When she opened her mouth, he took it as a sign to take it further and he did, exploring every inch of her until she was gripping his shoulders tight. He wanted to pull her into the bedroom and get so much closer to her, but the tale she told was too fresh and they needed to go slow.
Not once in his fucking life had he ever taken anything slow.
Not fucking once.
For some reason, he didn’t mind taking things slow with her. They had two more months before that kid was born.
Two months before she could start fresh somewhere else.
Like he said earlier, maybe they’d go there. Maybe they wouldn’t.
Sex with a pregnant woman had never bothered him, but it wasn’t up to him. It’d be her choice if and when it ever happened.
Giving her a key was the first step in her trusting him completely. He just needed to make sure to keep his temper in check so the steps they took forward didn’t cause them to stumble back.
Just that thorough kiss between them and her digging her fingers into his shoulders made his dick hard.
He needed to end it.
So, he did.
And when he did, he pressed his forehead to the hard curve of her belly and simply breathed to get his pulse under control.
She combed her fingers through the longer hair at the top of his head and he closed his eyes at how good that simple touch felt.
At that attention, a feeling went through him he didn’t recognize. It made a warmth start in his gut and expand out. He turned his head until his cheek rested against her baby bump, and he held onto both sides of it.
She didn’t want any attachment to this baby for good reason. He didn’t blame her one bit. He was the last person to judge anyone else’s decisions. But he agreed giving up the baby was for the best.
Too many parents, who shouldn’t be, raised fucked up kids. Like his mother.
It was one reason he had smuggled his baby sister out of the trailer one night when their mother was passed out. He gave her away to another family without Silvia knowing.
Because Sig had worried that when Syn was old enough, Silvia would pimp her young daughter out. Or even go as far as selling her outright for cash or booze, or a fucking hit of whatever her drug of the week was.
And if that had happened, Sig would’ve sliced her fucking throat.
Sig had been taking care of Syn only because no one else was.
He’d been pissed when Silvia had been careless and got knocked up, pissed when she had the baby, pissed when she brought the baby home when he damn well knew Silvia didn’t give a fuck about having another kid.
And their mother had no idea who Syn’s father was. Worse, the baby was just another monthly check and more food stamps for Silvia, which she traded for more booze. It had been up to Sig to make sure Syn ate and was kept somewhat clean.
Once Syn was gone, Silvia never asked where she was. Not fucking once. As long as those checks kept coming, that was all that mattered to her.
So, he did what was best for Syn. Just like Red was doing what was best for this kid, too.
He slid his hands over the curves of her stomach. “Do you want to know the sex yet?”
“Do you know?”
“I know.”
“No, I still don’t want to know. Are they happy about it?”
“Think they’d be happy either way. You’re givin’ them what they’ve been wantin’ for a while now.”
“But he’s a cop.”
Sig huffed out a, “Yeah.”
“You don’t like cops.”
No, he fucking hated pigs. But Bryson being a pig might be a good thing in this case. “Not my decision, Red. It’s yours and only yours. You gotta live with that decision. I’m good with whatever you decide. Even if you change your mind. Just want you to be safe.”
“Keeping it wouldn’t be safe.”
“No.” It would be too risky. Especially now that he knew there were more goat fuckers than just the Shirley Clan involved. That the actual grandmother of that kid was involved with what happened to Red.
Whether that woman knew all the details of what happened to her daughter or not didn’t make a difference to Sig. She was still a goddamn cunt.
“Dr. Bryson said they had a big, loving family with grandparents and cousins...”
“Yeah, baby. The kid’ll be loved and cared for.”
Her fingers stilled in his hair. “I don’t know if I could...”
“No one expects you to. Gotta do what’s best for you and...” Fuck, he almost said him. “It. Maybe one day you’ll want to meet him or her. Maybe not. Maybe you’ll just want pictures and occasional updates to ease your mind. Or maybe you won’t. Up to you. Think they’ll be good either way. No one’s gonna judge you for it.”