Chapter 20

Fifteen minutes passed and Eden still hadn't shown up. When I found myself glancing at the door for the sixth or seventh time, I closed my laptop and strolled around the corner to her suite.

She was just coming out of her bathroom. She started and pressed a hand to her chest. "Talon. I didn't hear you come in."

I could hear her heart pounding from across the room. I crossed to her in two long strides. "Everything okay?"

Her eyes jittered sideways. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason." I rubbed her shoulders, instinctively trying to calm her. "I didn't mean to startle you, that's all. I was wondering where you were. It's been a while since I texted."

"Oh—sorry." She made a face. "Rio was here and we watched a movie, and I was cleaning up."

"Okay." I continued massaging her shoulders, drinking her in, all pink-cheeked and soft-mouthed, her fuzzy sweater the same sky-blue as her eyes.

She sighed and rested her forehead against my chest. "That feels so good. Can you do it a little harder?"

At her breathy, suggestive words, my groin tightened. "Sure, babe."

I increased the pressure, focusing on the areas of tension, until she stepped back with a murmured thanks.

"I love sewing," she said, rolling her head from side to side, "but it's kinda like working on a computer—tough on your neck and shoulders."

"Sit with me." I took her hand and guided her to the couch. "You were sewing?"

"Yeah, before the movie."

When we were settled on the couch, I stretched an arm along the back, smoothing my free hand over her abdomen. "How are you feeling?"

These days not even the loose, oversized sweater could hide the fact that she was round with my spawn. Something primitive in me loved that others could see it; would know I was the man who'd put a baby in there. It meant Eden was mine, and not just because of the blood bond.

"Good. I have so much more energy now that I'm not working so much."

She curled into me, idly stroking my chest. My stomach muscles knotted, then eased. Before she'd left, she used to caress me like that sometimes—and I'd missed it. Setting aside all the reasons I shouldn't let myself get too close to Eden, I kissed her temple, steeping myself in her warm, sugar-cookie scent.

She snuggled deeper into me. "Rio wanted to know what we're going to name the baby."

"Name the baby?" I repeated. Somehow, I hadn't gotten that far in my thinking.

She nodded against my shoulder. "I like Talon myself. Do you want his last name to be Esposito?"

"No," I said firmly. "I want him to have his own name. And especially no to Esposito. That name means nothing to me."

A short silence. "Because you're a vampire?"

"No. Because Esposito's a shitty father."

"Oh." I sensed her looking at me. "So you and your dad aren't—?"

"I only see him when he wants money."

She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I stopped counting on him a long time ago."

"I'm still sorry. My dad's the best, you know?" She'd stopped stroking my chest, but now she resumed her gentle petting. "So, no Esposito," she said when all I did was grunt. "But I'd still like to name him after you. Maybe Talon could be his middle name."

I shrugged. "Why don't you come up with a list and run it by me? We can choose together."

"Any preferences?"

"Nothing too fancy. I'm not saddling him with some long, pretentious name. Other than that, it's up to you."

Her chuckle vibrated through me. "Now how did I know you'd say something like that?"

I squeezed her shoulder. "Watch that smart mouth, baby, or I'll find something to keep it busy."

She giggled and relaxed against me again, her fingers toying with the hair on my nape.

"So what were you sewing?" I asked.

"An outfit for the baby. Rio bought me a yard of purple fleece and I'm making him a hoodie and a pair of joggers."

"You know how to do that?"

"Not really." She grinned up at me. "I'm figuring it out as I go along. Rio got me a sewing machine—I think Kerry had an extra."

"Can I see?"

"Sure," she said and scooted forward, preparing to stand. "I just finished the pants. They're in the bedroom closet."

I helped her rise, following her to the bedroom door. She went into her closet, returning with a pair of miniature joggers. "Here," she said, handing them to me.

"These are for the baby?" I held them up in front of me, a strange constriction in my chest.

She nodded. "I started with the pants—I figured that would be easier."

I flashed on what the baby would look like, all tiny and fat-cheeked, his little legs encased in the soft purple material. I think that's the moment when he became real for me. Even though I'd felt him move, heard his heartbeat, he hadn't been quite real. More an idea than an actual person.

Now it was like this tiny being had balled up his fist and punched me in the gut.

Me and Eden, we'd made a person together—a little boy. I was going to be a father.

My throat cinched. Because what if I fucked it up like my old man?

"D'you like them?" Eden asked.

I forced my attention back to the purple joggers. "I do, yeah."

I examined the neat stitching, trying to focus on it instead of the anxiety clogging my lungs. But when I did, I was seriously impressed.

"You're good," I told her. "I didn't even know you could sew. I wouldn't even know where to start making something like these."

Her face cracked wide with a smile. You would've thought I'd given her a little blue box from Tiffany's, not complimented her sewing.

"It's easy. I measured a pair of my own joggers—to use as a pattern, you know—and then divided by a lot." She chuckled. "I figured his waist and butt need extra room, too. Not that I don't have a big butt…"

I dropped the tiny pants on a chair and pulled her to me, filling my hands with her round, firm cheeks. "Your ass is perfect."

"Yeah?" She ran her hands up my shoulders, linking her fingers around the back of my neck.

I urged her up against my erection. "Tell me you want it ‘a little harder' again."

Her mouth edged up. "You liked that, huh?"

I slapped that perfect bottom. "So it was deliberate?"

"No! It wasn't, I swear."

"What if I think you're lying?"

That long, curvy body pressed against mine. "You know I'm not."

I did, but I liked playing games with her. "Hm." I made my tone stern. "Now tell me what you want or I'll have to spank you." I smacked her ass again just for the hell of it.

She rubbed against me, back and forth, back and forth. "I want it hard," she said, sliding me a suggestive look from beneath her lashes.

Oh, baby. My dick lengthened, pressing against my zipper. "How hard?"

"Very, very hard." As she spoke, her fingers snaked between our bodies to undo my pants. She reached inside, stroking me over my boxer briefs, sending a heated bolt straight to my balls.

"Bad girl." Catching her wrist, I removed her hand. "You have to ask permission before you touch me."

She pouted up at me. "Please…Master."

The woman was going to slay me. I might as well stab a dagger in my own chest and be done with it.

Dragging in a breath, I caught her lower lip between my teeth, enjoying how her pulse sped up at the tiny pain.

"Not yet," I said against her mouth. "First I get to play."

I tugged off her sweater. Her bra followed, and then the rest of her clothes. When she was naked, I lifted her up and walked backward with her until we were at the bar in her kitchenette.

Shoving a stool out of the way, I set her on top of the smooth wood and smacked the side of her knee. "Spread your legs."

When she complied, her hands on either side of her hips, I nipped each of her nipples, enjoying how they beaded under my tongue.

She rasped my name. "Hurts…"

"Too much?" I soothed the reddened tips with my tongue.

"No." A seductive smile. "It's…hot."

Sliding an arm behind her back to support her, I sucked each of her nipples into my mouth, tonguing them as she moaned and squirmed beneath me. I gave them each a final, wet kiss.

"You're my angel, aren't you? My bad-girl angel."

"Yes…"

"Keep those hands on the bar," I ordered and trailed my lips down her rounded abdomen until I reached her center.

I swiped my tongue through her glistening pink lips. She gasped and arched her back. I did it again, then sucked hard on her clit. She was panting now. I pulled back a little so I could see her.

Her eyes were half-closed, her mouth slack with enjoyment, her nipples rosy and pointed.

My woman. My own naked, pregnant Madonna.

Mine.

Something in me stirred, something hungry. A craving that predated my being turned into a vampire. This went back to the pissed-off, edgy teenager who, like Rio, had wanted more but hadn't known how to get it.

Chest tight and achy, I slipped two fingers into her hot, slippery channel and pumped, a little roughly, showing her who owned her.

"You want me to fuck you, baby?"

Her answer was a moan.

"Tell me. I want to hear the words."

I sucked on her clit again, knowing it would interfere with her ability to speak. Meanwhile, I was still stroking her inside where she was warm and wet.

Her core clenched on my fingers, and her breath released in a shaky exhale. "I want…you to…fuck me."

"Want me to fuck you—what?"

It was no longer a game. The hunger required her to beg. Demanded proof that she was mine, body and soul.

"Please." She whimpered. "I want you to fuck me, please."

I rumbled in satisfaction. "Then I will. But first, I want to feel you come."

"Yes…" She swallowed, added "please" without my prompting her.

"That's it, angel."

I put my head between her thighs again and, supporting her lower back with one hand, went to work on her with my mouth and fingers—although it wasn't work, it was pure, unadulterated enjoyment.

I got to touch Eden, taste her, smell her. Hear her sexy whimpers.

And when she broke, I got to feel the tiny explosions that started in her cunt and shot up her spine to burst from her mouth in high, pleasured sounds.

By then, I was so hard, so hungry, my brain in an Eden-induced fog. She had barely finished climaxing when I had her in my arms and in the bedroom. I bent her over the bed and dragged off my clothes.

I grasped her hips. Somehow, I had the presence of mind to check in with her. "You okay? Comfortable?"

"Yeah." She turned her head on the mattress, gifting me with a dazed smile.

"Good." I wanted to slam into her, but I forced myself to slide in slowly.

At first she was passive, still recovering from her orgasm. I slowed even further, licking my fingers and reaching beneath her to swirl them around her swollen clit.

Raising up on her forearms, she arched her ass up to me and started to push back at me in rhythm with my strokes. The hunger clawed at me. I thrust more firmly, then stilled, afraid I'd been too rough.

"Tell me if it's too much," I said, my voice harsh in my ears.

"No, no." Husky tones. "It's good. I like it hard. You know I do."

That was all I needed to hear. "Hang on, then, baby. I'm going to fuck you so hard and deep. I want you to still feel me tomorrow. I want to be all you think about."

"Yes. Please, Talon. I need it."

Gods, I loved hearing her beg to be fucked. Loved hearing my name on her lips.

"Then take it." I thrust again, over and over, until she screamed and tightened around me, climaxing a second time.

Sweet Lilith, that felt good. My eyes closed as I pushed in again—hard. "That's it, baby. Feel me deep inside you. Feel your man."

She shuddered. Tiny muscles gripped me. "Oh my God."

My mind blanked, consumed by a hot, dark pleasure. I groaned, hips jerking, and followed her over the cliff.

After, I hung over Eden's back, breathing in the scent of her and salty, sweaty sex until I came back to myself enough to lift her onto the bed.

I pulled the covers around her and she snuggled into them with a sleepy smile up at me. "G'night."

"Good night."

I couldn't stay—I had things to do. But I stared down at her like my feet had grown roots, the raw craving barely satisfied.

It's the blood-hunger. She's not your mate.

Brien's words last night snaked through my brain.

"I'm not so sure you can control it… It's an instinct."

But Brien didn't really believe that, did he? Because he'd all but ordered me to look for a mate in the vampire world.

My stomach churned. I bent to kiss Eden again, this time a firm, almost angry press of the lips, and left.