The Secret Billionaire's Pregnant Bride: Bad Boys Gone Good (Las Vegas Brides of Convenience Book 2)

by Anne Martin

  I shook my head and pulled back. She was on bed rest to keep her from doing anything too strenuous. If she were in my bed, it would be difficult not to be rigorous and wear out as many condoms as her amoeba. More. So many more. And then tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, with Trixie ‘Dragon’ O’Hara in my life, my bed, making everything sweet and rich and full. How could I ever stop? It would hurt so much when she was finished with me.

  After dinner, she was curled up on the couch with a book, poetry, when her phone rang. She glanced at it then frowned, staring at the message with a look on her face I hadn’t seen for awhile. That was the dragon scowl that made all men tremble in their boots.

  “Who’s that, Trix?”

  She shook her head. “My friend with bad taste in men.”

  “Unlike you who only date the finest Las Vegas has to offer.”

  “Do you see me going out ever?”

  “Why go out when you have the best at home?”

  She laughed and stood. She ran her hands over her stomach and thighs like that wasn’t an invitation that made me shift in my seat. Burning. Aching. So much sweetness ripe for the taking.

  “Where are you going?”

  She shook her head and went to her room, almost like she didn’t answer to me.

  I followed close behind her. It had become ‘her room’ almost without my noticing. Her pillows, her choice of newly purchased bed sheets, since her own bed was a modest queen and her sheets wouldn’t fit, along with blankets, but everything was more my apartment than her minimalist place. It’s like she didn’t want to admit that she lived in this town, but here, she could let a little bit of her love for fine things come through.

  She went to the closet and shuffled through the clothing options. “I’m going out. I have to kick a loser out of Felicia’s place.”

  “Isn’t that what cops are for?”

  She hesitated on a pair of jeans, held them up to her then threw them to the side. “I can’t wear real pants. Do you think that yours would fit me?”

  “My pants aren’t abetting you in your great escape. The doctor’s coming tomorrow. He’ll blame me if you have a wild adventure tonight.”

  She shrugged and grabbed some leggings. She pulled them on under her nightshirt. When she pulled that off, I stood there, staring at her bare, incomparably beautiful back, along with the scrolly tattoo on her right shoulder. I’d gotten glimpses of that tattoo, but only peeking out of a corset. She was so beautiful. So lush. So perfect.

  She pulled on a shirt, and it was too tight around her middle and her bust.

  “That doesn’t fit.”

  She glared at me. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

  “I’m saying that I’ll get you a shirt, but you have to let me beat up this loser for you. You have to swear that you stay behind me and not put your baby in harm’s way.”

  She blinked at me. She’d forgotten that she was a vessel through the ocean of motherhood. She closed her eyes and put her hands over the swell of her belly. “What am I thinking?”

  “You need to get out. I can see that, and I’m not the most sensitive guy. This is your kind of mission. It’s fine, just let me be the muscle, okay? Do you trust me or shall we call Nix as backup?”

  She bit her bottom lip and gazed up at me, kind of vulnerable, super sweet, and so sexy. “You can definitely take care of any loser she can’t get rid of.”

  I nodded and felt a little swelling of pride. She may or may not have still hated me, but she couldn’t deny that I could bring the pain. If only she let me bring the pleasure as well.

  “You can hold the baseball bat, unless you’d rather stay in the car.”

  She shook her head and shooed me towards the door. “Get your shirt. I’ll put on something, you know, supportive. I can’t stay in the car because Felicia will fall in love with you if you rescue her. She doesn’t need to have her heart broken by a Casanova.”

  I wiggled my eyebrows. “Casanova? There’s no need to get all high and mighty. You can stick with man-whore. I happen to agree. Your friend is too sweet for me.”

  “You mean there is some kind of female you don’t want to sleep with?”

  I stared at her. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to, just that she’s too sweet for me.”

  “Ah. Such a distinction.”

  I kissed her, quick before she could push me away. “And I don’t want to.” I left her room with sweaty palms. I wasn’t lying. The only woman I craved was sleeping in my bed of iniquity. Without me.

  Chapter 7

  Trixie ‘Dragon’ O’Hara

  He drove me in his Ferrari. He didn’t take the direct route, and his hand on the stick, working that clutch, it made me all kinds of crazy. Not that I hadn’t been a mess since he’d kissed me and called me a goddess, not the fat kind. I knew he was just trying to calm down the hormonal pregnant woman before she started throwing things through the windows, but he’d been so good at it, and he’d never once mentioned another woman. To be honest, it didn’t seem like he had time for it. I knew his work hours, and instead of hanging out in the hotel lobby or bar, he came right up to start dinner, which he was terrible at, but tried anyway, or to just talk shop.

  Sometimes we’d sit and listen to music or read without talking. I hadn’t thought Horse could spend five seconds not fixated on sex, but he kept that part of his personality completely separate from whatever we had. It was like once he’d let me into his real life, he didn’t have to keep up the pretense of complete jerkiness.

  He was so beautiful. I tried not to notice, but he was always there, and the way he moved, the way he didn’t move, the way he touched me in little ways, a hand on the small of my back, squeezing my shoulders when I was getting all stressed out thinking about the future, it all added up to a person who was incredibly easy to live with. We were living together. I couldn’t deny that, but he rarely got on my nerves, and when he did, it was because he was too sexy and wasn’t even trying.

  I glanced over at him on the drive to Felicia’s. Truthfully, I didn’t take my eyes off him. I reached over and shifted down for him. He gave me a sinful grin and made the engine purr. Such a sweet engine. The ride was as smooth and sweet as he’d probably be. I shook my head. I wasn’t going there. I’d had my rampage for the year.

  Felicia’s apartment was in a stucco three-story complex. We parked and got out. Horse nodded at it.

  “What floor?”

  “Top. Of course.”

  He got a baseball bat out of the trunk, handed it to me, and swung me up in his arms. He climbed the stairs easily. Rubbing against his chest, his strong warm arms around me, I didn’t want the stairs to end. At the top, he took his time putting me down, just staring at me until he finally kissed my nose and lowered me.

  I rubbed my nose self-consciously. “Why do you do that?”

  “Because it’s a cute nose.”

  “It’s a big nose.”

  “Not compared to mine. Do you think mine should be smaller? I’m sure Nix will make me fix it in the coming cage fight.”

  “What? You’re cage fighting with him? Why?”

  “You don’t like them?”

  I shrugged and shifted my grip on the bat. “The two of you are better than that.”

  “The two of us?” He grinned at me.

  I froze. “Did I say that? He’s too good for that. You’re too arrogant for it.”

  He nudged me. “Dragon’s getting soft on me. It’s all that cream sauce I’ve burned. Goes right to your dragon heart. Next time it’ll be Flaming Sambuca’s.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’ve been burned before.”

  His eyes widened. “No. The dress?”

  I shrugged sheepishly. “I was very drunk.”

  “You had to be to let that amoeba into your pristine bed. You didn’t though. It was his room. You probably trashed it.”

  I sighed and started towards her apartment. “Why have a little chaos when you can have a
lot?”

  “Yeah, there are rumors. The gossip is that I was your latest spree. There was some security footage at a golf course that was making the rounds. If you’d been driving, you wouldn’t have ended up in the pond. Then again, maybe you would have. These things can be very distracting.” His voice was a low rumble in my ear and his breath sent skitters across my skin.

  “I was driving Pansy. I didn’t wreck.”

  He stopped walking. “Wait. Are you telling me that you were with the amoeba more than once? In a golf cart, on my motorcycle, and…”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you condemning me?”

  “I’m freaking out about Amoeba’s bodily fluids on my bike. Should I not be?”

  “I detailed it and gave it a tune-up. She’s clean.”

  He blinked at me. “I bet she is. You were driving? How did that work? Never mind. I can’t have thoughts like this while we’re going to beat someone up.”

  “Felicia’s available.” I gave him a hard smile because if he hurt my friend, I would hurt him so bad. My smile faded because this guy who looked back at me with his eyes still a little bit stunned wasn’t the man-whore I thought I knew. You couldn’t live with someone without understanding them a little better, or in his case, being completely confused about how he could be two completely different people. I could see myself working with him if Nix ever got tired of the game.

  “I’m sure she is. If you take her in my Ferrari, I want the footage.”

  I rolled my eyes and knocked on the door with my bat. It opened almost immediately, and the surly, drunk guy in a stained ball cap glared at us.

  “What do you want?”

  “Is Felicia here?” I asked.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re Trix. And you, you’re Horse? Why are the two of you together? I heard that he was your baby’s daddy. Is he doing right by you or do you need me to teach him a lesson?”

  I blinked at him. “Um, he’s doing great. He comes to my doctor appointments and everything.” Why did the lie feel so natural, so true?

  He nodded and held out his hand to shake Horse’s. “Cool. Congratulations on the baby. I guess you’re here to kick me out. That’s usually Trix’s job. Everyone knows the story. I couldn’t have a better escort.” Pete nailed Horse in the stomach. The punch was really good.

  I almost hit him with the bat, but I didn’t want to break bones, and I wasn’t feeling gentle. Horse came back with a roar, slamming Felicia’s ex into the wall.

  “Trix, stay out of the way!” He glanced at me to make sure I knew he was serious, and got a punch to the jaw for it.

  The ex cursed because he wasn’t used to punching rock hard bones like Horse’s. It was a little nerve-wracking, watching them roll around so high above the cement with only a flimsy metal rail on the side. They could go through it easily, but Horse was a professional. I stayed towards that side, and Horse saw me and kept the fighting near the stairs and the wall. A lot of people came out to cheer and make bets.

  It was Vegas. After the ex was defeated, he shook Horse’s hand and took the boxes Felicia handed him.

  “It was a good run,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before he walked down the steps to the half-hearted cheers of the neighbors.

  Felicia grabbed me in a hug then pulled back, her eyes enormous and stunned. “Chica, you’re pregnant! I heard the rumors, but I didn’t think it was possible, and with Horse?”

  Horse grinned and put an arm around my waist. He kissed my cheek. “It’s a miracle baby. We’re very happy. We’re going to name him Dragon Horse. He’ll be confused his entire life about what his spirit animal truly is.”

  She hit his chest. “Are you married?”

  He rubbed his chest. “Of course I’m not married. How long have you known me?”

  “Not to someone else, to her!” She rolled her eyes and muttered in Spanish. “Come inside and tell me everything.”

  I shook my head and walked towards the stairs. “I’ve got to go lie down at home. I shouldn’t really be doing this kind of thing.”

  Her eyes got so big. “No, you shouldn’t! Shame on you, coming over like this. It’s just Pete. I didn’t really need you, it’s just tradition, and he was looking forward to you escorting him off. He has a thing, you know, a little crush. All the men do. You terrify and tantalize. Horse, marry her before her mother kills her.”

  I shook my head. “Good night. You’re freaking him out.”

  “Your mother is going to freak him out when she’s finished with him. There will be no him, if you know what I mean. Marry your woman, Horse, before one of those sexy Italian neighbors of hers does it for you.”

  He picked me up after a few steps and carried me the rest of the way down.

  When we were on the ground level, a guy came out of the shadows. He looked a little bit crazy, disheveled and wild-eyed.

  “Blondie?” It was him.

  Horse didn’t put me down, just kept walking even when Ritchie stepped right in his path.

  “Move.”

  “Wait. You’re Horse, right? The League of Demons guy?”

  “I am.”

  Blondie looked at me, particularly at my midsection, and my bosom, but that didn’t have the same intention. “The rumors say that you’re her baby’s father,” he said after his inspection.

  “I am.” Horse’s words were terse, anger boiling under the surface.

  I shot Horse a glance. He wasn’t looking at me. Man, the focus he gave Ritchie should make him curl up and die. He only looked slightly singed.

  “Are you going to marry her?”

  “I am.”

  Ritchie’s face fell. “I don’t suppose you’ll share her afterwards?”

  “Hell no. And if I see you again, I will kill you. It won’t be a clean death. It’ll be messy. So messy.”

  Ritchie studied Horse for a long time. “It would be worth it. I’d marry her if she were really having my kid.”

  “It wasn’t that good, honey,” I said, but my heart pounded. This was all so overwhelmingly strange.

  “A broken condom is never a good reason to get married to someone,” Horse ground out.

  “There were no condoms,” Ritchie said then added, “You’d marry her whether she was having your baby or not?”

  “Yes. I am. I would. I will. Now get out of my way before I have to put down my woman and move you.”

  Ritchie went, throwing longing looks over his shoulder as he did.

  Horse didn’t put me down, just kept marching towards the car. “No condoms?”

  I shuddered. “It’s so disgusting, I know. The whole thing keeps me up nights. Sometimes I just do stupid unhygienic things that have absolutely no rational basis.”

  “Your mother will kill you?”

  I put my face against his neck. He smelled so good. I loved that aftershave. It was my favorite one. “She’ll kill me and then find someone willing to marry me.”

  “She won’t have to look hard.”

  “It’ll probably be Lucas. His mother is always trying to get him married to a nice girl who will nail his balls to the wall.” Lucas, my first love. He was still single. No. I couldn’t think like that.

  “An arranged marriage. How quaint. I propose that you marry me instead.”

  I pushed away from him, at least I tried, but the man’s muscles were bunched all the way up his neck and through his face. “Are you concussed? Did Pete hurt you worse than I thought?” I ran my fingers over his face, his cheek, the soft dark lashes of his eyes. His lashes were too thick for a man. He probably had extensions.

  “I like you, Trix. I like living with you. It’s comfortable. Your baby needs a name, a respectable childhood. I know that we live in a modern society, but these things still matter to some people. Why make the kid’s life harder than it has to be? I have good health insurance that will take care of any bills, and I want to do more in your bed than rest. I want you, and I want to do this with you, have a baby and give it a good start. I don’
t know what’s going to happen afterwards, whether I’ll go back to being a dick, but as long as I’m married to you, I won’t have any other women. I swear it.”

  I got goose bumps and my heart pounded way too fast. How could words like that come out of the Horse’s mouth?

  I meant to say no, of course I’d say no, but instead, “I don’t even know your name,” were the words my mouth made. He felt so good. He smelled so good. My mouth was watering for him. Or tacos.

  He smiled, sudden and sweet. “Nathaniel. Nathan, Nate, N. D. My middle name is David.”

  My hand slid down his neck to his chest. I’d wanted to touch him for so long. His skin did not disappoint. The broad muscles throbbed under my touch. “I can’t have a riot in bed in my current, Horse. What kind of name is Nathaniel David? It’s like one of those big boats.”

  “Or a hotdog brand. I’m not saying I’m not well-endowed, but you should know that my nickname came from my first fight. I had laryngitis, and I couldn’t talk, so the announcer called me, ‘Hoarse,’ and it stuck.”

  I laughed and felt this weirdly welling sensation something like relief, also like madness. I shouldn’t feel this way. This way led to madness. “Okay.”

  He dropped me so my feet hit the pavement with a surprising thud. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” He frowned at me, dark blue eyes burning into me.

  I shook my head and clung to the bat. “I said that I’d marry you. Were you not serious?”

  He looked profoundly troubled. “It’s one of your rampages, right?”

  I nodded.

  He exhaled and grinned. “That’s okay then. Let’s do it before we come to our senses.”

  Chapter 8

  Horse Demon a.k.a. Nathaniel David VanBuren

  The doctor’s appointment went well. Trixie let me stay while he checked her. The diagnosis was that she could have modified bed rest, which meant that she should take it easy, no lifting or pushing, but didn’t have to stay down.

  He frowned at me before he left. “Make sure she takes care of your baby.”