Page 50 of Storm

Then, she squirts some gel on my stomach and moves the Doppler around, the loud swishing sound until a steadier thrum echoes. “There’s baby,” Dr. Jolee says softly, keeping an eye on her watch and pressing some buttons to record my baby’s heart rate.

I’m not sure why I do it, but my head falls to the side and I find Richard. His eyes are wide and his mouth is parted slightly in surprise. He’s staring at my stomach like he’s never seen it before. I press my lips together to battle the memories of him jerking his cock over the same area to come on my skin before he used his fingers to wipe it away and place it inside of me.

It’s as if he has a direct link to my thoughts, because his eyes dart to mine. My breath catches just as he looks back to what the doctor is doing. I feel ashamed for thinking about that night while in here, but fuck, how can I not?

“Baby is good! I’ve got a rate of 156. Just perfect. And you’re measuring right on the money as well. So, for now, I’m going to have Laurel schedule you in two weeks to check that bloodpressure. From there, we’ll decide if we want to increase the dosage or look at doing a stress test.”

She hands me the paper towel and I wipe at the gel as I sit up with Tatum’s hand on my lower back to help me. I whisper my thanks, then ask, “Can we talk about doing a paternity test? Without going into details, I’m obviously uncertain who the father is. I read that there are non-invasive tests we?—”

“Let’s table it for later,” Richard bites out. We all turn to him in shock. “I’m sorry. I forgot about a meeting I’m going to be late for. I’ll be in touch, Miriam. Please, let me know when your next appointment is.”

We all watch as he leaves the room and my doctor breaks the silence. “I’ll put the information about paternity testing in your folder. That won’t be an issue when you’re ready to do it. I’m also going to give you a handout for foods to avoid and foods that will help with your blood pressure. This one is a bit more involved than the standard one you got last time.”

“Would you give us a few copies, please?” Kevin asks, and she agrees.

Dr. Jolee holds out a hand and helps me down from the bed until I’ve got my feet under me. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Not that I can think of.”

Nodding, she says her goodbyes to Kevin, Tatum, and a pale-faced Ezra who’s unusually quiet, then tells me I can leave after Laurel gets me an appointment.

We all leave with papers and probably more questions than we came here with. My biggest concern is Richard’s reaction and fast departure. They all say goodbye, Ezra trying to hug me first, but Tatum pulls him away with promises to call.

Susanna and Theo drive me home, and I fill them in on everything I learned today with promises to keep in touch. Susanna, in particular, has been overly protective since I wentmissing last week. I feel awful about it, but I’m pretty sure her guys gave Kevin quite an earful on the side because no one’s brought it up outside of a few more apologies.

Today has been a long as fuck day, filled with men who piss me off, but also turn me on. Tomorrow I’ll worry about why. Today, I’m going to get myself off, hopefully resulting in a well-deserved sleep for what’s left of the evening and night. Plus, it’ll take care of this need starting to build now that I’ve been around them a few times. There’s a reason I wasn’t opposed to spending the weekend with them. They’re fucking gorgeous and literal sex on sticks.

After showering off the hospital, I walk over to my top drawer to find my vibrator. I’m not looking to take time today. Exhaustion is already settled deep within me. I feel around for a minute, but when I come up empty-handed, I go through my other drawers, figuring I must have put it away in the wrong spot. Ten more minutes of searching through not only my dresser but also my side table yields no results.

Standing in the center of my room, I plant my hands on my hips, completely irritated and pissed off.

“Where the fuck is my vibrator?” I yell out to my empty room. Then, a thought filters in, ever so slowly.

Ezra…That motherfucker.

CHAPTER 24

RICHARD

I didn’t exactly lie about having a meeting before rushing from the room. It was one I quickly scheduled in my head with my parents. I needed to get out of there before I caved in on myself.

The heartbeat…

Fuck, that got to me. It just made this whole thing so,soreal. I’m not sure why, but my gut is just telling me that’s my child nestled inside of her. I need to get shit situated now. No matter if I’m not responsible for her pregnancy, I still feel like I am.

I’m fairly sure by now, having a family wasn’t in my cards. Not with my requirements and expectations of the woman I end up with, but right now, none of it seems important any longer.

This is happening and I need my parents prepared. Aside from that, my father has been deeply involved with family law for decades, so his advice is necessary. If this were any other scenario, I wouldn’t go to him. In this case, though, I know I’m not thinking clearly, so I need him.

I phone them once I reach my car and inform my mother I’m on my way. Thankfully, my father is partially retired, so most days he’s working from home in his study as a consultant.

As I speed down the highway to my family home, the vision of meeting Miriam’s eyes as she was laid out in front of us allwreaks havoc in my head. It was almost exactly the same as when our eyes met the moment I stuffed my cum inside her tight pussy.

“Fuck!” I shout, slamming my hand on my steering wheel. “Fuck,” I repeat, softer this time. My throat feels as if it’s closing up and I scratch at my throat to ease the uncomfortable feeling. I’m breathing just fine, so it’s not an anxiety attack.

The cars ahead of me begin to blur and I release these fucking emotions gripping me. Powerful emotions I never thought I was capable of feeling after I disconnected them years before when I left Josephine.

“She’s not like them,” I choke out, hoping if I speak it out loud, it’ll resonate. And it does. My pulse slows, so I repeat it internally again.She’s not like them. She’s not looking for a handout or free ride.

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