She bit her lip. “Funny you should use that word… According to Nero, I’m pregnant.”
For a full ten seconds, he couldn’t breathe as those words sank in. And here he’d stupidly thought that Nero was talking about the two of them. “Are you sure?”
“Nero swears he’s not wrong.”
And he wouldn’t be…
Zarya was pregnant.
Undefined emotions ripped through him all at once. Stark terror. Panic. But above all was a joy so profound it left him reeling.
He was going to be a father…
Have a baby.
And that thought brought a tidal wave of pain crashing down around him. “I saw a photo of you dead, Zarya. I thought I’d lost you.” He couldn’t keep his voice from cracking. “I came here only to avenge you, and to die. Now…” He placed his shaking hand over her stomach where his child was growing inside her. “Now you tell me that you’re pregnant… why in the name of the gods did you leave the palace in that condition?”
She clutched his hand in both of hers and pressed it flat, wishing they could feel the baby move. But most of all, she wanted him to understand how much he meant to her. “Because you were in danger. I didn’t want to lose you. Not after what I went through when I couldn’t find you. I thought that if I went to the Resistance, I’d be able to talk sense into them. I had no idea they were under League surveillance, or that the League was planning an attack on them.”
He wanted to choke her for that. But most of all, he wanted to kiss her and make love to her until neither one of them could walk. “I knew they were under surveillance, and that the League was going to attack them. If you’d only told me be—”
“You would have insisted on coming with me. And that wouldn’t have gone over well with them. I had to go alone. I’m sorry.”
“I hate it when you’re right.” But he was so grateful to have her back. Alive. Nothing else mattered. He brushed his hand over her bruised cheek. “Who hit you?”
“You killed him in the hallway.”
“I wish I’d known who it was. I’d have made it hurt a lot more.”
Zarya kissed his lips as joy tore through her. “You’re being so reasonable about all of this that it scares me.”
“I promise, I’m going to be mad later. Right now, I’m just so relieved to have you with me that you have a free pass to do anything you want.”
She clutched him against her and inhaled the warm, masculine scent of his skin. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Coming to get me. And I’m so incredibly sorry for everything that was done to you while you were in our custody. I know I’ve said it before, but it’s never enough. And now, after all of this… I fully understand why you can never trust me. But I swear to you, on the life of everything I hold sacred, that I will never, ever, ever, ever leave you alone again. Not even if you beg me to.”
He kissed her breathless. “You have nothing to apologize for, Zarya.”
She knew better. “That’s your relief still talking.” She kissed the tip of his nose. “But that’s okay. I still love you.”
“And I love you.” He scooped her up in his arms, and started down the hallway.
“What are you doing?”
“Attempting to sweep you off your feet. Is it working?”
She smiled at him. “Honey, you did that the minute I saw you in my cell.”
“Good. ’Cause you stole my heart the first time you looked up at me.”
“I stole it?”
He flashed a wicked grin. “Good point. I gave it to you. I just hope you learn to take better care of it than the rings I keep buying you.”
EPILOGUE
Three months later
Zarya had her eyes closed as she sat on the cold marble floor with her long, maroon silk lace dress fanning out around her while she leaned back against Darling. Cradling her in his arms, he held a cool cloth to her forehead.
She groaned out loud in utter misery. “I can’t believe this is how I’m spending my wedding… sick on the bathroom floor.”
Nuzzling her cheek, he laughed softly in her ear. “Well, at least I have it all on video. The priest asking you to confirm your vows to me, and you instantly dashing off to throw up. Kind of apropos really, given our relationship. I’m so glad to know that the concept of being married to me makes you sick to your stomach.”
“You’re not funny.”
He laid a tender kiss on her bare shoulder. “Sure I am. You’d laugh too if you hadn’t just tossed up a vital organ or two.”
Smiling in spite of her queasiness, she cupped his perfect cheek in her hand. How he could be so kind and find humor in this given the insult she’d inadvertently dealt him, was beyond her. But then that was why she loved him so much. “I’m so sorry, Darling.”