Page 32 of What Haunts the Heart
14
Eden
“Eden. Wake up, sleepyhead.” Someone gently shook my arm. I groaned and tried to roll out of their reach, tugging the sheets back up over my shoulders. Oakley’s soft chortle of amusement pierced through the hazy veil of sleep. “Hey, c’mon. We’re supposed to go over to Kinsley’s place and help tear down the Halloween decorations, remember?”
“Ugh.” I curled up on my side and hugged my stomach, which was currently churning with the force of a hurricane. Queasy was an understatement. I wanted to stay in bed, but I did tell Chess that we’d help. Me and my big mouth. “Do we have to?” I whined.
“Babe, it’s almost noon,” he said.
I shot upright in bed, then groaned. “Shit. I feel like absolute crap.”
Oakley frowned. “Think you have the flu?”
I wrinkled my nose and thought about it. I didn’t feel achy or weak. Just sick to my stomach. I slowly shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. It was probably something I ate at the party. My stomach isn’t happy.”
“Guess you won’t want any leftovers, then?”
I grimaced at the thought of food. “Are youtryingto make me puke?”
He offered a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Maybe you’ll feel better after a shower? Take some Tums.”
“Maybe.” Either way, I was awake now so I might as well get up. I hauled myself out of bed and padded barefoot down the hall, shutting myself up in the bathroom. I still had remnants of yesterday’s makeup on my face…which meant my pillowcase was probably stained. Man, we’d crashed hard last night after the party.
And after all of the sex.
I took a quick shower and, feeling a little better than I did, I got dressed. Breakfast—or lunch, rather—was off the table. I rubbed my slightly-bloated stomach. The thought of putting anything down there right now was a recipe for disaster. I’d stick with water and call it good.
When we arrived at the farmhouse, they were already hard at work pulling down the decorations. Lani stood on the ladder, unhooking strings of LED lights while Claire carefully coiled them around her arm. Kinsley waved at us, one of the long banquet tables tucked under his arm. Chester sat in a lawn chair with Khloe on one knee and Angel tucked against his chest.
“Looks like you’re almost done,” I said as we strolled up to the barn. Oakley jumped in to help his brother, leaving me and Chester alone. Rubbing my stomach again, I flopped down in the chair next to him. “Ugh.”
Chester stared at me, a frown tugging at his lips. “What’s wrong?”
“I feel gross,” I admitted with a shrug. “Probably something I ate last night. I went a little ham on those pesto rolls, but damn were they delicious.” I flopped back in the plastic chair and sighed. “At least it’s nice out.”
It was. The sky was bright and blue and even though the sun kept playing peek-a-boo with the clouds, there was just enough warmth in the air that I didn’t need a jacket. Probably a good thing, seeing as I didn’t think to grab one.
When I glanced back up, Chester was still staring at me. My stomach flipped upside down, because the look on his face? It kind of worried me. Like he was constipated, or maybe he’d smelled something nasty.
“Chess?” I began. “What’s wrong? Did I forget to put on deodorant this morning?” I lifted my arm and gave a sniff, but I only smelled soap and lavender laundry detergent.
“I don’t know. You smell…different. I thought I smelled it last night, but there were a lot of people here so I brushed it off, but…” His forehead creased. “Um. This might be a little forward of me, but have you gone into heat recently?”
“What?” My head popped up. Heat? Yeah, I was due for one but my body had always been a little off-kilter. Heat hormones didn’t hit me the way they did most Omegas. I never really went into that insatiably-horny phase that some people did. I frowned. “I don’t know, why?”
He bit his lip and busied himself by playing with Khloe’s curls. “Just wondering. Youhavebeen using protection, right? I mean, it’s none of my business, but—” He cut off abruptly as Oakley came sauntering up with a plastic skeleton in his arms.
“Hey, Eden. This is Robert. He wants to come home with us.” My goofy mate made the skeleton wave at me, then plopped him into my lap. “I figure maybe we could hang him in the living room and decorate him for Christmas. He could be our holiday skeleton.”
But his words bounced right off my skull, because suddenly, all I could think about was how many times Oakley and I had fucked without a condom—and without a care in the world. I figured we were safe. We’d never used protection together before, so why would we start now?
Oh god. What if I’d gone into heat without knowing it? What if our endless romps in bed were simply hormone-fueled desires, and my womb was ripe for the taking? It was way too soon for morning sickness, wasn’t it?
Wasn’t it?
I shot out of my chair, sending Robert clattering to the ground. “I need to use the bathroom,” I mumbled before hurrying towards the house. With each step, my stomach twisted and turned, sending that nausea straight to the back of my throat. I barely made it to the toilet before I was heaving up everything I’d eaten at the party, and trust me when I say it didn’t come up nearly as smoothly as it’d gone down.
I gagged and spit into the water, then flushed. Feeling shaky and more than a little weak, I sank down on the edge of the tub and dropped my head into my hands. Jesus Christ. It was too early. Way too early. There was no way. Oakley had only been in town not-quite two weeks now. Even though we’d been screwing like monkeys, it was way too early to take a pregnancy test.
