Reaper's Fall (Reapers MC, #5)(76)
My girl, covered in me.
I reached down, tracing a finger through it to paint a pattern on her back.
Property of Levi Brooks.
Mine. All mine.
MELANIE
That. Was. Amazing.
Pushing myself up, I felt Painter’s arm wrap around my waist, pulling me into his body. Then he was kissing the top of my head, running his hands up my stomach to cup my breasts.
“Missed you,” he whispered into my ear.
“Missed you, too,” I managed to reply. It was hard to think, like he’d somehow shorted out my brain with pleasure. I opened my eyes, looking down the hallway, wondering if we’d had an audience.
Nope, just us.
Good. This was going to be hard enough as it was.
“We have to talk,” I gasped as his teeth caught my ear.
“Talk later,” he whispered. “I want to eat you out.”
My whole body shuddered, but I managed to tug away from him. Turning, I looked up at him.
“We have to talk,” I said again, firmly. His eyes flickered, a wary look stealing over his face.
“Okay.”
? ? ?
The room was small—just a full-size bed and an old desk. I walked over and pulled out the chair, because I needed to be facing him when I did this.
Needed to see the look on his face.
Painter took a seat on the bed, facing me, leaning forward over his long legs, elbows on knees.
“What is it?”
I swallowed. I’d rehearsed this in my head all night. Then I’d practiced with Loni and Jessica, who’d taken turns giving me hugs and promising me that no matter what, I wouldn’t be alone. I knew they’d be there for me, but would Painter?
Taking a deep breath, I put it out there.
“I’m pregnant.”
His face didn’t change for an instant. Then his eyes narrowed, looking down at my stomach like he expected to see something.
“Are you sure?” he asked slowly.
“Yes,” I said shortly. “I took four tests, I’m missing my period, and I’ve been throwing up almost every day.”
Painter’s eyes narrowed.
“Is it mine?”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“It’s a fair question—is it mine?”
“Yes, it’s yours,” I said, feeling my heart sink. I knew he didn’t want kids, so I hadn’t exactly expected him to be all happy about this. Still, it never occurred to me that he’d react like this.
“You sure?”
This wasn’t going well. Shit. Shit. “Seeing as you’re the only guy I’ve been with in the last year, yeah, I’m sure. And f*ck you very much for thinking I’d cheat.”
He sighed, then reached up, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“This is why you were talking about kids yesterday. How long have you been hiding it from me?”
“I wasn’t hiding anything,” I snapped. “I only confirmed it yesterday morning. I planned to talk to you when I came to visit, but you were really negative. I figured I should wait until we had the time to talk things through.”
“Have you decided what you want to do?”
“Do I want an abortion, you mean?”
He looked straight at me, his face unreadable. “It’s one of the options.”
“No, I’m keeping it,” I told him shortly. “By myself if I have to. I’ve only known about this baby for a day, but I already love it. Him. Her. Whatever it is, I’ll be the best mother I can. I won’t be like my own mom—I’m going to stick around and do this right.”
“And what do you expect from me?” he asked, still expressionless. I closed my eyes, feeling my heart twist.
He’d warned me.
He’d told me that he hurt girls, that us being together was a bad idea.
They all had.
“Nothing, I guess,” I said, slowly rising to my feet. Walking toward the door, I turned back to look at him. All big and rangy. Sexy. Beautiful.
Toxic.
“I guess I don’t expect anything. Go play biker with your brothers, Painter. Go do your club business because I guess that’s way more important than the child you helped create. Fuck you.”
With that I walked out the door.
He didn’t follow me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
PAINTER
Pregnant.
Melanie was pregnant.
I sat on the bed, head down between my legs, wondering how the f*ck this had happened. Okay, I knew exactly how it happened . . . I wasn’t a moron. I’d realized how stupid it was to screw her without a condom, but I’d always pulled out before coming and she was just so damned sexy.
I needed to go after her, to tell her that it was going to be okay and I’d take care of her and we’d live happily ever after—but I didn’t even know what happily ever after looked like. All I knew was that I’d be a shit dad and she was way too f*cking young for this.
She deserved an easier life.
Standing slowly, I started downstairs, trying to figure out my next move. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Melanie was knocked up. With a kid. My kid.
A kid I’d made clear I didn’t want.
Why the f*ck had I said that? I’d wanted to take back my words about ten seconds after they left my mouth but the damage was done. The look on her face had been worse than a punch to the gut.