Page 49 of His Captor

“You do not have to do this alone,” he said, slowly and deliberately. “I know you’re trying to prove something, to yourparents, your brother, yourself, maybe even to me. But you don’t have to.”

I gave him a dubious look, tensing up like a spring about to pop. Fuck. I was so going to cry now.

“You are strong, Hayden,” Mace went on. “You’re not a screw-up or a failure. Yes, the baby was an accident, but your heat came on early. You were brave enough to trust a complete stranger to take you through safely rather than suffering or getting desperate. You moved out when your parents wanted you to. I can guarantee that if you’d resisted and tried to stay, they would have let you. And you applied for and got a brand new job with a start-up company late in your pregnancy. I can’t think of many omegas who are half that brave.”

The bastard had me in tears before he’d gotten halfway through his little speech.

“I just want my baby to have a good life,” I said, all wet and snotty. I grabbed the freshly folded underwear and used them to wipe my face.

“And it will,” Mace said, squeezing my hands. “It will.”

“He will,” I corrected him, still all cry-faced.

“He?” Mace lit up, his smile broadening. “You know it’s a boy?”

I nodded, then blew my nose using the undies.

Mace didn’t seem to care about the outrageousness of that action. He let go of one of my hands and rested his hand on my belly, a look of excitement in his eyes.

That excitement turned to awe a moment later when Junior kicked. Mace sucked in a breath, his gaze darting up to meet mine.

“Oh yeah. Did I mention I have a baby growing in me?” I asked.

Mace’s smile turned into a laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt a baby moving inside of someone like that.”

“Really?” I blinked in shock. “Never? Don’t you have friends who have had babies? Do you have younger siblings?”

“I’m an only child,” Mace said, shaking his head and staring at my belly as Junior continued to say hello. “Most of my friends have been alphas or male betas.”

“Dude, you need to get out more,” I said.

Mace raised his eyes to me again with a smile. “I’m sure I will now,” he said. “Now that I have a tour guide to show me around the city. I should get you to be my real estate agent, too. You probably know all the places with the best schools.”

A shiver ran through me with those words. He couldn’t mean…he wasn’t saying…we were still virtual strangers. He couldn’t be hinting that he wanted me to live with him wherever he ended up buying a house, could he?

Of course, that level of kindness and suggestion made me incredibly horny. My body flushed with heat, and I felt a small shift of dampness around my hole. And the new thing that came with pregnancy, my nipples started to dribble.

Oh, God. What if Mace ripped my shirt off over his head, pushed me back against the couch, and started to lick and suckle my nipples?

“I think I’d better go make sure there’s enough space in the bureau for all this clean laundry,” I said breathlessly, scooting to the side a little and getting ready to stand.

Mace cleared his throat and rocked back, then stood. “Yeah, I can help however you need me to.”

I definitely noted the bulge in his trousers.

I felt a small rush of slick as I stood, with Mace’s help. Our eyes met, and the air between us crackled. It felt like tendrils of lust were weaving their way between our joined hands.

It wouldn’t be out of the question to tear off my clothes and kneel on my bed in the traditional omega mating pose, would it? I mean, he couldn’t exactly get me pregnant more than I alreadywas. And sure, he was my boss, not to mention my guest, and someone was out to get him. But a little harmless pregnancy sex couldn’t hurt anything, right?

“I noticed that you have a lot of half put together baby furniture in the bedroom,” Mace said in a rough voice, letting go of me and breaking the moment. “I know it’s cliché, but I’m pretty good at putting things like that together. I do have a masters in Engineering, after all.”

“I would absolutely love you,” I said with a rush of breath.

Immediately, I tensed as I heard the words that came out of my mouth.

“I mean, I would absolutely love that,” I said, feeling myself go so, so red.

Junior kicked me furiously from the inside, like he was either making fun of me for the slip-up, which would be so typical of a child of mine, or like he was prompting me to say it all for real so he could have his daddy in his life from the day he was born.

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