Page 27 of Daddy's Reckoning

“Of course not. It wasn’t just about not having a guest room. My apartment is for me. It’s not suitable for a family. This gives us room to grow, gives our baby room to grow. I was thinking about the future, and what all of us would need.”

Fuck. It was so sweet and thoughtful I was going to melt, but… I couldn’t. It was also insane.

“How did you even manage to accomplish this all in three days?” I waved my hand around the room. This was not a ‘I bought a house we can move into slowly’ situation. This was ‘I bought a house, had it fully furnished and decorated, and all we need to do to move in is pack some clothes and drive there’.

Theo just stared at me.

Fair. He didn’t need to respond. I knew the answer. Money talks, and Theo threw his around when he needed to.

The house was beautiful. Like something out of my wildest dreams. The dreams that would only ever be a reality if I did end up becoming a world-class surgeon, but maybe not even then, because the student loans would bury me. The house was exactly what I would have chosen myself, and somehow that pissed me off.

“Theo!” I yelled. “Do you not even see how ridiculous and overbearing you are being?”

He blinked. “How is it overbearing? We had a problem that affected both of us. I solved it.”

God he was dense sometimes. “You didn't need to buy me a house. I’m not going to move in with you. Do you not understand that? Have I not made myself clear?”

I could feel the anger rising into my cheeks as I stared at him, and it scared me, but what was even more terrifying was the fact that Theo looked equally as angry. His eyes narrowed to slits, and he crossed the room, closing the space between us. I backed up, but my knees hit the bed and I fell across it. The glint of pleasure in his expression told me I’d just put myself right where he wanted me.

My breath caught in my throat as he leaned over the bed with his hands pressed against the mattress on either side of my face, boxing me in as he covered my body with his.

“Have I not made myself clear, little girl?” The way he spoke to me sent a shiver down my spine. “Your independent streak is not going to serve you well here. Now, I don’t know what exactly got into your head the other day that made you think I could pour my heart out and you could just keep me at arm’s length, letting me in but not really, and I’ve been patiently indulging your little moods because I know bed rest is an inconvenience and change is hard, but my patience ends now. You don’t want to be with me? Fine. You don’t have to. But when it comes to your health, well-being, financial needs, and the life of our child, you will stop pushing me away. I’m not playing. This isn't a negotiation. I don’t want to be heavy-handed about it, but trust me, if I have to, I will.”

My breath came in labored pants as he leaned over me, making demands that had my nipples peaking and my pussy weeping even as my brain screamed about independence and feminism and how I didn’t need a man.

He wasn’t taking no for an answer, and there were some things I couldn’t back down on. Maybe moving into this gorgeous house didn’t have to be one of them. “Fine,” I gasped, my voice coming out in a squeak. “I’ll move in. To your guest room.” I enunciated the words. “But it doesn’t mean anything other than I appreciate the help, and…” I shrugged, trying to catch my breath.

“And you want to be with me, even if you’re not ready to admit it,” Theo finished.

I shook my head from side to side and opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me by pressing his lips over mine in a short, but passionate and demanding kiss. Just when my mouth stopped fighting and my body started to melt into his, he pulled away, catching my bottom lip with his thumb while he dragged his opposite hand in an upward motion over my crotch.

“That’s what I thought,” he said with a smile that could only be described as wicked.

“It’s pregnancy hormones,” I said as he walked to the doorway.

He stopped in his tracks to grin at me over his shoulder. “Sure it is, babygirl. You keep telling yourself that.”

THEO

Touching someone without implicit consent wasn’t normally how I rolled, but I lost my control around Erin. Always had, always would, and the more she tried to fight me, the more I wanted her. The more my cock swelled every time I smelled her shampoo, or heard her sassy voice picking an argument with me.

It also did not help that her breasts were full from pregnancy and her belly was starting to bulge just a little with proof of the miracle we’d created together. The one I’d almost lost with my own stubborn stupidity. I couldn’t let that happen again, so I was not letting her push me away. Even when she hurt my ego. Even when I questioned my own sanity. Even when I knew she was making me act in ways I never before would have.

I waited in the hallway for her to come to her senses, or more likely, find the next fight she wanted to pick. Leaning against the wall, I pondered her reaction. Maybe I had gone a little crazy, and maybe I should have mentioned my plan to her before I did it instead of just springing it on her as a done deal, but she made me crazy. There was nothing logical about the way she argued with everything I said. There was also the fact that if she’d just let me share my own damn bed, none of this would have been necessary. Not yet, anyway.

Of course I knew the nursery was premature when we didn't know the sex or have a name picked out. Of course I knew it would be years before we needed the swingset/play structure I’d had erected in the backyard. I did it for her. I needed her to see the bigger picture, the whole thing, the ‘what could be’.

She’d be here any minute with a new argument. I was counting the seconds, and looking forward to seeing what she came up with this time. 5, 4, 3, 2…. I ticked off a countdown on my fingers, and just as I lowered the last digit, my hand closing into a fist, the door swung open.

“Did it ever occur to you that I might want a say in my own life?”

I blinked slowly. “What exactly is it that you aren’t getting a say in?”

She looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “Oh, I don’t know. Where I live? How I decorate, what my child’s nursery looks like, stuff like that!”

I bit back a smirk, noting that she hadn’t added “who kisses me” to her list of grievances.

“It did occur to me, yes.” I nodded.

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