Page 16 of Honor and Claim (A New Reign #2)

Chapter Sixteen

Z

C osima doesn’t mean for her little growls to be adorable, but that’s what they are. I know this isn’t the time to mess with her. She’s a ball of nerves, and I’m trying to fully pinpoint why and not make the situation worse.

“Talk to me,” I encourage her. We aren’t doing the miscommunication shit anymore.

“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you.” She lets out a small huff, her bottom lip puffed out. I have to fight the urge to not lean in and suck on it. This woman flipped a sex switch inside of me, and now I can’t get enough of her.

“You need another spanking.”

“Z.” She hisses at me, her cheeks turning pink. Damn, maybe she does.

“I thought you wanted kids? Marriage and all that.”

“I do,” Cosima whispers. “But what about you?”

“How many times have I come inside of you? Do you think I don’t know what that means?” Her cheeks manage to get pinker.

It was a dick thing to do, but I knew what I was doing when I came inside of her each time. If Cosima is pregnant, she’ll never be free of me, not that a kid matters in that regard, but damn, would I love to see what our babies would look like.

“That’s now. That night you didn’t know better. You thought it was a dream.” This really shows how na?ve she is about how obsessed I am with her.

“So? You’re claiming to know how many nights I’ve dreamt about you being pregnant?” Her eyes widen, and a small smile plays on her lips before she masks it. Thank fuck none of this is scaring her.

"Oh, I see." She tilts her chin up, letting me know she's about to be a brat. I have to smile, not wanting to ruin her moment, or mine for that matter. I enjoy her smart mouth, and I'm not going to dampen that. "You baby-trapped me."

"Yep." I’m honest with her. She needs to know that there is nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure she is my forever. I also know she’ll get off on my answer. Cosima enjoys my obsession with her.

"So you admit it!"

"Yep." A full smile starts to take over her face.

I inwardly feel the tension leave me. For a second my mind went to thinking she didn’t want to be pregnant, but I’d quickly yeeted that. I know Cosima, and she wants a family and kids more than anything else.

“Alrighty, I’ll take the test.”

“That’s my girl.” I kiss her on the top of her nose, knowing if I kiss her on the lips with my mind now flooded with thoughts of her being pregnant, she won’t end up taking the test for a few hours when I let her crawl out of bed.

I put her down on her feet. “I don’t know where the test is.”

“Come on.” I grab her hand, leading her back into Marks’ bedroom. It wasn’t too hard of a find. She put it behind a pillow. I’m sure thinking Cosima would be looking for it at some point but not wanting it just left out for me to find.

Cosima proceeds to the bathroom, putting the stick on her bathroom sink when she’s done. I pull her down to sit in my lap. “You okay?”

“You really okay with this?” She lays her head on my shoulder. “Before a few weeks ago you were fighting this; now we might be pregnant.”

“I’ve been fighting to not take you too soon, not the idea of us . We were always going to happen.” I feel her nod.

"When did you know we'd be together?"

"Always."

"No." She lets out a small laugh. "I mean like together together, not friends or whatever it was when we were younger."

"Honestly." I try to think back. "You've always been my whole world from the start. Rochelle bringing you home changed me in a way that I didn’t understand back then.

I was fascinated and drawn to you." I smile, thinking back to my childhood.

Cosima was a new beginning for me, and she was always full of life too.

"You had this way of calming me. It was the first time I'd felt that since my parents died. "

"Really?" She lifts her head. "I thought I drove you nuts."

I cup the back of her neck. "You do. I wouldn't want it any other way." I press a kiss to her lips. "I don't know when it fully flipped, but you have always been my person. There was never and will never be anyone else." I’ve never spoken truer words. She is my life.

“I don’t know.” Her brows pull together, and she shifts on my lap. I can sense her pulling back from me.

“Talk to me.”

“That was all really sweet; it’s just…” She lets out a long, deep breath, and I know whatever she is about to say has been weighing on her.

"If it was always me and never anyone else, then—" Cosima pauses.

I wait. I'll do it all day if I have to.

"Then you weren't with other people. Dating or whatever you call it. " She glances down.

"What makes you think I have been?"

“I just figured.”

“No, Cosima. Never,” I reassure her. I can be overbearing when it comes to her, but I’m not a dumbass.

I’m not a hypocrite. I would have to have had some audacity to scare boys away from her while I was fucking random girls.

Being with anyone else has never even been a thought.

Cosima has and always will be it for me.

“Really?” She playfully eyes me, but I see right through it. This has been on her mind, and I hate that. It would kill me to think of her with anyone, and here she is thinking I might have been at some point. Fuck that.

I grip her chin, getting closer to her so she can see right into my eyes. “Never. Nothing. No one else. Got it?”

“Yeah.” She licks her lips. “I mean, why would you want another girl when you’ve got me?” Cosima gives a teasing smirk.

“Exactly, how could I ever?” Her eyes fill with tears. “Hey now.”

“They’re happy ones. I know I’m playing it off with joking, and I know you know that.” I do, but it’s her way. No one can break the tension in a room faster than Cosima. “But.” She sniffles. “I love you.” I let her words sink in for a second, loving the way they make me feel.

“I love you too, sweetness.” It’s not the first time we’ve said I love you to each other. Cosima has always used the L word her whole life, and we all say it back, but this is different, and I know that. This time it’s all mine.

“Obviously.” She sniffles again, making me laugh. “Oh! The test.” She practically jumps off my lap, grabbing it. A small gasp leaves her. “I’m pregnant,” she whispers.

I come up behind her, wrapping my arm around her to place my hand on her stomach. "You know I really did dream of you pregnant."

"Really?" Her eyes meet mine in the mirror.

"All the time."

Cosima turns to face me. "I'm so happy and freaking excited."

"Good." Cosima places her hands on my chest.

"How do you think my parents will take this?" A V forms between her brows. "My dad brought up the idea of me getting married recently." I tense at the thought of Dario trying to marry her off to someone.

Dario is a difficult man to read. He doesn't give away shit.

I believe his wife is the only person who can accurately predict his behavior.

I will, however, fight him on this. I don't want it to come to that, but if he tries to go down that path, I will do whatever necessary. I won’t let anyone or anything stand in my way when it comes to her and our baby.

Cosima doesn't belong to him; she's mine.

The sooner everyone gets that, the better for all of us.

"I'm not marrying someone he picks, so calm down."

"I'm calm."

"You're presenting calm, but you're not calm." She giggles, her body shaking against mine. Now that does calm me.

"It doesn't matter what he wants. In this, he has no say."

"You know my father, right?" I know him better than she does, at least the darker side to him.

I know what the man can do to a person. I've witnessed it firsthand.

Dario is the one who trained me how to do it.

"I don't want there to be this big fight.

Like I said, I'm happy and excited right now.

The last month has been rough. I want to enjoy this before everything once again turns into a mess. "

"Are you saying you want to keep this between us?" I think that's what she's getting at. Cosima nods. I hate that she’s asking this of me. I’ve waited for what seems a lifetime to have her. I want everyone to know that she’s mine.

"Please?" I don't want to, but it’s not just about what I want anymore. We do need to find a way for this to come out without everyone losing their shit. Cosima might be mine, but I have a great deal of respect for Dario and Rochelle. If not for them, my life would have turned out differently.

"How about we make a deal?" I'm an asshole and willing to do what I need to keep Cosima.

"What kind of deal?" She eyes me suspiciously, as she should.

When it comes to her, I’m willing to play dirty.