged my elbow, stopping me.
He gently tugged me around to face him. “Why the fuck are you bringing that ancient history up?”
“You were the one who—”
“I didn’t say shit. I want to see it because it’s my baby. It’s got nothing to do with proof. I want to see my kid.”
Oops. “Oh.”
He took my hand and stepped up close, his gaze burning into mine. “Show me, yeah?”
His imploring gaze, coupled with his earnestness had me softening. I nodded and guided him, my hand in his, to my study.
I led him to my desk and opened the top drawer. I took out the sonogram I’d stashed there a little while ago.
Watching him closely, I handed it to him.
He studied it for a long time, saying nothing, his expression unchanging. I couldn’t read him at all.
“Cole?” I said, quietly, trying to brace myself for whatever his reaction was going to be. I figured he had to finally show how he felt about it either way now that he held something tangible in his hands.
He blinked. When he looked at me, awe sparked in his eyes. There was a hint of excitement too, it seemed. “Wow,” he breathed. “We made this. A baby.”
A giggle escaped me. “Yeah.”
A wide smile spread across his face. “Our baby.”
He had that boyish expression that came over him whenever he was overly-excited about something. It was the only time I got a glimpse into the happy-go-lucky kid he’d once been before the harshness of life had hardened him, stripped him down, and turned him into who he was now. A man who’d fought so hard to push down pain so great that it couldn’t be contained and came exploding out in an outpouring of rage all too often. A man relishing the violence he committed for his club as their most revered and respected enforcer.
But right now, in this moment, he was none of those things.
He was lit up.
Happy.
I’d thought any reaction from him would be a negative thing for me, but it was so far from that.
It was… beautiful.
And I didn’t want anything to take that away from him.
I didn’t want to talk about how we were going to do this with the way our lives were.
I didn’t want to bring up why the hell he was really here, what Slade had sent him to get from me.
I didn’t want to talk at all.
Not now.
Right now, I just wanted to stay in this moment with him. For as long as possible.
As I saw his expression start to shift and him move to speak, I lunged at him, grasping his biceps, my lips crashing down on his.
It took him a moment to respond, he was so caught off guard. But then I felt him kiss me back. He reached around me and placed the sonogram picture safely down on my desktop.
He broke our kiss, holding my face between his large, roughened hands. “You sure?” he asked, his eyes burning into mine.
“Yes.”
He smiled then crushed his lips to mine with a growl.
He didn’t waste any time, sliding his tongue past my lips, tasting me everywhere. His hands ran up and down my body, all over.
It was frantic. Wild. Intense.
Tears sprung to my eyes as I realized the significance of it.
He was re-establishing me as his, staking his claim.
I didn’t know how it would work beyond this moment, but I didn’t want to go there. I just wanted to savor every second of finally having want I’d wanted for so long.
The two of us truly together.
“Cole,” I panted, pulling back to look at him.
Adoration bled from him and he nodded. “I know, baby. I’ve got you now.”
Grasping my hips, he hauled me up against him. I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively as he carried me out of the office and down the hall to the master bedroom.
He stripped me as he went, tugging my top up over my head, then reaching around with one hand and flicking open my bra. The second it hit the floor, I tugged at his tee and ripped it over his head, revealing his ripped torso and the intricate ink there that extended down to his wrists, forming two full sets of tattoo sleeves.
My back hit the mattress
