Page 10 of Stolen Love

“That’s why we need the doctor. Hopefully she can help us work out why you’ve been so ill.” I step away from the bed.

Adira’s things are spread over every flat surface on my side of the room. A wig head piled high with Dolly Parton locks stares back at me from the top of a chest of drawers. A pink boa is wound like a snake around my lamp. I didn’t notice before… I was too concerned about Ivy.

He’s been with her the whole time I’ve been gone. Probably hasn’t left her side. Sleepovers included. I’ll have to remember to thank him later.

Walking into the closet, I shed my jacket and toss it on the hamper before untucking my dress shirt and starting on the buttons. I’ve spent the last two days in the same clothes and I would kill for a shower. Stripping out of the stale cotton, I settle for snagging a crisp white tee from a shelf and stretching the material over my head.

I grab Ivy a pair of pajamas. The material is fuzzy and soft in my fist. The fragrance of the fabric softener makes my chest squeeze as I inhale it. If we can’t find Marty… this time we have… might be all we get.

And with the way things have ramped up so quickly, my gut is adamant that Nicole has to be running on a time limit of her own. Perhaps Ivy’s twenty-first birthday means something to her financially, if my suspicions about why she killed Richard Love are correct. And if that’s the case we have less than two weeks to stop her.

But if we can’t…

No. That’s not going to happen. I’m not going to let that happen. We’ll find Marty and the evidence we need to stop Nicole. There is no other option.

Ivy is running her fingers through her hair when I step out of the closet. She hums to herself while she smooths the strands.

It stops me in my tracks. Steals my breath away. I know I love her, but there are some moments when the full force of it slams into me. It’s an emotion like no other. A feeling I never thought I would experience. And now that I do… I can’t imagine how I ever believed I could live without it. Without her.

“Are you okay?” She lowers her hands to her lap. Her brow furrows as she peers at me. A small smile curves her mouth.

“Yes.” I move to the bed and take her jaw in my hand. Rub my thumb over her cheek before I lean down to brush my mouth against hers. “Let’s get you dressed.”

I help her stand and peel the silk over her head before replacing it with a long sleeved pink top with strawberries on it. “Strawberries, huh?”

“I bought them a week ago. They only arrived yesterday.” She flattens the material down while I crouch at her feet, then rests a hand on my shoulder to balance herself so that I can help her into her panties. “Something about them… made me smile. They’re just so cute. Plus they go with my Pop-Tarts addiction.”

I pull up the matching pants as I stand. Settle the elastic against her waist. Those strawberries have me pretty close to hard again as I recall that epic day we spent together right before she lost her memories. The multiple orgasms, and the fort picnic that ended with me eating a strawberry from between her thighs and then eating her. That was such a good day before I blew it up. I want so many more memories like that with her.

“Rogue? What is it?”

I thought for a second perhaps that could have been the reason… even if she didn’t realize it. But that’s just wishful thinking. “Nothing.”

Adira knocks on the door and opens it a crack. “The doctor is here.”

Chapter Five

Ivy

“Nausea. Dizziness. Feeling under the weather. Fainting. Is that correct?” the pretty doctor asks once Rogue leaves the room.

I guess he must have filled her in when they asked her to come. I wrap my arms around my waist tightly. “Yes.”

“For how long?”

“A few weeks.”

“Any chance you might be pregnant?” She unlatches her bag and rifles through the contents.

“Preg-what?”

“Those are all symptoms that could be explained, if you were.” She takes out a cup and hands it to me. “And the results are easy to find out.”

“But that’s…” I stare at the small container.

“We’ll run some blood work as well.” She starts laying out her equipment. “Take your vitals, of course.”

“Pregnant?” I whisper with a shake of my head. My heart does a funny little flutter. She can’t be serious.

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