by Skye,Marie
“I got it a few weeks ago.”
Her voice was low as she spoke. I studied the design closely. It was small, not that noticeable unless you were close to her, but it was there: a little black butterfly with its wings folded.
“I never took you for the tattoo type.”
She suddenly jerked her hand back and stared out the window. “I needed it,” she said quietly.
I took her hand in mine. She still wasn’t looking at me. “Well, it’s beautiful. I love it.” She finally met my eyes and smiled, but something was amiss there. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The limo finally slowed down in front of the event. I brushed her knuckles to my lips. “Are you ready?” She happily nodded as our car door opened. We were immediately greeted by flashing lights and paparazzi calling our names. That I was prepared for; what I hadn’t prepared for was the string of words that came out of their mouths—one in particular.
“Emmalin! Are you back together? How does it feel knowing he cheated on you?”
“Emmalin? Did you cheat on Grayson?”
“Are you two officially a couple again? What is the extent of your relationship?”
“Are you here just for show?”
I immediately felt myself tense. I deserved the words sure, but Emmalin didn’t deserve any of them, not a single one. All of this was because of me. I could feel her resolve shrinking away. She stood there smiling, but she was cracking as word after vulgar word was thrown. I didn’t know who the fuck this guy was, but he needed to go—immediately. I beckoned security over to have him removed.
“Can you smile for us like the good whore you are?”
Before I could turn around and take the fucker out, someone else did, followed by a scream. Chace had him pinned to the floor with the strap of his camera wrapped around his neck.
“Stay the fuck down! Someone get him the fuck out of here now!” Chace slowly stood up, hands clenched. “If I see him anywhere in this vicinity, or anywhere near her”—Chace pointed to Emmalin—“I will fucking destroy you, and have your career.”
Security quickly agreed as they hauled the offending perp off. Chace strolled over to us, slicking his hair back into place as if nothing had happened.
“You took my hit, man.”
He smiled. “Yeah, well, he was also doggin on Edith earlier and called her a fat cow, and there are just some things you don’t say to a pregnant woman.” He looked Emmalin up and down and whistled. “You are magnificent Emmalin. That is some dress.” I pulled her closer to me.
“You clean up well, Chace.”
He smiled as he kissed her hand. “Save me a dance later.”
We made our way through the rest of the picture taking without any more disturbances. “You okay?” I murmured against her. “I’m sorry about that, that shouldn’t’ve happened.”
She shuddered. “Yeah, it’s okay. Let’s just have a good night, okay?”
I tipped her head up and kissed her deep. I could feel flashes going off around us. If anything, they would have a good picture of me claiming the woman I loved for all to see.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen Emmalin so happy. At one point I lost her, and I briefly started to panic, but she was just off in one of the side rooms, playing bingo with a few of the kids. They were so engrossed in the game that it was hard to get her to come to dinner. I finally said screw it and had the servers bring the dinner to them. When that finally ended, one of the children suffering from cerebral palsy introduced Emmalin to Pokémon Go.
I was off to the side, talking to several business partners about donations and funding. Next thing I knew, Emmalin was on her knees, crawling under a table, trying to get a Pokémon. They were extremely adamant about getting it, and said they weren’t leaving until it was caught. Other people looked on with thinly veiled disdain, but several of the parents and I sat there and laughed. They thanked me, because it was the most interaction several of the kids had gotten outside the hospital in a long time. They enjoyed the fact that Emmalin wasn’t afraid to get down on the floor with the children. They enjoyed how highly involved she was, and kept asking if she was on my charity board. This of course had my wheels turning for the future.
Dr. Klein was our guest speaker, since he worked with quite a few of the families and offered free counseling sessions.
“How’s the new baby?”
“Absolutely precious! Have I shown you my latest pictures?” He took out his phone and his eyes lit up as he started flipping through his phone. I pulled Emmalin to my side as we looked on at the little girl’s rosy cheeks.
“She’s beautiful, man.”
He beamed. “That she is. Emmalin, those socks you made fit her perfectly!” Emmalin’s arm got tugged and she was led away to find more adventures. I sighed as I looked at more baby pictures, thinking of the future.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Grayson
“That was fun.” Emmalin yawned as she headed toward the bathroom, dropping her shoes along the way.
“It was. I’m sorry it didn’t start off that way. I didn’t know that particular reporter would be there. If I had known, I would’ve stopped him.”
She shrugged as she took her earrings out. “You can’t control the world, Grayson. It’s okay. He didn’t hurt anyone. If anything, Chace hurt him.”
I watched as she unpinned her hair. “You sure did have a lot of fun with the children tonight. I’m sure they appreciated that.” I walked up behind her, unclasping her necklace and laying a kiss behind her neck as she undid her bracelet.
“They were a lot of fun. It was great to see Dr. Klein too. I think he thinks of you as a son. That man has so many pictures of his grandbaby. She’s such a cutie.” I watched her cross into the bedroom and look into the dresser for a nightshirt. I stepped farther into the room.
“I want that.”
She held up a shirt, studying it. “Want what?”
“That. A baby. You, swollen with my child. Our child.”
She suddenly froze, and I carefully walked over to her. “It happened before, Emmalin. You didn’t think it could happen, and it did. I want a family with you.” I gathered her in my arms, pulling her close.
“Grayson,” she whispered.
“We can try. You had a twenty percent chance, and you got pregnant. That’s got to be some Thor type sperm I have there, right?” I gave her a smile, and she looked at me almost fearfully, taking a step back. “What is it?”
She swallowed nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Um…shortly after I left, I started having some weird pain.” She took a deep breath, as if continuing was painful for her. “So, I found a doctor, and after some tests, it was determined that I needed to remove a fallopian tube. The last miscarriage I had really messed me up. I probably won’t ever be able to give you a baby.” I stood there as she awkwardly laughed. “That twenty percent was my highest, and now it’s…” She shut her eyes as she took a wavering deep breath.
“I should’ve been there.”
“Well you weren’t.” She snapped so hard, she might as well have slapped me. “You were trying to get me to hate you, remember? What was I supposed to do, call you up and say ‘Hey, I know you hate me and all, but do you think you can stop hating me for a few hours and come with me to the hospital because you know, I’m scared to death to go to hospitals, and I could really use you right now.’ I even thought about calling Chace, but I knew you would beat the shit out of him if he knew about something like that, so I didn’t.” She wiped away a tear, and I stood there hating myself for her having gone through that alone. Even if she had called Chace, at least she wouldn’t have been alone.
I reached out for her, and she stepped back. “I’m really tired. I just want to shower and go to bed.”
She tried moving past me, but I intercepted her and wrapped my arms around her, whether she wanted me to or not. She tensed at first, then subtly relaxed before finally releasing herself from my grasp. I watched as she picked up the tra
in of her dress and made her way to the ensuite bathroom. I should’ve been there for her. I was too busy being hateful and vengeful. I should’ve been there.
I walked into the bathroom. She stood outside the shower, still fully dressed in her beautiful gown, and had one arm in, testing the water temperature. I opened the shower door and slowly guided her in as I followed closely behind her. She turned to me, stunned.
“What are you doing? We’re fully dressed!”
I didn’t care. I didn’t care at all. I backed her against the wall, the shower cascading down around us, soaking us instantly. I took off my suit jacket, and it made a slap as it hit the tile floor. “You’re ruining the dress,” she whispered.
My mouth sealed over hers. I needed to feel her. Every inch of her. All of her. And I needed to be inside her. I pulled back slightly and untucked my shirt, pulling at it until the buttons went flying, then discarded it. She looked up at me with wanton eyes, and I turned her around, unzipping the back of her dress slowly until it pooled down at her feet.
My breath hitched at the corset and garters she wore underneath. She gazed back at me over her shoulder, her hair soaked against her skin. “It was supposed to be a surprise,” she said shyly.
“Oh, I’m definitely surprised.”
I leaned down, taking her panties off but leaving everything else. She was so fucking sexy. I kissed the nape of her neck. “I’m very surprised,” I whispered against her. “I love it.” I kissed her again as I hastily undid my pants and stripped them off. “And I love you, with everything I have.” She gasped as I pulled her tight against me. My hands went to the front of her corset, unbuttoning just a few to free her breasts. She moaned as my thumbs traced over her nipples, and she shivered.
I turned her around and pressed my forehead against hers. Even with the steam from the shower engulfing us, I felt myself shivering. I wanted to scream. Was there any more room left in her to take pain? Was there anything else that could be thrown at her? I never thought of myself as a religious man. Did I believe in a higher being? Yes. Did I believe everything happens for a reason? Maybe. But fuck, if there was a limit on how much a person can be tested, Emmalin was the fucking poster child for it. I sighed as I stared at the corset, still wrapped around her midsection. She took her hand with the butterfly tattoo and caressed my cheek, as if assuring me. We would be okay. She would be okay.
I hooked her leg around my waist and teased her clit a few times. I smiled as she tried to urge me in. “Missing me, baby?”
“Always,” she whispered against my lips.
She gasped as I finally sunk in slowly. Her head fell against mine. “Oh God!”
“You feel that? Waiting until the weekend is too long baby.” She started to tighten around me, and I grasped her face in my hands. Her eyes met mine, and even though they were filled with lust, they displayed every bit of sadness she was trying to hold back from me. I trailed a hand down to her clit and rubbed lazily.
“I can feel you trying to hold back. Your whole body is tense.”
She slowly shook her head.
“What did I tell you about lying to me? I know this body.” I pinched her clit, and she cried out. Tears gathered in her eyes and slowly began to mix with the water. I started to thrust into her harder before peering back down at her again. “Let it go baby.” I bit the column of her neck, and she shuddered. I stilled, tightening my grip around her as her pussy gripped around me. I clenched my teeth, and it took everything in me to ward off my own orgasm while she convulsed around me.
“Fuck baby, that felt incredible.”
I slowly pulled out before pushing back in, as deep as I could go. She was still pulsing around me. She felt too good—too fucking warm, and too fucking tight. I tickled her clit, not wanting her to come down, and she hissed as a new wave of pleasure came over her. I buried my head in her neck, finally letting myself release deep inside her. She moaned softly as I kissed the curve of her neck.
Then the thought came over me that no matter how deep I tried to fuck her, no matter how long we made love, there was almost no possibility of her ever carrying our child. She was probably waging another war in her head about some bullshit about giving me an out, and I’d just have to fuck that out of her head.
I slowly slid out of her, unhooked the rest of her corset, and dropped it with the rest of our discarded clothes so we could take an actual shower.
We laid in bed, fingers intertwined, just staring at each other in the dark. The only light was the moonlight seeping through the windows. Her hair was slightly damp, but dry for the most part. I could tell she had something on her mind by the way she kept biting her lip.
"What is it?"
She softly sighed, and took a moment. "If it's a deal breaker for you, then I understand. We're just starting back up again, and I know you want a family—"
"Stop talking," I said sharply. "You're the option. I don't care about any of that. As long as I have you, none of that other stuff matters. They’re just…bonus points.” I waved my hand around, trying to find the right words, but that was the only thing I could come up with.
She snuggled closer to me. “Okay,” she whispered against my chest in a sleepy voice. What, no argument? I wanted to comment about her being so quick to agree with me, but instead, I just pulled her tighter against me, because I knew she was leaving the next day. The next day, I would do what I always did. I would fight with her. I’d beg and plead with her to stay, and we’d go through the motions and say all the same words we’d said before. I’d fuck her senseless, and at the end of it all, she’d still have to go.
I kissed the top of her head, and she softly sighed as she rested against my chest.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Emmalin
“Two more weeks? If we count this one?”
I looked up from my overly huge plate of breakfast. Grayson insisted we start the day as early as possible, because the weekends were his time, and he needed as much of me as possible. I muffled a yawn as I nodded. It was barely six in the morning. I glanced back down at my plate. I wasn’t sure what time he had gotten up that morning, but the three egg, bacon and veggie-stuffed omelet, side of potatoes, and fresh fruit with a side of Texas toast stared at me.
I poked at the fruit. “You made a lot of food.”
He looked me up and down. “Yeah, well, you’ve lost too much weight. That night I saw you at Edith’s wedding, I almost didn’t know it was you. I might not have recognized you if it wasn’t for my dick getting hard. He always knows when you’re near.” He picked up my wrist, wrapping his hand around it. “See?”
I suddenly felt self-conscious. That had been right around the time I’d started to spiral down, and when I had gotten home that night, the darkness had started to move in and I was no longer able to control it. I had allowed it to seep into my head and consume me.
I wish I never met you.
“Ms. Ross, the doctor is ready for you now.” I glanced up from the issue of Good Housekeeping magazine I was pretending to read and placed it back on the table before standing up and following the kind nurse down the hall. I was the last to be seen, and grateful to be seen at all since it was so last minute.
I wish I never met you.
“Ms. Ross, great to meet you. I’m Dr. Owens. You have quite a bit of history, and it took me a bit to go over everything. I understand you’ve been having some discomfort.” She motioned for me to hop up on the examining table.
I cleared my throat. “It started about a week ago. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but with everything that’s happened, I didn’t want to take any chances.”
She nodded as she looked over the x-rays and sonograms I had done previously.
Ms. Ross, one of your fallopian tubes is severely damaged. You do have a few options, however, with the extent of your case, I strongly recommend bypassing trying to repair. My fear is, attempting to repair it will further cause irreparable dam
age.
“So you want to remove it?”
“Yes. The procedure is called a salpingectomy and shouldn’t take more than an hour. I recommend having you scheduled immediately, especially if you’re experiencing pain.”
She kept talking and my mind wandered. I truly had nothing left in life and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. If I didn’t wake up from surgery… As fearful as I was about hospitals, it could be perfect.
I wish I never met you.
Make that the last time you ever lie to me.
Your own mother didn’t want you.
“How soon can I be scheduled?” I interrupted her.
She blinked before she peered at her calendar. “The day after tomorrow.” She glanced back up at me, smiling. “My nurse will have to check with your insurance first, of course, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem, especially since it’s more of an emergency procedure. My nurse will go over everything about pre and post-operative instructions with you. Do you have any questions before the procedure?”
I shook my head as she gave me some pamphlets to look at. As she left the room, a nurse entered to go over a few things with me. “You’ll need a driver of course, and for someone to stay with you for a few days.”
Great, I didn’t have anyone. It was okay, because I was planning on dying during surgery anyway.
“Do you have any questions?”
“I’m good, thank you.”
As it turned out I didn’t die. In fact, I did remarkably well. As I was being wheeled out of the hospital, the nurse noticed I was being wheeled out toward a cab, and she frowned. “Don’t you have someone to pick you up?”
“My friend Chloe will meet me at home. She was running late.” I smiled as she looked at me, unconvinced. She lifted up the foot rests as I gently sat in the cab.