Page 176 of Ruthless Creatures

“Uh-oh.”

“I can’t look at you when I say this, so please don’t ask me to.”

His arm tightens around me and his gaze burns my profile, but he remains silent, waiting.

Losing my nerve, I shake my head. “Never mind. This is a bad time.”

Kage’s laugh is short. “Nice try. Talk to me.”

I’m so nervous to bring this up, but I know I need to tell him the truth or I’ll never hear the end of it. I pause for a moment, gathering my courage, then spit it out.

“Here’s the thing. I… I never really thought about being a mom. I mean, I just sort of assumed I’d have kids one day, but I never planned to. It wasn’t a goal or anything. But now that I know I won’t be having any…”

After a moment, he says gruffly, “What?”

I shift my weight to my other foot and wet my lips, wishing my heart wouldn’t beat so hard. It makes it difficult to keep my voice even. “I’m thinking I’d like the choice.”

He turns me to face him, pulling me close and grasping my jaw so I can’t look away. In a low, intense voice, he says, “Are you telling me you want to have my children?”

I whisper, “I know you said you didn’t want to bring kids into this life—”

“Are you telling me you want to have my children?”

“—and you already had the vasectomy—”

“Natalie, answer my question.”

“—but I think you can get those reversed—”

He growls, “If you don’t say yes or no right now, I’ll take you over my knee.”

I glance over at Stavros on the other side of the vast living room, talking in low tones with two other men and shooting us the occasional worried look.

“There are people here.”

“Do you think that would stop me?”

“No. So here’s something that will: red.”

He grinds his jaw, his dark eyes blazing. He looks like the top of his head is about to explode like a volcano. He says my name, enunciating every syllable.

I blow out a breath and blurt, “I’m saying I want to know if you’d be open to it.”

His reply is instant. “If I say yes, will you marry me?”

My eyes widen. I stare up at him with my heart pounding against my breastbone and my hands shaking.

Then, my stomach in knots, I drop my gaze to his chest and shake my head.

“It can’t be a negotiation. It has to be something you really want to do. That both of us want to do. You don’t make kids a bargaining chip.”

After a silent, tense moment, he drops his hand from my face and releases me.

“Go into my office. Look in the top drawer.”

His expression is unreadable, and now I’m confused. “Now? We’re in the middle of kind of an important conversation here.”

“Do it now before I lose my patience and do something I’ll regret.”