Claiming The Prize (21 page)

Pulling Savannah closer, he
rubbed her protruding abdomen.

“
Carson Jr.
should arrive
in June.
I'd say congratulations are in order, wouldn't
you?”

He laughed too loudly for
comfort.

Grace collected herself
quickly, replying, “Yes, of course.
Congratulations.”

An awkward pause followed
before an unaware Carson spotted Antonio Paolo's group.

“
Ah!
There's our gang.
See
you later, Mac, Stephen.”

“
Take care of yourself,
Carson,” the older man replied.

When they were out of
earshot, Mac said, ”It's a shame, that guy.
Had the world before
him, he did.
I'll be surprised if he makes his fight with
Mainn.”

DuFois responded in turn,
“Khaler's done.
I hear Paolo's dropping him.
Can't say as I blame
him.”

Grace's cheeks burned with
humiliation.
Fighting back tears that threatened to spill, she
willed her mind and body to hide her aching heart.

“
Are you all right, Grace?”
Beth asked.

“
Yes, I'm fine.”

Misunderstanding the deeper
source of Grace's pain, Beth added, “I know it's upsetting.
That
woman is obviously on drugs.
And that poor child!
What kind of life
is it being born into?”

Nodding in agreement,
relieved that no one knew of her secret torment, Grace regained her
composure as the group transitioned to more pleasant conversation.
Drago and Guy had finally made their way through the sea of well
wishers, joining the group to congratulatory praise.

The moment his eyes found
his wife, he sensed something was wrong.

Turning away from Drago, Grace let the
tears seep from her eyes.
Six months.
She had been his wife for six
months.
Her husband made love to her almost daily, but still she
did not carry their child.
Each month, she waited.
She hoped.
But
even now, her body showed its unwillingness to conceive.
Her heart
ached over her empty womb.
Her arms longed to welcome her own
child, but with every successive month that her body failed her –
failed her husband – her fears mounted that she would never have
children.

The image of Savannah, heavy with a
child even as she poisoned herself with her toxic habit would not
leave her in peace.

Why, Lord?
Forgive me for questioning
you, Father, but why?

Chapter 13

Leaving her father had been difficult,
but Grace was glad to be home again.

Home.
When had the transfer in her
mind happened?
When had this foreign land become her idea of
home?

Here she could pour herself into
caring for her husband and home, into Drago's training, into her
work in the gym.
Tonight she would speak with Drago about beginning
a self-defense class for women in the gym after his next fight
eased their schedule.
After her episode in Las Vegas, Grace had put
her hopes in God's hands, determining to go about the work He gave
her with thankfulness.

Ilija and Dubravko had welcomed their
daughter, Svetlana, the night of Drago's fight in Vegas, and while
a small sadness touched her, she could be nothing but happy for
them.

Drago worked furiously behind her, the
heavy slap of his skin connecting with the red leather of the bag
alternating with the thud of his body against the mat.
The rhythm
of sounds wove a familiar cadence throughout the gym.
Grace
stretched her body after a short walk and jog on the treadmill in
preparation for her jujitsu session with a pair of novice
trainees.

Zandrew and Pyetr were newer additions
to Spar-Slava, having trained only a year with Drago's team.
Mostly
Maui Thai kick-boxers, they needed a great deal of work yet on
submission and ground game.
Both had wrestled, a necessary skill in
the MMA world, but the explosiveness of that skill set had to be
tempered within the art of jujitsu.
Working into correct position
for a submission took patience and precision, skills her students
had yet to master.
When they trotted in for the hour and a half
long session, Grace instructed them to warm up for ten minutes and
stretch one another.
Before they finished, Drago appeared with
Gabriel, Frentz, and Josip.

The one stipulation Drago had placed
on Grace's work in the gym was that she grapple only with
him.

I will watch no man touch
you as I do, milovany.

The words still echoed in her ears
seductively.

She could have felt upset, taken it as
a sign of mistrust, but Grace knew better.
Her husband's possessive
nature over her was borne out of protectiveness.
And she had no
desire to be handled by any other after knowing Drago's
touch.

Demonstrating the moves to be
practiced, Grace pulled Drago into her guard, giving step by step
instructions for each shift of hip and roll of wrist before moving
to observe their technique.
Over and again, the young men repeated
the process under her watchful eye, taking her critique and praise
alike.
Once satisfied that the move was fixed in their minds, live
grappling began.
Gabriel and Frentz worked in and out of the five
minute periods with the beginners while Grace and Josip took notes
on each man.
Drago observed the pair-ups, occasionally leaning in
to murmur a comment into Grace's ear.

At the hour mark, the group rested for
a few minutes and drank before drilling again for the remainder of
the time.
Grace could not compete with Drago's strength, so he held
back, giving her the intense match she craved.
Even with his
strength and size advantage, he practiced caution, evading her
attempts to lock her strong legs around his arm or neck.
Pushing
hard through the last minute, Grace fell back onto the mat
breathing heavily but wearing a smile.

“
That's it for today
fellows!”
she laughed.

“
Zbohom, pozri Vás
vo
š
tvrtok,
Goodbye, see you
Thursday
,” the pair announced cheerfully
after gathering their belongings.

Josip continued to make notes in his
folder, and Frentz and Gabriel headed to the second floor locker to
shower.

Clasping Grace's calf, Drago began the
post workout stretching.
With her knee bent, he pressed slowly,
bringing her thigh to rest against her chest and rolled her hip out
and back again.
Her back resting firmly on the mat while he knelt
between her legs brought the blush to his wife's cheeks that Drago
adored.
Carefully, he palmed her calf again and straightened her
leg, leaning his weight tentatively on the back of her extended leg
to effect a deep stretch.
Turning his cheek inward and smiling
devilishly, he nipped the inside of her thigh through the leggings
she wore.

“
Drago!”
she chided in a
hushed whisper, “Josip is still in here.”

He ran his hand over the length of her
leg.

“
I'll throw him out,” he
retorted in mock seriousness before releasing her leg only to begin
the intimate process on the other.

“
Don't you need to stretch
yourself?”
she asked breathlessly.

“
Did it before, milovnik.
Nie, there is no escape for you,” he chuckled.

Josip's throat clearing disrupted
Drago's plans.
Never looking at the man, Drago continued the
stretch, but with a more clinical intent.

“
What is it?”

“
I'd like to talk with you
about something.
Perhaps it will be better if we speak in your
office.”

The man's discomfort was plainly heard
in his voice, and both Drago and Grace turned their heads to look
at him.
Whether Drago didn't notice or didn't care, Grace knew not,
but his displeasure was instant.

“
Whatever you need to speak
to me, you can speak it in front of my wife,” came the sharp
reply.

“
I meant no disrespect,
Drago.
I only...”

Josip hemmed around the topic, but
Drago gave not one centimeter.

“
Anika is pregnant, Drago!
I don't know what to do!”
he forced out in a rapid
sentence.

Drago exhaled and laughed.

“
You're about to be married
in a few weeks, Josip, Ano?”

“
Yes, but...”

“
Then you celebrate, Josip!
You celebrate!”

Turning back to smile at Grace, he saw
her pained expression.
She covered it quickly, but not before his
eyes had seen beneath the veil of the smile she now wore.
Pulling
her to her feet, he circled his fingers over the small of her back
in a comforting touch.

“
You don't understand!”
Josip's voice cracked with emotion.
“Anika doesn't want the
baby.”

Under Drago's hand, Grace went rigid,
a small sound escaping her throat involuntarily.
Drago
instinctively pulled her into his side, but she turned
away.

“
I think I'll go upstairs
and let you two talk.”

Making her way toward the stairway as
quickly as she could without running like a fool, Grace fought to
see through the tears blurring her vision.

She had to get away before she
screamed.
Or cursed.

But before she had ascended the first
step, Drago caught her from behind, his hands covering her
shoulders.

“
Som tu,
I am here.
”

“
Let me go up, Drago.
Prosim!
Please,
”
she choked out.

“
I will not leave you,
moja
ž
ena.”

Scooping her into his arms, he carried
her upstairs.

“
Josip needs you,” came her
hushed protest, even as she clung to his chest.

“
Josip is not my first
concern, Grace.
I will speak with him later.”

Settling her on the sofa in the
privacy of their home, Drago knelt between her legs and took her
face in his hands.

“
Tell me what is wrong,
milovany.”

His dark eyes searched hers, his
thumbs wiping the tears from her cheeks as he waited.

Exhaling, Grace shakily
began.

“
I wish and pray everyday
that we will have a child.
Savannah poisons her body, yet she is
blessed with a baby.
Anika is pregnant, but she doesn't want to be.
I don't understand!”

“
Grace,” he soothed,
folding her into his chest.
“God will bless us with a child in His
time.
I prayed that He would give us a year or two before we
conceived.
Forgive me, milovnik.
I only wanted you to myself for a
time.”

Smoothing over her hair, he held her
firmly against his body.

“
But we haven't done
anything to prevent a child,” she countered.

Her brown eyes pleaded for
reassurance.

“
This is true, Gracie.
We
do not try to prevent your becoming pregnant,” he said, smiling at
her.
“But I believe that God is merely giving us time to grow
together as husband and wife.”

Melting against his form she said
softly, “Please be right, Drago.”

“
Don't worry, moja
ž
ena,” he assured.
“We
will have a child.
But you must not worry over it.
It will only
make it less likely to happen.”

Safely within his embrace she
answered, “I'll try.”

Drago drew her a bath.
While she
soaked in the calming warmth of the tub, he returned to Josip after
a quick shower in the locker.

What could he say to his
friend?

He had warned the man against getting
involved with Anika.
The woman was a viper.
But one look had shown
him that Josip was defenseless against her beauty and her charms.
Now his friend suffered, and nothing he could say or do would
change that.
The thought of his wife disdaining their child, his
seed, made his gut clench.

Thank you, God, for sending Grace to
me, he offered silently.

He met his friend.
Before any words,
they clasped their massive arms around one another in friendship.
Josip wept.

* * *

Hours later, Drago joined his wife in
their bed.
The sight of her, clad in her honey colored nightgown
seized his heart, and when she looked up at him in the soft
lamplight, he saw the question in her eyes, the fear that he
thought her silly or selfish for her tearful confession.

He had her in his arms immediately,
murmuring against her lips as he kissed her, answering her unspoken
questions.

“
You need never hide your
heart from me, milovany.”

He encircled her waist, firmly
caressing up her sides as his mouth covered hers.
Insistent, yet
slow, he drank in her sweetness, not with demanding passion, but
with tenderhearted care.

She held his biceps in her tiny
grasp.

“
I was afraid you were
disappointed with me.
You have so much pressure to train right now,
and instead of being strong, I added to it.
I didn't want to let
you down,” she admitted meekly.

“
I know, Grace.
But it is
not so.
I am your husband – a husband who wants you to turn to him
with everything.”

Drago regarded her
seriously.

“
I train because I love it,
because I want to do it.
Your support means the world to me, but
never forget that you mean more than any training or
victory.”