Chapter Seven

Shannon

 

For the second time, I found myself being dragged out of a building by Noah. Except, this time, I knew exactly where we were going. To my place. My house. Where my bed, my living room, and my things were. And Noah was about to invade all of that space.

 

The last six weeks had been torturous, confusing and heartbreaking. Every time I tried to forget him, something would remind me… Seeing the ambulances in the motor pool at work… Getting a whiff of leather… All of it dragged memory from the back of my mind to the forefront, not letting me forget about him. Not letting me move on. And then I missed my fucking period.

 

At first, I thought I was just off because of stress – having been kidnapped and seduced by your kidnapper usually does cause a bit of stress. But after more days went by, and I didn’t have so much as a cramp, I swiped a test from one of the hospital’s storerooms and hid away in a stall during my break. Thinking that the first one was faulty, I tried a second, third, fourth, and fifth test… All positive.

 

I ended up sitting on the bathroom floor crying. I was terrified because I was carrying the child of a man I didn’t know, and a criminal at that, and yet I was elated too because I had a baby growing inside of me.

 

I didn’t try to track down Noah. Not just because I wasn’t sure how he would react but because he was a criminal. He wasn’t father material. Hell, he wasn’t even boyfriend material. No matter how alive and how electric he made me feel, I could not have a baby with him.

 

But now he knew. And that same dominating possessive nature of his that got me all wet and hot for him is the same nature that’s not going to let him let go of the subject. If he wanted to be a part of this baby’s life, I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

 

The ride from the bar to my house was quiet. Either he was trying to figure out how he felt and what he thought about the situation, or he was being generous and giving me time to think everything through. Because when I was with him, near him, when he was touching me, I couldn’t think straight. How else could I explain how he was able to get my pants off and fuck me again within twenty minutes of seeing him again?

 

This was not how I behaved. I did not just peel off my pants for anyone. But it was different with him.

 

“You don’t ride a bike anymore?” I asked as he pulled into the drive of my house.

 

“I had to help Jude lug some shit from a storage room today, so I used the truck.”

 

I put my hand on the handle of the truck door and glanced back at him. “Well, thanks for the ride.”

 

I opened the door with very little hope that he would actually just pull away and leave. And he didn’t surprise me. His car door slammed, and he rounded the truck again, lacing his fingers with mine and holding on tight.

 

“I’m not leaving you,” he said in a rough voice and walked with me to the front door.

 

I unlocked the door and let him inside, and he bolted it behind us. He stood in the foyer looking around my open-plan house. You can see everything from one room: the living room, kitchen, and dining room. A short half wall separated the kitchen and the living room, but other than that, it was completely open.

 

I dropped my keys and my purse on the table near the door and walked further into the living room – throwing myself on the couch and tucking my feet beneath my ass. At least I’d managed to get through the night without having a swollen ass from his belt.

 

“When is your next doctor’s appointment?” He stuffed his hands into his pockets again.

 

I’d come to realize that he did that when he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He probably thought I didn’t know him at all. And for the most part, he was right. But he had just as many physical tells as I did.

 

“Not for another month or so. Why?”

 

He couldn’t possibly think that he would be going with me to all my doctor’s appointments, like walking in with me and his colors and my scrub uniform wasn’t going to get a bunch of stares and rumors started around town? We lived in a small-ass town, and he wasn’t considered to be a “Prince Charming” type. He wasn’t the kind of guy I was supposed to end up with.

 

“Look, I know you think I can’t be what you need, but I don’t walk away from responsibility. And that baby in your belly is my fucking responsibility. So you can pretend that you’re in this all on your own, but you’re not.” His jaw tightened as he spoke, like he was offended I would think that he wasn’t going to be there for me and the baby.

 

“I already told you; I told people the baby’s dad is someone I met on that cruise. You can’t just waltz in and take that role.”

 

I hugged my knees closer to my chest. Nausea rolled through my stomach, and I closed my eyes, willing it to go away. Not that any mental power I’d had so far had managed to get the job done.

 

“I don’t care what anyone in town thinks about this. I don’t give a shit who knows or what they think about it. But I’m not running off into the shadows because you don’t want to admit what happened.”

 

My head began to spin, and my stomach lurched. I couldn’t have this conversation now. I needed to get to the bathroom. I needed to take a nap.

 

“Well, there is something, Noah, you don’t get to control.” I stood up from the couch, hoping the slight movement might settle my stomach. Sometimes if I walked a little bit, I could calm everything down.

 

It didn’t work this time. I held my hand over my mouth and ran past him, down the hall to the bathroom, making it just in time. The baby was turning out to be as much of a pain in the ass as its father.

 

Once all of my lunch had been ejected, I rinsed out my mouth and brushed my teeth. When I stepped back into the hallway, Noah stood there, staring at me, concern written all over his face.

 

“You okay?”

 

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I headed back to the living room, finding another spot on the couch and resting my head back on the cushion. “I should be good for at least an hour.”

 

The couch dipped beside me as he sat down. His large, rough hand eased the hair away from my face. It was almost tender.

 

“My sister got pregnant in high school. I think the puking stops after a few months,” he murmured.

 

I wasn’t used to this. Up until now, he’d been rough, demanding and stern. There’d been no give to him. But now, he was getting close to being sweet. And it was becoming more personal. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He had a sister. He wasn’t just some asshole on a Harley; he had a family.

 

“You’re an uncle?” I didn't mean to sound so surprised, but it came as a shock. This big massive man who looked like he could stare down the boogeyman was an uncle?

 

“No.” He kept petting my hair back, and I could at least admit it was soothing. The nausea has subsided, but it had left behind this lingering residue of fatigue. “She ended up having an abortion. She was only fifteen when she got pregnant. My parents didn’t have the money to help support it, and her boyfriend – a fucking prick – wanted nothing to do with her or the baby when she was knocked up.”

 

“You let him get away with that?” I smiled, hoping he would understand that I was just joking. But the stern look he gave me told me I’d hit a nerve.

 

“I found out she was pregnant via a Skype call. And she waited until after the abortion to tell me she’d done it. I was stationed overseas at the time, but if I’d been here, he never would have walked away.”

 

Something in the way he said it made me understand that he would have helped his sister. He wouldn’t have abandoned her, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have allowed the boy to either. Such a dangerous man I was staring up at. He might’ve been a criminal and a scary large man, but he had his own code. The way he said ‘old lady’ back at the bar, had told me he thought the title meant something different. Maybe he’d seen it as offensive as I had. Or maybe he didn’t want one. Maybe a one-night stand was enough for him.

 

“That sounds like a really tough situation.” What else was there to really say? One little fact of his past and I knew he wasn’t just going to get up and leave. He would not let me have his baby without him at my side. But how could I possibly make this work? He wasn’t just out of my league; he was from an entirely different world.

 

“So, you were in the military?” I needed to change the topic – get him away from talking about babies and walk away dads.

 

“I want to talk about that even less than I want to talk about my baby sister getting knocked up.” He stopped petting me, pushed off the couch, and headed towards the kitchen. “You need to eat good now that you’re pregnant. Vegetables, protein – did your doctor give you vitamins? There are vitamins for when you’re pregnant.”

 

Just watching him fuss around my kitchen, digging through my cabinets and refrigerator, made me smile. He had gone into total overprotective mode. I managed to get off the couch and walk to the kitchen, shoving the refrigerator door closed.

 

“Yes, she did. I’m taking them. They’re called prenatal vitamins. I’m doing everything that I’m supposed to be doing. Even a few things I shouldn’t be doing.” I started to walk away, but he grabbed my elbow and spun me back around, his expression dark and his eyes narrowed.

 

“Like what?”

 

I peeled his hand off my arm and tried to laugh, but it came out more like a squeak. This man just unsettled me in every way. “I just meant what happened at the bar shouldn’t have happened. What happened at the hospital shouldn’t have happened. None of this should have happened.”

 

He let me walk past him and into the living room.

 

“But it did,” he said in a hard voice. “I’ll give you this much room – you can keep telling people whatever you want about the father. For now. Until you get used to the idea that I’m not going anywhere.” He pointed a finger in my direction. “However, eventually, you’ll have to come clean, but if you want to make it harder for yourself, later on, I’ll let you.”

 

“Let me? You’ll let me?” I wanted to scream at him, but I remembered his earlier warnings about tantrums. Although, maybe being pregnant would save me from any more punishments?

 

“Yeah. I’ll let you.” He nodded. “But I will be there for every fucking doctor’s appointment. You’ll keep me informed of them, and if I find out that you didn’t tell me about one, I’ll wear your ass out with my belt.”

 

Okay, that answered the former question.

 

“I’m pregnant.” I pointed at my stomach, trying to sound indignant.

 

He only laughed. “The baby is safe in your belly. Your ass is all mine.” And there it was again. That devilish grin. He’d obviously made his decision about how everything was going to transpire, and all I was going to do was go along with it.

 

It didn’t matter. I’d figure this all out. With or without him, things were going to be okay. I could let him tag along to a few doctor’s appointments. Friends went with friends to the doctor all the time, especially when one of them was single and pregnant. Yeah. That would work.

 

“In the meantime, I think you’ll do pretty damn well as my nighttime nurse.” He stepped over to me and sat on the coffee table, pressing his hands against my knees. “Which means, I can come over whenever I want, and you’ll do whatever I say when I say. No questions, no hesitation, and no refusals.”

 

“So, what? I’m your personal slave now?” That was not in my plans. He could tag along, but he didn’t need to call the shots. And I wasn’t anyone’s slave.

 

“No. But a thick black collar around that pretty neck of yours would be fucking hot.” He winked, actually winked at me. “If you do that, I won’t put any more pressure on you about the baby. When the time comes, we’ll figure everything out. For now, you just be my good girl, and you keep me informed of the doc visits. Got it?”

 

He waited for my nod.

 

“I – what do you mean, do whatever you want?” I asked.

 

A bit of a loaded statement.

 

He laughed again. “It means whatever I want.” He leaned forward and kissed me. “I gotta turn the truck in and get my bike. Get some rest, and I’ll see you soon.”

 

I watched him walk out of my house, my head spinning and my heart beating out a new musical number.

 

What had I gotten myself into?