Chapter Eleven
Carly felt ridiculously exposed in her paper gown. She fiddled with the tabs to make sure that it was secured to her as tightly as it could be, and she tugged at the edges because she swore that it was not enough to wrap around her hips.
Donovan, standing beside her, stilled her hands by putting his on top. When she looked up to meet his eyes, his gaze was stern.
“You’re fine,” he rumbled. “If you keep that up, you’ll do yourself a mischief.”
Carly made a face. “I feel like... I don’t know, like a hamburger wrapped up in paper,” she murmured. “Like at any moment, I’m just going to fall right out of it.”
Perhaps that was not the smartest thing to say in light of what had almost happened at the shed yesterday. Her skin still felt over warm, sunburned or as if it still remembered his melting touch. Now his pale eyes were brilliant, and if they were not in a doctor’s office, there was no telling what he might have done.
“Wouldn’t be such a terrible thing,” was all he said, however, and then the doctor entered.
Dr. Vargeese was a spare and narrow man with a stern manner about him. He was not pleased that it had taken Carly so long to follow up with him. It had been several months since she had seen him, and she flinched from the strict looks that both men gave her.
“I felt completely fine,” she said. “If something had happened, I would definitely have come in to see you. I felt good, though, and everything was going well.”
“The way that you ensure that things keep going well, Carly, is by making sure that you go to your appointments.”
Donovan said nothing, but she could see from the dark look in his eyes that there would be no more missed doctor’s appointments in her future.
They both listened as Dr. Vargeese explained what was happening in her body, and how the first ultrasound that they were doing today should give them their first real photograph of the baby. Carly glanced over to see Donovan looking a bit stunned. She wondered if he hadn’t been quite convinced of the reality of the experience yet. Now it was going to be real to both of them. Quietly, she took his hand in hers, and she was gratified when he squeezed her hand in return.
“All right now, if you’ll open the gown slightly, we just need to lubricate it with Vaseline here for the wand.”
Lying back on the table, Carly gasped at how cold the Vaseline was as it was spread over her. Her grip tightened on Donovan’s hand, and she could see him eying the doctor, looking far more vicious than he had a right to look over something so mundane. If she were honest with herself, however, there was definitely something comforting about the way he stood over her. She felt vulnerable enough as it was. How much more terrifying would it be to do this alone?
Dr. Vargeese, who had of course dealt with parents-to-be of all sorts before, ignored both of them, instead concentrating on the flickering white lights on the screen in front of him. There were some images coming into focus, and idly, Carly thought that medical school must be something else if it could teach you to interpret those blobby forms and see a baby.
The doctor made a soft sound of surprise, and Donovan’s head snapped up. “What’s the matter, is something wrong?” he demanded. Carly realized with some shock that Donovan was afraid. She grabbed hold of his hand, as much to steady him and to hold him back as to seek comfort for herself. It was strange, but there was no fear in her mind at all. She was wrapped in a comforting aura, and when she spoke to Dr. Vargeese, it was with confidence.
“What are you saying?” she asked, her voice calm.
“Well, it seems as if you have some surprises and some busy days ahead of you,” he said at last. He angled the screen so that they could both see it clearly.
Oh well, from this angle, that makes a great deal more sense. That little one there is the baby, but… or is it that one? Or that one..? Or…
A thought struck her and her head shot up. Dr. Vargeese was nodding.
“That’s right,” he said, his tone grave. “You are going to have quadruplets. There are four babies there.”
***
“Say something,” Donovan said on the ride back up to the cottage.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked, and even in her own ears, her voice sounded too calm.”
“God, something, anything,” Donovan said, his own voice stretched slightly thin. “Tell me what you’re thinking, tell me what you are feeling now that you know that there are going to be four babies and not just one. God, scream at me and swear at me if that’s what you want, anything, just stop sitting there and staring like a ghost.”
Carly laughed, and it was a tinny sound, one that made Donovan flinch.
“Oh God, I don’t know where to start,” she said. “I don’t. I mean one child, women do that all the time, don’t they? But four? Four is going to be terrifying, I’ll never sleep, and I’ll never be able to work, and I...”She was choking on the words, and finally, she had to simply sit with her head bowed. She could feel the car shift as Donovan pulled over, and for a moment, they simply sat in silence.
His hand came over hers gently, more tentatively than he had ever been. “Pet, I want you to be happy, and I want you to be safe. Do you want these children?”
It took her a few moments to understand what he was saying, and then she buried her face even deeper in her hands. She could feel his consternation when he thought she was crying. When Donovan saw that she was laughing, he drew back in surprise.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“Yes, I want these children,” she managed to get out. “I want them so much. I’ve been lonely my whole life, and deep down, no matter what I said or what anyone else thought that a girl like me should be about, I wanted a family. I wanted lots of little kids around, I want Christmas and holidays to the beach, and presents and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I want all of the traditions and all of the safety, and now...”
“...And now you are getting it all at once,” he said with a slight smile. “I suppose it must be your lucky day.”
“It’s something,” Carly said. “And I still don’t know how its all going to work, how...” She looked up startled as he pressed a finger over her lips.
“Shush, pet. I told you. Your job is to care for the little one. Well, little ones, I suppose. And that means no more missed appointments. If you try to miss another one, I’ll tan your hide and cart you in. You’re meant to be taking care of them, not worried about money.”
Carly looked at him, and the feeling that flowed through her was warm and true. She felt as if the strings of fate that had drawn her to Donovan all those months ago were here now, and she knew that no matter what happened between them, there would be no other man like him in her life. There never could be.
“You are important to me, Carly,” Donovan said quietly. “You heard the doctor as well as I did. If you are not careful, you could be hurt as well. I could not abide that.”
After a moment, he started the car again, and they drove on towards the cabin. Carly’s hands rested over her belly where there was not one but four lives to care for, to fuss over and to minister to. They were hers and Donovan’s, and now, she thought, she was beginning to know what that meant.
***
Carly watched Donovan as he made up the couch. His motions were graceful and spare, and he glanced up at her wryly.
“Why are you looking at me like that, pet?”
“Because you are so very handsome,” she whispered, and she was startled when Donovan looked down.
“Don’t tell me you are turning shy,” she said with a slightly astonished grin. “Not you.”
“Don’t mind me. I suppose it means something different when the mother of your child—God, your children—says it.” There was a moment of silence, and Carly couldn’t help blurting out her thoughts.
“Is that all that I am to you?” she asked, and Donovan’s head jerked up in shock.
“The mother of my child? I would say that that’s quite enough, wouldn’t you?”
Carly could feel tears come to her eyes and a hot embarrassed blush surge up on her cheeks. “Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s been something of an emotional day, I guess.” Donovan sighed, turning to her with his hands on his hips. In that moment, he was so handsome that she didn’t know what she would do with herself.
“That it has,” he said, and he looked at her, his silver eyes glinting in the dim light. For just a moment, she could see some of the raw hunger that lurked in him, that longed for her and for how they had been together. She saw him pull it back, and suddenly she was tired of that.
He continued, “I will be here for you. It will be easier, it will not always be...” He trailed off as she took his hand. “Carly?”
“I’m tired of being without you,” she said, her voice as soft as lambswool. She took him by the hand, and she turned towards the bedroom. In a moment, he understood what she was saying, and he caught up with her, sweeping her up in his arms.
“I’m too heavy,” she protested in surprise, but Donovan only chuckled.
“No, never,” he said.
He carried her to the bed where he laid her down with a reverence and care that brought tears to her eyes. She knew that the doctor had said that she would be more susceptible to her emotions as the pregnancy wore on, but this was true; she knew it. This man was hers for tonight if for no other.
“I want you,” Carly whispered. “I want you so much.” The need that flared in Donovan’s eyes brought a rush of heat to her body as well. She had almost forgotten what this was like. Her body was busy with the work of making new life, but now it remembered this as well. It remembered Donovan and all the pleasure he had brought her, and it wanted him so badly.
“Good,” he whispered.
His hands found the hem of her dress, and with gentle care, he pulled it over her head. The moment after that, he was still, looking at her body, and Carly felt a rush of fear. She was swollen with child now. Would he hate that? Would he see the round belly, the veined skin, the swollen ankles and be disgusted?
Before she could voice her fears, Donovan was in the bed with her, cradling her, his hands roaming her body with a kind of desperation that shocked her.
“I am so sorry I was not here to see you grow like this,” he murmured. “Lord above, but you are beautiful to me, so vital and real.”In that moment, Carly let go of all of her inhibitions. She wrapped her arms around him and dragged him down for a deep kiss, one that felt as if it would tangle their bodies and their souls together at once. The heat that rose up between them threatened to burn them both to a crisp, but instead they soared through it, brilliant as flames.
Donovan stood away from her long enough to pull his own clothes off. She had a moment to admire the nude male beauty of his body before he veritably pounced her again. His clever fingers undid her bra, revealing the soft flesh underneath. In another motion, he had stripped off her panties as well, and she stretched underneath him, reveling in the glory of his touch.“I want you so much, darling,” he murmured, and she could feel the fine tremor of his body as he stroked her. She felt oddly languid and needy all at once, and she gazed up at him through half-closed eyelids.
“Then take me,” she said softly, and he groaned.
“God, but you are a temptation.”
She wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but then he was kissing her again, leaning over her but putting no weight on her at all. Instead, he lingered over her mouth, his tongue ravishing as if he were starved. He kissed a line from her mouth down between her breasts to the curve of her belly. She was more sensitive there than she had been when they were together last, and her hand flew up to guide him.
“Will this hurt you?” he asked, and she shook her head, already glowing with pleasure.
“You? Never.”
He gentled his touch over her belly, kissing and licking by turns, and slowly, so slowly that she thought she would simply uncurl with need, he found the juncture below. When he nuzzled her legs open, she almost wanted to close them again. Then he began to stroke her with his fingertips, and she knew that she could deny him nothing. He stroked her until she was needy and panting, and that was before he brought his mouth down to her sensitive flesh. If his fingers were gentle, his tongue struck mercilessly, whipping her up to a frenzy of pleasure that was so good it was nearly painful.
“Oh, Donovan, please!” Her voice cracked on the last word, and her hands grasped his hair, trying not to tug too viciously and likely failing. She tried to tell him how she needed him, how if he continued she would simply burst. She wanted to be with him when she reached her peak, but she couldn’t make the words come out. Then the heat simply cascaded over her, and Carly was lost. She shouted her pleasure without a care for how it might have sounded, and she was left panting and wild, wide eyed as Donovan sat back on his heels.
“You are perfect,” he sighed, and to her shock, he started to move away.
Carly’s hand shot out, and she grabbed his wrist. For all that she was still a tremulous wreck, she held his gaze.
“No, don’t,” she croaked. “I need you. I still need you, please...” A look of surprise crossed his face, and then he smiled.
“Demanding little thing, aren’t you?” he purred, and his hand slipped between her legs. He gazed at her with confusion when she pushed his hand away.
“No, I want you,” she said, making her needs clear.That look of fierce need crossed Donovan’s face again, but he held himself back with what looked like an intense burst of will power.
“Is it safe? In your condition?”
She somehow found it in her to laugh, nodding.
“I’m pregnant, not ill, Donovan.”He came back to her, and there was more urgency in his motions now. She could feel his stiff manhood pushing against her thigh as he kissed her, and deliberately, Carly arched against it. When he moaned with need, she felt a thrill of triumph ring through her. It was mingled with a surprising burst of heat between her legs again that only intensified as Donovan slid behind her.
As Carly rolled on her side, Donovan’s body cupped hers. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck and the weight of his arm thrown over her hip. It was deliciously warm, and when she felt his cock push against her entrance, she bent her body and breathed with a kind of completion. When Donovan was full lodged inside her from the back, they both sighed. He thrust into her once and then again with great gentleness, and then she turned to look at him.
“Please,” she whispered nakedly. “Give me all of you.” She could almost hear his control snap. His fingers dug into her hip, and then he was thrusting into her, long powerful strokes that left them both shaking and crying out. She thought she would be content to feel him spill his own release in her, but then his hand sneaked around her hip, finding her secret flesh again. She was torn to pieces by the fierce sensations pounding through her. All she could do was submit to him, let him open her to everything he was feeling. When he spilled deep inside her with a ferocious roar, she cried out as well, her entire body tensing hard before dissolving into an intense, impossible pleasure.In the aftermath, they lie in each other’s arms. She was aware of Donovan kissing her shoulder, rocking against her slightly while still inside her. She felt as if she had run a race. She felt as if she was at peace. She felt as if she had come home.
***
Carly fell into an exhausted slumber almost immediately. Donovan propped himself up on his elbow to look down at her still face. A part of him still couldn’t believe this was real, that she was back in his life, that she was going to bear his children.
Quadruplets.
He shook his head. It seemed incredibly unlikely, more like a miracle performed by a saint than something that could happen to a simple single man.Gently, he reached down to run a hand over the rise of her belly. The skin there was warm and soft, stretched taut with the life that slumbered within. In that moment, he thought he understood how men might make the decision to war and to kill as long as their families were safe.
He knew it as well as he knew his own name. This was his family. Donovan did not think much of his dead parents or the odd aunt or cousin he had scattered to the four winds. He always thought of family as a distant concept, something far away and strange.
However, in Loch Naine of all places, he had found his family. It all lay with a fiery young American with coppery eyes and a smile that seemed to call a man to sin, and by God, he would defend her, protect her, make sure that she had nothing but the best.
In her sleep, Carly frowned and murmured something he couldn’t understand. At the very tail end of it, however, he caught his own name, and something inside him ached. There was still a part of him that still grieved at not being here earlier, not seeing her body round out with their children. He wondered idly if she would want the children to be raised here in Loch Naine or if she would consent to bringing them to London, which hosted some of the finest schools in the world. He had no interest in farming his children out to boarding schools, no matter how good, and he was confident that Carly felt the same.
He lie down beside her for a short while, relishing the feel of her body next to him, but Donovan found that he could not rest. There was something preying on the back of his mind, and after a few moments lying in the dark, he knew what it was.
Donovan rose silently from the bed, giving Carly one last kiss on the forehead, and he stole out to the small sitting room, where his laptop was. Heedless of the late hour, he pulled up the schematics for the scrapped plans for Loch Naine. The plans had been fairly specific, one of the strengths that he brought to the table. A plan that he brokered was sure to be unique, sure to be one of a kind and a success on top of that.
However, just because something was designed for a certain location did not mean that it couldn’t be tweaked for something else, and his memory was starting to give him clues, reminders, and out of that, an inspiration was forming.
“Hm, promising,” he murmured, looking up some further information on his phone. Promising indeed.
The plans for Loch Naine laid on one side of his work. On the other was some property he had come across while he had been in Iceland. Iceland was new territory for him, but from what he had seen there, there were plenty of opportunities to explore. There was a small farming community out there that might make a very good stand-in for Loch Naine, assuming that everyone was in agreement.
No more negotiating with last-minute holdouts, though, Donovan thought, casting a fond glance back to the bedroom. This one is already going to be the death of me. She’s all I have room for on my plate.
Behind the plans for the resort area, there were other plans that were going up as well. Some might have called them humbler, but to Donovan, they were no less promising. In his mind, there were four children romping and playing in the surf, their laughter loud and boisterous. When he came up to them, their faces lifted to his like flowers reaching for the sun, and he could see the love he had for them reflected back into his eyes.
Behind them stood a woman with long dark hair and copper eyes. She smiled at him with obvious pride and her lips shaped the words he thought he had always wanted to hear:
I love you.