Undercover Attraction (34 page)

Jenna had repeated her vows in much the same
manner, promising to
occasionally
obey, but
definitely
love, honor, and cherish.

The ring bearer, which happened to be a
bedraggled feline had sat next to the groom growling the entire
ceremony, causing giggles in the crowd.

The reception had been every bit as
gorgeous. The same yellow roses from the wedding ceremony covered
every table in elegant centerpieces. The menu was also a thing of
wonder, catered by the most exclusive restaurant in Vegas, much to
the delight of the bride.

The cake was cut, the garter flung, and the
bouquet was tossed.

The bride's sister was the lucky girl to
catch it, only after it hit her in the head because she was paying
more attention to the groom's brother. She blushed rather
becomingly when he swept her into a dance, pulling her close with
his hands around her hips, his fingers pressing into the crease in
her back that was bravely displayed by the maid-of-honor's
dress.

The guests noticed later that the bride and
groom was nowhere to be found. Little did they realize that the
newlyweds had snuck out much earlier, leaving their own celebration
for the preference of one another's company.

Not a single one of them noticed Jacob's
hand linger on Jenna's almost flat belly, or the secret smile they
shared as they walked out of the reception.

But what everyone
did
notice was that
the groom was happy, and the bride, well, the bride fairly
glowed.

Jacob
clenched his teeth and winced for the fourth time in the past few
minutes. Why did he ever think childbirth was going to be so
simple?

Because women have done this since the
beginning of time
he thought. But those women weren't Jenna. It
was vastly different to know that women were built for this, to
read all the books to be aware of the process, than it was to
actually be here, watching her go through it.

And Jenna, well, he had a new appreciation
for her vitality and strength, now. She hadn't ranted or yelled at
him. No cursing and telling him she hated him for doing this to
her. She had simply grit her teeth and bore the pain like a
champ.

At the moment, Amy was holding her hand on
one side, while he had taken up vigil on the other, both of them
coaching her in her breathing, trying to ease her through the
contractions that caused her to grunt in pain and sweat to drip
from her forehead.

How long had they been at this? He looked at
the clock. Six hours since her water had broken and he had driven
madly to the hospital.

Are babies supposed to take this long? The
doctor had assured them that everything was going accordingly, but
why the hell hadn't the baby come out yet? Jacob was becoming more
scared as the minutes ticked by. Jenna looked pale, tired, and weak
after trying to handle the pain for so long.

He had tried to get her to have an epidural,
but the doctors had warned them about the side effects, and after
her spine fracture from the attack, had cautioned them against
it.

So here she was, tears running down her
face, as Amy gently rubbed her back, panting as if she were quickly
blowing out birthday candles while another contraction gripped
Jenna in its throes.

A nurse walked in then, and checked to see
how much further Jenna's cervix had dilated.
Just one more
centimeter
? The nurse sat her upright, trying to get the baby
to apply pressure with the pull of gravity to help with
dilation.

Jacob almost screamed in frustration. After
six hours, and coming in to the hospital already dilated at a four,
Jenna had just made eight centimeters. How much longer before she
would get to ten?
Labor was brutal
! He now held the utmost
respect for every mother on the planet.

He was afraid that he couldn't bear much
more of her pain. He was hurting for her, and had already sworn to
her that he would never touch her again. Jenna had laughed and told
him to hold her hand and breathe, just as another contraction had
ripped through her body.

Every instinct in his body was screaming at
him to protect her from the pain, but there was no way that he knew
how. He would gladly trade places with her, bear every ounce of
misery to see her smile, but he couldn't do that for her. Not with
this.

Another hour passed, and suddenly, Jenna
grabbed his arm, yanking him down, "Get the doctor! Now!"

Heart clenching in fear, Jacob ran to the
hall, yelling for a doctor.

Jenna had felt a snap in her hip, then a
splitting pressure between her legs, like a giant bubble was trying
to burst forth from her body.

The contractions had come violently, then,
one after another, never ending, and she knew she was about to have
this baby whether the doctor was there or not.

Jacob rushed back to her side, as the nurse
followed him and peeked under her blanket.

"We're about to have a baby!" the nurse
exclaimed, just as Jenna's body began pushing of its own accord.
"Press that button!" The nurse looked to Amy, who did as told, then
"Get a doctor in here now, it can't wait."

Jacob looked back and forth between Jenna
and the nurse, fear for his wife making him immobile.

The nurse looked to Jenna. "Okay, honey, do
not
push, I want you to breathe, blow out the birthday
candles, fast, do not let your body push until the doctor gets
here."

Jenna nodded, grunting "I hate birthdays,"
and began panting in the way that the Lamaze classes had taught
her.

The nurse coached her, murmuring
encouragement, just as the doctor walked in. He took one look under
the blanket, and crouched at the end of the bed. One glove slid
onto his hand, then Jenna felt a tearing rush, a sliding pull from
her body, and all the pain was gone.

She heard a thud, and looked over, but Jacob
was no longer standing next to her. Instead he was lying on the
floor in a heap. Amy was giggling.

Jenna couldn't help but smile at her
husband. The big, protective, intense man had fainted at the sight
of her giving birth.

A cry split the air, and she looked down to
see her newborn baby being cleaned as the doctor held him up for
her to see.
Him
.
A baby boy.
With ten perfect fingers
and ten tiny toes, and the most demanding cry she had ever
heard.

Her heart automatically grew two sizes
bigger as she looked at her new child, and within seconds, he was
wrapped in a bundle, cradled in her arms.

Amy was helping Jacob from the floor,
laughing at him, and when he stood, he looked at Jenna and froze, a
huge smile on his pale face.

He and Amy both leaned over to get a closer
look at the tiny baby, and Jacob knew then that this was what she
had endured the pain for so silently.
A perfect little
baby
.

He loved her even more in that moment than
he thought possible.

Jenna placed the small baby in Jacob's arms
ever so gently, and he smiled down at his child in wonder as the
baby cracked his eyes, and stared silently up at Jacob in mock
observance. His fuzzy dark head was covered with the softest
looking hair, and his little bow of a mouth pursed at him as if
contemplating what he thought about his own father.

Jacob looked down at Jenna, who made his
life complete, and knew that no matter what they had to endure
together, that that is what they would be
- together
.

The End…

Or is it?

# # #

Keep reading for a sneak peek of

Amy and Alex's story

In

Five years ago

Amy's eyes fill with tears as she looked
away from Alex, trying to hide as fear passed over her expression.
"I can't," she whispered, sorrow making her voice tremble.

He gripped her arms, turning her until she
met his stormy blue gaze. "Amy, you can't hide for the rest of your
life. That won't solve anything."
God!
The terror she had
suffered, still suffered. He would do anything to take it from
her.

A sob choked her throat, making her voice
raw as she spoke. "I know, but that doesn't mean I have to deal
with it right now. I'm not ready to. I'm not strong enough yet."
Her eyes closed in shame and she hated that he saw her like this,
her emotions so close to the surface, abraded by memories.

His strong fingers cradled her jaw as he
tilted her face to look at him once again. "You have to let this go
soon. Some things fester if you keep it locked inside for a long
time. It changes you, makes you a completely different person the
longer you suppress it. Believe me, you don't want that."

Amy knew, had seen it first hand with her
sister, Jenna, who had just recently begun to trust men again after
she'd been beaten and raped by her ex-boyfriend years ago. Jenna's
healing had taken six long, lonely years.

It had only been three months for Amy. Three
long, torturous months that she had been trying to forget the
agony, the grief, the feeling of being broken down until she was
nothing more than a dirty plaything, at the mercy of her masters,
to be used and discarded.

Tears roll down her cheeks and she wished
she could take everything Alex had to offer, but her memories
wouldn't let her. She still awoke at night screaming, months after
the nightmare had ended.

His heart was breaking as he watched the
pain flickering over her face. He knew better than to push her too
far, too fast, but damn it, she had to face reality so that the
healing process could begin.

But she wasn't ready. He knew that now, knew
that she wouldn't be able to let it go anytime soon.

Frustration beat at him, but not nearly as
much as her pain did.

Shit!
Other options were quickly
becoming scarce. Even if it meant hurting himself, he would do what
he thought best for her; anything to ensure she got over this.

Could he be with her every day, aware that
his touch, his kisses, only made her fear him more, only drove her
from him more forcefully with each innocent caress? No. He could no
longer bear to be the object of that fearful gaze, for her to look
at him as if he was the worst of her tormentors.

The only option left was to leave.

No longer could he stay in such close
proximity to her and not touch her. She needed time and space to
heal and neither he could give her while he craved her so badly,
ached to be near her,
in
her.

Somehow, she had burrowed under his skin,
made a home for herself in his heart, and now he would never get
her out. Staying would just hurt her further and he simply refused
to do so any longer.

The knowledge ate at him.

The realization that he would have to desert
her, even if it was for her own good, was ripping at his chest.

Somehow, Amy had found a hollow place in him
and then filled it with her energetic love of life, making him feel
complete, satisfied, happy. He would be every bit as miserable
without her as she was
with
him.

He pulled her into his arms as she cried,
holding her loosely to keep from alarming her.

Anger warred with sadness because of the
impossible situation in which they found themselves. Each tear she
shed dissolved his heart, created a hole that was increasing by the
second, filling with a desolate hopelessness that he knew he would
be unable to fix.

Rubbing his hands up and down her back
lightly, he tried to weigh the pros and cons of his limited
alternatives. The cons far outweighed the pros at present.

If he stayed, he risked alienating himself,
driving her further from him, making her hate him. If he left, she
could focus on getting better without him scaring her each time he
moved too abruptly, accidentally touched her, moved in for a kiss.
But he would be miserable.

Doesn't matter.
He could deal with
it. Leaving was the only way.

Eventually her tears dried, her breaths
becoming even.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I'm trying. I really am.
But it's just so hard to face it." Terror was a living, breathing
thing inside of her. Sometimes, when she closed her eyes, she found
herself back at that warehouse, unspeakable agony being inflicted
upon her, and before she could banish the memories, they took hold
of her mind, creating a horrendous nightmare that seemed
unending.

"Shhh, sweetheart." He ran his palm down her
hair, caressing the back of her head as he would a child's, trying
to comfort her the only safe way he knew how. "It's okay, baby.
I'll do anything for you. You know that, right?"

She smiled slightly and sniffed wetly
against his chest, snuggling a little closer to him, even though
her body inadvertently tensed a little.

It wasn't easy to let a man touch her, even
though she and Alex had been far more than intimate with each
other's bodies before the trauma. Now, intimacy just wouldn't come
easily to her. Not after the torment. Yet somehow she knew that
Alex would be there for her every step of the way.

He's the only reason she hadn't lost her
mind already.

Modern day

Jetlag sucked. After what had seemed like
days on the plane, Amy had never been so glad to stand on the
ground once again.

The flight to Paris had passed by slowly,
the minutes stretching into hours, hours into days. That is, until
she had gotten drunk with her friend Mac.

Nursing Mac's broken heart was not something
to which Amy had a tolerance. No, she rarely drank anything
stronger than a single wine cooler, and now she was paying for it
dearly.