Page 48 of Swamp Kings 2

Bishop looked up, eyeing Seer as he made his way to him and lowered to his ear. “Beth needs you.”

Panic shot him out of his seat and Seer gripped his shoulder. “I’m not supposed to tell you, but you need to know she’s experiencing symptoms she’s too afraid to tell you.” His hand bit harder when Bishop tried to hurry out. “She needsyou.”

Bishop knew exactly what he meant and wasn’t sure how to tell Seer that he needed her in the same explosive way. The problem was, they were two missiles heading for one another and when they clashed, he wasn’t sure what would happen.

“You’ll find a way, son,” he assured, seeing his struggle while not needing details.

“Oui,” he muttered, grateful for their unspoken bond more than ever.

Seer squeezed his neck before Bishop hurried out. He was right. She needed him and that was all there was to it. Whatever was fighting to eat through his skin to get to her no longer needed to try.

He entered the main cabin and Beth’s swollen eyes felt like daggers in his chest. He looked at Maggie. “You mind riding up front for a bit?”

She turned a worried look to Beth, getting her smile and nod then shot out like somebody eager for a change of scenery.

He pulled Beth up from the sofa and led her to the back, opening the door to the private room and guiding her inside. He locked it and turned, finding her sitting on the bed, looking down at her fretting hands in her lap.

He slowly sat next to her and decided he should tell her then realized he wasn’t sure how. He lowered his head as his blood pumped in his veins like it fueled a freight train. “I know what you’re feeling and how strong it is,” he started, feeling her gaze raise on him. He met it, their stares holding for several seconds. “I’m… scared of this power in me. In us.” He slid his hand over his face with a sigh, lowering his gaze again. “I’m fucking terrified of it,” he corrected. “I don’t… understand it, I don’t know it, but… at the same time…”

“You know it’s right,” she whispered.

He angled his head at her, nodding. “With every fiber of my being.”

She swallowed and looked down. “I think… it’s him,” she whispered.

He turned toward her a little. “Who?”

She moved her gaze a foot toward him. “The baby.”

An odd emotion punched him at what that could mean.

Her eyes rose to his with troubled brows. “I think… he needs it.”

“Needs what?”

She wet her lips, her gaze lowering to his mouth. “Your… whatever he gets when you bite me.”

He stared at her, his thoughts entangled with every emotion he possessed until his being was in knots. What did that mean if she was right? “Why?” was all he could wonder, not even sure that was theright question. He regarded her. “Needs... or wants?”

Her stare meandered over his before getting lost in the air between them. “Both. I think. I had another dream about him.”

He turned more to her, his pulse jacking at that news. “Can you tell me?” he asked, remembering to be careful.

She wiped the tears falling now. “He… he was older this time, like… ten maybe.” She gasped a laugh and aimed a smile at him. “He was so beautiful, he looked just like a young you.” She blinked, wiping the fresh tears. He reached for her hand, his chest tight as fuck as his breath held, waiting. “He was building so earnestly, the same thing as before only now it was as tall as him. And then,” she said, her breaths turning shaky. “He suddenly stops. His gaze is still on his important project, then very slowly, almost deliberately like the pause meant something I needed to know, and he turned his eyes to me.” She stared at him. “And the moment our eyes locked,” she gasped, putting her hands on her chest at thememory. “We connected in such… a profound way. Then he said to me… I’m hungry Mah-Mah.”

Her words ended on a sob and Bishop pulled her into a tight embrace, his breaths shuddering through him. “And you think he meant…”

She nodded. “I do. I just…wish I knew why.” She pushed out of his arms, looking at him. “What if something’s wrong with him, what if he’s in trouble? I-I have these cravings and I know that’s normal for most first time pregnancies, but what if it’s because he’s needing something and I’m not providing it, but I can’t just… go around eating charred wood or sucking on pennies, I need to know what he needs and then it hit me, if he’s wanting what you give, what if it’s because I’m not able to give it!”

He took hold of her arms. “Listen to me,” he said. “I want to try something. I want to try just biting you to see if you notice a difference in any way.” He eyed her face, still gripped in terror. “Okay? We can try this, oui?” She gave a tiny nod, and he tugged her face to his, kissing her softly with soothing coos. “We can try this. If itworks, then anytime you feel the need, you just ask me and I will give it.”

She slowly lowered her head, nodding. “Okay.” She wiped her face. “So you just… want to bite me and not… have sex?”

Oh fuck. “No-no-no,” he hurried at the barely bridled devastation in her voice. “Of course we’ll have sex.”

“We’ll have sex,” she repeated on a mumble, nodding. “Guess… we’ll call it that.”

“We’ll call it whatever you want to call it, baby,” he assured, hating where her head was.

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