Page 19 of One Night with the Werewolf
I shrug. “Again, it doesn’t matter. I signed up for anything when we had sex without a condom.” I try to keep my voice calm and steady and reassuring. “It’s up to you, Emelia.”
Somehow, my words make it worse, and she starts bawling all over again. The body is seventy percent water, and it’s all coming out of her eyes right now.
“But I don’t know what to do!” she cries out, flinging her arms into the air. “You were supposed to tell me, Roscoe. This will change your life, too, if… if…” She swallows hard, her hands curling into fists.
“If you keep it?” I supply in a soft tone.
She nods, turning her head away.
“Yeah, it will. It’ll change both our lives forever.”
“Then I should get rid of it.” Suddenly, her entire demeanor changes. Her eyes harden, and she returns her feet to the floor. “You don’t deserve that.”
Most unexpectedly, my wolfroarsinside me. It claws at the edges of my body, furious at the idea that our baby, the one already growing inside her, might go away. That the seed I’ve planted in her would cease to exist.
“No.” The word just comes out of me. I can’t stop it.
“No?” she asks, perplexed.
“Please, don’t make any decisions because of what you think I want. You don’t know what I want.”
ButIknow what I want. I know it right then: now that I’ve seen her after so many weeks apart, I want her. I need her, in every way, and I can’t let her go again.
Neither can I let go of the life we’ve created together, not unless it’s what she needs in her own heart.
“What… what do you want?” she asks, and I don’t miss the hopeful note. It gives me an idea of what she’s really thinking.
“Emelia.” I gently raise both hands to her face, cradling it between them. She leans into me, her eyes closing as she absorbs my comfort. Good. “Since you left that day, I’ve regretted it. I wasn’t willing to admit it to myself, but… it’s true. I should never have told you to leave.”
Her eyes scrunch closed even harder, as if she doesn’t believe me.
“Look at me.”
Eventually, she does, peering up at me with tears gathering on her lashes.
“I want you. I want you so, so badly. Whatever you decide, I’m not leaving you. I’m not going to watch you walk away again.”
Besides, the train has already left the building. Now I’m imagining her with my baby growing inside her, her belly swelling as it takes shape. Now I’m imagining her with that baby in her arms, sucking on her perfect pink nipples. Now I’m imagining it growing up, learning to walk and eventually going off to school for the first time.
But then, my logical brain kicks in.
Emelia still doesn’t know the truth about me, and that truth is what destroyed my marriage. Would it destroy what I have with her, too?
“I want to keep it,” Emelia says suddenly. She wipes her face with her wrist. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
I smile at her, because it’s exactly what I wanted to hear.
“All right, then.” I slide my arm around her and bring her in closer, kissing the top of her head. “Then we’ll keep it.”
And I need to come clean with her—soon.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
EMELIA
I’m glad Arin made themself scarce when I said Roscoe was coming over. They had saluted at the door, saying, “Be back at ten.” Part of me hopes they finally called Harry.
