| 043 | Ruby |

"I am NOT ovulating. I am not getting pregnant again, and I am not going to give Rhett a sibling any time now."

"How about two? It could be twins," she taunted me.

As the lift doors opened, I pushed her inside, "Stop jinxing me, you're terrible."

She clicked her tongue annoyed, "I want another grandson, Rhett wants a,"

"Jesus Christ," I grabbed Niklaus by the arm and pushed him into the lift, to my mum's arm, "go and fuck, maybe that way you will leave me the fuck alone. You clearly need sex, so, go and use him, you can't get pregnant either way. But I swear, if you jinx me again, if you suggest all that when I'm not even ovulating, I will call Cole and tell him that Niklaus Crowther is fucking our mum. Let's see what he's going to do about that, uh? He has beef with Niklaus from Harvard, and he's green with jealousy of both of us, even if we haven't talked in years."

"You wouldn't dare," she gasped, finally understanding how serious I am.

"Just test me," I narrowed my eyes. "It goes for both of you. Another whisper about pregnancy and ovulation around me, or twins and children, and I will call the bastard. I will also drop your contact information in a milf lesbian and in a gay porn website, so they will torment your life."

"Jesus, I can't even joke around," mum snapped annoyed.

Pressing the button to the upper floor, I said, "No. Not if it's to jinx me."

Only when the lift left the ground floor did I turned around, sighing, only to find Rhys' intense gaze burning my skin, nostrils flaring, which made me gulp. Feeling overwhelmed, I turned my eyes to Adeline and Damien, both already on their feet, "We'll be going now, Ruby," Rhys' sister said, the corner of her lips curling up in a naughty ghost of a grin. "Anything we should know of the bakery that my nephew likes?"

It took me a second to reorder my thoughts, "The bakery is very... fancy, it's more vintage in a French style, it's called Stressed Desserts, the owner is the main baker and her name is Marie-Ange Beaudouin, she a woman in her early 40s, her husband Madoc Vega takes care of the business aspects and of the finances, she has two girls, both 9 and 3 years old, Véronique and Félicité. Also, Véronique is from Rhett's school, she's got a full scholarship and she's a class under him, also an accelerated student, aiming for my major in Oxford."

"How do you know all of that?" Damien asked.

"Rhett... has a crush on Véronique, she is a redhead like me but with light grey eyes, white skin, no freckles, long and curly hair, and she also uses corrective eyeglasses. She's not poor by any means, her mum's bakery is very known in the area there, but she's not rich, more like middle class that lives very comfortably, and she's the only accelerated scholarship student in the school, she's very smart, and loves baking. She's 9, but she'll turn 10 in September 27th, so, she's precisely 6 months younger than him, also from 2016. Her family is unable to pay the tuition, hence the scholarship, she's a good girl, doesn't get into trouble, tries to be invisible in school, and she's also a ballerina in school."

"Well, seems like me and my son have a similar type," Rhys chuckled.

I felt my cheeks burning and kept my eyes on the duo, "She's... sweeter than me, more like a doll and a damsel, and I am weighting and considering the possibility of sponsoring her in the future. As Rhett's mum, since he does have a very fat crush on her since past October, when she dressed up as corpse bride for Halloween, and he loves the movie, and he's been playing hero for the kids who get bullied, like Lloyd, since then. Well, besides, I can give my recommendation letter to her when the time comes and she's ready to go to Oxford, as a successful writer myself. All for my son, and well, if he's obsessed with her to still like her when they get to highschool."

God, my body is tired, and I'm sore. I just want to leave this damn living room.

"That aside, he began to love her mom's bakery's goods, and he genuinely likes their lemon pie, but the actual reason why he likes it, it's because of Véronique. The name of their pie is Summer Sicilian Dream, it's made of Sicilian lemons, and it's," I closed my eyes, "bloody good," I said dramatically. "Seriously, if get it, you should get more than one of us, it's absolutely delicious. Marie-Ange has the hands of an angel, she has a degree from the best Parisian bakery major in France that she graduated from at 20, and also from a bakery college in Geneva in Switzerland that she graduated from at 24. She's the real deal."

"Now you go me hungry for that, sister-in-law," Adeline beamed.

But before I could snap that I wasn't her sister-in-law, Rhys possessively passed his arm around my shoulders, making my thoughts go to him and his touch, to how I'm throbbing to feel him inside me again. I felt dazed, drugged.

"Do you want anything else, love?" Rhys asked behind me, his voice raspier.

"She has a fantastic tiramisu, and a mouth-watering strawberry shortcake. They are called the Autumn Roman Empire and Spring Fluttering Romance, the names can be a bit ridiculous, but it's because Marie-Ange allowed Véronique to choose them when she was 5, almost 5 years ago, when they moved to London, from Edinburgh, where her husband is from, where the kids were born, and where she moved to when she was 27, as she's natural from Paris. But only if they have it there, don't force them to make it, for God's sake, not them."

"Alright, Princess!" Damien nodded. "We'll be back after we get them ready."

"Thank you, you both," I said before they could leave, they just winked at me.

A minute passed and I found myself alone with Rhyot, the tension between us nearly palpable, thickening at each breath, "Are you ovulating, love?"

Shivers ran down my very core, "No," I looked up to him.

"Are you sure?" He brought his hands to hold my face.

I swallowed, "I'm not ovulating, I'm sure."

"Just so you know, I want to have more kids with you, love."

When my knees got weak, as if knowing what his damn words would cause, he held me in his arms and walked to the lift, calling it back.

"We just met again, Rhys," I held onto him, "it's too soon."

"I know, love, but I'm just telling you this in case it accidentally happens, and you feel unsure about me wanting another child or not," as the doors of the lift opened, he walked inside and pressed the button to the 1st floor instead of the 2nd where my bedroom is. "If you get pregnant again, I will be overjoyed, especially because I'll be able to watch it all happening, which is something I lost with Rhett. We're adults now, were both in our late twenties, I'll turn 30 next year, love, and though you're struggling about it, and overwhelmed with all this, I want you to know that I want to share a life with you, for real."

"Rhys," I felt my lungs constricting, my heart racing.

He walked into the 1st floor, and as if he's mapped my whole place already, he walked straight to the library, closing the door behind him and locking them, and I instantly knew what he had in mind, and the understanding made my entire body burn. Rhys walked to the big leather couch, one of my favorite places in the house, and sat me down on it, then he fell to his knees, taking off my boots. His touch on my ankles sending my soul into ignition.

"If I haven't make it clear enough for you yet, even after what I told you back in the car on the way to our son's school," he lowered his raspy and deep voice, his eyes darkening and moving to mine, "I have been maddeningly obsessed with you since you were 2 years old, I was 4, almost 5, and I've grown more obsessed with you by the years," he set my boots aside, then, he brought his hands to the waistband of my shorts, unbuttoning it. "I love you, Ruby, I always did, and I know that it's hard for you to believe me, after everything, but I'll prove to you, every day if you give me the chance, how much I love you."

His fingers hooked my shorts and yanked it away, since I'm not using panties, leaving me exposed to his preying hunter eyes.

"I'll show you," he whispered, looking up to me, grabbing my thighs and widening my legs, making me gasp, "how deep my love for you is," he added as he leaned into my throbbing core and gave me slow and long lick from clit to slit, sucking my dripping juice with thirst, as I held onto his hair, calling his name.