Page 121 of His Big Bad Stick

My booming voice and presence surprise the hell out of her.

She gasps, jumps, starts to turn, and drops whatever is in her hand.

I don’t even care. I don’t pay attention.

Yeah, something glass related hits the floor and breaks.

Big fucking deal.

I don’t want my Abrielle to fall and get hurt. And what if she falls at a bad angle and hits her stomach and then something…

I start to run as she flails her arms, desperate for balance.

It looks like some long, drawn out sketch in a play or TV show.

Her feet shuffle and bounce but there’s nothing for her to grab onto.

“Colver!” Abrielle screams as her balance gives out for good.

I feel like I’m a comic book superhero with the way I’m running. Like it’s life or death - but it is for me in some way. I’ve never felt a sense of panic as I do watching Abrielle fall off that ladder.

My arms reach out.

Abrielle’s back and the backs of her legs hit my arms and I pull her toward me. I absorb all the energy from her falling.

I lose my balance for a second and quickly bend my right knee, letting it crash down to the floor. Anything to keep Abrielle from falling.

“Oh, crap,” Abrielle says, looking right at me.

My teeth grit. Hard.

I stand back up, holding Abrielle in my arms. Holding my unborn baby in my arms too.

It’s a powerful feeling, that’s for sure.

Abrielle’s chin starts to quiver. She realizes she messed up. She realizes that if she fell that…

“You scared the hell out of me, Colver,” she whispers.

I lift her a little more and kiss her.

That’s what I need right now. A kiss from Abrielle.

Her lips are soft and sweet.

The kiss ends as abruptly as it started.

“What the fuck were you just thinking, kitten?” I growl. “You’re pregnant. You’re on a ladder like that? Alone? Reaching like that? You falling and getting hurt…? What if you fell the wrong way and something else happened?”

Abrielle swallows hard and her eyes well with tears.

“Oh, fuck. Abrielle. Listen, I’m having a really messed up day right now and I don’t need you to be-”

“You care about me and the baby,” she whispers. She smiles, blinking away tears. “You care about us, Colver. You’re mean. You’re a total asshole. But you care about us.”

My jaw tightens.

What is this? Huh?

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