Page 20 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

The doctor cleared his throat. “I’ll be fast. I promise.”

“Is it going to hurt?” Haley asked in a barely audible voice.

“No, child. Not at all. I promise.” The doctor glanced at Braylon and nodded toward her head.

Braylon took the advice and climbed up to sit behind her, scooting forward and lifting her head onto his lap. When she reached back for him, he took her hands in his and held their combined grip against her chest.

Her heart was racing. He hated his mother so much at this moment he considered killing her with his bare hands. But that wouldn’t do any good. It wouldn’t help them escape this living hell.

No. He needed to bide his time and come up with a solid plan. He needed to bump heads with the other men who made up his family, the two who were currently in Riggs’s quarters, no doubt pacing a hole in the carpet.

Braylon hated that they couldn’t be in this room with him. They had every right as much as he did, but it would raise far too many suspicions.

Haley was barefoot, and Braylon knew she wasn’t wearing anything under her nightclothes because she’d been instructed not to. For once, she was not wearing one of the dozens of sexy lingerie she’d been given. She was wearing a ridiculously demure white nightgown with frilly lace around the neckline, short sleeves, and hem.

Braylon held his breath as the doctor arranged several items on the bed next to her hip before gently pushing her nightgown up her thighs.

A tear fell down Haley’s cheek, but she kept her lips pursed and didn’t make a sound.

Thank God for Dr. Brownville’s amazing bedside manner. The man could have been an ogre. He could have marched in here and coldly made Haley’s life even worse. Luckily, he was a good man. “I’m just going to part your thighs, Haley. Try to relax.”

She flinched but didn’t fight him. The resignation in her eyes made Braylon’s chest tighten. He felt more impotent right now than if he truly were. He had no idea how fertile he was. That was the biggest irony of all.

Perhaps he could have fathered a child with Haley easily on the very night they were wed. He’d berated himself for his decision to leave her untouched a million times in the last few days since finding out about this farce. But it was too late to go back now, and besides, there was no way he could have raped this precious woman on the night they’d met.

She wouldn’t be looking at him now with so much trust and confidence in her gaze if he’d taken her that night. She’d been so scared and so innocent. It had never been an option. He refused to regret the decision.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the doctor lift a shiny metal speculum, and his breath hitched. He gripped Haley’s hands tighter, praying she’d at least done enough stretching to keep the doctor from realizing that he was about to be the first person to penetrate her.

Haley winced, her body stiffening, her teeth grinding together.

Braylon couldn’t help but glance up at the doctor.

The doctor froze, quickly pulling the speculum back as his gaze shot to Braylon’s. For long moments he stared at him, his eyes wide, his lips parted. He finally set the speculum aside and took a deep breath.

He knows. Haley had obviously failed.

Braylon couldn’t be mad at her. What he’d asked her to do had been too much. He knew she’d tried, but it had been an insurmountable task. How could she have gotten herself wet enough to insert even her fingers into her tight channel?

“Son?” Dr. Brownville said softly.

“Just do it,” Braylon demanded. “Quickly.”

Dr. Brownville hesitated.

“I won’t ask you to lie to my mother,” Braylon stated. “The only thing she’s going to ask you is if you did what you were told.”

The doctor gave him a nod. “I’m not going to use the speculum to examine her first. Just the syringe.” He held it up. It was less than half an inch wide.

“Thank you,” Braylon stated, doing his best to ignore the milky substance filling the syringe.

Haley’s eyes were squeezed closed, her lips were pursed tight, and her fingernails were digging into Braylon’s hands.

Braylon had a sudden thought that came a bit too late. If the doctor was going to cover for him, he could have given the man his own semen. But the entire idea was complicated. As far as this doctor knew, Braylon’s sperm count wasn’t high enough.

The doctor swallowed, clearly far more uncomfortable with this entire farce than he had been when he’d arrived. He didn’t like inseminating a virgin. He looked a bit green. He was one of the good guys. At least Braylon prayed he was reading the man right. If not, he and Haley were in a heap of trouble.

Dr. Brownville set his palm on Haley’s thigh. “You’ll feel a slight pressure, Haley. It shouldn’t hurt. It will only take a few seconds.”

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