Page 135 of Dark Billionaire Stalker
"Go to sleep," Gabriel murmurs against my hair. "I'll be here when you wake up."
"Promise?"
"I promise." His hand settles on my stomach, protective and warm. "I'll always be here. Both of you are mine now, and I protect what's mine."
I close my eyes, letting the darkness take me.
The last thing I feel is his heartbeat against my back—steady, strong, constant.
The monster's heart, keeping time with mine.
Chapter 34 - Gabriel
I watch her sleep.
It's become something of an obsession—this quiet cataloging of her unconscious form. The way her lips part slightly with each breath. The flutter of her lashes against her cheeks. The way her hand curls protectively over her stomach, even in sleep, as if some deep instinct has already taken root.
My child is in there.Ourchild.
The thought still feels impossible, even hours later. I've spent my entire adult life building walls, accumulating power, preparing for threats. I never built anything meant to last beyond my own lifetime. I never saw the point.
But now there's this. A future I never imagined, growing cell by cell inside the woman I love.
I press my hand over hers on her stomach, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric of her shirt. She's still wearing her clothes from yesterday—I didn't undress her beyond removing her coat and shoes. It felt wrong somehow, taking liberties with her body while she was unconscious, even though I've taken far greater liberties when she was awake.
Everything is different now.
The first gray light of dawn is creeping through the windows when she stirs. Her eyes flutter open, confused for a moment, then settling on my face with something that looks like relief.
"You're still here," she murmurs.
"I told you I would be."
"I know." She stretches, catlike, her body arching in a way that sends heat pooling in my groin despite my best intentions. "I just... I wasn't sure if last night was real. If any of it was real."
"It was real." I brush a strand of hair from her face. "All of it. You're here. You're staying. You're—"
"Pregnant," she finishes. "Yes. That part is definitely real. I've thrown up every morning for the past week to prove it."
"You've been sick?"
"It's called morning sickness, Gabriel. It's normal." She smiles at the concern on my face. "I promise I'm fine. The baby is fine. Everything is fine."
The baby.The word sends another jolt through me—wonder and terror in equal measure.
"I want to take care of you," I say. "Both of you. I want to give you everything you need—doctors, vitamins, whatever pregnant women are supposed to have—"
"Slow down." She presses her fingers to my lips. "We have time. Months and months of time. Right now, I don't need doctors or vitamins." Her eyes darken, her voice dropping. "Right now, I need something else."
"What do you need?"
She answers by kissing me.
It starts soft, almost tentative—a question rather than a demand. I let her lead, let her set the pace, my hands gentle on her waist as she presses closer.
But gentleness has never been our language.
Within moments, the kiss turns hungry. Her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me closer. Her teeth catch my lower lip, a sharp sting that goes straight to my cock. She moans intomy mouth, and the sound undoes something in me—some last thread of restraint I'd been clinging to.
