kalani depradine

I vowed to never step foot in that spa again. Instead I joined a yoga group for pregnant women which would be an even better stress reliever. I've only had one class, but so far it's nice meeting women who are also experiencing all the same things in their pregnancy, minus the baby daddy who doesn't want their child.

Entering my apartment, I set my keys on the table by the door and removed my shoes. The driver stopped at this burrito place on the way home and now all I needed was a long shower and my comfortable bed.

I went to my room, jumping against the wall at the shadow lingering by my nightstand. I quickly turned on the light to see Grayson holding a picture frame of mine. He set the photo down then turned to look at me. He was here, just casually standing in my apartment like a weirdo and this is the second time he has been able to get inside here.

"Do you have a key or something?" I caught my breath.

"You'd be surprised how compliant people are when you slip them a hundred dollar bill and inform them you need to urgently see the mother of your child," he sat on the edge of my bed. He was still in his suit.

"I thought you were in China," I swallowed a heap of air, keeping my back against the wall.

"I arrived an hour ago. I wanted to come see you," his eyes went to my stomach hidden under a baggy hoodie.

"Why?" I crossed my arms. He just arrived an hour ago and instead of going home and catching up on sleep, he chose to come see me.

His jaw tensed. "Because I miss you," he confessed and hearing it was almost like a breath of fresh air because I missed him too. I missed his annoying, spontaneous calls and text messages. They showed he was thinking about me and him thinking about me during his spare time makes me happy.

"For someone who doesn't want to be romanticized, you definitely make that difficult," I muttered before he shared his smile with me. He rarely smiles, almost like he has nothing to smile about. But when he does smile, it feels like a crime because it's so adorable. He even has dimples.

"Come here. How's my baby?"

I moved closer to him, letting him bring my hoodie up to examine my belly. For the first time ever, he placed his hand on my stomach and for some reason I wanted to cry because I didn't know it would feel so good to have him rub it and not treat the baby like the plague Bria said it is.

"She's good," I told him and his eyes lit up as they looked up at me. He looked excited and it only confused me. Everything is confusing with him.

"She?" He confirmed.

"Yeah. I found out the gender three days ago," I brought hair behind my ear. His thumb stroked my stomach.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there," he spoke under his breath with a sigh. I sat down beside him while pulling my hoodie down.

"There's no need to be sorry. I didn't expect you to," I tried to share a warming smile but it probably just turned out forced and sad. "How was your trip?" I asked him and he remained silent as he stared at the wall.

"I don't want to talk about my trip," his adam's apple bobbed before he tapped his finger along his knee. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. All I do is think."

I nodded. "Me too," I agreed.

After scratching the back of his neck, he looked at me. His eyes looked extremely green and I was losing my train of thought. "You're having this baby and I don't want you to do it alone," he said the words like he was being forced. But no one forces Grayson Astor to do anything.

"Why?"

He laughed. "I don't know. That's what I keep thinking about. If anyone else were to come to me saying they were having my child, I wouldn't have let them leave my office without signing a NDA. I probably would have paid them to have an abortion if I'm being honest," he openly admitted and I couldn't understand why he hasn't done either of those things with me. He intentionally ripped up the contract after I willingly signed it. "But with you I...I don't know, Kalani. And it's fucking scaring me that I'm so confused when it comes to you, because I'm never confused about anything. I'm feeling all these things and I don't know what they mean. All I know is being around you makes life feel easy and it's always a breath of fresh air to be in your presence."

My heart felt fuzzy and my palms started sweating. All my thoughts were wiped away and I wish I had something I could also say to him. But I was too busy being warmed by his words.

"I know you're fully capable of having this baby on your own. I don't doubt your ability to provide for her. But you didn't make this baby on your own and I would feel nothing but guilt if I let you suffer for the consequences of something I was also involved in. I want to take responsibility for my actions," his hand went onto my thigh as he squeezed. This was a complete one-eighty from his prior state of mind and I couldn't believe this. "You're also one of the few people I don't lose my mind when talking to. So I would be crazy to let you walk away from me."

He stayed quiet, allowing me to think things over for a bit. This was completely changing my original plan but this seemed like it would be a good change.

"Are you sure? I know this baby has been somewhat of a...a plague to your family and-"

"Why would you ever think that? Who told you that?" Grayson cut me off before I could even finish my statement and I questioned whether I should mention my encounter with Bria.

"I ran into Bria a few days ago. It's really not a big deal. She just shared her opinions on the matter," I shook my head, wanting to get her words out of my brain. But they couldn't seem to go away. Does she have this effect on everyone?

"Lani..." his voice was soft and comforting and made me cry. I started crying and he pulled me in to cry on his expensive suit I now felt bad for ruining.

"I just...I don't want to feel like this baby is an embarrassment to your family. I don't want to create this unnecessary stain on your legacy, so I'm willing to keep quiet if that's what you want. I promise I won't tell anyone." This is the first time I've admitted aloud that I for some reason care about Grayson's legacy. As much as I hate rich people, I can tell how hard he works and I don't want to have the guilt of being the one who ruined everything for him. "What about your CEO position and your wife hunt?"

"You could never be an embarrassment to my family. And don't worry about my CEO position. I'm figuring it out and everything is going to work out. You just need to trust me, can you do that?" He moved hair from my face as he stroked my cheek. His touch was soft and gentle and I couldn't help but lean into it further. I looked up at him, seeing his reassuring eyes and reassuring smirk. I watched his eyes go to my lips then stare at them for a while before looking back at my eyes and I wasn't sure if I would come to regret this, but I kissed him.

It started off gentle until he kissed me back and added this all new passion. He held my head in his hands, carefully laying me down onto the bed. Then they trailed along my body, finding their way to my waist. My hoodie rose up and the only time our lips detached was when he pulled it over my head. The moment he removed my bra, his hands cupped my breasts that were growing tender and large.

"I'm going to take care of you. Okay?" His forehead touched mine when he whispered.

I was out of breath and could barely form the words, "okay."

He led a trail of his kisses along my jaw, then down my neck and he took his time sucking and biting my nipples. My hand found his hair when he placed several kisses on my stomach before he pulled my leggings and underwear off.

"I learned pregnant women are always horny. Is it true?" He looked up me and I hid my smile by biting my lip.

"Sometimes." All the time. I'm always horny and it's extra bad when I go to bed and all I can think about is him.

"What have you been doing about that?" He slowly pushed my legs apart when he got on the ground to be on his knees. Grayson fucking Astor was on his knees for me. "Do you play with yourself?" His thumb rubbed against my clit, receiving a small whimper from me. I didn't know how badly I missed being touched. I didn't know how badly I needed to be touch.

"Yes."

"What do you think about?" He asked and the answer was simple.

"You."

This devilish smirk appeared on his face and it showed off his dimples that were doing a good job of making him look innocent despite him being far from it.

His warm mouth went down, his tongue swiping along my wet folds. The act alone made my legs spread wider for him. And he had no issue providing me with pleasure. I couldn't hold back my moans the entire time his tongue played with me, or when he slid two fingers into me and whispered how good I tasted.

It threw me back to the first time we met. He was so charismatic and easy to talk to and me going up to his hotel room with him was probably really dangerous, but he made me feel so comfortable. I barely knew him and he had somehow made me feel so safe.

My fingers clung to his hair when my orgasm finally settled the tension in my body. Sliding his hands up my front, he held my breasts as he kissed my inner thighs before looking up at me. I suddenly felt shy about me laying here completely naked, in the bright lights of my bedroom, right after having an orgasm in his mouth.

"Don't do that," Grayson stood onto his feet after I sat up and brought my throw blanket to my chest.

"Do what?" I looked everywhere but his eyes because I know he can somehow read right through me.

"Get all shy with me. I think you're beautiful. And I'm not just saying that. Any man or woman with eyes knows it," he held my head in his hands when I inhaled a deep breath. "What are you doing tomorrow night? I want to take you out for dinner." I've never met a man as direct as Grayson. He never shys away from telling you what he wants. I love that. Despite him not being easy to read, his bluntness makes up for it.

"You can't. I have dinner plans already," I teased and the possessiveness quickly appeared in his eyes. I saw it the same day he took me away from Toby at the cafe. But thought I was looking too much into it because there's no way Grayson can be possessive over me.

"With Toby?" He spoke with disgust in his voice.

"No, you asshole. With my family. I'm going there for dinner," I informed and he stared behind me like he was thinking.

"Okay. What time do we need to be there?" My heart was already racing, but this made it go a mile a minute.

"What?" I laughed because there's no way he's proposing coming to this family dinner with me. It means him meeting my family and him meeting my family means he has to officially be apart of this baby's life. After seeing the type of man Grayson is, they would never be okay with him not supporting me one way or another when it comes to the baby.

"I said-"

"I know what you said. You want to come to my family dinner?" I confirmed and he slowly nodded like he might come to regret this. "We have to be there for six."