Page 45 of Thorns of Love
“We’ll listen to the baby's heartbeat now,” the doctor declared, his hand firm but his voice held a note of tremor. I sighed. I couldn’t do that to the poor old doctor.
He took a small box with a tiny microphone attached. He handed a gel tube to Illias.
“Would you please put that on your wife’s lower belly?” he asked him.
Illias snatched it out of his hand, then pulled up my dress to find me wearing red, lacy panties.
“Why are you wearing such revealing panties?” he grumbled.
Oh, he didn’t! There wasn’t a single pair of panties in the stack that he bought me that was less revealing.
“Sorry, I forgot my granny panties at home,” I remarked dryly, shifting up to rest on my elbows so I could glare at him better. I needed him to see my wrath. “You know, I didn’t have a chance to pack since you kidnapped me, right outside my brother’s wedding reception.”
“I saved your ass,” he bit out.
“And then you kidnapped me,” I snapped, glaring at him.
The doctor cleared his throat. “T-the gel on her belly,” he stuttered.
I flopped back on the bed, knowing I probably looked like a brat to the doctor, but, at this point, I couldn’t have cared less. Maybe I was. Maybe my brothers had indulged my whims a bit too often in my life. Or maybe my husband was just an asshole. I was choosing option two.
Illias removed the top of the tube, then spread a generous amount of the cold gel on my belly. His fingers firm and rough, he rubbed the cold thick liquid over my skin, and I managed not to respond to the sensation of his fingers on me. A woman scorned and all that shit.
A clearing of the throat cleared my head of the multiple ways I was thinking of how to kill my husband and get back home… alone.
“May I?” The doctor asked, but he wasn’t asking me. He was asking Illias, his eyes locked on him with a slight hint of fear. He should be asking me, not that Neanderthal. It was my body, after all. Men, in general, were really starting to piss me off.
It didn’t matter that I wanted this man. My husband. For what reason, I had no fucking idea. But my body wanted him inside me, on top of me, behind me. All over me. But even more than that, I wanted a partnership. I wanted to trust him and for him to trust me. I was by no means a fragile flower or an innocent woman. I was raised with my brothers, knew what they had to do, - although not in gruesome detail - and what they’d done to keep us protected. It didn’t make me respect them any less, nor love them any more.
Illias clenched his jaw and nodded. A few seconds later, we heard the rapid whoosh of the baby’s heartbeat inside me, and I let out a relieved sigh. I knew the baby was still inside me, but there was something so emotional about hearing that heartbeat, reassuring me that it was still beating.
Without thinking, I took Illias’ hand and gripped it tightly, emotions swelling inside me. The moment I heard that proof of life - whoosh, whoosh - something inside of me shifted. My heart raced excitedly every time I heard it. I would never grow tired of it, but to hear it with the baby daddy by my side, it was emotional on a whole new level. I needed to start rethinking this whole “kill Illias” thing. Maybe I could just maim him a little bit.
“It’s a strong heartbeat,” the doctor uttered with a smile.
Then he stiffened and my eyes widened in fear. “What?” I demanded to know, panic lacing my voice.
“I-I’m not sure–” he started and my eyes darted to Illias, letting him see fear in my gaze. I wanted him to fix it, whatever it was.
Illias' eyes betrayed nothing of his worries. His face was a cold mask. But his hand gripped mine and I knew, just fucking knew, he wanted this as much as I did. He worried as much as me.
“Speak,” he ordered him, his voice a cold whip.
I glanced at Illias in confusion, then at the doctor. “Huh?”
“Two heartbeats,” the doctor repeated, smiling. “You’re going to have two babies.”
His words thundered through me like wildfire. My mouth parted. Blood rushed through me, making it hard to think.
“Two babies,” I repeated.
“Da,” he confirmed in Russian. “Two babies with very strong heartbeats.”
A burst of brilliant happiness rushed through me. I grinned, unable to believe it. Two babies! Illias and I shared a look. The smile he gave me just about blinded me. He looked as happy as I felt and suddenly, I wondered if he’d really used me like I heard him say. He seemed way too happy for this to be just a means to an end.
I wanted to ravage him. Fuck everything else, but I wanted to thank him for this. These babies.
Whatever leverage he wanted, I hoped he got it because I got so much more.
