“Oh God.” I fell back on the bed. Every part of my body felt exquisitely sensitive. Sex had never felt like that before. The way he touched me was like lightning shooting from his fingers. My nipples tingled. My clit buzzed. I was still on fire even after three orgasms.

Damon nuzzled behind me. He ran his fingers along my arm, twining them between mine. The ring was the only thing I had on.

“I should have Sutcliffe clear my schedule so we can spend the entire day like this,” he growled. “We could stay in bed all day.”

I nodded. “Can we?”

“I wish. But Galonians might not understand how much we enjoy fucking each other.” He laughed.

I twisted to face him. His body was damp with sweat. I placed my palm over his chest. I could feel his heart still beating wildly. I kissed his tanned skin.

“What is today?” I asked. I lost track of time in the palace.

“The thirtieth. I have a cabinet meeting this afternoon. Why?”

The deadline for accepting the grant to London was tomorrow. I had been a coward for two weeks. Afraid that leaving while Damon dealt with Dominic’s health was too much to ask. He needed me to stay. And the thought of suggesting I leave for six weeks seemed out of the question.

But I hadn’t sent my reply.

I counted back on the calendar. In a month’s time my life had changed more dramatically than any piece of literature I had studied. An entire month of Damon had turned everything upside down.

“Wait, are you sure it’s the thirtieth?”

He nodded. “There is always a cabinet meeting the last day of the month. I’m sure. But I was thinking maybe the middle of next month in between sessions we could go somewhere. A pre-honeymoon, honeymoon.”

“A month,” I whispered.

He tilted his head. “Yes.”

I sat up in bed. “Oh shit.” I hopped off the side and slid a robe on. My phone was on the dining table. I ran through the apartment.

“Molly?” Damon followed me through the apartment naked.

I grabbed my phone from my purse and pulled up the calendar.

I looked at him.

It had been six weeks since my last period.

“Molly, what’s wrong?”

I didn’t know what to say. I sat on one of the chairs embroidered with the Sauvage family crest in the center. My head spun. Was it possible I was pregnant? I had heard stories about IUDs not working, but I couldn’t be one of those cautionary tales, could I? This wasn’t the time to fall into a online rabbit hole of birth control gone-wrong blog posts. I needed the truth.

I had gone to bed last night with a terrible headache. I had blamed it on too much screen time writing. I had fallen asleep two days ago, working on my chapter outlines in the middle of the afternoon. I had been exhausted all week, but my body was a bundle of sexual energy like it never had been. And the smell of the champagne this morning had made my stomach turn. The signs had been creeping up on me the past couple of days, only I hadn’t noticed them—or else I didn’t want to.

“I think I need to buy a pregnancy test,” I blurted.

He was silent and motionless.

“Damon, did you hear what I said?”

He nodded. “I’ll go get it now.”

“Wait.”

He turned slowly. He was in shock. He had to be.

“It could just be all the stress of the past few weeks.” I looked into his eyes. “I might be overreacting.”

I reached him in the doorway. He cradled my cheeks, drawing my lips upward. “I hope you are pregnant.”

“You do?” My eyes darted back and forth, trying to read his mood. It was the last reaction I expected from him.

“Yes, love.”

The words warmed me, sending heat through my chest. “I-I can’t believe this. You want a baby?” First a proposal, and now this.

His lips burned mine. The kiss was fiery and raw. I tried to catch my breath. I gripped his neck. I was off balance, falling into his arms.

“I want a baby,” he growled.

“Ok.” I nodded.

“Now, I’ll go get what you need. I don’t trust this errand with the staff. Wait here.” He broke free and disappeared to get dressed.

I heard him depart in one of the side tunnels instead of the elevator.

I returned to the chair. I couldn’t move. My hand instinctively moved to my belly. Was this really happening?

* * *

“How long did it say?” Damon paced outside the bathroom door.

I tugged on his arm. “It’s only three minutes,” I replied.

The suspense was killing both of us, but he didn’t handle this kind of wait well.

“Did I buy enough boxes?” he asked.

“Yes. I think six is plenty. Hopefully, one will be enough.” I tried to smile, but really all I wanted to do was throw up.

I still wasn’t sure how he had pulled off leaving the palace undetected and buying so many pregnancy tests, but he had learned to maneuver through the system.

“Should we look?” he pressed.

“Thirty seconds.” I held the timer up on my phone.

“Fuck. Someone needs to invent something that works faster.”

I giggled. “That is insane.”

He shot a cutting glare at me.

“Sorry.” I bit my lip. It was comical how ancy he had become. I was used to him pacing because of the cabinet, or the family, but this was different. It was adorable.

He ran his fingers through his hair.

“Damon, it might not be positive.” I tried to steady him. I didn’t want him to be disappointed if there was only one line on the stick.

He finally stopped making a track in front of the bed. He tugged the tie on my silk robe, pushing the fabric off my shoulder.

“Then, we’ll make sure the next one is.”

“You’re serious?” I gulped.

“I’m serious. This morning I asked you to marry me because I knew one day we’d have a family. But as soon as you said it could start now, something kicked in. Something I didn’t know I had in me.” His hand cupped my breast, exposing my sensitive flesh. If I wasn’t pregnant, I had no idea what was going on with my hormones. Every touch sent me over the edge.

I moaned as he lowered his head to my nipple. “I want you to have my baby, Molly.”

I nodded, loving the sensations. “I want to, too.”

My eyes closed as the timer on my phone beeped.

Damon jerked away and my eyes flew open. I twisted my lips together, pulling my robe back together.

No matter what, a baby was in our future. It didn’t have to be today, I tried to convince myself.

We walked into the bathroom. I reached for the stick.

“Well?” he asked. He was about to jump out of his skin.

I grinned. I turned it so he could see the two pink lines. “I’m pregnant.”