Page 19 of Beneath His Vow (Knocked Up and Locked Down #1)

CASEY

Lexi is dead to the world when the baby stirs, making that little warning noise she makes before she screams.

I move around Lexi’s side of the bed and carefully lift our daughter out of the bassinet.

I slip into the nursery so Lexi can catch a few more minutes of sleep.

I stare down at my daughter. Alina’s face is scrunched up, ready to open her lungs. I rock her in my arms.

“Come on sweetheart. If you start crying, you’ll wake up your mama and she needs her rest.”

Alina gurgles, her big eyes locked on mine. She’s so fucking small, so delicate it terrifies me. When I think about the things out there that can hurt her, that can ruin her, it makes my chest tight.

I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

I sink into the nursing chair, staring down at the best fucking thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t think I could ever love anything like I love Lexi—then our daughter was born and my heart cracked wider to make room for her too.

“Your mama is the strongest person I’ve ever fuckin’ known,” I murmur.

And she is. What Lexi fought through while she was carrying her? Shit. I’ll never forget the day she showed up at the clubhouse wrecked and beaten, hurt and shaking. I didn’t think I’d be able to put her back together, but she fought her way through that, too.

I kiss my daughter’s forehead, my lips lingering on her soft skin for a moment before I pull back. “You’ve got her fire, little one, and I swear that if anyone tries to put it out, I’ll fucking kill them.”

“At this rate, her first word is gonna be ‘fuck’.”

I glance up to see Lexi standing in the doorway, her hair tangled from the bed, the imprint of her pillow on her cheek. She’s never looked more beautiful than she does right now. Rumpled sleep shorts and camisole, bleary-eyed but grinning.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She steps closer, her fingers trailing over Alina’s cheek. “You really thought my mom-senses wouldn’t wake me the second Alina disappeared?”

She rubs my shoulder, like she’s grounding herself. Reminding herself that we’re her home.

“Go back to bed. I got this.”

“I’m pretty sure she needs to feed and you don’t have the equipment for that.”

I don’t, but fuck, I wish I did. I wish I could take some of this load from her.

I stand carefully and wait while Lexi sits in the chair. Then I hand our daughter over to her and watch as she positions her to latch onto her breast.

I lean against the wall, soaking it in. My wife feeding our baby, completely besotted, is everything.

She’s safe, they both are. Anyone who tries to take this from me again will meet the monster I keep leashed.

Because this is everything, and I’ll protect it to my last fucking breath.