Given (23 page)

“What is it? Have you changed your mind about being with me
tonight?”

“No,” she cried,
then
clamped her
mouth shut. She didn’t know how to articulate the bizarre way she felt. “I—you
twist me up inside,” she finally uttered.

Brax
grinned. “Now you know how I
feel. There’s something developing between us, right? Don’t lie.”

She nodded, afraid of speaking and giving away just how
deeply she was falling for him. She knew she could love
Brax
if she allowed herself to be that foolish.

“I’m going to make you feel something better than twisted,
Kristannie
.” His hand dipped between her intimate lips. The
water in the tub splashed. He began to rub her already sensitive clit.

Her pussy clenched hungrily as a little orgasm over took
her. She closed her eyes. The mewling gasp came from deep inside. Her hips
bucked, and water sloshed over the side of the tub.
Brax
replaced his hand with the soapy washcloth. He washed her pussy and inner
thighs. She opened her eyes and watched him attending to her. A ghost of a
smile tilted her lips upward.

When he looked at her, he smiled back. “What are you
thinking about?”

“How I like it when you look so serious. Do you have any
idea how handsome you are?”

He grunted. “Handsome doesn’t do much good these days,
unless you’re into guys.
Sucks to be straight.
Well,
it did until you arrived.”

“I can’t imagine if things were reversed, sharing you like
you share me.”

He scowled. “As hot as that was to watch, I wanted to bash
heads together when I saw you with them, especial Jared. You like him, don’t
you?”

His question took her by surprise. “I like him, sure. You’re
my favorite, Braxton.” She looked down shyly. Why she felt nervous admitting
what he should’ve guessed was a mystery.

He seemed moderately pacified by her admission. “I just want
to fuck you until my name is the only one on your lips, woman,” he complained.

She screamed as he pulled her out of the tub so quickly she didn’t
have time to prepare. He pressed her back up against the bathroom wall, her
slick body slid, squeaking against the surface. He wrapped one of her legs
around his hip and supported her with his hands on her ass as his cock slid
inside of her easily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in
his neck. He fucked the same way he did everything—epically.
Brax
was the kind of man who would have had women lined up
around the block, but he was all hers. Her inner woman purred, knowing she was
the most exciting thing in his life.

Pleasure quickly surged and then crested. She shuddered
violently as she came, her back arched. Her pussy tightened around him as it
convulsed with the joyous release he gave her. Krista screamed his name. The
sound echoed off the bathroom walls. She never wanted to let him go. He cried
out, his breath tickling her ear as her half-wet, half-dry hair fluttered
against her skin. He came, but unlike the others, she didn’t want to wash him
away. Krista relished the proof she’d given him her body, because she
reluctantly admitted she’d already given him her heart.

Krista rested her forehead on his shoulder and he huffed
with exertion. “I think I’m falling in love with you,” she whispered.

His muscles tightened and his body went stiff. She was
afraid to look at his face. When he tried to tilt her face up, she resisted. He
prodded her chin insistently and she finally found the inner strength to meet
his eyes. Those beautiful, blue eyes were so bright.

“Good, because I’m fucking crazy about
you,
Kristannie
.
I’d call what I feel a whole
lot more than lust, I’d call it adoration, respect, awe, and yes, love.” He
reached back and grasped a towel, wrapping it around her. “Now I’m going to
take you to
my
bed and remind you that you’re
mine
.”

The promise on his face made her sigh. She hated how much
she cared about this man. He had the power to make her want so much more than a
peaceful life. When she looked into
Brax’s
eyes, she
dreamed of having the fairytale. Real love was lost for her generation, but
that didn’t stop the non-rational part of her brain from demanding she give
into her feelings for him.

Seven Months Later

Krista put her hand on her distended abdomen. She was due in
a few months. Life had become so strange. The live-in doctor and Jared
constantly seemed to be disagreeing, and her relationship with
Brax
had become strained. She’d spent so many wonderful
afternoons making love with him after life had found a routine and the others
had gone back to work. Everything had almost felt…wonderful. Then she’d
announced she was pregnant, and her doctor had almost immediately ordered an
amniocentesis. It was done at only fourteen weeks. The child was healthy and
Braxton’s. Instead of the news making him happy, he seemed sullen.

Max was standing alone on the patio, smoking a cigar. Krista
went outside quietly. A winter chill filled the air and she could see her
breath. Snow blanketed the world beyond the patio. She had the irrational urge
to run out into the pristine yard and make an angel, just to see Max’s
reaction. The outdoor heater hummed and Krista moved toward the slightly warmer
air around it.

He glanced over to her, surprised. “Shouldn’t you be inside,
away from my smoke? You don’t want to get sick, not when you have to be healthy
for two.”

She grinned at him. Once upon a time, she’d thought he was a
jerk, but they’d developed a very unlikely friendship. “I just wanted to say
hi,” she told him quietly.

“What’s up? You’ve been so sad lately. I’ve noticed you
aren’t eating, and I don’t like it,” he replied gruffly.

“I’m fine. Don’t yell at me or I’ll go back inside.” She
stuck out her tongue at him.

He scowled, but then chuckled. “This is about
Brax
, isn’t it?” There was an odd tone in his question.

“Yes,” she replied truthfully.

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

“God no!”
She responded so quickly,
he started chuckling again.

“Love.
Fuckin
’
sucks,” he muttered, gazing out at the lake.

He could say that again. As un-poetic as his words were,
he’d gotten it right. Then she paused, pondering when he’d ever fallen in love.

“How would you know?” she retorted, annoyed.

His head whipped around in her direction so quickly, she
marveled that he didn’t have whiplash. “That’s my point,” he replied. “I know.”

Realization dawned on her and she felt small and stupid.
“I’m sorry,” she said evenly, not sure how else to respond.

“I never thought it would happen, but right from the
beginning you were everything I needed without knowing it.
Brax
is a fucking idiot. I was really hoping that baby would be mine, something more
to connect us. I’d never have gotten cold like he has. I don’t care if it’s
his. I’ll love your child, Krista, because I love you.”

She rushed over to him, tears filling her eyes. He tossed
his cigar into the snow and wrapped his arms around her.

“Christ! You’re freezing. Let’s go inside. You shouldn’t
have come out in just a sweater.” His arms tighten around her as he led her
back inside the house.

There was a fire going in the living room fireplace, and Max
kicked off his boots as he ushered her inside. His grip didn’t slacken, and she
relished the comforting warmth. The realization that he loved her made her
ache. Nothing about life was fair, but she hated hurting him. She’d set her
heart on
Brax
from the start.

Max sat her on the ottoman he kicked close to the fireplace
and turned the blower on high. Warmth poured over them. “Don’t let yourself get
sick. I doubt that quack of a doctor would give you as much as Tylenol for a
cold.”

Max rushed away, but when he returned he held a cup of hot
Jasmine tea, her favorite. The fragrant smell gave it away as she took the cup.
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a small smile.

The worried look left his face and he appeared satisfied.
Max crouched down beside her, his hand was cold when he caressed her cheek.
“I’ll talk to the bastard. He shouldn’t be messing with your head, especially
now.”

“I’m fine, really. Please don’t talk to him. Things are
weird
enough,
I don’t want them to get worse.”

He frowned, his lips thinned to a fine line. “Okay, but just
don’t feel alone in this. I want to be there for you. I don’t care who the
father of your child is, I’d be proud to call it mine.”

Affection for Max filled her deeply, and she began to cry.
She’d been doing a lot of that lately.

“Don’t,” he mumbled.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

Max tilted her face up so she had to look at him. His kissed
her tears and rested his forehead against hers. “Don’t apologize. You have
nothing to be sorry for.”

She felt him stroking her ponytail. This was the most
physically affectionate he’d ever been with her outside of the bedroom. Knowing
how hard it was for him made the gestures all the more meaningful.

Brax
walked into the room, his
foot hovered in the air, and he froze. It would’ve been comical if his face
hadn’t twisted with so much rage. He seemed to recover,
then
stomped away in the direction he’d just come from, slamming the door. Max
stood, and Krista saw the darkness on his face. She grabbed his hand quickly.

“Don’t go there, Max, please. The doctor will report any
fighting. They’re watching us so much more closely. Only another month and a
half before the jackass leaves and we can get back to normal, our normal.”

Her words seemed to pacify him slightly. “Don’t worry. I
won’t kill him, even if I’d like to. Just get warm.”

Max stalked away in the direction
Brax
had gone. A moment later, Krista heard arguing. She prayed it didn’t get any
louder. The last thing she wanted was to be taken away during her pregnancy.
She’d surely find herself back in the protection facility. The moment her baby
was born, she’d be re-given and her baby stolen. Shivering, she stood. Her legs
trembled and she fell. She reached out to grab hold of the side table, but all
she managed to do was
knock
over a vase.

The loud crash was followed by the sound of rushing feet.
Jared came running in. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she lied.

Doctor Jackson was right behind Jared. He grabbed her wrist
and looked at his watch. Then he glanced at Jared and the men seemed to be
having some silent conversation, which annoyed her greatly. “I’ll get her
upstairs,” Jared said gravely as he picked her up.

Max and Braxton’s argument escalated in the other room.
“What’s going on?” the doctor demanded to know. “Did one of those men hurt
you?”

“No, nothing like that.
I went
outside in the cold, my mistake. They’re arguing about something not connected
to me,” she lied quickly.”Just ignore them.”

The doctor’s eyebrow
rose,
and
Krista knew he didn’t believe her by the skeptical look on his face. She bit her
lip.

Jared was running with her. He rushed past his brother. “Go
tell those jackasses to stop fighting and that Krista is bleeding.”

His words startled her. She looked down. She hadn’t noticed,
but she was bleeding. Her jeans had a dark splotch on the crotch. Whimpering,
she looked into Jared’s eyes.

“It’ll be all right,” he told her reassuringly. She nodded,
but worried he was lying for her benefit. It was too soon for her baby to be
born.

Jared laid her on the portable exam table the doctor had in
his room. He hooked a stress monitor around her abdomen, and Jared started to
turn on the equipment. Krista watched the men preparing. Their tenseness wasn’t
comforting her.

The doctor began checking readings. “I need to speak with
you,” he told Jared.

When they left the room, she laid her head on the table and
cried, sobbing hard. She wanted this baby, even if
Brax
didn’t. This was her family and she’d never felt any connection close to what
she felt for the little, unborn child in her womb. She wanted to give her child
all the love that her government had denied her. For the first time in her
life, she had something precious that really and truly mattered. Even
powerless, she’d find a way to protect her son or daughter from what awaited
it.

The doctor knew if it was a boy or a girl, but she’d asked
him not to tell her. She didn’t want to worry about her child’s fate before she
had to. Now her unborn child’s very life was in danger. She closed her eyes,
hating herself. She’d let her stupid emotions for
Brax
cloud her judgment about what was best for her child. Not taking care of
herself had been the equivalent of not caring for her baby. The guilt she
experienced was poignant.

Jared returned, without the doctor.
Not a good sign.
She tried to calm down and stop sobbing.

He pulled up a chair and sat down, then took her hand.
“Krista, we need to transport you to the hospital. The doctor feels you would
benefit from more advanced diagnostic equipment. Don’t panic, we don’t know
what’s wrong yet. Everything will be fine, as long as you stay calm. Stressing
out won’t help your child.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m sorry, I
should’ve insisted you eat and take better care of yourself instead of letting
my anger with your doctor keep me silent. He wasn’t doing a very good job and I
should’ve stepped in.”

“It’s okay. I’m to blame, not you. I shouldn’t have let
myself get so wound up.”

“We’ll get you to the hospital, and then everything will be
all right.”