The Skull Ruler (Skull 3)

I didn’t even realize I was crying. Tears had emerged from my eyes and now dripped down my cheeks. All I wanted was for this man to love me. Now he did. He loved me with his whole heart, sacrificed everything to be with me. There was nothing else I could ask of him. “Balto…there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Alright.” He rested his arms on his knee, his muscular physique tight with anticipation. “But if you slept with someone, it doesn’t change anything. I’d rather not know about it, though.”

“No…that’s not what I was going to say.”

“Then stop torturing me, baby.”

Both of my hands moved across my distended stomach. “When I went to your apartment a few months ago, I wanted to tell you that I was pregnant.”

“And I was an asshole and threw you out. I know.”

My hands rubbed the sides of my belly. “Since you behaved like such a jerk, I didn’t bother telling you the truth. If you couldn’t stand having me in your apartment for a few minutes, why would you want to be involved with me with a child in the mix? When you saw me on my date with Alessandro, you realized I was pregnant. I didn’t know what else to do…so I lied to you.”

“Lied to me about what?”

I was surprised he hadn’t figured it out. “Balto, the baby isn’t Lucian’s. It’s yours…”

He finally went quiet, his eyes flinching in surprise. He clearly hadn’t been expecting that news because his chest stopped rising and falling. He was still like a statue, his eyes not blinking at all.

I didn’t see any kind of dramatic reaction.

He slowly turned his gaze to my stomach, staring at the swell of my belly. He blinked several times as he looked, studying the life underneath the skin.

“It’s not possible for it to be Lucian’s…because I’m only six months along.”

Balto didn’t seem to be listening.

He moved closer to me then lifted up my dress without asking for permission. He pushed it up over my belly then rested his forehead against the curve of my stomach. He wasn’t angry about the lie I’d told him. All he seemed to care about was the baby growing inside me, the life we’d made together.

My hand moved into his hair as the tears fell down my cheeks.

His hand pressed against the side of my belly, and he kissed my belly button. A man like Balto was incapable of being gentle, but now he was the gentlest I’d ever seen him. He gave me tender kisses everywhere, worshiping my belly like a father who couldn’t wait to meet his child.

It was a moment I would never forget.

He grabbed my panties and slowly pulled them down my legs, still kissing my stomach as he stripped me. It was presumptuous, but I didn’t stop him. He rose to his feet, and just the way he used to, his hand snaked up the back of my neck until he fisted my hair. His lips moved to mine, and he kissed me hard, a direct contradiction to the gentle kisses he gave my stomach.

I hadn’t been kissed like this in so long. I’d missed it so much, fantasized about it every night when my hand was between my legs. Without using my words, I forgave him. And he seemed to forgive me for the lie I’d told. My hands moved underneath his shirt and felt his rock-hard abs and powerful chest. I’d missed feeling this man, missed feeling his protective weight on top of me. My lips moved with his, and I breathed into his mouth, falling in love with him all over again.

He pulled the dress over my head then paused our kiss to look at me. His eyes immediately went to the necklace that plunged between my breasts, the necklace I hadn’t removed since the day he’d given it to me. His eyes studied it for a moment before they moved farther down, looking at my tits with stark lust. “Baby…I’ve never wanted you so much in my life.” He pulled his shirt over his head, revealing muscles that were even more ripped than before.

I felt insecure with my large stomach and the other changes my body had gone through. I hadn’t felt sexy since the last time we’d been together. But all my self-doubt disappeared when he looked at me like that, like I was the only woman he wanted.

He backed me up into the hallway until we found my bedroom. He unbuttoned the top of his jeans then pushed everything down, revealing a monster cock that was thicker than a pipe. He was rock-hard and eager, aroused by my belly rather than deterred.

It’d been three long months since I’d been with a man. That felt like an eternity, especially when Balto was the last man I’d slept with. Alessandro was a great guy, but he would have been a disappointment in the sack simply because no one could compare.