Once Upon a Shifter (104 page)

Frankly, I did not know if he was paying attention to the movie, either. His hand crept between my thighs, and he eventually got impatient. Instead of rubbing my clit through two layers of clothes, he slid his hand under my skirt, under my skimpy panties, and right to my clit. I gasped quietly through a fast orgasm in front of him, wiggling. He withdrew his hand from under my skirt. I heard him unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants.

"Lean forward."

I put my legs on the outside of his, and I leaned forward. I had no idea what was happening on screen at this point.

He pulled my underwear to the side, and then he pulled my body down on his waiting dick.

"Uh," I grunted, as he filled me up.

"So good," he panted behind me. He began crashing into me violently, with the force of a tsunami. He came fast, spilling inside of me. He kept his dick in place as he moved us over to the edge of the couch.

Before I could ask what he was doing, he took a tissue out of a box and as he pulled out, he wiped me up.

"Don't want to get come stains on your skirt," he told me.

"That's okay," I said, turning my face around so that I could see him. "It would be worth it." He kissed me hard and fast, and then he stood up, pushing me to my feet, too.

"As much as I want to spend the rest of my life down here with you, we better eat something." As if on cue, his stomach grumbled loudly. "I'll eat you later," he said, his voice growly and deep. I looked up at him and gave him a slow grin. He smacked my ass before he walked upstairs.

Dinner

As we got there, I saw Asher laying out more food.

"You horn-dogs," he joked, "leaving me up here to do all the work."

I could smell the delicious scent of fried chicken. It had always seemed to me like you could gain weight just from the smell.

"Are those blueberry waffles?" I said, confused. "Why are they blue?"

"They are blue corn waffles. They do come with a bourbon-berry compote, though." Asher spooned some of it on top of a blue waffle and gave it to me. "Try." I picked it up with my hand, careful not to get anything dirty, and I put the waffle in my mouth. I didn't know what to expect. It tasted really good.

"I think all waffles should be like this. Fluffy, light, perfect."

Asher bowed. "You're welcome."

"Whatever, asshole," Xavier snorted. "I ordered the chicken and waffles, not you."

"There's a chicken sausage and okra gumbo, too, if you want it."

"Yum," I said. "My grandma was always feeding me okra when I was a kid. I haven't eaten it since she died.”

I sat down with a juicy drumstick. The fried chicken was delicious and messy. There was something primal and satisfying about sinking my teeth into meat and ripping it off the bone.

The boys cleaned up, although they were careful to leave me enough food. Something about hanging out with them was making me ravenous. I wanted to eat maybe double what I normally would. I guessed that I was eating for two.

I took the plates to the sink when we were done for the housekeeper to take care of tomorrow. The contrast of the sweet syrup and berry compote with the salty fried chicken was perfect. I somehow still had room for some of that gumbo. It warmed me in more ways than one.

This time, I cleaned up almost as much as the boys.

"You are eating way more than you were before," Asher said, pride showing in his eyes. "If we didn't know that our cub was inside of you before, we would know now."

I put a hand on my stomach, on my food baby. It did feel round and a little firmer than a food baby normally felt. It was if I were two or three months pregnant instead of just a day pregnant.

"I can't wait to have this baby."

I smiled at them. Both of their eyes blazed with desire as they looked at my pregnant body.

There was ringing through the intercom system.

Xavier was on his feet, ready to take the head off of whomever dared to disturb us just as we were going to get down to it.

"What?" he spat at the poor soul at the door. Probably an innocuous FedEx guy or something.

"I brought something for her," Jayce said. "I won't take up much of your time."

He walked into the kitchen. "I bought you prenatal vitamins and some Vitamin C."

"That's so thoughtful," I said. Asher and Xavier looked at each other.

"Yeah, thanks, man," Xavier said stiffly. "We'd like to fuck our mate now."

I gasped at his crude language, but Jayce only laughed. "Out." He waved, and he was gone.

"Don't touch those," Asher cautioned as soon as the door was shut. "We don't know what's in them. I'm going to send them to a lab that we use. The only prenatal vitamins that you are taking are ones that you personally are getting from a pharmacist."

"Don't be silly," I said. "Surely he wouldn't be desperate enough to give me something that would hurt the baby."

Xavier shook his head, and he squeezed my hand. "Never underestimate what a desperate man would do. We'll protect you from everything. It doesn't matter if it turns out to be harmless. I'd rather see shadows where there are none." There was a little bit of pain in his eyes.

“We’ll just put these away, then,” I said, putting them away in a cabinet. “We’ll get some prenatal vitamins soon.”

I could see the relief on their faces, although I thought that their fear was unfounded.

I yawned.

“Go to bed,” Asher said. “We’ve been wearing you out. We’ll see you in the morning. Go.”

I was too tired to protest. I went straight to my room and slept.

Hospital

I woke up in the middle of the night with my stomach telling me that I needed to hurl. I barely made it into the bathroom before I worshipped the porcelain god. I got vomit in my hair. I cried. I felt awful. I tried to get the vomit out of my hair. I was too sleepy to shower.

Careful not to make too much noise, because the boys were asleep in their own beds, I went downstairs and went to the cabinet. I knew that I had told the boys that I wouldn't take them, but prenatal vitamins helped with morning sickness, right?

I popped some Vitamin C and took one of the pills that Jayce had given me. Tomorrow, we'd pick up more prenatal vitamins. But for right now, these would have to do.

I went to bed after drinking a glass of water with the pills.

***

When I woke up, something was wet between my thighs. Oh, I started my period.

When I came fully awake, my eyes snapped open. I wasn't supposed to have my period. I was pregnant. I was miscarrying. Why had I trusted my midnight logic?

"Asher!" I screamed. "Xavier!"

They both came running into my room, both naked. They saw the blood that soaked my sheets.

"Oh my god!" Asher said. "We have to get you to a hospital." Xavier ran to his room to call, and I could hear his deep voice over there. Asher carried me into the bathroom, as if washing the bloodbath off of me could stop my body from losing our baby.

I cried, wailing loudly, and I could see the news hit Asher like a hammer.

He left me in the shower to go to my closet to get a dress. It was a simple black cotton one.

"I need to get a pad," I said. I wasn't ashamed right now. I was bleeding everywhere. I went to my suitcase, dripping some blood onto my carpet, and I tried not to be utterly devastated.

I put my pad in a set of my underwear, and I got dressed.

"Driving you to the hospital is going to be faster than waiting for an ambulance. Let's go." Xavier's car keys were in his hand.

We went to the hospital. The mood in the luxurious car was absolutely somber, like a black cloud had eaten us. I wasn't crying now. I just felt numb. How could I lose my baby so fast?

My beautiful baby.

Asher's arm was around me. Xavier was driving, while the two of us were in the back seat. I stared out the window in a haze.

When we got to the emergency room, they made me sit there and wait for a doctor. I told them that I was in the process of miscarrying, but they did not care. They wanted to see my insurance. I had only just gotten a policy, but Xavier and Asher had taken care of it. I sat there, feeling my body crumbling inside.

Finally, I got into an examination room. There was a nurse who took my vitals and an intake interview. Then, there was a doctor. I hated the sharp smell of the chemicals that they used in hospitals. The fluorescent lights were harsh, unflattering. I didn't want to be here.

"Let's see, hmm?" the doctor said. No hello, no how are you, no what's the problem. I was flat on the examination table as he checked my blood flow between my legs. "That does seem to be consistent with a spontaneous abortion."

"Abortion?" Asher asked. "It's a miscarriage."

"That's the medical terminology," the doctor answered smoothly, calmly. He didn't give a damn about my baby. Our baby. Our cub. We were only a frantic trio of people marching into the ER looking for help. It didn't mean that we had to find it.

"There's nothing for it. Just wait it out."

"You can't save the baby?" I asked. "Please. I want this baby."

He shook his head. "It's already too far gone."

I barely noticed the tears running down my face. Xavier and Asher went to hold me. The doctor took off his latex gloves with a snapping sound and washed his hands carefully in the sink. "Go home."

Xavier took care of the money while Asher pushed me in a wheelchair back to the car. The nurses had not stopped him when he commandeered one. I was glad. I felt so fragile, like I was made out of ice that could melt or shatter at any second. I felt a deep, dark pit inside of me where a little life used to be.

Our car was dead silent as we drove home.

I went up to my room. I didn't want to talk to them. I didn't want to talk to anyone.

Asher came into my room. "Baby, it's ok. We'll have another chance. You're young. Healthy. We can try."

I started sobbing, drinking in great gulps of air as I cried. He wrapped his big body around mine.

"It's my fault," I confessed. "I took one of those stupid pills that Jayce gave me. I thought they would help with my morning sickness."

I felt a jolt go through his body and looked up at his face. "Jayce did this?" His face settled in hard lines.

"Xavier!"

Xavier came into my room. His face was still and grim. "What is it?"

"It was those fucking pills," Asher said. "She thought they would cure her morning sickness."

"Oh, no," Xavier said. "We should have destroyed them as soon as their evil entered this house. I'll send them to the lab to get tested. I'll drive there now and be there when they open their doors." Xavier went back to his room and put on clothes. I could hear the jingle of his keys as he ran down the stairs to his car and the slam of the cabinet door where those accursed pills were.

I felt terrible. I turned to Asher. "You shouldn't have chosen me. I accidentally killed my baby. And for what? Just so that I would stop throwing up? I was already a terrible mother, so terrible that I killed my baby before it was even born." I buried my face in my hands.

"Shh," he said. "It's ok. Did you know a third of first pregnancies miscarry in the first trimester?"

I sniffled and looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's your first baby. It's ok." He kissed my cheek. "You'll heal. It'll be fine."

My miscarriage lasted two days. Two long days of finding blood in the toilet. Two long days of beating myself up for being the worst. For being too stupid. For trusting that people were who they said they were.

The lab results were back. Jayce had given me something loaded to induce a miscarriage. I hadn't even cried when Xavier told me. I knew it in my heart that my baby was dead because of those pills.

***

I had been a zombie for a week when Xavier said something to me at dinner. We were eating boneless beef short ribs in a red wine sauce with broiled parmesan polenta.

"You're acting as if you're so sad. And you can be. But you know, we're sad, too."

"Yeah, because your precious heir is gone and your leadership roles are in jeopardy," I snapped. "I lost my baby."

"It was our baby, too." Xavier's mouth had a mulish set to it.

Asher, ever the peacemaker, tried to defuse the tension. "Hey," he said. "We're all sad here. There's no need to bite each other, ok?" He put an arm around me and squeezed me tight. "I know that this has been hard for you."

I stood up, and I held out my arms to Asher. He picked me up and cuddled me.

"We'll be ok," Asher whispered into my hair. "The three of us will be fine."

Our food was forgotten as Asher took me into his room.

Asher’s Room

He undressed me slowly.

"Lean back," he said.

I leaned back, my legs at the edge of the bed.

He ate me slowly and carefully, starting with a circular dance around my clit. He tongued my pussy and used his fingers to touch my g-spot. I pushed up, and he licked me faster. My body came apart under him.

"Thank you," I said. "Would you like me to return the favor?"

"No," he replied swiftly. "Tonight was just for you. I'll take you back to your room. You don't have to do anything."

I looked at his face. He was such a good man, a kind one, and a gentle one. He was a true gentleman.

"I want to."

"Just go back to your room," Asher said, running his hand through his hair, making it stick up straight. "I don't want to do anything that you're not ready for."

"I am ready." I stood on the bed. Because his mattress was so expensive, luxurious, and thick, I was taller than him for once. I bent down to kiss him on the mouth. After a second of resistance, he kissed me back. I controlled his head with a hand at the base of his neck, fingers laced through his hair. I felt our connection reforming, our bond re-solidifying after the literal death blow.