Guard My Baby

by Rebecca Savage

  She gazed at Cade as he stood like stone posted in her path. No. She couldn't think about that. She couldn't keep him. Nor could she disillusion herself with thinking that Cade had felt anything more than lust for her. He'd proven countless times he'd wanted her, taking her sometimes in a mad rush, a fiery frenzy of clothing flying, arms flailing, hands pawing, and bodies intertwining, wicked and wanton. At other times, they'd come together, tenderly and sweetly, so sweetly that their lovemaking had brought tears to her eyes. She didn't feel like crying now. She wanted to punch him in the nose, but attacking him would be futile - like a flea on a polar bear, harmless and wasted.

  "I don't think I have time to discuss this right now. I have an appointment I'm already late for." She gave a defiant tilt of her head and lift of her chin.

  Still, he blocked her path and crowded her, infuriating her, filling the limited space of the tiny guest room with his size and his overpowering essence. A bout of panic grabbed her. She thought about circling around him, until she realized she couldn't. He was simply too large to get around, and she wasn't exactly thin, nimble and lithe herself at the moment.

  Shoving him out of the way wasn't a viable option either, even if she did resemble a bulldozer that should have been able to push down his solid brick wall of muscle. The Great Wall of China was a barrier that wasn't exactly easily brought to rubble. Neither would Cade's hard-as-cast-iron chest be easy to remove from her path.

  She backed off and gritted her teeth impatiently. She twisted her fists into tight balls of fury. "Would you, please, excuse me?"

  "I'm going with you," he informed her matter-of-factly and shook his head.

  Lainie's brain registered each of those words in slow motion. She then felt something she'd never felt before - something she'd never imagined she'd feel. A blinding, all-encompassing pain struck her sharply, directly in the center of her pelvic area. Her muscles knotted to unimaginable knots of tension as burning pain doubled her over. Her hands flew to her abdomen, and her knees buckled with the force of the pain ripping her in half. Her breath hissed out of her lungs, and her eyes crossed, blurred, and misted with unshed tears.

  Her lower stomach muscles had been tightening and loosening for the past few moments, off and on. Her back had been aching with increasing intensity. She had stupidly ignored the signs, distracted by Cade, but this could not be ignored. She was being torn right in two.

  All she could manage to think was, What the hell is that buzzing in my ears? And why is everything so dark all of a sudden? And...

  Her knees gave way. Most of the ringing in her ears subsided, and much of her consciousness faded away into near-oblivion. Her fuzzy mind registered Cade out of the corner of her eye. Surging forward, he swooped her up into his massive, muscular arms, wrapping himself around her like a protective cocoon.

  She tried to stay awake and alert. Cursing, he held her close in a trembling embrace. His heat encompassed her. Wrapping one limp arm around his solid neck, she twisted her other hand's fingers into the front of his T-shirt for stability and something to grip. She wanted to scream. Screaming wouldn't help. She wished she had something to chomp down on, though. Didn't they do that in the movies? Stick things between their teeth and bite down hard? Would it work in reality, or was it an old wife's tale? She'd try anything to make the pain subside. Short of sticking her own finger in her mouth, there was nothing. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and gritted her teeth. She'd have to bear the unbearable and let Cade handle things.

  For the first time, she thanked God he'd come. She needed him. Eli needed him...

  He felt so good and safe, and he smelled so... familiar. So achingly familiar. It was so wonderful - damn it - to be in his arms again, even if she was half out of her head with pain and worry, even if she was more than nine months pregnant, even she'd feel like a sap, later, when she came to her senses.

  Cade carried her through her house, as if her additional weight didn't faze him. Nor did it slow him down. He'd lifted her, as if she were lighter than a feather. He carried her easily, moving smoothly toward her front door and bearing the burden of her enlarged body out to her car. He wasn't winded in the least, she realized dazedly, her swirling mind in a haze.

  Cade placed her in her front seat and informed her in a voice etched with tension, "I need to go back for your things. Will you be okay?" She nodded. His voice sounded far away, and his face was foggy. His lips against her ear, his hot breath on her face, he whispered, "I'll be right back."

  He kissed her forehead and told her... something. She couldn't quite make out his words. It was as if she were in a tunnel, or under water. She wasn't worried, for some strange reason. Cade was there for her, and she was simply too numb and too stupid to want to make him go away.

  Then he did. He left her holding her non-existent waistline. He had to. To get her things. She missed his touching her. Even in her state of mind and painful condition, she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was a bad idea to let him back into her life and allow him to be a part of this major, life-changing event, but it simply felt too right to do anything but let him take charge and drive her to the hospital, so she could give birth to their baby.

  She was doing so only because she was too frail to do otherwise. Didn't she deserve a few moments of weakness of will? She was in the midst of such excruciating pain - too much to even consider refusing his assistance.

  She'd tried so hard to forget Cade over the past several months, all the way up until a few minutes ago when she'd opened her door and seen him standing there in all his glory, and her there in all here non-glory.

  She was in full-fledged labor now. She'd never been in labor before, but she'd seen the tapes. She'd taken the Lamaze classes, and she knew this was it. She could feel the painful contractions. No doubt about it.

  Her muscles relaxed momentarily, and she took a deep breath.

  Cade returned and slammed his way into her car. He spun the squealing tires and drove her toward the nearest hospital. He was probably as stunned as she was, judging by the white-knuckled grasp he maintained on the poor, defenseless steering wheel. He gripped it so tightly that if he pulled on it any harder, it might come off in his powerful, large hands. Then where would they be? She'd be having their baby on the side of the road, and he'd be delivering it with those same wonderful hands - that's where.

  Please, God, of all my prayers, please, answer this one, and let us get to the hospital before this baby decides to make its way into the world. Eli's late in coming, and she's waited this long, so she can wait a few minutes longer. Please.

  Another breathtaking spasm hit her, hard, very hard, stabbing her right in her taut gut. She gasped for air and grabbed at her clenched stomach. She doubled over in her seat and whimpered. The only conscious thought she could muster was, Just how bad can these contractions possible get before this is all over?

  A fuzzy realization wafted over her. Cade reached his work-roughened yet comforting hand tenderly over, to cover her small trembling ones. She linked her fingers together in prayer and bit her lower lip until it bled. She tasted the copper taste of blood. She held her rock-hard, convulsing belly cradled in her hands and tried to breathe and maintain some semblance of calm. Cade's warm hand held hers, and he caressed her tummy with his thumb. It felt so right to have him here, touching her. How could that be?

  Her pain eased, and she fell back against the headrest. Cade had taken control - something she didn't often relinquish - but she wasn't stupid enough to turn down his help. Not at a time like this. She was scared out of her wits. This wasn't going right. She didn't feel normal. At least she didn't think so. She couldn't quite be certain. This was her first baby.

  Nauseated, she grew more terrified with each passing the moment. Her contractions came too fast, too hard and too sharp for having gone into labor only a few moments ago. She hardly had a break in between each debilitating spasm. Each one pummeled her harder and harder, one right after the other, almost on top of each other, stea
ling her breath and energy.

  Why was this happening? Why now? Why couldn't Cade have shown up months from now when she was back to normal, so she could be back in shape? Not that it mattered. The future was inevitable, and bleak, and it'd be lonely, except for Eli. She'd raise her baby, and Cade would go back to his job - probably sooner rather than later.

  But, why oh why did he have to look, smell and feel so good when he landed on her doorstep earlier? And why was he being so nice to her? And why hadn't he taken one look at her, pregnant and bloated, and run like the wind? That's what she had expected him to do. That's what she'd built up in her mind that he'd do, if she'd found him last summer and told him he was going to be a father.

  So why was he, instead, driving her to the hospital, holding her hands in his, cradling his baby and her belly, comforting her, and making her feel... cared for, treasured even?

  For the baby. He'd said he'd not leave the baby behind, and he'd been adamant about it. But why? And why had he looked for her a month ago? She had no idea, and she hurt too much to speak and ask. Almost too much to think. But she was glad he was here... so glad... so...

  Then she was nothing. Blackness overtook her, and she slipped into unconsciousness...

  Chapter Seven

  "Lainie." Cade spoke to her, panic settling into his roiling system, ripping his heart into shreds. He shook her hands in his and grew more frantic by the second. Oh, God. She's blacked out. Please, God.

  He put the pedal to the metal. Damn the speed limit. Cade, you're an irresponsible, selfish idiot.

  He drove at break-neck speed toward the nearest hospital and watched Lainie writhe helplessly in pain and sob in her delirious, semi-conscious state.

  Something's definitely wrong. His male mind swam with the realization. His gut tightened, and his chest heaved. Please, God. Let me be wrong. They don't deserve this. Not Lainie. Not the innocent baby inside her.

  But he did. He deserved whatever hell he had to endure, for not having contacted Lainie sooner, for getting her pregnant, but not for wanting to feel her. God, he'd wanted so badly to make love to her with no barriers, not the condom, not the fact that he had to leave, nothing.

  Guilt drove at his black heart. He'd never contacted any of the women he'd left behind in his past. Not that there were that many of them. Thank God. This dramatic turn of events made him want to seek out all of his previous partners and find out how irresponsible he'd been. Not that he'd ever taken a chance at leaving a pregnant woman behind. He'd always used a condom. Always. Even with Lainie. But even condoms, as Lainie had so blatantly pointed out, weren't a hundred percent certain. And he'd made that one vital mistake. Not that he truly considered it a mistake, but it might cost him, and Lainie, more than that one wonderful feel of her was worth.

  She wasn't lying to him about his paternity. If he knew anything at all about Lainie, it was that she was honest and faithful. She deserved better than this, especially as the mother of his child. She deserved better than his abandonment and better than the threat to her unborn child. Better than him.

  He gripped her hand tighter and looked at the beautiful, intelligent woman beside him. Determined to save her and their child from whatever threatened them - especially some sick bastard who thought she was giving birth to Satan's spawn - he jerked his gaze back to the road and focused. He had to get them to the hospital. He couldn't stare at her and reminisce. He had a job to do.

  He wished things had been different. Why hadn't he stayed? Or at least contacted her? Why hadn't he tried harder to find her last month? He sighed heavily, his breath a shuddering, halting sound tearing from his suffering lungs. He'd enjoyed his time with Lainie last summer so much. He'd treasured every single minute of it. More than that. He'd craved it. He'd craved her.

  He'd sought her out relentlessly, at the risk of alienating his grieving family. Every second he could spare, he'd spent in her exotic presence, her open arms, and her erotic bed. He'd lusted after her, of course, but more than that, he'd talked to her and started getting to know her. He'd shared things with her and opened up to her, about everything, especially his sister and his niece, which had been completely out of character for his usually closed-off self. He'd allowed her to get closer to him than any other woman before her, and he'd allowed himself to confide in her extensively.

  He hadn't told her who he really was, though. He hadn't trusted her that much. He should have, or he should have at least given her a way to get in touch with him, just in case. He knew that now. Too late.

  No, not too late. He was here. He'd make it up to her and their child, somehow. Guilt ate at him, twisting his gut into a mass of knots and rumbling intestines. What the hell had he been thinking last summer? Nothing, really. He'd been too busy feeling. Randy, selfish little SOB that he was. The sex had been incredible. He relished every mind-boggling time he'd been with Lainie, every earth-shattering orgasm he'd experienced, and every wanton response she'd shown him.

  Scowling, he glanced at Lainie. Look where his blatant, uncontrollable desire had gotten him, and her, and their baby. Hadn't he learned anything during his thirty years of life? Watching the exasperating women in his life and witnessing their heathenish actions and vivid, shining examples of who not to get hooked up with should have taught him something.

  Hell, his own ex-wife, Tanya, had aborted their child, his child, his own flesh and blood, a living fetus, with a soul and a blessing from God. Tanya had been so selfish. She'd refused to gain weight, quit her modeling job, and give up her illustrious career, just to have their child. She hadn't even told him she was pregnant. He'd accidentally intercepted and listened in on a phone call from the clinic - where she'd had the dirty deed done - after she'd already aborted the child. He'd divorced her immediately, of course, and joined the Air Force, in an effort to get as far away from Tanya - and the sad memories haunting him - as possible.

  And what about his mother, Eloise? She'd been left behind by one abusive man after another, while pregnant with three of their bastard children. Cade was one of them - a blaring example of hereditary irresponsibility, if ever there was one. He didn't even know who his father was, and neither did his two younger siblings - Chuck and Rachel - both by different fathers, he assumed.

  At least he'd had a sister, until...

  Good God. He wouldn't even have met Lainie, if it wasn't for what'd happened to Rachel and little Brianne. He wouldn't be here now either, if it weren't for their brutal deaths. He came here tracking their killer. The sick bastard was here... somewhere... in Dallas, TX. The FBI thought so, anyway.

  Fate had an incredibly sick, twisted sense of humor. If Cade were honest with himself, he'd admit that something had been calling out to him, telling him to go back to Lainie. He'd been drawn to her, last summer, like life's own breath. He'd wanted her so badly it hurt. He'd thought distance and time could separate him from her. He'd thought he'd only wanted her for the amazing sex and for the comfort she'd given him after his family's devastating loss. Distance and time had barely diminished the feelings inside him. He'd still felt drawn to her, even in the perilous jungles of Colombia, wishing he could return to her.

  Now he knew why he'd felt so conscientious. He dammed himself for not checking in on her sooner, but he'd told himself it was a summer fling, a summer romance, or for him, life-confirming, soothing, consoling sex.

  As for Lainie, well, she'd won the bet with her gal pals, and he'd been only too happy to oblige her and aid her on her way to settling that outrageous wager. He nearly smiled now, remembering the shy look on her flushed face. She'd looked up at him from under those long, lowered lashes. He'd held himself braced above her, breathing heavily from steamy sex a few hours after they'd met. He'd asked her why she'd chosen to lose something as precious as her innocence to him. Biting her lip shyly, sexily, she'd told him about her gamble with her friends. She'd been too honest not to tell him that he'd actually been chosen as her consort - a means to an end.

  He couldn't have cared l
ess. He was in the right place at the right time, and a lucky dog indeed to have been her first lover. Something inside him had even wished he'd be her last, but he'd had no choice. He'd had to leave her, finish his tour of duty, and carry out his secret mission.

  Now he'd learned that he had been her last. The knowledge astounded him, and thrilled him, and confused him. Why hadn't she met someone else? Had men avoided her because of the baby? But why? She was beautiful and smart. Any man would be fortunate to have her and marry her, baby or no. Why hadn't someone snagged her? And why was he so glad they hadn't?

  He looked over at her. She breathed evenly, but her hands lay limply on her tummy. Where the hell was the sign to the hospital turnoff? He'd been driving forever. He pressed harder on the gas. He couldn't lose her, or the baby. Not now that he'd found her - them - again.

  He hadn't been able to let go of the selfish wishful thinking, nor the male possessiveness. Both were back with a vengeance. He'd possessed her all right, and marked her as his. He'd branded her intimately, permanently, for all the world to see. He'd unknowingly spilled his seed inside her, an unexpected and wonderful side effect of their lovemaking - certainly not an unwanted result. At least, not on his part.

  Often, their matings had been as if he'd had no choice. After the first time, he'd told himself to leave her be. She was a mature, consenting adult that could handle a one night stand. Instead, he'd stuck around, after he'd taken her innocence. She'd been like a beacon, drawing him like a moth to a flame. He'd lingered, longer than he should have. He'd shown her how good it could be, instead of allowing her to think that her first painful few moments of being taken were all there were to sex. His male pride hadn't allowed him to make a quick escape, and his thrilling libido had hammered out Lainie's name endlessly. He'd given in to temptation, day after day, and gone to her, repeatedly.