And I plan to start being grateful for that right now, so I wrap my arm around Amelia’s shoulder and pull her with me toward the door. “Let’s go home.”
“Home?” she murmurs, gazing up at me with those same doe-like eyes that once captivated me enough to make me want to bring her in.
But now, I want nothing more than to protect this little angel of mine. “Your home. Or our home … depending on what you want. I can always get a new place to stay.”
She raises her brows at me in a cheeky way. “Mi casa es su casa.”
Chapter 29
Amelia
When we finally get back to my apartment, I throw everything I brought with me back onto the kitchen counter and breathe a sigh of relief. “We made it.”
Eli stands there with a small bag in his hand, a little unsure of how to carry himself. I don’t think he ever thought he’d be back here.
I grab his hand and lead him around. “I know you’ve been here before … but I thought I’d formally introduce you to the apartment.” I show him the bedroom and the kitchen area along with the bathroom even though he’s seen it all before.
“I know,” he says eventually as we stand in the doorway to the bathroom. “Why are you showing me all of this?”
I shrug and smile while looking up at him. “Because I want it to be different. I want a fresh start.”
His eyes flicker with amusement. “So you want me to stay?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Why would he ask again? “What other option is there?”
“But Tobias isn’t watching us. There are no cameras here,” he says.
“So?” I put my hands against my side.
“He won’t follow me here, nor will he know what we do. It will be as though we never existed to him,” he says.
“What’s your point?” I ask, frowning at him.
He puts a hand on my waist and pulls me closer. “I can get my own place if you need the privacy.”
I laugh, and it’s the most genuine laugh I’ve had in a while. “Oh my God …”
“Why are you laughing? I’m serious.”
I playfully slap his chest. “I am not asking you to do that. Just stay here. With me.”
“I don’t want you to do this out of pity,” he says.
“I’m not.” My hand slowly moves down toward the baby growing in my belly. “Besides, this baby is going to need his or her daddy to be there.”
His eyes begin to glow with pride, and it fills me with joy. “You want to keep it? I thought you only said that so we could get out of Tobias’s clutches.”
I suck in a breath. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I can’t get it across my heart not to.”
His hand instinctively reaches for my belly, and I let him touch me.
“This baby was conceived right here in this bathroom,” he mutters.
I nod, tears welling up in my eyes. “Out of love.”
When I look up into his eyes, they are so full of affection that it tugs at my heartstrings. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to regret—”
Before he can say another word, I cover his mouth with mine, sealing the deal. When I inch back for a second, a mischievous grin spreads on his face.
“You can’t take that back,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I don’t want to,” I reply, smiling right back at him.
“I don’t think you realize what you signed up for.”
He smashes his lips back onto mine, his kiss far more aggressive as his hand palms my back, pulling me closer against him. I don’t fight it at all. In fact, I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around his neck and fall into his sweet embrace. I want him to destroy me and heal me in a single kiss. And I don’t want this to ever stop.
“I tried so hard to get over you, but you’ve made it impossible, little Angel,” he whispers. “And now you’ll face the full brunt of my love. Are you ready for that?”
I gulp and nod, my pussy already getting wet just from the thought of all the deliciously dirty things he’s thinking about, all the things he could do to me, all of it right within our grasp.
“No more punishing for sins,” I mutter. “And no more lies.”
“Not even the dirty ones?” he groans, pressing another sultry kiss to my lips that awaken all my senses.
“Hmm, maybe … if they lead to good things,” I reply.
“Good things,” he repeats. “Like this?” He whisks me up into his arms and shoves me against the wall.
“This isn’t a punishment,” I say, giggling as he plants kisses all over my neckline.
“Oh, but it will be if you do something I don’t like,” he muses. “Like hiding from me or not doing something that makes you happy.”