The Pregnancy Contract (13 page)

He was at her side in seconds.

“Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”

“N-no, I'm okay. I just can't stop. I keep going through it in my mind, seeing that post coming toward me and feeling the helplessness all over again.”

Tremors shook her frame making ripples on the water. Wade didn't think twice. It took only a moment to shuck off his clothes and shoes and to slide into the giant old tub behind her. He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, holding her secure, and propping her head against his shoulder. From this angle he could see the dark angry-looking bruise that was coming out on her skin. His anger against the driver who caused the accident warred with intense relief that she had not been seriously injured. The tumult of emotions was foreign to him. Usually he had no difficulty in keeping his feelings in check, in separating logic from sentiment. But there was something about Piper that scrambled all reason.

“There,” he said quietly, “does that feel better?”

She nodded, the soft curls that clouded her head tickling the side of his neck as she did so. Her hair had grown in the past six weeks from the somewhat haphazard pixie cut she'd shorn it into when she'd gotten rid of her dreadlocks.
The shorter hair had suited her, emphasizing her fine bone structure and the slenderness of her elegant neck, but he preferred this slightly softer look. The lack of structure gave her a femininity that appealed directly to his core every time he looked her way.

Wade relaxed against the porcelain and let his eyes slide closed, relishing the sense of rightness that infused him as he held Piper in his arms. If only it could always be this easy to keep a loved one safe.

His eyes flew open and his hold on her tightened. Loved one? Had he done the impossible and fallen in love with Piper all over again? No, he couldn't have. What he felt right now was his own aftermath of shock. He was concerned about her. Of course he was, she might be pregnant with his baby and she had been at terrible risk today. It was his duty to look after her. To keep her safe. That's all.

She nestled a little closer, and his arms tightened automatically in response. No, he didn't love her. He couldn't.

But that didn't mean he was planning to let go any time soon, either.

P
iper relaxed against him in the delicious warm water, the sobs that shook her slowly easing, her tremors finally going away altogether. It was as if by his very presence Wade drew all that reaction and upset away and exiled it where it could no longer affect her.

Her hands rested over her belly, Wade's resting over hers. For the first moment in a very long time, Piper felt one-hundred-percent safe.

Today had been one out of the bag. She hadn't been feeling all that great when she'd risen in the morning but some toast and tea at breakfast had taken care of that. She'd hoped that lunch would improve how she'd felt again later in the morning, but instead it had left her feeling much worse.

Her mind circled the prospect that Wade had raised. Could she be pregnant already? It would be pretty soon by any standards but then again some people were lucky enough, or unlucky enough, to fall pregnant right away. Hadn't it been that way with her and Wade to begin with?

Through the whole of their relationship eight years prior, the lovemaking had been passionate and thoroughly satisfying. And yet, she'd always held something back—afraid to let herself give in to the powerful emotions he made her feel. She'd always felt she couldn't let him in all the way until she was truly certain of his love.

Then she'd made the play to win him away from her father's influence, and she'd pulled out the big guns. It had been weeks since they'd made love. Plus, things had gotten so tense between her and Rex that she'd made up her mind to leave. Wade, caught in the middle between the two Mitchells, had gotten frustrated with both of them, leading to endless arguments with Piper that had served to destroy any passion between them. Wade had extended an olive branch in an attempt to make up and during a romantic evening at the scummy flat he was living in, she'd given him her all. She'd let herself love him completely, had given up her heart and soul along with her body to him in complete abandon.

In the morning, when they'd woken, she'd assumed he would prove that he returned her love by going along with her plan to leave New Zealand behind. After all, hadn't they both just had the most amazing night of their lives? Didn't he love her enough to come with her when she left? Apparently not.

She still couldn't believe she'd been so stupid, so naive even, to have thought that she could tempt a man like Wade with what she'd had to offer him back then. Yes, she'd loved him, but what kind of life could she have given him? He was a smart, ambitious man, and she'd tried to get him to give up all his prospects for a role as her arm candy while she traveled the world. He never would have been happy with a purposeless life like that. Truth be told, she hadn't been happy with it, either. Not that she was willing to admit that—especially at first. She had tried to tell herself that she was
better off without a man who would let her go after a night like the one they'd shared.

Of course, finding out she was pregnant as a result of that night together she'd seen as some kind of karmic retribution for her behavior. And then losing that baby had been harder to deal with than she'd ever anticipated. She'd never expected to want a child, or to love it. And she'd never realized what a massive hole it would leave in her life when it was gone. She'd gone back to partying afterward, trying to numb the pain, but that was her first step in really growing up.

Now she felt—hoped—that she'd left that selfish past behind her. But what did the future hold? She may already be pregnant, again. With Wade's child, again. A child conceived—again—in love on her part…but not on his. Could their story have a happier ending this time?

Wade stirred, lifting one foot to toe open the faucet and run some more hot water into the bath. She hadn't even noticed the water had cooled.

“Another ten minutes and then I think we should get out, okay?”

“Sure, the wrinkled prune look really isn't my best.”

She felt him turn slightly and press a kiss to the top of her head.

“I can think of better,” he murmured.

Piper leaned forward and turned off the running water. Aside from a few aches and pains, most of them centered from the pressure marks across her chest, she felt a whole lot better now. So much so, that when she leaned back against Wade, and discovered a vital part of him was also feeling pretty darn good, it was a simple matter to roll over and place her knees on either side of his legs.

“Hey, aren't you supposed to be resting?”

“I feel fine,” she said, even as shifting her body made her wince a little.

“Fine, huh? Doesn't look like it to me. Piper, we don't have to—”

“I want to, Wade. I want you. I want to make love to you and make all the bad stuff go away.”

Wade skimmed his hands up and down her arms lightly. “And will it go away?”

“Let's find out, shall we?”

She leaned forward and kissed him, a hot, wet kiss that sent a slow beat thrumming through her veins. Her hands slicked across his shoulders and she relished the vital strength of him. She'd never been more grateful for life than she was at this very moment. The accident had been surreal, the aftermath even more so. But this, this was something quantifiable, something valid and true.

The man beneath her had given her second chances, and with them had shown her a generosity she'd never expected, despite their very rocky start. But now, the reality of making up to him all that she'd destroyed so long ago was completely within her grasp. And it wasn't all that was within her grasp, she acknowledged as the blunt tip of him nudged against her lower belly. She lifted her hips and used one hand to position him at her entrance before slowly and carefully lowering herself until he was buried within her. Deep inside she felt the flex of his hardened length and she rocked gently against him.

Sensation built within her in steady waves as she continued to move. Wade's hands gripped her hips, his fingers taut against her skin. His eyes met and locked with hers, silently urging her on, glazing with desire as she let her hips undulate back and forth.

Water sloshed against the high sides of the bath, every now and then spilling over the side and onto the tiled floor, but she didn't care. Not when every nerve in her body was centered on the point where their bodies joined. Not when her body felt so aflame that she thought the water about them
might boil off. Wade raised his head and captured one of her nipples with his mouth, his lips sealing around the tightened aureole and his teeth lightly scraping the extended tip.

A spear of heat shot directly from her breast to her core and as Wade began to suckle the rigid bud, her orgasm began to creep over her—at first a gentle swell of pleasure, but rapidly culminating in a crash of sensation that made spots swim in her vision and her body shake with its force.

She collapsed against him, even as he thrust upward, lost in the glory of his own climax. Both were oblivious to all but the passion that spent itself in tiny aftershocks that made them shudder against one another. Each clench of her body triggering another with him, each flex of his erection setting off a chain reaction that tingled all the way to her extremities.

“I didn't think it could get any better between us,” she panted against his shoulder.

In response Wade wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to him. They were each obviously as reluctant as the other to relinquish the closeness, the sheer perfection of physical pleasure they'd achieved together but, after some time, the cooling water about them became sufficient incentive to pull apart and get out of the bath.

Wade wrapped one of the big thick bath towels from the heated rail around his waist before using the other to dry Piper with gentle strokes. Under his careful ministrations she unexpectedly felt ridiculously emotional. She bit her lower lip to hold back the sob that built deep inside. Wade looked at her, worry drawing his brows together in a straight line.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, I'm just still a bit of a mess, I think.”

“It's okay,” he said, reaching for one of the large fluffy bathrobes on the hook behind the bathroom door and helping her into it. “It's been quite a day, hmm?”

She nodded. Unable to speak for fear that she'd blurt out her feelings for him and ruin everything. Right now she had
a deep-seated need for his undivided attention and she wasn't prepared to do anything to jeopardize that.

“Let's have something to eat. Mrs. Dexter was going to leave a tray in the sitting room for us.”

He wiped an errant tear from her cheek then took her hand and led her to the sitting room. A cheerful fire danced in the fireplace behind the screen and someone, no doubt Mrs. Dexter, had drawn the drapes and switched on a pair of table lamps that cast a gentle glow about the room. Weariness seeped through her, making her feel lethargic and uncoordinated. She sank gratefully onto one of the sofas by the fireplace as Wade inspected the contents of the tray.

“Here,” he said, smoothing some red paste onto a sliver of sliced French bread and passing it over to her.

Piper felt some of her lethargy dispel as the piquant flavor hit her tongue. “Mmm, that's delicious. What is it?”

“I think it's a sundried tomato hummus. Want some more?”

“Try and hold me back,” she answered.

Together they ate their way through the selection of food, enjoying the cold roasted chicken drumsticks that had been coated with Dexie's special herb flavoring, licking one another's fingers clean and savoring the variety of finger foods that had been laid out for them. They eschewed the bottle of wine that sat in a frosted cooler, enjoying instead the mineral water that came from the small fridge that Wade had integrated into a wall unit along one side of the sitting room.

Finally replete, Piper curled up her legs under her and rested her head against the back of the sofa.

“Tired?” Wade asked.

“Yeah, shattered actually.”

“Why don't you go to bed?”

“It's still so early,” she protested even as she fought off a yawn.

“No one is going to blame you. You had a major fright
today, and you haven't been feeling well.” He hesitated and drew in a breath before continuing. “I've made an appointment for you to see May tomorrow morning.”

She swung her legs down and sat upright. “I told you, I'm okay. Why did you do that?”

“I need to be sure, Piper.”

“Can't we just see how I'm feeling tomorrow?”

“You had to leave work because you weren't well, don't you want to find out why?”

“Whatever it was, it's passed now. I feel tired and a bit sore from the accident, but aside from that I'm okay. I really don't want to go to May tomorrow. Shouldn't that be up to me, anyway?”

Wade gave her another piercing look. “What is it that you're afraid of, Piper?”

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her and she felt her defenses rise. She knew how much he wanted her to be pregnant, but what would happen next if she was? The prospect terrified her. She wouldn't be alone as she had been the last time she'd found out she was pregnant, but would he still want her in his bed each night once he'd achieved his objective? Or would she be tucked away, left to procreate under the clinical terms of their agreement?

She loved him. She wanted to be with him. She knew he didn't love her, but the longer she could put off him having a reason to set her aside, the better her chance of breaking through the shell he operated within. The better her chance of possibly creating a mutual affection between them that might stand the test of time. That would see them raise their child together, in a home filled with love.

“I'm not afraid. I just don't see the need, that's all,” she hedged. “It's not as if I've missed a period or anything like that.”

“And yet you must be feeling some changes in your body. Your breasts are slightly fuller, are they not?” He pushed aside
the neckline of her robe, revealing her breasts to his glittering gaze. One finger brushed across their pink tips making them instantly taut and her insides coil tight. “And are your nipples not more sensitive than before?”

She shoved his hand away from her, even as her blood heated again in her body. Pulling her robe closed, she got up from the sofa and went to stand in front of the fire.

“That doesn't mean anything,” she answered defiantly. “You're a fantastic lover, maybe it's just my reaction to you.”

Wade stood and came right up to her, his hand sliding inside her robe once more, this time to rest against her lower stomach. “Or your body's natural reaction to our lovemaking—our
baby
making.”

“Wade—”

“I'll pick you up at ten-thirty tomorrow, your appointment is for eleven. You will keep it, Piper. As I said before, I
need
to know.”

Piper felt a stab of loss at his words. Finding out if she was pregnant or not was all that mattered to him now.

“What about work?”

“Like I said, I don't think you'll feel up to going into the office tomorrow.”

“Shouldn't I be the judge of that?”

Wade sighed in frustration. “Look, you're not going to win this argument, Piper. You will see May tomorrow and that's final. Whether you go to work or not is up to you entirely, although I'd advise against it.”

He turned and stalked to the bedroom, reappearing a few minutes later dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a turtlenecked sweater that made him look altogether too sexy for words. Even as angry and frustrated as she was with his high-handedness, she still wanted him on a level she'd never known before. The knowledge frightened her about as much as the prospect that she might be carrying his baby and be about to be shelved until the
happy
event.

“Go to bed, Piper. You're just about dead on your feet. I'll be downstairs catching up on some work.”