A Diamond in the Dark (23 page)

“No problem, buddy. She might be your fiancée now, but she’s always been family,” Ethan said as he pulled out of the manly embrace. “How’s she doing?”

“Still sleeping.” He turned to check on her. The slight rise and fall of her chest hadn’t changed. It was still steady and slow. They had unhooked the heart monitor earlier that morning, so he only had his vision to rely on.

“Well, I’m going to grab a coffee from the Starbucks across the street. You want one?”

“Shit, yeah. A little nurse brought me one a while ago, but I need more than that. Hey, can you grab my travel bag out of the truck? It should be behind the seat, I normally keep it in there.”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few. Oh, Dad and Rick headed back to the ranch this morning. That stallion got out again and visited Mrs. White’s place. He obviously has a thing for Tullabelle,” Ethan said, shaking his head.

“Christ, he’s got the pick of premium mares, but the bastard has to run nearly ten miles for that piece of tail.” Ax laughed. If the flippin’ horse’s sperm wasn’t worth a bundle, Ax would have considered making that stallion into a gelding, just for causing them problems. Stupid beast.

As Ethan retreated down the baby shit yellow hallway of the hospital, Ax heard the rustling of bedsheets. He quickly made his way back to Tia’s side so he would be there when she was properly awake. She had a little more color to her, not that you could really tell, but she was back to looking white instead of gray.

“Morning, baby,” he said as he hit the buzzer for the nurse to come. “They’re going to come and check you over, then you can have something to drink, and you might be able to eat too.” He gave her an ice chip from the cup that a nurse had brought in about twenty minutes earlier.

* * * *

“Thanks.” Tia was feeling better, and the thought of food was appealing. “I need to pee!” How she had anything left, she had no idea. She’d thrown up everything she had the day before and hadn’t had anything to drink since arriving at the hospital. Just as she was saying it, a young, pretty nurse walked in.

“That’s good to know. It means you’re not dehydrated and that the IV fluids have done their job,” she said, pointing to the bag hanging off the pole next to the bed. Tia hadn’t even noticed the IV line in her hand until it was pointed out. “I’ll get you a bed pan.”

“No!” Okay, that was a little too loud for her brain to handle. Taking a couple of deep breaths to settle the drumming she had caused in her own head, she tried again in a softer tone. “Sorry, I can’t go in a pan. Can I please use the toilet?”

“I’d have to call one of the orderlies to come in and help you. I can’t allow you to walk until the doctor has seen you.”

As she was about to say that was fine Ax said he would take her. It was a bit uncomfortable trying to pee with two other people in the room, but she didn’t have the energy to care and the need to pee in a toilet, rather than wetting herself, overrode her discomfort. Just as they had settled her back on the bed, a doctor walked in.

“Hi, Tabbitha. I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Doctor Rolan,” he said as he started to check her over.

“I remember you. And please call me Tia.” Concussion or not, she still had an eidetic memory.

“I hear you’re a doctor yourself. Don’t mind me, but aren’t you a little young?”

It was Ax who answered, telling him about her IQ and photographic memory. It was so sweet that Tia didn’t want to correct him and tell him that her memory was eidetic and not photographic.

“So what field are you in?” The phrasing of the question must have confused Ax, as he didn’t answer this time but looked at her. She explained her answer so he would understand, if it was ever asked again.

“My field of study is animal genetics,” she said, smiling at the middle-aged doctor.

“Ah, you’re a lab rat!” He laughed with her. “Well, everything looks great. You can have something light to eat. If you keep that down, we can send you home this afternoon. Do you have any questions for me?”

“The baby. Will everything be okay?”

Obviously sensing her worry, Doctor Rolan placed his hand on top of hers in a comforting gesture. “You are very early in the pregnancy, and seeing that there has been no spotting so far, the pregnancy should proceed as any normal one would. When was the first day of your last period?”

“I’m a thirty-one day cycle, so I’m almost six weeks along.” She had already done the math while he was asking the question.

“Great. That makes you due around Christmas. Your first sonogram should give you a more specific date. Make an appointment to see your local doctor. He’ll be able to handle your care for the most part, and will send you over here when needed. I’ll write him a letter before you leave. I’ll include it in the letter, but make sure you tell him about the dizziness and the concussion. We took you off the glucose last night and your reading this morning was low but within the normal limits. Hopefully for you, it just means that you need to make sure you eat something light every four hours, and if you’re being extremely active, more often than that. It will help to keep your sugar levels stable. Okay?”

“Thanks for everything, doctor,” Ax said, standing up to shake the man’s hand. “I’ll make sure she eats regularly.”

Tia could hear the guilt in his voice, he was blaming the fact that she hadn’t eaten lunch on himself. “Don’t think like that,” she snapped at Axton as he turned around after leading the doctor to the door and seeing him from the room. Tia was not going to have him hovering over her like a mother hen because of a stupid accident.

“Don’t think like what, baby?”

She huffed out a breath. Her head was starting to ache and she just wanted to go home. “We didn’t know I was pregnant, Ax, so stop blaming yourself. I wasn’t hungry anyway. I’d had a huge breakfast, and was actually feeling a little off from eating so much. So quit it. Okay!”

The argument got interrupted by Ethan coming through the door, followed by a nurse carrying a tray of food for Tia. As the nurse placed the food in front of her, Tia swore she heard Axton mutter something about making sure he took better care of both her and the baby she was now carrying. Ignoring him, she dug into the tray of food.

When Tia had kept her breakfast down, she was discharged from the hospital, with instructions to take Tylenol every four hours and what to do should she become dizzy or start vomiting again.

She couldn’t wait! She’d just spent her birthday in the friggin’ hospital, and all she wanted to do was go home to a comfy bed and Axton’s arms wrapped around her. The only thing she wasn’t looking forward to was seeing Jack. She was worried about what he would say to her. When she’d asked Ax about his reaction, he said that Jack had taken their relationship fine.

When she pointed out his bruised chin, he said that was just the initial shock and concern over her being in the hospital, but that Jack was okay with them as long as Ax didn’t hurt her.

Tia wouldn’t believe anything until she’d spoken to Jack herself. It had felt weird thinking about him as just Jack. He had been the person she’d always gone to whenever she needed something. She remembered every detail about her mama, but her daddy had died before she was even two, so Jack was that man in her life that every little girl wants and needs. Her worries would have to wait until she had more energy to deal with them. She was tired and just wanted to go home.

Chapter 18

Tia couldn’t believe how tired she still was. The hum of the engine and the quiet talking of the boys had her drifting back to sleep within the first ten minutes of the drive home, her head resting on Axton’s arm while her feet had been in Ethan’s lap.

Vaguely, she remembered Axton tucking her into his big bed then climbing in beside her.

The warm morning sun against her skin was what had woke her. Feeling stiff from lying down for so long, she went to stretch but was impeded by Axton hugging her, his body as close to hers as he possibly could get without them being attached. His warm breath tickled the hair at her temple. Lifting her hand to brush away the annoying piece of hair, the prism of light that dazzled her eyes, causing her to blink, distracted her.

Tia had almost forgotten about what some might call a diamond, but looking at the size of it, she thought of as a small sparkly bolder, that had somehow appeared on her finger while she was in the hospital. The fact that it looked very much like an engagement ring hadn’t slipped past her, but with the news of the baby, along with her concussion, it hadn’t been the first thing on her mind to ask Axton about.

Her head was feeling a lot better. She only had a dull headache to accompany the egg-sized lump on the back of her head. Needing, more than just wanting, to have a shower, she tried to unwrap herself from Axton’s arms.

“Where you going, baby?” His sleep gruff voice sent a shiver down her spine. She must be feeling better if his voice was making her horny.

“Shower.”

He pulled her into his arms and carried her to the shower. Placing her feet on the bathroom mat, he started to undress her, then himself. She took the opportunity to brush her teeth, noticing that all her toiletries were neatly placed on one half of the double sink vanity. She opened the cabinet to confirm her suspicions. Yes, it was also full with her things. She smiled at his presumptuous behavior. Not that she didn’t approve, but being asked to move in would have been nice.

Looking toward the toilet with longing, she debated it for all of two seconds. What the hell, he had already been in the bathroom while she did her business at the hospital, so she sat down and relieved the pressure off her bladder. God help him though; if he ever came into the bathroom while she was taking a shit, she would kill him.

Getting into the shower, she watched Ax as he finished brushing his teeth then proceeded to relieve himself in the toilet. Turning her back to him, she stood under the warm water, enjoying it against her skin. The cool draft at her back let her know that he had finally joined her.

Reaching past her, he grabbed the shampoo bottle—yes, it was her shampoo, not a new bottle, but the half empty one from her shower—and washed her hair. He was careful of the bump, still giving the rest of her scalp a good massage. She melted back into him. “God, that feels good.”

When he finished washing her hair, he continued on to her body. Starting at her feet, then working his way up. There was nothing sexual about his ministration, but her body didn’t care. Her nipples beaded, and her lower abdomen clenched with want.

As he reached her arms, they both noticed that she was still wearing the medical ID bangle. “We’ll have to cut this off later. You don’t need it anymore.”

“Why? I like it. They seem to give you such nice jewelry while you’re in the hospital.” It was the perfect opportunity to bring up the ring weighing down her hand. To make sure he understood her meaning, she brought her left hand up to his face and wiggled her fingers.

“You like it?” She could hear the hope in his voice.

Tia shook her head at him. “It’s beautiful, Ax. But most men tend to ask a lady to marry them, not just stick a ring on her finger while she’s unconscious.” She glared at him. Tia wanted a proposal, she didn’t want to tell their kids that their daddy never asked her to marry him but had just shoved a ring on her finger while she was off in dreamland.

He dropped to his knees, right there in the shower, hot water cascading over them, and took her hand in his.
Is he serious?
From the look on his face she’d say yes.

“Tabbitha Tattiana Tia Teeford. Would you do an old man the honor of becoming my wife?” His strong Texas drawl was more pronounced, and he had a big goofy smile on his face. She couldn’t help it, she smiled back at him.

“Yes. But we are so making up a story to tell our kids about how their daddy asked their mama to marry him.” She laughed down at him.

“Your mama is just being picky now,” Axton said as he kissed her tummy.

She pulled his head up to meet her lips and kissed him properly for the first time in over a week. He deepened the kiss, raising from his knees and lifting her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist. When she started to grind her pussy against him, he tried to pull away.

“Baby. You just got out of the hospital.”

“Ax, I’m fine. I have a headache, but you know what they say, sex is good for headaches. It releases endorphins that relax muscles, and headaches are mainly just inflammation of muscles in the brain,” she said, still trying to create more friction between his torso and her weeping cunt.

“Tomorrow, Tia. Let your body rest.” He was trying to unlock her legs from around his hips, and the bastard was succeeding. If she was only a little taller, then her legs would actually be able to meet. Cursing her short nature, she had to use all the strength in her thigh muscles to stay where she was. Grabbing his hair in both fists, she brought his face close to her own.

“If you don’t make love to me right this minute, Axton Jefferson McGraetty, you’ll be making a trip to the hospital with your own concussion, ya hear?” All this was said as she continued to rub her lower body against his stomach. There was no way he could miss how wet she was, and the fact that it wasn’t from the water still running over them.

“How could I possibly say no when you asked so nicely?” He turned the shower off and carried her to the bed. She giggled into his neck then bit it lightly, running her tongue over the small sting she’d created.

He slowly lowered them to the bed, and Tia let her legs fall to the side so she could slide back further on the mattress. He kissed her nipple, pulling it between his lips and flicking it with his tongue, making her body bow off the bed for more of his attention. He obliged her by taking as much of her breast into his mouth as he could, pushing the nipple to the roof of his mouth, rubbing his tongue on the underside.

“Oh God, I’m going to cum if you keep doing that.”

He backed off to move to the other one, giving it the same attention. Just when her body started to quiver, he moved down, away from her achy, needy breast. Leaving a trail of kisses down to her pussy. A fresh gush of moisture greeted him.