Page 41 of Defiant Devotion

“No.” She licked her lips before shutting them tight again. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“You owe me some answers.”

She gaped at me. “I don’t owe you?—”

I lowered my hand to tug up her shirt, exposing that small bump. I hadn’t noticed it at the strip club, and I was shocked how I hadn’t. Sure, I’d been distracted by desire, wanting her, but…

“Is this my child?” I stared her down, daring her to lie. “Is this my baby in there that fucker wanted to hurt?” I couldn’t help the enraged growl in my tone. Flashbacks of her being held and attacked infuriated me all over again. But to aim for harming my child, too?

Sniffling once, she nodded. “From…” Her throat flexed with a swallow. “From when I saw you at the bar and…”

“It’s mine?” I had to ask again. I had to hear her confirm it again to erase the doubt. I hadn’t wanted to get my hopes up high.

She nodded a little more firmly. “I gave my virginity to you that night. And no one else has touched me since.”

I was going to be a father. She’d confirmed it, and I didn’t detect a lie in her quiet, sheepish admission.

I would have a child.

Me—I would have a son or daughter to raise and care for.

I’d been loosely wishing I could slow down and settle with someone. Turning forty had been on my mind a lot lately. But to actually already have a child on the way…

I exhaled a long breath as I stared at her.

“I didn’t let them. I couldn’t let them hurt my baby.”

I set my hand on her stomach, so moved and overwhelmed with indescribable emotions that I could barely breathe past it all. Awe. Shock. Wonder. Excitement. Utter surprise.

“Ourbaby.”

I admired the contrast of my darker, tanned skin with my fingers over her pale belly. Feeling this soulful and heartfelt connection to Sonya seemed like a mystery I’d never solve, but knowing she really would be the mother of my child? I couldn’t get over it. I couldn’t accept the miracle of it and let it sink in.

“Our baby,” I repeated. “One you didn’t bother to mention when I spotted you running through that strip club.”

“Oh, you mean when you pretended not to recognize me in that little room? You want answers from me, but I demand them fromyou, whoever the hell you are.”

“I’m the father of this baby,” I said, slanting over her on the bed. I couldn’t help the smile on my face. This was serious business, but just saying it out loud got to me.

I would be afather.

“Yeah, but…” She frowned slightly, reclining as I advanced over her on the bed. “But I don’t even know who you are or why or how?—”

I closed the distance between us, lunging in for a kiss. It was swift, hard, unforgiving and full of all the awe and marvel of her and the fact that we had a baby to look forward to.

“I’m the father of this baby,” I reminded her as I stroked up her stomach, rewarded with the gasp of surprise she gave at my touch.

Hovering over her more, I kissed her again. “I’m the man who took your virginity.”

She licked her lips after that kiss. “But why did you pretend not to know me at that club?”

I tugged her shirt off. “You faked it too.”

“I didn’t fakeit.”

I grinned, mesmerized by how this immediate, potent desire rendered her helpless to needing my touch too. Lust warmed up her gaze, and she moaned when I kissed her again. “You faked not knowing who I was.”

“Only because you did first.”

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