King (Alliance, #2)

by S.J. Tilly

“I’ll let you stay in here by yourself tonight, but starting tomorrow, you will be sleeping at my side.” Savannah slowly crosses her arms, putting a barrier between us. “Why? What’s happening tomorrow?” I grin. “We’re getting married.” Her mouth drops open. But before she can respond, I slam and lock the door.

“I won’t force myself inside you, Savannah Baby. But I am dying to come all over those pretty tits, so don’t fucking tempt me.”

“But if you ever look at my wife like that again, I’ll remove your eyeballs from your skull.” He pauses. “Understand?”

Because I’ve always wanted to call someone Baby. Because your pretty eyes call to something inside me. Because you fucking belong to me, and I’ll call you whatever the hell I want.

“I’m gonna keep coming inside you. So if you don’t want a herd of kids just yet, you better find some birth control.”

“Well, if this old man dies between your thighs, it’ll be a life well lived.”

“I’m so proud of you,” he repeats. And I feel his words in the center of my heart. “Look around us. Look at all this beauty you add to the world. All the goodness you share.” He gently squeezes my hands. “I wasn’t lying when I told you that the world needed your art. But that wasn’t all of it. I need it, too. I need your joy. I need you to even out the bad things I do. Because with all of this?” He turns his head, taking in my paintings. “The world doesn’t feel quite so awful. So, yeah, Baby, I’m proud of you. And if no one has ever said that to you before, it’s not because you weren’t good enough. It’s because they weren’t.”