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This baby?She was talking like it was a sure thing. I planned to have her take a test soon, but it seemed too early yet.
“Then what, Maxim? You shove me into a room and wait until you knock me up again? Or you kick me out of this house and raise my child? What?”
“No.”
“Then what?” she demanded, cool and confident.
I raked my hand through my hair, hating that I couldn’t lie and tell her that I hadn’t thought that far ahead. As far as I was concerned, she’d always be here with me.
Treading carefully, I took her hand and twined our fingers together. “Are you trying to ask me what you are to me?”
She smirked. “You’ve made it clear. I’m here to give you a baby. Nothing more. I’m your captive.”
I cradled her head, tipping her chin up so she’d face me fully. “I’m not going to commit, Sloane. I don’t commit. I don’t do girlfriends. I don’t ever want a wife either.”
“Just a woman to give you an heir.”
I nodded, but in my mind, I resisted what she stated so deadpan like that.
No.
Notjustthat. Already, she was so much more than a woman to knock up, but I couldn’t let her know that.
“Justyou,” I explained with a kiss to her brow.
“Fine. Then I’ll start remembering that now. I’m here to be fucked, and that’s it.”
I chuckled. “Why has it taken you so long to get it?”
“Because you duped me. I thought that I wasn’t alone in feeling something more. That when I see you smile or relax, that you enjoyed seeing me like that too. But fuck it. You’ve made it clear. You can’t commit to anything more than reproducing. Got it.”
She turned again, but I whirled her around so fast that I had to hold on to her before she’d slip and fall.
“What? Now what is it? I’ve submitted. I’m stuck here to take your dick. Got it. Is it already time for it again?” She turned and bent over. “Go on. May as well get it over with.”
I gritted my teeth, spinning her and pushing her to the wall. “Stop it.”
“What? I’m giving you exactly what you want, Maxim. You don’t want to commit. You don’t give a shit about my feelings or opinions. I said I got it. I understand. So don’t get pissed at me if you’ve reduced me to being numb and nothing but a fucking hole to fill!”
I slammed my lips against hers until she fought back. Dueling with my tongue, I made sure she wasn’t numb to me at all.
Backing up and resting my forehead against hers, I held her close and worried that I’d met my match.
“He was a cook, Maxim. An assistant cook whose name I could never remember. He wasn’t a threat to my beingyours.” She stated it calmly, almost detached. “I’ve seen him checking out the tall butler, and I bet he’s gay.”
I held in a laugh because I’d noticed that as well. That was another reason he was an apprentice in the kitchen, not on the security detail. He seemed too soft to be a guard but was in the family anyway to serve in some way.
“Even if I weren’t a captive here,” she admitted slowly, carefully, “I wouldn’t be looking at any other man.”
I tipped her chin up.
“Because I’ve been with you. I’m not happy about being caged in like this, but at the same time, I am grateful that you’ve shown up like the knight in armor that I didn’t know I needed. I am thankful for your removing all the problems in my life. And I don’t need to put in words how much I enjoy your touching me the way you do.”
I kissed her, realizing this submission was altogether different from anything else she could ever give me. And I valued every second of it.
“I am aware of how much you matter to me,” she stated. “Just give me time to adjust to the fact that you don’t feel the same toward me. That no matter what, I will only be a hole to fill. Not a person to want and care about.”
“Stop.” I kissed her again, holding her close because any inch of air between us felt like too wide of a gap. Only with her flushagainst me, her wet skin slick against mine, did I feel calmer. “You’re not just…” I shook my head. “Don’t ever doubt how much I want you.”