Chapter 72

Chapter 72
Lila

I nodded, unable to form words. He pulled them down slowly, and then I was completely bare before him.

His hand moved between my thighs, fingers sliding through my folds. I was already wet, and I felt him groan.

"So wet for me already," he murmured, his thumb finding my clit. "I love how responsive you are."

I wasn't too shy right now. "I want you," I said, my hips lifting into his touch. "Please, Elias."

"Not yet." He slid one finger inside me, then another, curving them to find that spot that made stars burst behind my eyelids. "First, I want to watch you come apart for me."

His fingers worked inside me with a rhythm that had me panting, his thumb still circling my clit. I could feel the pressure building, that familiar tightening that signaled I was close. My hands gripped his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin.

"That's it," he encouraged. "Let go, Lila. Come for me."

I did, my body tensing and then releasing in waves that made me cry out, my inner walls clenching around his fingers. He worked me through it, and when I finally opened my eyes, I found him watching me with intense satisfaction.

"Beautiful," he said, withdrawing his fingers and bringing them to his mouth, tasting me. "I'll never get tired of watching you come."

He leaned over me, carefully maneuvering us so that I was lying back with my injured ankle elevated on a pillow, his body settling between my spread thighs. I could feel him pressing against my entrance, hot and insistent.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Your ankle—"

"Is fine," I interrupted, reaching between us to wrap my hand around his cock. "I need you, Elias. Please."

He positioned himself and pushed inside in one smooth thrust that made us both moan. The feeling of him filling me was almost overwhelming.

"God, you feel good," he groaned, holding still to let me adjust. "So tight. So perfect."

I wrapped my good leg around his hip, urging him deeper, and he began to move with slow, deep strokes. His movements were careful, controlled, mindful of my injury even as I could see the strain in his jaw.

"You don't have to be so gentle," I told him, my hands sliding down his back. "I'm not going to break."

"I know," he said, but his next thrust was deeper, harder, hitting that spot inside me that made me see stars. "But I like taking my time with you."

The rhythm increased, and I felt pleasure building rapidly. "Touch yourself," he commanded. "I want to feel you come around me."

I obeyed, my hand sliding between our bodies to find my clit, circling it in time with his thrusts. The dual sensation was almost too much.

"That's it," he encouraged. "You look so good like this."

The possessive words pushed me over the edge. I came with a cry, my body arching as my inner walls clamped down around him.

"Lila," he groaned, his rhythm becoming erratic. "I'm close. Where—"

"Inside," I gasped. "Come inside me."

He did, with a groan that sounded torn from somewhere deep, his hips jerking as he spilled inside me. He collapsed on top of me, careful to keep his weight on his forearms, his face buried in my neck as we both struggled to catch our breath.

"I love you," I whispered into his hair. It was the first time I'd said it.

He went completely still, then lifted his head to look at me. "Say it again," he demanded.

"I love you," I repeated, meeting his gaze. "I think I've loved you for a while now. I was just too scared to admit it."

The smile that spread across his face was unlike anything I'd ever seen from him—open, vulnerable, filled with joy. "I love you too," he said, and kissed me with a tenderness that made tears prick at my eyes. "Lila, I love you so much."

He withdrew and disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a warm washcloth to clean me with gentle care. Then he gathered me into his arms, arranging us so that my ankle was still elevated.

"When your ankle heals," he said after a few moments, "you're going to make this up to me."

I tilted my head back to look at him. "Make what up to you?"

"All this careful restraint." His hand slid to my ass, squeezing. "When you're healed, I'm going to fuck you properly. Hard and fast and every way I've been fantasizing about."

Heat curled through my belly. "Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Both," he said, and kissed me again.

We settled into comfortable silence, his fingers resuming their lazy patterns. Then he spoke again, his voice holding a weight that made me tense.

"Lila." He paused. "There's something I want to ask you. Something important."

My heart began to race. "What is it?"

Another pause, and his hand stilled. When he finally spoke, his voice held vulnerability I rarely heard from him. "I want you to have my baby."

The words hung in the air. I went rigid, my mind stuttering as I tried to process what he'd just said. "What?"

He shifted to look down at me. "I want us to have a child together. I want to build a family with you, Lila. A real family." His hand cupped my face. "Not just the arrangement we started with, but something permanent."

I stared at him, speechless. A baby. He wanted me to have his baby. The implications were staggering—a child would tie us together in ways that went far beyond any contract, would transform this marriage into something irrevocably permanent.

"I..." I started, but couldn't find the words. My hands rested on his chest, and I could feel his heart racing. "Elias, that's... we've only been married two months. We started as a business arrangement. Having a baby—"

"I know it's sudden," he interrupted gently. "But Lila, what we have now—it stopped being a business arrangement a long time ago. You know that." His thumb brushed my cheekbone. "I look at you with Sofia, at the way you've become her mother in every way that matters, and I think about what it would be like to see you pregnant with our child."

The image made my chest ache. A baby with his dark eyes. A child who would call me mom as truth. The permanence was terrifying and tempting in equal measure.

"I need time to think about this," I said quietly. "This isn't something I can just say yes to right now."

"I know." He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'm not asking for an answer tonight. I just wanted you to know what I want. What I'm thinking about when I look at our future." His eyes searched mine. "Take all the time you need, Lila. But know that I'm serious about this. I want everything with you."

I stared up at him, feeling my throat tighten. He wasn't demanding an answer, wasn't pressuring me. He was simply showing me what he wanted and giving me space to decide.

"Okay," I whispered. "Okay. I'll think about it."

His arms tightened, pulling me back against his chest. "That's all I ask," he murmured into my hair. "Just think about it. Think about what we could build together."