I fucked her hard, using the wall to hold her up for me just where I needed her. We both came in a heated rush, and then I carried her like that, with her legs still wrapped around me, to the bed.
Laying her down, I let our bodies part for only a moment before I was on top of her, my cock growing hard already. I pushed myself back into her, thrusting with a force that seemed inhuman. We looked into each other’s eyes as I stabbed my dick into her still pussy, which was still pulsing from the orgasm I’d just given her.
Her hands moved through my hair and then over my beard. “That looks good on you, Nix.”
I kissed her sweet lips then moved my mouth over to kiss her neck, my thrusts finally slowing to a less urgent pace. Her body arched to meet mine, and we moved as one until both of us were shaking with another orgasm. We’d come together once more. Seemed we had a connection that not even our bodies could deny.
There wouldn’t be any more walking away from her and expecting nothing more. I had to have more of her. And it sure did seem like she had to have more of me, too.
She’d told me there’d be none of this. So I wondered what made her change her mind. But I’d ask that later. For now, I wanted to flip her over and spank her sweet ass while I took her from behind. But when I grabbed her by the waist, it became clear she wasn’t going to let me do that.
It also became clear that she’d lost some weight. I felt the bones of her hips, and when I ran my hands up her sides, I felt her ribs. I hadn’t taken time to notice anything; I’d wanted her too badly.
Her hands caught my wrists. “I have to tell you something, Nix.”
The way her lips began to quiver told me it wasn’t anything good. Was she sick? Dying?
“Tell me,” I whispered as I stayed right where I was, my dick still inside of her. I didn’t want to lose the connection. I couldn’t lose it.
“Nix, I’m pregnant with your baby.”
Shit!
Part Three
Chapter 12
Katana
Silence filled the room. Nix stared at me for a long time then rolled off me and hurried to the bathroom without saying a word. Without a clue as to what he thought about the baby, I lay there and started crying, pulling the blanket up to cover my body.
I’d had no idea how he would take the news. I didn’t know if there was any right way he could have reacted that would’ve made me happy. But this reaction definitely didn’t make me happy.
A few minutes later he came out of the bathroom, a wet washcloth in his hand. He didn’t look at me as he ran it over his face and came to sit on the edge of the bed. “Are you positive it’s mine? I know you told me that it had been over a year since you’d had sex, but people lie. So I need to know the truth.” He looked directly into my eyes. “It’s okay if you lied to me. What’s important now is that you and I both know the truth about everything. If there’s the slightest chance it’s not mine, I need to know. Did you sleep with anyone after me?”
I shook my head and wiped my tears away. “I told you the truth before about not having sex for over a year. And I haven’t had sex with anyone else. I’ve been sick. I thought I had a bug. But yesterday I took a look at my birth control pills. I hadn’t taken them in a couple of weeks, since I first started feeling sick to my stomach. I saw that I’d skipped the week before I met you. I didn’t do it on purpose; I swear that to you.”
He nodded. “I believe you. I recall you telling me you’d had a rough week. It must’ve been one hell of a week.”
“It was. But I can’t believe I forgot to take so many pills. I’m so sorry.” I began to sob and covered my face with my hands so he couldn’t see me ugly crying.
I felt his hands move over mine and he pulled them away, grabbing me up and hugging me, swaying back and forth. “Don’t cry. We’ll handle this. I’m so glad you told me right away. I’m so glad you didn’t leave me out of this.”
He was glad I hadn’t left him out. That was so good to hear. The truth was I’d been worried he’d be mad at me and tell me the problem was all mine since I had caused it.
But he hadn’t said that. He was holding me and telling me we’d handle things. Things were turning out better than I’d thought they would. But I knew I had to pull myself together so I could let him know a bit more.
Sniffling, I pulled back and looked at him. He took the damp cloth and wiped my tears away. “Nix, I just want you to know that I’m not going to hold you to anything. You can have as much or as little to do with this baby as you want. I can take care of him all on my own if you want nothing to do with it. I’m not trying to trap you into a relationship with me either.”
“I’m sure you’re not,” he whispered. “You’ve only known about the baby for a day. You’re sure you want to keep it?”
I nodded. “It may seem like I haven’t thought it all out. But I can’t kill a baby. No matter how small it is. No matter if it hasn’t developed its tiny little heart yet. I can’t do it.” I looked him right in the eyes. “I won’t do it.”
He smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. We got pregnant for a reason. God doesn’t make mistakes.”
He’d used the word we. We’d gotten pregnant. I wasn’t in this alone. He was right here with me. For the first time in my life, I had someone who was going to stick with me.
I sighed. “You don’t know how good it is to hear that, Nix. I promise you I won’t bother you about anything. We’ll figure it all out, and things will be okay.”
“Sure they will,” he said then kissed the top of my head. “Now I understand why you said we couldn’t do what we did before. I have to tell you I was pretty disappointed when you told me that. But now I get it. And I want to tell you that makes me feel very good about the kind of mother you’ll be. A pretty damn great one, I expect.”
I laughed a little. “I guess you should know some things about me, Nix. My mother never knew who my father was. She left me alone a lot and one day she just didn’t come home at all. I was taken to an orphanage, and later an elderly couple took me into their home and fostered me until I turned eighteen.”
“Damn,” he muttered. “That’s rough.”
“I think I should take some parenting classes. It’s not like I know how to care for a baby, or a child for that matter.” I looked down, feeling pretty pathetic.
His hand on my chin brought my face up, and he kissed my lips before he said, “My mother had six kids. I think she’d love to teach you about babies and raising kids.”
His mother?
“You’d take me to meet your family?” I asked with surprise.
“Of course. You’re having my baby. You have to meet the people who’ll love him almost as much as we will.” He kissed me again.
This was all going too perfectly. It didn’t make sense. Things never went perfectly in my world. Something would eventually happen to fuck it all up. But for now, things were going well, and I could enjoy the moment.
When our lips parted, he had more great things to tell me. “I know this is sudden. I mean, we’ve been hit with a lot. But you’re not in this alone. And I want to be there for you just as much as the baby. Come to Malibu. Live in my home. I’m not rushing a relationship or anything like that, so don’t get scared off by what I’m saying here.”
“You aren’t?” I asked. “I mean, I don’t want to force anything either. Do you have enough room for me to have my own bedroom, so we’re not moving things too fast?”
“I’ve got four bedrooms. You’ll have one, and the baby will have one, and we’ll still have one for guests. All of the bedrooms have their own bathrooms so we won’t be getting in each other’s way.” He kissed my cheek. “I mean it. I want to be a part of this whole thing, the pregnancy too. I don’t want to miss a single thing where this child is concerned.”
I was grateful to hear how optimistic he was about this whole thing. But I didn’t want to become a burden to him. “I’ll pay half the rent and all the other bills.”
“Like h
ell, you will.” He got underneath the blanket with me and put his arm around me. “What is it you do for a living, anyway?”
“I design book covers. I’m a freelancer. I can work from home. I’ll never have to leave the baby with a sitter to do my job.” I smiled. The flexibility of my job made me happy. With all the worries I had about having this child, knowing that I wouldn’t have to find a babysitter was a great relief.
“Cool. Not that you’ll have to work. I’ve got more than enough money. But if you want to do it to keep yourself busy, go right ahead.” He gave my shoulders a little squeeze.
“I won’t be able to be your little slave for quite some time. Are you going to be okay with that, Nix?” I asked, as I had no idea what he’d want.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I know. It’s okay. I only get that urge a couple of times a year anyway. It’s not my full-time thing.”
Glad to have heard that, I laid my head on his chest and felt safe in his arms. I’d never felt as safe as I did when he held me. I had a father for my child. A man who wanted to be there for me and our baby.
I couldn’t believe that a chance meeting at a BDSM club had ended up like this.
With me pregnant with a wealthy man’s child, being swept off to Malibu, California, to live for who knew how long. The future looked a hell of a lot brighter than it ever had before.
But that niggling thing inside of me that hated to get my hopes up about anything came to pester me. Things never go right for you, Katana Reeves, you know that. Something will rear its ugly head and make this thing go south. Just you watch.
I pressed my lips against Nix’s chest and tried to silence the nagging voice in my head. For now, everything was going right. For now, I had a man who was going to stand up and do the right thing. This hadn’t been planned, but it had happened, and he’d had the level-headedness to deal with that.
For now, I would be okay.
Chapter 13
Nixon
Katana slept like a baby in my arms the rest of the night. I suppose finally having someone there for her might have had something to do with that. I had no idea what it felt like to be all alone in the world. It must feel terrible. That’s not a thing I would wish on anyone.
I found it hard to believe a woman as beautiful as she could be so alone in this world. Whatever her past held, her future was bright. She’d never be alone again now that she carried our child. And no matter what, I’d never turn my back on her. But I had no idea how much of my heart I’d be able to give her.
It wouldn’t be fair to her to ask her to marry me after knowing each other such a short amount of time. I didn’t believe in divorce—that’s just the way I was raised. My parents had been married a long time and taught us all that when you married someone, you stuck with them through thick and thin.
Mom and Dad didn’t let any of us in on their bad times, but we knew they had them. Things would get a bit tense in our household and words were barely spoken between them at times, but before we knew it, they’d managed to work things out behind closed doors. Mom always told us it was important for a mother and father to put their marriage above everything else. Treat it the same way you’d treat a business partnership at a highly profitable company.
I didn’t really understand why she’d say such a thing when I was younger. I mean, shouldn’t a couple always put their kids first?
But I’d overheard Mom explaining her ideology to my sister just before she got married. Mom had told her that the marriage was the foundation for the family that would soon follow. Without a firm foundation, everything would crumble. Each and every part of the family was important, and everyone had their part in it. But without a solid marriage, things could fall apart.
I couldn’t make a solid marriage with Katana at this point. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us or the baby. But I could be kind, and I could be there for her. I knew she blamed herself for the pregnancy; she’d told me as much. But I wanted desperately to take that burden off her narrow shoulders.
Then and there, I made a pact with myself to always let Katana know I was over the moon about having a baby. Because that was the truth. I’d never contemplated having a child. Not even once. But I believed that was only because I hadn’t found the right woman for me—that was another strong belief that my parents had instilled in me.
With Katana already pregnant, accident or not, I had no choice. I was going to be a father, end of subject. Why fight it? Why not enjoy it?
My parents wouldn’t be too thrilled with me at first, but they’d come around. They adored every one of their grandchildren, and they’d adore mine too, even if they didn’t agree with Katana and me not being married.
As I held her in my arms and breathed in the sweet scent of her lavender shampoo, I wondered how we’d end up getting along. Would she be okay with us being more like friends and co-parents rather than a couple? Because that’s how I imagined this turning out.
Even as that thought went through my mind, I felt her snuggling into me, letting out a sigh as she did. My heart pumped a bit harder—it made me feel good to make her feel good. She felt safe, I could tell. I could keep her safe. I could keep her mind free from worry about most things. With my money, resources, and family, there was a lot I could make happen for her, and I could do that for the rest of her life.
What I couldn’t do was tell her I loved her. I didn’t, and I wouldn’t lie to her about that. And I hoped she’d never lie to me about that either.
Katana was no gold digger—at least she didn’t seem to be. But that was neither here nor there. She carried my child; I’d always make sure she had more than enough to take care of the child for the rest of her life. She’d kind of hit the lottery when my seed took hold inside of her.
Another thought hit me, and this one knocked me back a bit. What if I fell in love with her, but she never fell in love with me? What if she met some man someday that she did fall in love with and wanted to marry? Where would that leave me?
A deep sigh came out of me, realizing how rough things could get in the future. The future was uncertain. All I could do was my best. Suddenly I felt the tremendous weight of responsibility resting on my shoulders.
A father to a child, a co-parent with a woman who had no one else in the world, and the responsibility to make sure no one got lost or left out of our little family.
I was going to have a family of my own!
It might not have happened in the way I’d imagined it happening someday, but I was about to have my own family. My father had taught us all that the man of the house had more responsibility to the family than anyone else did.
I kind of hoped that wasn’t true. I liked to think both parents carried that responsibility together. And for the most part, from what I had seen in other’s marriages, that proved to be true. But then, I’d had few up close and personal experiences with marriages.
When my sister had had her first baby with her husband a couple of years after they married, I was there. Things were going fine. She and her husband were working together to keep her calm and breathing through the painful contractions. A real team.
Everyone had come up to the hospital to welcome the first of our expanding family. Taking turns visiting the expecting couple, some of us had waited in the waiting room while others spent some time in the room with them. I happened to be in the room with them when the shit hit the fan.
Some alarm went off while she was having a contraction and suddenly two nurses were coming through the door in a rush. My sister held her husband’s hand, and both looked nervous. I had no idea what was happening.
“We have to get her to the OR right now,” one of the nurses said.
“Wait, why?” my brother-in-law asked. “What’s going on?”
The nurse, who was busily taking IV bags off the stand and placing them on the bed, answered him. “That alarm is letting us know the baby’s heart has stopped beating. We’ll have to do an emergency C-section.” She pressed the call button on the bed,
and another nurse asked what she needed. “Get the OR ready and get the doctor and everyone else in there now,” she told her.
My sister began to cry. “What’s going to happen?” she asked the room in general.
The nurse nearest to her patted her on the arm. “You’ll be put under, and we’ll get the baby out and see what we can do about getting its heart going again.” She looked at my brother-in-law. “Daddy, can you help keep Mommy calm until we put her under? And you’ll need to throw on some scrubs—they’re in the room just before we get to the operating room. You’ll need to hurry. You’ll have decisions to make once the baby is delivered. Decisions your wife won’t be able to make, as she’ll be asleep.”
His face paled, and he nodded. But the color quickly rushed back to his face, and he looked at his wife with a strength he hadn’t had before. “I love you. I’ve got this. I’ve got you, and I’ve got our son. You have nothing to worry about. You can count on me.” He looked at me, frozen in my place with shock and worry. “Nixon, I need you to go out and inform the family about what’s happening. Tell them I will come out and let you all know how things are going as soon as we have everything under control.”
“I love you, sis,” I managed to say, and then I hurried out of the room.
In that moment, I’d seen the transfer of energy. I’d seen what a wife looked like when put into a situation where she was completely helpless, and I’d seen the weight of responsibility come to rest on the husband’s shoulders.
Later, after the baby was born, and after they’d discovered that the umbilical cord had prolapsed and been pinched by the baby’s head, causing the heart to stop beating, my brother-in-law had come out.
“He’s fine. And so is she. It was scary, but I don’t want any of you to worry. I’ll take good care of my wife and son,” he said.
My mother went to hug him, and she started to cry. “You’re a great man. Our daughter is lucky to have you.”
We’d all nodded, and everyone had gained a lot of respect for the man our sister had married. And after witnessing similar scenes with the rest of my family, I knew the possible obstacles that could come my way with a baby and a woman to take care of. A heaping load of responsibility.
Nightclub Sins: A Billionaire Romance Series Page 24