Prince of Hearts (37 page)
Authors: Margaret Foxe
Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Vampires, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Steampunk
She paused, trying to gauge his mood. He was still staring at her in shock, holding her belly. "That is, if you want children..." she began again. "Besides this one. You're quite stuck with him, you know," she said, her voice rising a little as panic began to set in.
He frowned, stroking her belly. At last he spoke. "The Duke of bloody Brightlingsea knew you were carrying my child before I did?" he bit out, furious.
Well, this was an unexpected reaction. She had been prepared for an epic existential meltdown. Savoring his ridiculous anger, she said in her most reasonable tone, "You abandoned me, Sasha. You disappeared to this damned island to sulk. Of course he found out."
"I wasn’t sulking, I was
pining
,” he insisted. Then, after a pause, “You gave the Duke an earful, did you?" he asked, his tone softening.
"I don't know why everyone's so surprised by that," she muttered.
He ran the backs of his fingers over the swell of her belly. "You think it's a boy, do you?" he asked in a strange, dumbfounded whisper.
Her panic faded. She felt a warm glow spreading through her body, the warm glow of complete happiness. "I hope so," she whispered fiercely. "A boy with black hair and a devil's grin."
He gave her
his
devil's grin. "I hope it's a tiny little girl with fawn-colored hair and chocolate eyes. I hope she wears spectacles she doesn't need, just like her mother."
"Sasha," she whispered, "are you glad? Will it be all right?"
He laughed wildly, kissing her soundly. "Well, let me see," he murmured. And then, as if unable to contain himself a moment more, he took her chemise and ripped it down the middle. She gasped as he gazed down at her naked body, the swollen shape of her breasts, the rise of her belly.
At first she was mortified that he should see her in her current condition, but at the look on his face, her embarrassment quickly disappeared. He drank in the sight of her, running his hands over her skin, testing the new contours of her body as if he would never have enough of touching her.
Then he turned them on their sides, pulling her near, holding her tight so there was no space left between them. He kissed her nose, her eyes, the smile on her lips. “I didn’t think I could ever be this happy. Or love you any more.”
“Sasha,” she moaned, embracing him with arms and legs, wanting to melt into his flesh and never leave.
“It must have started the first time you came to my office, five years ago,” he mused. “You stumbled over the pups, and your spectacles went flying. That’s when I knew…”
“So long ago,” she murmured.
“And when I knew for sure,” he said, nipping her bottom lip. “The day I spied on you, singing to
Aida
in my study. You sounded like a drowned cat. It was appalling.”
She scowled at him. “I think that is quite enough,” she said, arching her hips to meet the gentle undulations of his body.
He chuckled and reached between them to the fastenings of his trousers. “I knew, but I did not understand what it was. But now I do.”
“So do I.”
He hesitated. “I’ll not be easy to endure, Finch.”
She snorted. Didn’t she know? “Neither will I, Professor. And you’ll learn that soon enough if you don’t get on with it.”
He laughed and rolled over her once more. “I
am
yours,
milaya
. Forever.”
THE END
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