Page 44 of Ruthless Vow
“Before I found out about the baby, I was having nightmares,” she admits softly. “About how it was with him. What he put me through.”
“You don’t have to talk about it,” I say, reaching out and placing my hand on top of hers. “Not if you don’t want to. I knew it was bad. You fought off three men just to get away from him.”
She nods, and she doesn’t shake off my hand. Instead, she surprises me by turning her own hand over and linking her fingers through mine.
“The nurse said that my bad heartburn means our baby is going to have a lot of hair,” she says, changing the subject.
My heart leaps in my chest.Ourbaby.
“That’s probably my fault.” I smile. “Kovalevs are notoriously hairy.”
She nearly spits out her drink at that. It’s nice to see her laugh.
“That would have been nice to know before you knocked me up.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh.
“It wasn’t exactly planned, was it?” I laugh. “I still don’t exactly know how we ended up in that position.”
“Oh really?” she asks, quirking her eyebrow. “It wasn’t your intention all along to seduce me?”
“Seduce you?” I chuckle again. “You basically attacked me!”
“That’s not how I remember it,” she shoots back. “It definitely felt like you enjoyed yourself a lot more than I did.”
“Is that why you were screaming my name so loud they could hear it in Brighton?” I counter.
She blushes, and a strange sense of camaraderie falls on us. We haven’t talked about this since it happened, and I didn’t think we ever would. Of course, I also never imagined we’d be discussing morning sickness. It feels kind of nice.
“I hope we have a little boy,” she says cautiously, like she’s too afraid to even wish it out loud.
Her free hand moves down to her stomach and she looks down, like she can see something there that I can’t.
“Me too,” I agree. “The idea of having a daughter terrifies me.”
She looks up in surprise. “Really?” she asks. “Why is that?”
“Because I’ll always be more protective of her. She can never have a boyfriend, and if a boy should break her heart, he’s getting the full force of my Bratva.”
She laughs at this.
“I’m glad to see you’re going to continue the classic patriarchal bullshit,” she says with an eyeroll.
“Why do you want a boy?” I ask, challenging her argument.
“Because boys get respect in this world,” she says, and puts her finger up to stop me from arguing. “Which is just true. It’s not something that I have the power to change, but it would be a relief to not have to worry so much about his future.”
We sit for a moment in silence, and I really consider that. A future with her. One where we raise this child together. We’re barely on speaking terms most of the time, but I like the idea of our child having two active parents. I like the idea of her being mine.
“You’ll be a great mother,” I say tenderly. “Whether we have a son or a daughter, that’s not going to change.”
She squeezes my hand and it’s like I feel electricity moving through my body. My fingertips feel electrified where she’s holding them. The air between us similarly feels charged, and it’s like I’m magnetized to her. I move closer and she tilts her head, welcoming me.
The first kiss is sweet, almost chaste. It’s like a promise between two friends who know they’re about to share something profound. It takes only a moment for it to become hotter. Her tongue traces my mouth and I grant her entrance, letting her take the lead.
She’ll never be able to say she doesn’t want it this time. She’s fully in control of this situation.
I let go of her hand and run my fingers through her hair, anchoring her so I can kiss her more fully. She moans into mymouth, and I know then that I’m a goner. What is it about a kitchen table that gets us so in the mood?
