She’d be fishing those out of the garbage can as soon as he took his drunk ass out of her room.
“You want kids, so those have to go.”
“Uh...I didn’t say I was ready now. There’s plenty of time. I’m not that old.”
He pressed two fingers over her lips. “Shh. Don’t remind me.” His expression was comical, pained, as though she was a step away from jailbait.
“I’m just saying that we can wait. I wasn’t even sure if you wanted kids.”
“With you? I don’t think I could resist.” His smile turned soft and he rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip. “I’ll probably be a shitty father, but I can hire someone to help you with baby things.” He laughed and tipped back his head. “Money? That I can do. The parenting and affection not so much.”
“But Master, we’re not even married yet.”
“No one cares what we do here, other than you and me, Miss Korsgaard.” A low noise, like a growl, vibrated the air. “What you want, you get.”
“Except if I’ve been a bad girl and need a spanking and some orgasm denial?”
“Precisely.”
“Why do you think you’ll be a bad father?” she asked, seeing the opportunity to question a drunk Severin when he was in a peculiar mood.
He sighed. “I don’t know how to be a father. You know my history.”
“Some of it. Church didn’t really have a father since he died with Church was so young, but he figured it out. You’ll have him as a role model, if nothing else.”
He shrugged. “At least Church used to have a father. I don’t remember my father. At all.”
“Not everyone has a stellar childhood. I’m sure you’ll figure it out if we have kids.” She examined his strong face. His jaw was slightly clenched, but he was still mostly relaxed. Time to try again. “Do you remember much about your first mother?”
His lips went tight. “Some.”
“What was she like?”
“Distant, mostly. Exacting otherwise. She was always on the phone or...hosting.”
“Business stuff? Charity?”
His hands tightened on the arm of the chair and she waited for him to storm out, but he stayed.
“I think it was business. There’s a lot I’ve had to piece together.”
There was something there – she was so close to the thorn in his paw, but one wrong move and the lion would eat the mouse.
“So you were alone a lot? With servants, or...”
He relaxed. “Yes. I liked them. I remember one woman crying when the tall man took me away in the car. I thought he was going to take me home with him. The servants always left us after supper, but he took me to the airport. He cried too.”
“Your father, maybe?”
“No, I don’t think so. He wore a servant’s uniform.”
“He sounds like a nice guy.”
Severin shrugged.
So when you did spend time with your mother, what did you do?”
He shrugged, shifting in his chair. “She had me in lessons – I guess the way rich kids are? I don’t know. People taught me what forks to use, how to walk nicely, and singing, I think. I don’t remember everything – I was so young. I remember getting punished when I wasn’t polite. She took care of the harsher punishments herself.”