Page 9 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

"We?" I couldn’t help but whisper. I hated the flicker of hope that had just blossomed in my heart.

"Yes." Ilya was totally serious. "We. This is our baby." Without warning, he lifted me—giving me no option but to wrap my legs around his waist—and headed towards the bedroom, where he dropped me down into the middle of his giant mattress and climbed over my body, looking every bit the predator. I felt my heart skip a beat like it always did when he got that heated look in his eyes.

"Did you think I’d kick you out—"

"Well, not straight away," I cut in, looping my arms around his neck. "But after." Tilting my head up, I accepted his kisses.

His soft, gentle kisses.

"Never." Grabbing my wrists, he pinned them to the pillows on either side of my head. "This is your home. With me. With our baby."

I let out a ragged sigh of relief as he put all of my concerns to bed. I’d thought our time together finally had an expiration date. And even though I had known from the beginning that this was a business deal, I had enjoyed my time here with him, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over.

"So you don’t want me to leave in nine months?" I whispered as he buried his head in the crook of my throat, kissing over my skin softly.

"No." He nipped at me. "I don’t want you to leave."

My eyes closed in bliss as his lips continued to skim across my sensitive skin.

"I think," I mumbled, my hand delving into his hair and tangling in the silky curls. "I think I—" I swallowed hard. I couldn’t finish. It was silly just thinking about it.

Ilya lifted his head, his eyes boring down into mine.

"Tell me what you were just about to say," he ordered.

I shook my head, a blush creeping up my throat to tinge my cheeks. "It doesn’t matter."

"It matters to me."

I rolled my eyes. Ilya Popovitch was bossy. "You’re a bossy-boots," I teased. "I was just going to say I am happy."

For a second he just stared at me, and then the tip of his nose came down to touch mine. And I was powerless to do anything but stare into his eyes. This close they were a hundred different shades of blue, and each one of them was more beautiful than the last.

"I feel it too," he whispered, rubbing the tip of his nose against mine.

"You love me?" The words just came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Because I think... I think I am in love with you," I ended in a whisper.

He didn’t answer me; Ilya just caught my lips up in his, his tongue sliding into my mouth to tangle with mine.

"I’m never going to let you go, Daisy. Not ever. You don’t need to worry. I am going to look after you. I’m going to make sure all your dreams come true," he mumbled against my mouth. "And don’t worry about my grandfather. I’ll deal with him."

His words worried me, but his next kiss pushed all the worried thoughts out of my head. Kissing him back wildly, I wrapped myself around him.

"Is this—" He tore his lips away from mine, staring down into my eyes, and I could read the heat there. "Is this safe? For the baby?"

Fingers tangled in his dark hair, I nodded. "It’s safe."

"Good," he growled out, and then his lips were back on mine, and I forgot to be worried at all.

Chapter Four

Daisy

Someone was screaming. Writhing in agony, and it took me a few minutes to realize it was me.

It felt like I was being torn apart. And no amount of pain relief was making it better.

I’d always known that childbirth was painful, but no amount of research could have prepared me for this.