Beauty and the Barbarian

by Nikki Winter

  Nikki’s Other Works

  Titles can be found at Are, Amazon and Barnes and Noble:

  Mocha Memoirs Press

  One Shot Too Many

  Talking Dirty

  Under The Christmas tree

  Self-Published Works

  Kiss and Tell

  Kiss and Burn

  Sweet Series Anthology

  What a Bear Wants

  What a Bear Needs

  Beastly Desires

  Beastly Urges (To be released)

  Burn for Me

  The Sweetest Thing

  Beauty and the Barracuda

  SEAL Bundle

  Beauty and the Brute

  Check out a preview of “Beauty and the Brawler”!

  The door closed with a soft click behind her. His doing. She would’ve kept it open, too terrified to stay anywhere alone with him not knowing what it was he was about to say or how he’d heard about the accidental announcement so fast. Not only that, but how exactly had he managed to drop everything and come all the way to Manhattan? Why had he dropped everything to come all the way up to Manhattan?

  Was he here to tell her to her face that he didn’t want anything to do with her or the baby? Maybe he was. Maybe he resented her. Maybe he’d never had plans for a child. Maybe he’d walk out and never speak to her again. Did it make her weak that she didn’t think she’d be able to handle any of those scenarios? Was she stupid because all she really wanted was to hear him say he’d be here, that he was happy despite the unusual circumstances? Maybe. Or maybe she was human and a little vulnerable and simply wanted him not to regret the one night they’d had, because she’d never regretted it, and she never would. How could she? It had been one of the best times in her life. Point. Blank.

  Samara lifted her chin and folded her arms across her chest, determined to live with whatever was about to leave his mouth. If she had to, she’d do it alone. It would be hard, that much she knew, and she’d probably cry and have to keep Nyssa from nuking all of Philly in a homicidal rage, but so be it.

  Luciano straightened and walked toward her, eyes still on that ultrasound. When he finally lifted them, there was an inexplicable emotion in his gaze that took her breath away. Then his lips curved until they spread into a full-blown smile right before he was laughing. “When I asked if you wanted an Antonelli inside you this isn’t exactly what I meant, but I do believe it’ll do me just as much good.”

  That was when Samara burst into tears.

  ***

  Luciano dropped the ultrasound and caught Samara as she launched herself at him. The tears made him feel like an asshole of epic proportions. Stroking a hand down her back, he took a seat on the bed with her in his lap, arms wrapped around her.

  “Either you’re happy, or you think our kid is bringing the apocalypse with him when he arrives,” he murmured into her hair.

  She cried harder and he winced. “I’m sensing quiet time is needed right now.” Luciano pressed a kiss to her temple as he kicked off his boots and scooted backwards until he was far enough up the bed to lie down with her resting on top of him. Soon enough, the crying died down until it stopped completely, and the sound of soft sighs filled the room. Soft sighs that sounded a lot like... Looking down, he felt a smirk curve his lips. He flies in the middle of the day to talk to her, and the first thing she does is fall asleep. Nice.

  His smirk faded when he noticed the discoloration under her eyes. She hadn’t been getting enough sleep, and she was thinner than when he saw her last. Fingertips lightly pushing into her side, he felt around to make sure her ribs weren’t apparent and let out a small breath of relief when all he felt was soft flesh.

  “Exactly what have you been doing, beautiful?” Luciano whispered, brushing a tear track with his thumb. This Samara was...vulnerable. Something he wasn’t exactly used to. No, his Sammie was abrasive and brutally honest and uncaring of who didn’t like it. But when she’d looked at him moments ago all he’d seen was fear. Christ. Exactly what reaction had she been expecting from him?

  No, they weren’t a couple of, well, anything. But Luciano felt something for her. Something that went past a friendship. Something slightly possessive and a little needy of her approval. That didn’t make him weak, did it? Maybe it did. Maybe she had made him into her bitch. Or maybe he knew enough about life to understand when something truly precious was dangling in his reach, grasping at his hand. It would make him weak to walk away from this. Obviously his emotions had gone way past that one night. Obviously he was totally and completely obsessed with her in a way he hoped didn’t land him with a restraining order or a Taser to the dick. He’d heard that really hurt.

  Luciano’s palm slid over Samara’s T-shirt-clad belly and pulled at the fabric until it lifted enough for him to see the creamy, dark, velvety shade of her tummy. He stared. It didn’t look any different, but the small, three-dimensional image he’d seen moments ago had clued him in to the fact there was literally a whole person growing in there.

  His index finger traced her belly button in wonder as he remembered how his tongue had been there...been everywhere. He shifted a little to relieve the tension building in his groin.

  “Not now. That type of behavior is what got us here in the first place,” Luciano muttered.

  He traced Samara’s face with his eyes again, stopping at her mouth. That mouth had been the cause of many fantasies on his part; many nights spent with him exercising his right arm in an extremely unholy way. Now that mouth was a mere few inches away from his own, and he had to clench his left hand and bite the inside of his cheek to resist the temptation it offered.

  It wasn’t an easy task. He deserved a fucking pat on the back...a medal...some cheesecake for this shit. When she sighed and rolled until they were chest to chest, her breasts flush against him, he stared at the ceiling and gasped, “I’m coming, Elizabeth.”

  He didn’t think it possible, but she’d marked him in just a few short hours, and there was no escaping the need to be inside her. Not only that, but the need to see her smile or flip him the bird...or threaten his balls with castration by stapler gun. Luciano needed her eating and talking, even if it was just to rant. He needed her and their baby healthy because it would keep him sane.

  With a sigh he placed a kiss to her lips, trying not to linger, and gently moved her from his arms to the mattress, tucking a small throw blanket over her before he padded out.

  Thanks for reading!