“You don’t think so?” I ask.
“No. I think he senses something’s changing with your body. I think they all do. They’re waiting for you to talk with them.”
“I don’t want them to be angry.”
“How could anyone be angry at something like this? Clarissa, you’re pregnant. You're going to bring a wonderful gift into this world. If they’re angry at that, then they don’t deserve you. And you shouldn’t be doing this pregnancy alone.”
“How did you figure it out?” I ask.
“I’m a lot older than I look,” he say
s with a grin. “And I’ve been around thousands of pregnant females. I know what it looks like and smells like.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since Theo’s apartment.”
“What?” I ask.
“It was about thirty minutes into my interaction with you.”
“And you still wanted to be with me?”
“Yes,” he says. “I did. And I do. Sharing women? It’s a common thing. I don’t know any other way. There hasn’t been a woman I’ve taken that hasn’t been shared by at least one other male. It’s actually uncommon in my village for a woman to only attach herself to one man.”
“So this doesn’t make you feel weird?”
“No. It doesn’t. And I hope that I’ve shown you the kind of control I can now exercise around you.”
“You don’t have to apologize anymore. I get it, Vlad.”
“I’ve never met a woman with so much power coursing through her veins. You have so much control over yourself, and control over the men around you. It’s alluring in ways I’ve never experienced.”
A blush tints my cheeks, and I smile up at him.
“I know we’re meant to be together,” he says as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “And I know you’re meant to be shared. The greatest women always are. No one man is ever solely good enough for the greatness of one woman, Clarissa. She needs a team of men to fill her needs. A team of men to match what is encased in one of her. I support whatever decision you make but know I’m on your side in all this.”
Looking into his eyes and hearing his words, part of me believes I can make this work. Part of me believes that maybe, just maybe, I can have all of the men I’ve come to love. I reach my lips up and press them against his, and a small growl vibrates down to my toes. I giggle into his lips and shuffle closer to him, curling into the heat barreling from his body.
“A few more minutes?” I ask.
“I think I can spare that,” he says.
Then he kisses the top of my head before settling his chin into my hair.
Chapter 22
Sebastian
“H as anyone seen that damn Cat?” I ask.
“Toshi?” Theo asks.
“Don’t tell me there’s another fucking Cat around here.”
“No. I haven’t seen him. Wait, have you not seen him?” Theo asks.
“I haven’t seen him, no,” Vlad says.