Bearing His Sins Read online

  Speaking of a good time, she knew someone who liked to wake up frisky. She pressed closer to her husband, loving the feel of their naked limbs entwined, the moment delightfully languorous. Decadent, she might even say.

  “I have a meeting later today with the dog next door to discuss his needs,” he murmured.

  Anja tickled fingers across Cole’s bare chest. “Are you sure you wish to work for that man?” That man being Fabian Garoux, not a bad sort as it turned out, but she wasn’t about to relinquish the feud so easily.

  “Working for him means coming home to you every night, which is a big bonus.”

  “Won’t you get bored?”

  “I was getting bored in my old job, so I’m open to try something new. If I don’t like it, or he looks at me funny, I can always kill him.” Cole grinned as he lobbed his most oft-used solution to every problem.

  “You can’t kill everything,” she noted as she rolled herself atop him. “Some annoying things must be tolerated.”

  “Annoying things should die.”

  “If you harm our baby because it cries and wakes you, then I will have to eviscerate you,” she whispered against his lips. “Slowly and painfully.”

  “What did you just say?”

  “I am going to kill you.”

  “Before that?”

  “Oh, the baby. The one I’m carrying.” Because, as soon as she’d missed her period, she’d peed on a stick to be sure. “The next Tygrov princess. Your daughter.”

  Before she could blink, Cole dumped her on the mattress and bolted from the bed to snare his pants, hopping into them on his way to the door.

  Surprised at his reaction, she sat up, hair a tousled mess around her bare shoulders. “Are you abandoning me, you coward? I shall hunt you down like a dog and skin you,” she yelled.

  He whirled, his craggy features set in shock. “Leave you? Never. I go to make ready. We only have months to prepare. Mere months to protect the biggest treasure this sinner has ever coveted. I can’t believe you’re bearing my child.” He shook his head before ducking out into the hall.

  “More like bearing sin.” She rolled the word sin around her tongue. “Sinthea. A worthy name for a princess.”

  “You should call the baby lazy, like her mother,” her babushka yelled before stomping into the room. “Lying abed at this hour.”

  “It’s not even seven A.M.”

  “Lazy wench. Shirking her duties. Thinking she’s a princess.”

  “I am a princess. Remember? And what are you doing here? I thought I left you in Russia.”

  “Saucy wench. As if I would abandon my lapushka during her time of need.”

  “I don’t need you, old woman,” she said with a soft smile. She didn’t question how her beloved babulya knew she was with child. Some things her grandmother just knew.

  Her babushka sniffed. “Ha. Impertinent chit thinks she’s better than her grandmother. I am the grand tsarina once again of the Tygrov clan. And yet I shall lower myself to making you breakfast since you are obviously incapable and the baby is hungry. The things I must do for a lazy, ungrateful brat.”

  Which translated from Russian meant: I love you.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, a few states away, a certain Greek bear was minding his own business when the letter arrived in the mail, mail as in an envelope with a stamp and an address, his address, handwritten in block letters. Strange, but the oddity paled compared to the card inside.

  On the front, a blue background with a stork carrying a swaddled child in its beak.

  Inside

  …

  Congrats, Asshole.

  It’s a boy.

  The woman you never called back

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  EVE LANGLAIS is a New York Times bestselling Canadian author who loves to write hot romance. She enjoys strong Alpha male heroes, shifters, and a happily-ever-after. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Bearing His Sins by Eve Langlais

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these novellas are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.

  BEARING HIS SINS. Copyright © 2018 by St. Martin’s Press. Bearing His Sins. Copyright © 2018 by Eve Langlais. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-1-250-12589-7 (ebook)

  eISBN 9781250125897

  Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].

  First Edition: May 2018