DEVIL’S PASSION
Melody slowly blinked her eyes open, and she knew she was dreaming.
She was surrounded by some sort of bright, hazy light as if everything in the world had been wrapped in gauze and tulle. Even the noises were muffled. Everything except the sound of her baby’s laughter. That she heard as loud and clear as wind chimes tinkling through the sun-soaked air to reach her ears.
The sound of her baby’s chiming giggles drew her onward, sweeping across sheets of golden light, until she finally found what she was looking for. With a gasp of delight, Melody swept the tiny, swaddled bundle into her arms, holding tight as her whole body filled with joy.
She rocked her dream baby, cooing down and speaking nonsense words, as peace and happiness and hope filled her. Melody ran on finger down the impossibly soft skin and marveled. A little baby. Her baby. With a headful of dark hair just like hers, and bright blue eyes that seemed to hold the whole world in their depths, just like Christian’s.
Love like she’d never known before, not once in her entire life, filled her up to the brim. It was so much, and so intense, that it almost scared her, and she held the baby even tighter, cradled against everything and anything that might bring harm.
Suddenly, it was as if a shadow had been thrown over everything, darkening the light and shredding the warm, glowing cocoon of happiness that had sheltered her and her child.
Melody forced herself to look up, a feeling of dread settling uneasily in the pit of her stomach. She already knew what she was about to see. She braced, but it didn’t make a damned bit of difference.
It was Enrique.
He was stalking towards her like a predator, coming closer with every slinking step. He held a knife clutched tightly in one hand and an enraged look on his face. That look was something she was all too familiar with, and it had all the old fear and terror rising up inside her like bile, choking her.
“You won’t ever get away from me, angel,” Dream Enrique sneered the words at her, his eyes black with rage, “You’re mine, bitch. That child is mine. Everything you love is mine. You can’t escape me.”
Terror froze Melody where she stood, still clutching her baby protectively to her breast, trying to shield its tiny body from Enrique’s temper. She couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. Fear held her. Just like in all the other nightmares, she couldn’t get away.
But there was something different this time. Deep inside her, there was a strength that she didn’t have before. It was as if she could hear Bianca whisper in her ear all over again.
There is happiness in the world. And when you find it, it’s worth fighting for.
Melody pictured Christian in her mind, imagining the look of love and joy that had lit up his bright blue eyes when he had found out she was pregnant. She knew that he’d helped to heal some of the scars that Enrique had left in his wake.
Melody looked down at her beautiful baby, and she knew. She would fight heaven and hell to protect this little, helpless bundle of happiness. As soon as the thought settled inside her, Melody felt filled with a golden light. It broke the chains that fear had locked around her and chased away the shadows.
She turned, raising her head, and stared straight ahead at Enrique.
“You’re wrong,” she answered him, pure conviction in her voice. It was the same fight and determination that fueled the light inside her. “I’ll never be yours again.”
Enrique snarled and charged her, but she didn’t flinch. And he couldn’t reach her. It was if he was stopped by an invisible wall. But she knew what it was. It was love. And that was something so pure that Enrique would never be able to touch her.
As if from a great distance, Melody could hear Christian’s voice calling to her, begging her to come back. With a small smile, she turned her back on Dream Enrique and walked towards the voice.
Enrique shouted and screamed behind her, but Melody didn’t hear the words. She bent down to kiss her baby on the cheek. No, their baby. Her and Christian’s. Together. Enrique disappeared behind her. With one last smile, she turned and reached towards Christian.
Melody slowly blinked open her eyes, and this time she knew she was awake.
Reality slowly swirled back to her. She was lying in a bed. She was lying in Christian’s bed, at his house. She could hear the muffled sound of animals coming from other parts of the place.
She drew in a deep breath, feeling a peace that she’d never felt before. It filled her up, and she smiled sleepily up at Christian. He was looking at her with concern heavy in his blue gaze.
“You were talking in your sleep,” he said, his own voice still rough with sleep and worry. “You said Enrique’s name. Was it another nightmare?”
There was so much love and concern in his eyes. None of the jealousy or rage that she would have expected from anyone else. His reaction was so different from what Enrique’s had ever been.
All Melody could do was shake her head, biting back the sting of tears. God, she really did love this man. And she had no idea how to put into words just what he had done for her. He had changed her. For the better.
“I don’t think that the nightmares are going to be bothering me anymore,” Melody whispered. “Not as long as I have you with me.”
Her words teased a radiant smile from Christian, and it took her breath away. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her life, with his shaggy blond hair and sky-blue eyes. The sharp slant of his cheekbones, strong nose and even stronger jawline. Melody knew exactly why the other members of the Devil’s Martyrs motorcycle crew had nicknamed him ‘pretty boy’. He really was too handsome for his own good.
And what made it even worse was that, as gorgeous he was on the outside, he was even more so on the inside. Christian smiled, and he looked just like an angel to her. This was her pure heaven. Everything that was good in her world.
“You can count on that, sweetheart,” Christian muttered, his voice even rougher now with emotion that she couldn’t even put a name too. He swept his thumb across her cheek, the touch singeing her. “You, and our baby.”
His hand moved down her body to land on the slight curve of her belly. There was no bump there yet, but they could both feel the miracle of their child growing inside her.
Never in a million years would she have expected to see the joyful, excited look that lit up Christian’s gaze, but there was no denying what was right there in front of her. He already loved their baby as much as she did. To her, that was the biggest miracle of all.
Melody placed her hands reverently over his and couldn’t help but marvel at just how much her life had changed in such a short amount of time. And she knew she owed it all to this incredible man.
In the back of her mind, she wondered what she had ever done to deserve him.
“Thank you.”
The words fell from Melody’s lips like a hymn. Like a prayer. But Christian just looked up at her, confusion clouding his expression.
“What are you talking about? For what?”
“Just… for everything. For every single thing that you have done for me.” Melody shrugged, trying desperately to blink the tears back again. Damn it, the pregnancy was already making her weepy. “Just… thank you, Christian.”
He looked at her for a long moment, not saying a word, just staring at her with the same awe that was running through her like electricity. Slowly, Christian lowered his head until his lips met hers. For an eternity, they shared the same breath, the same air moving from her lungs to his and back again. The kiss was so sweet that she melted all over again for him.
“You have nothing to thank me for,” Christian said unsteadily, and Melody was glad to see that he was just as breathless as she was. “I know just how lucky I am to have you with me. I would do anything for you, Mel.”
She looked up into his eyes, and she was shocked. She believed him. Never in her entire life had she ever had anyone that she could rely on. But now, she had Christian. The tiny voice in the back of her head cried out, telling her not to trust him. That she couldn’t trust anyone. But Melody shoved it away, not listening to it. She had Christian by her side, and together they could take on anyone. Together, anything seems surmountable.
Suddenly, Christian’s mouth kicked up into a lopsided grin.
“So, what do you want to name him?”
His hand was back across her belly and Melody just looked up at him, giving him a questioning glance as she bit back a smile of her own.
“Him? What if it’s a girl?”
Christian shook his head emphatically.
“No. I can’t handle a girl. She’ll be beautiful like her mama, and then I’ll have to spend the rest of my life beating up all the boys that try and look at her. God forbid any of them try and date her.”
He let out a shudder, and this time Melody couldn’t hold back her laugh at his expression of pure horror. It took a moment for her to calm down again.
“If it is a boy, I would like name him after someone special to me. After the most important man in my life,” Melody said slowly, feeling her cheeks heat as she looked away.
Christian just waited expectantly for her to go on.
“What do you think about… Christian Jr.?”
Still leaning over her, Christian’s gaze grew more heated, darkening with emotion, and his voice was gruff with tenderness when he finally answered her.
“I would like that, sweetheart. I would like that a lot.”
“And if it is a girl?”
“It won’t be a girl.” His brows furrowed in worry at the thought. “Fate wouldn’t be that cruel. I’m telling you. I wouldn’t be able to take it. What if she fell and skinned her knee? What if she cried? I can’t stand seeing a woman crying, it tears me up inside.”
“Alright, we’ll come back to that one,” Melody told him, fighting once more to keep a straight face, but it was difficult.
He was being so overdramatic, but the look in his eyes was one of worry. It made her want to shake her head, but another thought caught her attention instead.
“There’s something more important that we need to talk about anyway,” she said after a moment, sobering as her thoughts went wild inside her head. “What are we going to do after the baby is born? We can’t raise a baby like this, not with the gangs and the threat of Enrique hanging over our child’s head.”
Sudden fear shot through her.
“What are we going to do?”