Page 21 of Savage

She was both touched that Savage would think to do that and a little annoyed that he did it without asking her first. What if she hadn’t wanted to know? No. that wasn’t reasonable. She took a breath and reminded herself he probably knew even less than she did about pregnancy and babies and that was saying something because she knew very little.

“What did he say?”

“We should probably pick up a home test, just to be sure. And that they’re accurate, in fact many doctor offices use them. He also says that unless there’s some reason like vomiting that won’t stop or bleeding, you don’t need to see a doctor for a few weeks. So if you want, we can wait until we get to Arizona. One of my brothers down there recently had a baby, so his wife will know a doctor you can see.”

“Okay.” That was a lot of information, and it took her a moment to process it. “Anything else? What’s safe or anything I shouldn’t do?”

“He says that other than the obvious things to avoid like alcohol and drugs, all kinds, not just the illegal ones, you can do nearly anything you want, including sex.”

Donna’s face heated and she was glad her back was to Savage. She fought the urge to squirm in his lap as she wondered if he’d asked his friend about sex or if the other man had added it in on his own.

How much weirder would her life get?

19

Savageshookhisheadand wondered why he’d added that last bit. Yes, Kinard had included it in his message as a safe activity, but had Savage needed to say it out loud?

“Okay,” he said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “That sounded like I was making hints or pushing and that was not my intention. I was only trying to pass on all the information I was given.”

Donna laughed, a soft chuckle that made his body respond. Savage reminded himself that this was not the time, not with her sitting on his lap and able to feel every twitch his body made.

“So we have a couple of things we need to pick up in town, can you think of anything else you want or need while we’re there?”

She took a deep breath. “I can’t think of anything I need. I know you want to get me some kind of slip-on shoes, but I can do with what I have. I don’t know what the other thing you think I need is. I really don’t need you to buy me more. You don’t need to spend more money on me than you already have.”

“The other thing is a test, just to be sure. But I’m sure if I think about it, I can come up with a few more things you need. And the more you tell me you don’t need, the more I’ll buy, until you get the idea that I don’t care what it costs, got it?”

She twisted around in his arms, and he let her. He could have tightened his hold on her to keep her from moving, but he wasn’t trying to control her, and that was what keeping her from turning to face him would have been. She’d had enough power plays, and it wasn’t something he needed to do. He just wanted to make sure she was taken care of.

“Why? Why do you insist on spending your money on me? What makes you think I’m worth it? That I’m worth your time and the money I know you had to have worked hard to earn?”

“Babe, first, get comfortable.” He used his hands on her hips to turn her, so she sat sideways instead of facing forward on his lap, then he continued, “Second, I’m the one who gets to decide how I spend my money. And who said anything about worth or deserving? I’ve met people with millions who don’t deserve to be the gum on the bottom of my shoe. Since when does the world award worth and value? I see something you need, or something I think you need and I’m going to get it. Don’t worry about money. I’ve got enough.”

“I just don’t want to see you spend it on me when I don’t need it.”

Savage tilted his head back and looked at the top of the tent while he took a deep breath and tried to remember she’d been abused and needed patience. “Let’s move on from that for a minute. You said something earlier that I didn’t want to go into out there, but now I’d like some answers, if you can give them to me. You know you can trust me and I’m not going to hurt you, right?”

She didn’t look up at him but nodded, her gaze on her hands that were folded in her lap.

“Donna?” He kept his voice gentle.

“Yes?” Her voice was soft, as if she was afraid of what he was going to say next.

“Look at me, please, babe.”

Time seemed to stretch between them. It seemed like an eon had passed before she looked up at his face. He couldn’t help the pleased smile he flashed her. He’d been afraid he’d have to lift her chin till she looked at him, but she’d done it on her own. He was proud of her for that.

“Thank you. Now I need to hear you say the words. You do know that you can say anything to me, you can tell me anything and I will not raise a hand to you, right?”

A look flashed through her eyes that he thought might be panic. He pushed back his urge to growl and demand who had hurt her. He suspected he already knew, though he hadn’t bothered to ask the fuckwad’s name. He didn’t want to know, not yet. If he knew he might make a few calls and have the man taken care of. Savage wanted that pleasure for himself.

“You’re serious?” Her eyes went wide, and she stared at him, as if she wasn’t sure if she could believe what he was saying.

“I’m serious, babe. I don’t know what all your loser ex did or said to you.” She started to say something, but he shook his head and continued. “You don’t need to tell me. Not yet. I’m not saying I don’t want to know. But I want you to get to know me better, to want to tell me, not feel like you have to. I know enough for now and we’ll deal with it together when you’re ready to tell me the rest, okay?” He used one hand to smooth her hair back from her face.

She stared up at him for several seconds, blinking twice before speaking again. “Okay. I will do my best.” Her gaze dropped to her lap again. “It’s hard but I will try. I’ll probably screw it up. I seem to screw everything up, but I’ll do my best.” Her gaze flicked back up to his, as if she remembered she was supposed to be looking at him and didn’t want to be in trouble for looking away.

“Your best is all I can ask. I know it’s not easy to change habits, and that it can’t be done overnight. Especially when these things have become habits in self-defense. I won’t hold it against you if you’re not perfect, but remember even when you aren’t perfect, and really babe, who is? No one, that’s who. We all make mistakes. We all screw up in one way or another. Even me. And I fully admit that if this lasts very long, I’ll probably say or do something that scares you or hurts your feelings.” He kept moving his hand from her brow, over her head and down to her back before starting over again. “But I won’t hurt you physically ever, and I won’t hurt your feelings on purpose. If you’ll try to trust me, I’ll do my absolute best to be worthy of that trust, all right?”

---