I leaned into his hold, unable to stop myself from letting him take control. I liked the fact that he wanted to take care of me above all else. I loved that he wanted to protect me. Yeah, he was brutal and over-the-top, and his default was to kill and ask questions later. Then again, he didn’t ask questions because he didn’t fucking care, didn’t have remorse, didn’t bother with worrying about repercussions.
He made me feel safe in a world that had opened up under me and made me anything but.
But as I stared into his blue eyes, I knew I had to be honest with him, knew that no matter what, Adryan would be with me every step of the way. But this… this truth was life changing, and I didn’t know how a man—a vampire—like Adryan would handle it.
God, I don’t even think I am fully handling it right now.
“Do you think of the future?” I asked softly and immediately felt stupid for saying it. The future was probably all he thought about.
Adryan didn’t show a lot of emotion—well, not in the “normal” way people did, with laughing and tears, with sadness or affection. He showed me he cared, that he was devoted to me and only me, by eliminating any danger with blood and violence, by fucking me hard and giving me all the things I needed to feel whole.
“You are my future.”
My breath hitched when he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. Although I felt how tense his body was, how much he wanted me still, he was holding back. I knew that wasn’t the easiest task for a male like him. And the fact that he tried to go against the very essence of what made him who and what he was made me soften for him even more and fall harder for my vampire.
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered against his lips before he pulled away. When he did break the kiss, it was to pull back a couple of inches to stare into my eyes, a totally self-satisfied smile curving his full, sexy-as-hell lips.
“Of course you are,” he said all cocky-like. “The amount of times I’ve been fucking you, and for as much as I filled you up with my seed, there’s no way I wasn’t gonna knock you up.” His grin was absolutely self-satisfied. “To know I got you pregnant,” he growled, “turns me on, princess.”
Oh my God. The arrogance. I couldn’t help but snort and lightly smack his wide, hard chest.
But then his expression sobered. “A baby.” He let go of my face to take a step back. I instantly felt that chill from the loss of his hard body pressed to mine. “Hell,” he said low and ran a hand over his jaw. “Me, a father?” He shook his head but was grinning. “Not sure anything crazier has ever happened.”
He looked down at my flat stomach, and instinctively I placed both hands on my belly.
He hummed low… in pleasure. And then before I could say anything, he dropped to his knees, my arms falling to my sides as he wrapped his around my body and rested his forehead on stomach. For a second I was frozen, staring down at Adryan’s dark head and broad shoulders. He was saying something low and deep, inaudible.
“Adryan?” I whispered and tentatively lifted a hand and touched the top of his head. I wasn’t used to this side of him. He was always so sure of himself, arrogant in his actions. But right now? I didn’t know what to say.
When he didn’t move away, I tunneled my fingers in his short black hair and he started shaking his head again. He finally lifted his head so he was looking up at me.
“I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve this baby.” Oh God, his voice… his voice was deep, and if it ever held any kind of heartfelt emotion, it was laced in the words right here and right now. “I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve you,” he kept saying over and over again.
It was my turn to cup each side of his face, forcing him—which was a laughable thought, seeing as he overpowered me a hundred times over, but he let me have control right now—to stare up at me so we could look into each other's eyes. “You deserve this baby. We deserve happiness no matter what—”
He was shaking his head and closed his eyes for a second before opening them, those dark irises flashing red. “The things I’ve done in my long life, the heinous, brutal violence I’ve delivered to anyone who crossed me, and the total lack of fucking remorse—zero remorse, Kitty—means I’m a monster in the worst possible way.” I had been shaking my head the entire time but stayed otherwise silent. “You, so perfect and sweet, with a soft heart that I love so much. Too much.” He rested his forehead back on my belly and murmured, “And this baby.” He took a shuddering breath. “Gods, our baby is going to be everything good and sweet, soft and innocent like what makes you… you, princess.” He lifted up my shirt and ran his lips along my skin. “You’re both mine. Mine forever.”