Page 32 of Baby Daddy Protector

Head hanging, Es moved off the bed and called through the door. “Please tell him we’ll be down shortly. Thank you.”

So much for our erotic interlude. I took several deep breaths to get my breathing and body back under control before tossing aside the sheets and heading for the bathroom to get myself ready. “Give me a few minutes.”

Half an hour later, clean and dressed and frustrated beyond all measure, I stood beside Es at the sideboard in the huge dining hall downstairs. It seemed ridiculous to me that they’d make all this food and serve it in such an enormous space for just three people. Still, as I filled my plate to brimming with bacon and eggs and potatoes and toast, I couldn’t complain about the fare.

We joined Silvester at the table, Es and I sitting on one side of the long, carved mahogany table while Silvester sat alone across from us. He wore a self-satisfied smirk as he sipped his tea, and I couldn’t help imagining what a pleasure it would be to punch that condescending look right off the prick’s face. One day, maybe I’d get the chance.

“Still looking a bit tired, my dear,” Silvester said, narrowing his gaze on Es. “I do hope the pregnancy isn’t too taxing for you. Such a burden with everything that’s happening with the king.” Silvester glanced at me with a disapproving stare. “That’s what you get, screwing riffraff though. It’s fun in the moment, but they have no control over their baser desires.”

I nearly choked on a mouthful of bacon at the unexpected slur, but Es merely smiled peacefully at her cousin as she nibbled on a triangle of toast.

“Yes,” she said. “Z is very fun. And kind and thoughtful and smart and hardworking, and most of all trustworthy, which is more than I can say for the other male in this room.” She set her toast down then dusted the crumbs from her hands. “Oh, I suppose I should clarify, since there’s actually three males in here now.”

Silvester halted mid-sip and looked around the cavernous dining room. “The servants are gone, my dear cousin. You must be seeing things now, in addition to all your other problems. Oh no. I do hope insanity doesn’t run on your mother’s side of the family.”

Es laughed, the joyous sound tinkling through the space like chimes. “Not at all, cousin. I’m referring to our precious unborn child.” She reached over and took my hand while I was still trying to calm down after that crappy remark about my heritage. “You see, we received a call last night from our physician in the States. It’s now official. We’re having a boy.”

I had doubted that pasty-white Silvester could’ve gotten any paler, but damn if the guy didn’t go positively corpse-like at Es’s announcement. I almost felt sorry for the man.

Almost.

Then an unattractive shade of purple mottled up under the sharp features of his face as he cursed under his breath and tossed down his napkin. He leaned across the table toward Es and I was on my feet in a second, my SEAL-honed protective skills on overdrive. If this asshole laid one finger on Es or our baby, I’d murder him with my bare hands.

A muscle twitched in Silvester’s pallid cheek, his eyes glaring with hatred. “This is not over. I will not be usurped by some bastard inferior child of a common solider. He’s no better than the help around here. You’d better watch your back, cousin, because the next time you see me, I will be prepared. Bank on it.”

With that, he stormed out, leaving Es and me to stare after him in stunned silence.

“Well,” Es said at last, pushing her plate away. “He took that better than I expected.”

“Seriously?” I slumped back in my seat. I’d always known I was different from Es and her father and their rarified aristocracy, but having it thrown in my face like that stung quite a bit. Not that I really cared what Silvester thought of me. I was proud to be an American, proud to have worked for everything I had. Proud to be a self-made man and not some pretentious prick like Silvester.

For some reason, the situation suddenly caught me funny, and I started to laugh. Unable to stop, soon I was on a jag, and man, did it feel good to release all those weeks and weeks of built-up stress and tension. Es joined me, too, giggling until she had tears rolling down her cheeks, one hand on our precious, tiny baby bump.

Finally, after a few minutes, we both quieted.

“We’ll have to keep a much closer eye on him now. Don’t take that threat he made idly,” I said, pushing my empty plate aside. “And I’m afraid simply having a baby boy won’t stop him from trying to use those new alliances of his to find some way to take the throne. He’ll keep coming at you until he gets what he wants.”

“Hmm.” Es sighed then reached over to place her hand on my thigh again. “And what doyouwant?”

I stared down at her fingers against the charcoal gray of my wool trousers, her skin creamy and her nails perfectly manicured as she began stroking her way up toward my crotch again. I gave a quick glance around before placing my hand over hers. “What are you doing? This is a public space.”

“I know.” She gave me a devilish smile. “That makes it even hotter.”

I gave her an incredulous stare. “Here?”

“This table looks plenty sturdy to me.” Es waggled her brows. “You go lock the door and then we’ll finish what we started upstairs, eh?”

“I…” I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again. My traitorous cock twitched under her gentle touch and soon her stroking me through the soft material had me hard and ready and pulsing with desire again. Before I could rethink my actions, I pushed to my feet and pointed at the far end of the table where it was bare as I headed over to lock the door. “Get down there and assume the position, woman. You’re about to be subjected to all the baser instincts of this SEAL.”

Es stood and walked backward to where I pointed, unbuttoning that shirt of hers as she went. “Yes, sir.”

TWENTY-THREE

The next day, I was determined to stay on schedule and away from Z. Not because I didn’t enjoy his company, but because I did. Too much. Our weeks together in the townhouse back in DC had forged strong bonds between us, despite the nature of our deal, and now I feared I was becoming far too dependent on his support. It was just so damn easy to lean on his strength while my reserves were depleted by pregnancy.

But I had to learn to stand on my own, to be my own protector—and my child’s, as well. After Silvester’s reaction to my news yesterday, satisfying as it had been to stick it to the guy, I had to remain vigilant. My son might hold the future of the kingdom in his tiny little hands, but for him to keep it, I needed to take charge and focus on ruling in his stead, putting Z and all the delicious things he made me feel out of my mind for now.

To that end, I strode down the hall of the administrative wing toward Greaves’s office. I’d not spoken to my father’s top intelligence advisor since the day he’d reluctantly appointed Z to head my security team in DC. That morning, I’d asked him for a private meeting to go over the state of things in Prylea following my absence.

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