Belly of the Beast

Chapter 34

The baby had dark hair and hazel eyes, something from each of us. A plump, little hand rested on my breast and rosy cheeks peeked out of the swaddling blanket as the child suckled. I should have been relieved, finally giving Vincent his precious progeny, but that wasn't the case. Something felt off.

I glanced up when the door opened, and Christoph walked in. His eyes went straight to the child. I thought he would be happy for me, but he didn't smile as he walked over and looked down at my newborn. He stretched for the blanket, and I held my breath as he pulled it away to reveal tiny horn buds.

The horns were too small to be of any use, but when he saw them, he finally smiled, turning toward a figure standing in the doorway. It was Vincent, and he looked like he'd been handed a death sentence.

No.

Tears poured down my face and dripped onto the child's forehead as I tugged the blanket over the horns, covering them so Vincent wouldn't see. I wanted so badly to reach out to him, but he stood too far away, and I knew he didn't want to be anywhere near me or our child. He thought the babe didn't belong to him. Lowering his chin to his chest, he turned to go.

"Please, Vincent. Don't leave me," I called out. "After everything we've been though, would you just walk away? This is your baby. Our baby. Please, don't go."

"It's okay, Reese, I'm here." Christoph put his hand on my cheek, touching it gently, but it wasn't his voice that spoke the words. It was Vincent's, although that wasn't possible since he had left the room, abandoning me and his beautiful baby boy.

"Reese, wake-up. You're dreaming. Come back to me, babe." Vincent continued his plea as I felt the fog lift, and I blinked our bedroom into focus. As soon as his handsome face came into view, a wave of sadness washed over me, and I reached for him, pulling his arms around me as I swallowed a sob.

"That was no dream. It was a nightmare. Thank you for saving me." I filled my sinuses with his gollum scent, trying to push the disturbing images away.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not at all. I want to forget about it."

"Anything I can do to help you forget?" Vincent nipped at my lower lip in a playful kiss, and I felt the warmth of his hand on my belly as he rubbed it.

"How about a foot massage? My feet feel like water balloons, although I haven't seen them for days. Do they look like water balloons?"

"Now there's a loaded question." Vincent arranged himself at the far end of the bed and took one of my bloated feet into his hands. "Your feet look radiant. I'd like to suck on each toe, one by one. Then lick the curve of your ankle, kissing my way up your leg until I reach your delicious center."

As Vincent spoke his seduction, he pressed his thumb into the instep of my foot, helping release the stress of the dream with his nimble fingers. No way was I telling him about the disturbing visions I'd been having about our baby being born with horns.

"Rub first, suck later," I told him as I relaxed. "What time is it? We need to be ready to leave by nine."

"We have plenty of time. Scooby is getting the jet fueled-up and Griffin is making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for the trip."

"Mmm, sounds delicious." I moaned as I thought about muffins and the excellent foot massage I was receiving. "And Scooby has a flight plan worked out so we can land anywhere if I go into labor?"

"You already asked that. Several times, in fact. Do you think your mate wouldn't plan for every possibility?"

"No, but my hormone-addled brain will probably keep asking questions you've already given the answer to. So, I apologize ahead of time."