Page 17 of Come Alive
It took James more time to decipher, to understand. “Pregnant?” He jumped to his feet, his attention on Yara. On the way she refused to turn around, on her disheveled hair, on the long sleeves and pants that covered nearly all of her skin. “Three possibilities?” He flicked his attention to the door Mateo had exited through. He couldn’t see the man but would bet he was listening just on the other side.
Again, jealousy slithered down his spine, coating his skin, seeping into his blood. He pushed it aside, but it took home inside of him.
Yara took a few more breaths before twisting back around. She leaned back against the glass window, shutting her eyes. James’s attention zeroed in on her stomach, but there wasn’t any evidence of her pregnancy.
James took her distraction to walk towards her, a magnet pulling him closer and closer.
She abruptly turned to face him, wrenching her head up to him, offering a hand. In a trance, James took it. Her cool skin at odds with his hot palm. His qualms and jealousy suffusing into the air.
“Look James. I care about you, we had an unforgettable night. My feelings were—are—real. I want more from you, but there is a complication. And more than that—” Yara rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, glancing towards the door Mateo had left through. “I have two other men who are going to be a part of my life, and I can’t ask you to walk into that kind of relationship. I don’t have much to offer you. But I am pregnant, and I want to get tested for paternity. If the child isn’t yours, you can just cut ties with me, and if they are yours, I will do everything to coparent with you.”
James stared down at Yara. “Two other men?” he asked.
“Mateo and Kazi.”
James screwed his eyes shut. He flicked through his memories, of everything he had done in the last decade. Since his daughter had disappeared. Of the points that were bright. The darkest hours. The nights he nearly sunk into oblivion. The depression that bit away at pieces of himself. The numb that he forced himself into if only to survive.
Throughout all of that there was one singular day that shrouded the rest. One singular night that reminded him what itwas to be alive. One singular encounter that made him realize he hadn’t been alive in years.Yara.
Mateo’s face came to mind next, the type of person he appeared to be. His mind flipped through everything he found out about Kazi. He didn’t know how this would go, what all it would entail.
He acknowledged his own possessive nature.
I don’t want to share.
But for a chance to be with Yara? To grow his family? Isobella would always be his daughter, but perhaps he could be a father again?
James brought Yara’s hand to his lips, pressing a peck there. “Okay. I want to try this. To figure it out.” He willed the desire churning in his gut away but then Yara was launching herself at him, and he was forced to catch her.
It wasn’t until that very moment he realized how empty he had been without her.
He would do what he could to work this out, even if it meant competing with two other men.
His lips crashed against her, a fervor of need and rage. Of agony and lust.
She had run from him, she had left him when he needed her most, she had hurt him. He tightened his hold on her, one hand around her waist, the other cupping her ass as she straddled him. His fingers dug into the linen of her pants, reaching for her ass.
“James,” she murmured softly. “Fuck.”Her hands tangled around his neck as she rocked against his hardening length, her lips brushing against his.
It was his signal, his sign, hisbeaconto take it further to unleash onto her the emotions she had poured into him.
He readjusted, tugging her gently off, and he caught the way her eyebrows drew together, but he didn’t leave her to worrylong. He set Yara on her feet, dropping to his knees before her, reaching for the hem of her pants. Staring up at her, he waited for permission to continue on with his plans.
His mind was clouded, he was desperate to connect with her again. To stamp out Kazi and Mateo. To remind her thathewas right here, of how amazing they had been together.
She’s pregnant. And it might be with my child.
The thought circulated, fueling his hedonistic need—the flame of rage that wanted more than anything to take Yara from this office and run off with her to the sunset.
“We shouldn’t,” she said, but her actions were at odds with her words, as she unbuttoned her pants.
James smirked, helping to tug her pants and underwear down in one go.
“Why is it like this between us? I amachingfor you. Is it the pregnancy hormones?”
“No,” James replied gruffly, taking in her cunt.
He reached out his hands, one cupping the soft skin just above her cunt, the other finding the heat between her thighs. His fingers trailing gently, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He watched her intently as he did so. Her lips parting, her eyes turning glassy, as she slowly leaned into him.
