Page 40 of The Warrior's Salvation

He pulls back, breath heavy against my mouth, forehead still resting against mine. His hands stay at my jaw, thumbs brushing the corners of my mouth like he’s trying to quiet the panic spilling out of me.

“I don’t want to,” I whisper, voice catching. “I just didn’t know if you—if you’d want this. Us. The baby.”

He goes still. Every part of him.

His eyes search mine, not frantically, but deeply, like he’s trying to confirm he heard what he thinks he did. He doesn’t speak, just stares at me. His jaw is tight, but not in anger—like he’s holding back something massive, something dangerous, something real.

“You’re pregnant,” he says finally, the words almost breathless.

I nod.

He lets out a sound—quiet, raw, half disbelieving. His hand drops to my stomach. Not cautiously. Deliberately. His fingers press gently against the skin just beneath the edge of my robe.

His throat works like he’s swallowing broken glass.

“That’s mine,” he says, barely above a whisper. “That’s my baby.”

I nod again, still crying, and something in his expression breaks open. The fear, the fury, the weight of everything I never said—all of it crashes behind his eyes.

“You should’ve told me,” he murmurs. “You should’ve told me the second you knew.”

“I was scared.”

He doesn’t ask of what. He already knows.

Then his grip shifts. He’s still holding me, but it’s different now—firmer, possessive, like he’s staking a claim. Not violently. Not out of pride. Out of need.

“I’m not letting them take you,” he says. “I don’t care what your mother says, or your father, or that smug little bastard they’re trying to tie you to. I will kill him if I have to. I’ll kill anyone who thinks they get a say in this.”

I start to cry harder.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he continues. “You’re mine now. You hear me?”

I manage a shaky nod. “I didn’t want to lose you.”

He presses his mouth to my hair. “You won’t.” His voice is low, steady, and terrifying in its certainty. “Not now. Not ever.”

Lochlan bends, hooking his fingers behind my thighs and lifting me into his arms. I wrap my legs around him as he uses a boot to shut the door, then he turns, heading toward my bed.

"I told you I don't share, and I meant it," he growls, dropping me to the bed. I let the robe fall open, no longer scared of being uncovered. For this man, I will do anything, even die.

28

LOCHLAN

Ispread her like a feast as she shrugs out of her torn robe. Evie is desperate for me, and after what I walked in on, I know why. She’s still crying, reaching for me as I shed my clothing and crawl over her, praying Draco and Jasper don’t get my messages before I finish with her.

“Oh, God, Loch… Please…” Her hands wrap around my ribs, legs widening to take me in.

I drive myself inside her with one harsh thrust, feeling her wet heat envelop me, squeezing my cock like a vise. Her face contorts in pleasure and pain, nails digging into my back as I piston into her. I hold her by the hips, trying to avoid her wound, but it’s impossible. She moans through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry,” I growl, kissing her neck, leaving a love bite behind. “I’m so sorry…”

“Oh, please…” she whimpers. Her fingers pull at my ribs, feet hooking behind my hips. I revel in each slow, deep thrust as my lips claim hers again. Her hair is still damp, still dripping from a bath or shower, and I taste the saltiness of her tears on her lips. Had I been one minute later, who knows what Connelly would’ve done to her.

“I love you, Evelyn, and I’m not letting another man touch you ever again.”

“Loch…” Her moans are music to my ears. I wrap an arm around her and roll until she’s straddling my hips, hands splayed on my stomach as her hips rock.

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