Page 74 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Chapter 25

Zephyr, Tenebrae City

Her husband was aroused.

He had been since the time she had come to the compound. had been since the time she had picked up Tempest and given her kisses, had been since he'd seen the new pinks with the old blues in her hair.

He had been aroused when she'd taken his hand and taken him away from the dwindling party, down the hill to the little clearing she'd found on one of her earlier visits, knowing the place would be empty especially since the guests had left and most of the people were tired and in bed. He had followed her, of course he had, and he'd been hard, thinking she was taking him away for a little wham-bam action. She was, but she was especially taking him away because she had to tell him and she wanted to be away from people, in a place that reminded them more of home, than inside walls of another house.

But if he had been aroused before, he wasstunnedand aroused now.

Zephyr's breath stayed stuck in her throat as they stood in the little clearing, her ears rushing with blood as she let the words out, hanging in the space between them. He stayed completely still, his singular gaze piercing hers, heavy with something she could not pin, and it was turning her on. Gulping, wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue, she muttered again. "I'm pregnant."

He blinked.

She waited.

He blinked again.

She swallowed.

She had been nervous about telling him, contemplating for a brief moment to give him one of those greeting cards. But he would have just told her to read it to him and it would have defeated the purpose.

When long minutes passed and he didn't do anything except the damn blinking, more than he usually did, she felt her stomach roil even more, and straightened her shoulders. Retreat. She should probably just step away and give him time to process this alone. Yup. Maybe he processed it with excessive blinking the way she processed it with ice cream. Not that she had ever noticed this before. Well, she had never been pregnant before too.

Nodding to herself, she took a step back, and felt his grip tighten on her arms, keeping her captive right on the spot. Okay, then. Retreat was out.

Suddenly, before she could panic some more, he lifted her up by the arms—she always got so hot when he did that—and deposited her on a high rock a few steps behind her, making her sit on the edge as he looked down at her face, his fingers like firm vices around her arms, long and warm, his musky scent wrapping around her the sounds of the party wrapping up camethrough the distance in a rumble, the muted lights from there and the moon casting a soft, intimate glow all around them.

Heart pounding, she kept her eyes on him, reminding herself that he took time to process big things, and that was all this was. He was processing. And he sure needed an upgrade for the speed.

His hands slowly loosened their grip on her arms, sliding down to her elbows, going to her wrist and finally, settling on her waist as his one light brown, almost gold eye, unwavering in its intensity still knocked the breath out of her, even after all this time.

Slowly, he went down on his knees, his height putting his torso between her legs, spreading them so he could fit, resting her feet on his thighs, and settled in between, her stomach at level with his face at the height. He pushed her dress up, bunching it under her breasts, and exposed her midriff and her flowery underwear to his piercing eye.

Zephyr had absolutely no idea what he was going to do next, and the anticipation was twisting in her gut rapidly as she looked down at his face, seeing his eye riveted onto her stomach. It still felt odd to her at times to be so fully exposed when her stomach wasn't perfect and he was only looking at it, but then she reminded herself who he was.

He was her Alessandro, her Alpha, the boy and the man who had loved her ten years ago and loved her now.

He leaned forward and planted the softest of kisses right below her belly button.

Zephyr's heart stopped, her eyes closing as tenderness filled her, a smile lifting her lips.

She felt his lips brush the skin again, and she opened her eyes, looking down at his dark hair pulled back in a bun as he planted soft, soft kisses repeatedly at the same spot, slaying all the tinydoubts in her head to the ground. His lips brushing over her soft skin was all the reaction she needed.

"Hubby..."

"Shh," he shushed her as soon as she began, his mouth never leaving her stomach, his hands holding the sides of her waist almost reverently.

Leaning her head, she saw his eye closed, savoring the moment, an expression of such peace on his face. Her eyes moistened for no reason, and she slid a hand over his head, cupping the back of his skull, loving the way it felt against her small palm. She felt his soft hair brush over her fingers in a familiar way that still enthralled her.

They stayed that way for long minutes, not speaking, not moving. His head against her stomach, he laved small kisses all over her midriff as she kept her hand on his head. She looked down at him, at his acceptance, his silent joy, celebrating what they had created together without words. The sounds of their breathing were the only sounds in the area.

Finally, she didn't know after how long, Alpha looked up, tilting his head back to lock their gazes together, his eyes luminous with moisture. He pulled her face down with one hand, resting their foreheads together. Zephyr felt his warm breath over her face and tightened her grip over the back of his neck, letting him just breathe, absorb whatever he wanted to absorb from her, settle whatever thoughts were racing through the labyrinth that was his mind.

He stood up a second later, making her tilt her head way back in surprise, hiking her legs around his waist as he gripped her hair in a firm hold and slanted his mouth over hers roughly, almost bruising, their teeth gnashing as he opened her mouth with his tongue, kissing her deeply, the softness from a second ago pushed back by whatever intensity he was feeling. Zephyr gripped his shoulders in surprise at the suddenness of it, pullinghim closer instinctively and hooking her legs around him, the table cool under her butt, his body warm against hers, his mouth completely untamed on hers.

And then the kiss became a paradox, like her husband.

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