Page 38 of Blaze

“When was the last time you did that?”

Chewing on my bottom lip, I think.“Four days ago.”

“Good.If there’s a tracking device on it, that’s the last place it would ping.Not that it matters because of your car, but I’m going to have Ryder look at it, if that’s okay with you.He’s an IT guy.”

“Okay.”

“Does your stepmother know about the interview in Phoenix?”

“No.I never told her.I figured she’d go apeshit.I don’t even know why.For some reason, she’s been acting weirder than usual ever since I moved home.Hovering.Pestering me to go on dates.She kept joking that my biological clock was ticking as if that were funny.”

Blaze smirks.“Funny thing.I think I moved here from Chicago because I realizedmybiological clock is ticking.I’m not sure that’s even a thing for men.”

Staring at him, I purse my lips.

His expression sobers.“What’s wrong?”

I shrug, not sure what to say.“The thought of becoming a mother never entered my mind before I met you.It’s kind of scary, Blaze.And I’m only twenty-one.”My age keeps resonating in my head over and over.

He leans in closer.“How is it scary?”

I look down, but he lifts my chin again.He really likes to make eye contact with me.It’s so fucking intense.It makes me feel special.He’s the first person I can remember who makes me feel cherished.

“For one thing, it’s dangerous.People die in childbirth.Did you know some of your cousins’ wives are thinking about delivering here at the mansion?”

“I’ve heard them discussing it, but that doesn’t mean we would have to do the same thing, Victoria.If it makes you panic, we can take it off the table.I’ll get you to the hospital in the city.”

I’m grateful he’s not being an ass about that issue.

“What if having babies at all makes me panic?”I murmur.“First, there’s morning sickness, then months of growing huge and waddling around uncomfortably, and then…” I shudder.“How the fuck do people push a head through that small hole?”My voice rises.

Blaze holds my gaze the entire time.He doesn’t even laugh at my outburst.It was kind of funny, but he’s taking me seriously.

I power on.“Swollen ankles, and then weird, huge, tight tits.”I thrust my chest forward and point at my small boobs.“I’ve never been more than a B cup.I can’t imagine what it would feel like for them to be big.And they’d hurt.They’d get clogged milk ducts or some shit.I’ve heard that sometimes it’s painful when babies nurse.And they’d drip all the time.”

Still, he listens to me.

Shaking my head, I keep going.“And babies… They’re like small humans, and the hospital lets you just walk out the front door with them.They don’t even have an instruction manual.”

Finally, he gives me a smile.

“And then they cry.They’re needy.You have to feed them and change their diapers.They can’t take care of themselves for years.They get sick.That would scare me to death.”

He slides his hand to the back of my neck and sets his forehead against mine.“You will nevereverdo any of that alone, Victoria.The men in this mansion willallbe active participants in every fucking step of their children’s lives.That includes me.When you’re sick, I will hold your hair back and bring you clear soda.When your ankles hurt, I will massage them.When you give birth, I will hold your hand and do everything in my power to ease your pain.”

He plants a kiss on my lips.A chaste one filled with promises.Then he continues, his voice deeper, “When the baby cries, I will rock it back to sleep.When it’s hungry, I will bring it to you.We’ll get a top-of-the-line pump so I can express your milk.That way, you can sleep through the night while I feed our child a bottle at three in the morning.”

I lift a brow.Most of what he’s saying sounds sweet and normal, even if it is difficult to believe, but one line catches me off-guard.“You’llpump my milk?”I snicker.“I think you meanme.They’d bemyannoying huge udders.I’d be the one feeling like a human milk cow.I don’t think you’d ever fully understand the sensation or how to fix it.”

He shakes his head.“I don’t thinkyoufully understand how hands-on I will be, baby.”He releases my neck and glides his fingers over my throat until they dance over my breast.

I whimper when he touches my nipple through my shirt and bra.

“You haven’t known me long, but surely you’ve begun to understand that I’m not like most of the men you’ve known.We’ll be a team.I’ll be involved in every aspect of your life.”He pinches my nipple.

I arch into him, gasping.“Blaze…” My eyes roll back because, for some inexplicable reason, I’m lured by his bossy words and the way he touches me.I’m so horny right now it’s not even funny.

But he’s not done.He hasn’t released my nipple.He has a firm grip on it.Almost painfully so.But I like it, and I don’t dare pull away.“Your teats are sensitive, Victoria,” he breathes out.