Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
When he set me on the bed, he pressed me back to lie down. He was half over me, his arms bracketing my body, but he was careful not to let me take any of his weight. He was so careful with me. Like he thought I would break. And, to be honest, he wasn’t wrong. Just not in the physical sense.
“You could break me, Gideon,” I whispered. “If this doesn’t work out between us… I’m so far gone it would break my heart.”
“Shh,” he said, kissing me gently. “You’ve got me, baby. I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
“We’ve known each other a month and a half. How can you know that?”
He grinned, sliding his hand over my belly in a gentle caress. “I’m forty-two years old, Emmanuell. I’ve been through hell and back and never in all my life have I even thought about wanting a woman of my own.” He shrugged. “If I needed to fuck, I found someone to take the edge off, or took care of it myself. At one time or other, I’ve fucked several of the club girls here. That’s what they’re here for. But never in my life have I ever wanted a woman for my own. Emmanuell, I want you.”
“Never?”
He shook his head. “Never. My childhood was shit. To say my parents weren’t exactly role models is an understatement. When my old man wasn’t fuckin’ everything in sight, he was beatin’ the shit outta my mom and me. And Mom? She was strung out or drunk most of the time. She stayed with my father because he had money to fuel her habits. They had me to have an heir. Beyond that, I was nothing more than an afterthought. I’d always thought that, if this was what a family was, I didn’t need it.”
“I’m so sorry, Gideon!” I threw my arms around him once again, and he just held me to him. “All those things I said… You know what it’s like! You know! And I accused you of --”
“Hush, baby,” he said, pulling back to kiss me again. “You thought you meant what you were saying, and on some level maybe you did. But the real reason you lashed out was to protect yourself from a man you didn’t truly know. Now, we’ve had some time together. You’ve gotten to see how I live and how my club works as a family. Now you’re letting me know you’re just as gone on me as I am on you.” He grinned. “And I’m good with that. Means I’m not as big a pussy as my brothers keep tellin’ me I am.”
“What? Oh, no!”
Gideon’s deep chuckle made my insides melt. How could one man be so Goddamned sexy? Everything he did was an aphrodisiac to me. And it wasn’t just physical. He was protective, caring, sweet, gentle. Everything I’d ever wanted but hadn’t even admitted to myself because I was supposed to be strong. To survive on my own. Well, I’d done it for six months. And hated every second of it. I never wanted to be alone again.
“Honey, it’s not a bad thing. They all knew how much you meant to me. They were just teasing me because I was pretty much gone the moment I saw you. Dazz, the prick, makes it sound like I was worshiping at your feet the second I got off my bike at the gate that night. Embellished something awful. It’s great entertainment for the guys, and I can’t say a fuckin’ thing because it’d be a Goddamned lie. I fell hard. And I’ll never regret it.”
Leaning over me, Gideon eased my shirt over my distended belly and placed gentle kisses all over it. My hand went to his hair, tunneling there to ground myself. “I’m gonna help you get these girls into the world, and I’m gonna help you take care of ’em. I’ll love them as much as I love you, Emmanuell. If you let me, I’ll be a good father to them. May not have had the best role model for that, but I’m smart enough to figure it out.”
“Oh, Gideon!” Tears flooded my eyes, streaking down my temples. “I don’t know of another man alive who’d want to take this on. Three babies? Are you kidding me? And they’re not even yours.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. They are mine. The second doc told us what he found and let us see them on that ultrasound, they were mine. No way I’m letting you do this on your own. Even if you don’t want me, I’ll still be here. For you. For the girls.” He shrugged, giving me a sheepish grin. “I’m done for.”
I clung to him, crying, unable to stop. It was like a weight had been lifted from me. Worries I hadn’t acknowledged disappeared like a feather in a hurricane. Then Gideon kissed me again. This time, it was hungry, stoking the fire inside me he’d been building for weeks.