Ethan nods. “Do I want to know why not?” he asks.
Cheryl doesn’t answer. She just shakes her head.
There’s a moment of silence.
I don’t even know what to say. Is Cheryl saying that he’s dead? Did she have something to do with this?
“Thank you so much,” Ethan says and without any further ado, pushes the END button.
He looks at me.
“You’re free,” he says.
“Ethan?” I ask, going closer to him. The prospect of being free of having to look over my shoulder is insane. “What happened to him?”
“Sometimes porn is still a dirty fucking business, babe,” Ethan tells me, his voice and face serious. “If we don’t ask questions, we never have to lie.”
It sends a small chill. The power that this man wields.
But it makes me feel safe. Because with everything Ethan knows, and with everything
it turns out he can do, what he wants most in the world right now…is me.
“Free,” I say to him, smiling.
“Free,” he repeats, pulling me closer. “It’s time to fucking celebrate.”
I feel his mouth approaching mine and I’m about to give in to him. To surrender to this man who seems to have tamed me.
But not so fast!
Ethan Kane has played me very well. That’s for damn sure.
“Ethan, wait,” I tell him, pushing against his chest with one hand. “One second.”
He looks at me, puzzled.
“What’s wrong?” he asks gruffly. I can tell he’s ready. He needs to be inside of me. And that makes holding him off even sweeter.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m finally free. I want to celebrate by having filthy, dirty, sex.
But I can’t let him win on every single front.
“I have something to tell you as well that you don’t know,” I say, keeping a serious face.
He looks at me, backing up on the sofa slightly. I relish the moment.
Ethan Kane thinks he’s all that, does he? Thinks he’s so smart for pulling off this coup? Playing me?
Watch me make him crumble.
“I’m pregnant, Ethan,” I say to him softly. And then with a smile, “We’re pregnant.”
It takes literally a minute for the words to go from his ears to reflect in his eyes and then his face.
He smiles brightly. Then the smile transforms into a grin and there’s no stopping him – his arms are wrapped around me and he’s holding me close.
He’s hugging me. He’s kissing me. He’s kissing my neck. My earlobes. My face. My ears.