by Ewing, A. B.
****
Chapter 10
Raphael was a doting father-to-be. He was constantly at Dahlia’s side, fussing over her and the baby. At the first sign of fatigue he would usher her off to bed making sure she never over did it. Lauralyn and Alejandro were just as bad. They were always insisting that she rest and try not to do anything that would hurt the baby. Dahlia had all the love and attention a mother-to-be could crave, but she hated it!
She missed her sister terribly and she missed home. With nothing to do but rest, she ended up spending hours on end on the phone with Natasha. Although she loved Raphael with every waking breath it was still so difficult being away from her last living blood relative. Dahlia had grown so accustomed to the beaches, rivers, and ponds in the country side back in Trinidad, it became a challenge being cooped up in the city constantly. When she had finally reached the stage of wanting to pull her hair out and die of boredom, she decided to become proactive. She was going to collect on some of those marital dues. Six weeks after the wedding, Dahlia broached the subject of the promise to fly Natasha out with her husband.
At dinner one night after a million questions about the baby she finally dredged up enough courage to ask Raphael. “Raphael…Baby?”
“Um hum…?” He answered through a mouthful of chicken.
“I was wondering…I was wondering would it be alright for Natasha to come visit?” She whispered. Somehow all the courage she had stored up over the last couple of days seemed to have vanished.
Carefully placing his fork down, Raphael studied his wife, assessing the question carefully for a moment or two. “I do not think that is a very wise idea at this time.” Raphael knew he shouldn’t have said it, but he wasn’t quite ready to share his new bride with the world. He looked forward to the afternoons when he came home to spend time with his Dahlia and he certainly didn’t want her sister around at nights when he wanted to love his wife.
The baby would be here soon enough and then most of her time would be dedicated to caring for their child. So no, he would not feel guilty about wanting to spend all the time possible with his wife without the distraction of in-laws.
“But you promised,” she pointed out.
“Yes I did, but you do not need your sister around right now to have you all excited and running around the city when you should be resting. You have the baby to think about.”
There he went again, the baby! Stifling the urge to ask if all he cared about was the baby, Dahlia responded through clenched teeth. “Are you trying to say that I am incapable of taking care of my baby?”
“No es haci. Don’t put words in my mouth, Dahlia. You know I do not mean that. I just think that it is not good for the baby, or for you to be exhausting yourself.”
She was so tired of everyone talking about the baby, what about her? She loved her baby. She would never do anything to hurt him.
“Raphael, please…” She pleaded, pouting those beautiful lips at him and Raphael felt his reasoning begin to slip. If he did not put a stop to this now, he would give in. The next thing he would know Natasha would be sleeping in one of the spare rooms and all his privacy would go out the window.
“That’s enough, Dahlia! Your sister is not coming to stay here and that is all there is to say about that. Maybe after the baby’s born, she could visit.” And just like that he went back to his food.
Dahlia was as quiet as a mouse for the rest of dinner and that night when Raphael touched her, pressing his aroused body against her she feigned sleep. Quite amused at his wife’s attempt at withholding sex from him in order to get him to give in, Raphael smiled, leaving her to sleep. She would have settled down by the next day and then he would punish her in the sweetest of ways for making him suffer.
But she did not calm down. She barely said two words to him at breakfast the next morning and when he attempted to kiss her she pulled away. Amusement was quickly replaced by annoyance causing Raphael to snap.
“What is this nonsense you are carrying on with? I wish to kiss my wife and you turn from me.” When she didn’t answer, he came up behind her where she was dishing out his breakfast, gently spinning her around to look at him. When she tried to avoid looking at him, he urged her to look at him by holding her chin.
“Querida, por favor, tell me why you are upset with me? Is it because I will not allow your sister to visit?” He urged gently.
“You told me you would never deny me anything and I haven’t asked for anything until now. I miss my sister and I miss home. I promise I will not overdo it. I will be careful, but please Raphael, please let her come.” And when the first tear slipped past her lids his resistance crumbled.
“You do not have any idea how much I love you, do you? I admit my reason for not wanting your sister to come is selfish. I am not ready to share you with the world, but I will not be the reason you hurt. I will make the necessary arrangements to have her flown here. Will that put a smile on my beautiful wife’s face?” It did.
“Oh Raphael, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she cried. Throwing her arms around his neck, she rained kisses over his face and neck and when her lips finally touched his, Raphael could not contain the primitive growl that escaped his throat. It was always like this with her. She just had to touch him and he would go up in flames. What was amazing was the drive with which she matched his passion.
Diving into the kiss he gripped her bottom, pulling her up against him. “Put your legs around me, Amor.” He commanded in a rough voice.
When she obliged, he lifted her off the floor, putting her to sit at the edge of the counter. Pressing himself tighter between her spread thighs, he pushed her dress up, his big hands gliding up her legs and higher. Slipping the dress over her head he tossed it carelessly over his shoulder. She leaned back supporting herself on her hands.
Raphael swore as his gazed travelled up her exposed body. Even with his child growing inside her, she was so erotic spread like this before him. Her beautiful hair hung loose, the ends gathered on the counter top, her brown eyes dilated with the passion he aroused in her and with nothing but the little scrap of cloth that covered her nether regions she was practically begging for it. Raphael gave it to her. All, and then some!
****
When Natasha finally arrived four days later, Dahlia was like a child in a candy shop. She was up long before Raphael and when he finally woke after a long night in his wife’s body it was to find her wearing the sexiest lingerie he had seen. She was rifling through the closet, reaching to take something from the top. The little piece of green silk she wore rose higher, exposing everything he already had imprinted in his brain. That didn’t stop him from being instantly aroused. Throwing off the covers, he crept up behind her on the carpeted floor. Circling her swollen waistline, he nuzzled her neck inhaling that unique scent she carried around. Pressing his hardened length against her, he groaned.
“Ah, Tesoro, are you deliberately trying to drive me crazy?”
Turning around in his arms she looked up through innocent eyes and playfully asked. “Me? What have I done? I was just minding my own business—looking for something to wear when you snuck up on me and stuck me with something in my back.” Her index finger lightly jabbed him in the chest.
Grabbing hold of her wayward finger he put it in his mouth gently sucking on the tip. He saw more than heard her quick intake of breath. Trailing his hand down her sides, he cupped her between her legs and when she bucked against his palm a wicked smile crossed his lips, with her finger still in his mouth he asked, “Mm, Amor. It seems as though we both have a problem. What do you think we should do to solve it?”
Pushing at his chest gently so that he staggered backwards onto the bed, she came to stand over him. “Cavos, do you know what is worse than a pregnant woman in the morning?”
“No, Amor, but I am sure that you are going to tell me.” He challenged.
“Yes, and when I am finished you will know never to tease a horny pregnant woman in the morning,” she stress
ed as she mounted him. They were an hour late in picking up Natasha at the airport.
****
“It is so good to see you this happy, Dahlia.” Natasha stated as she sat opposite her sister at the little roadside café.
“It feels good to be this happy! Raphael is wonderful. He takes good care of me.”
“Oh, I know! What I don’t see in your face, I hear at night.” Natasha teased and further broke out into a fit of laughter when Dahlia’s face went beet red.
Raphael was an ardent, experienced lover and when Dahlia was in his arms she forgot the world around. To think that Natasha had heard them making love made her wish the ground would open and swallow her up. It was embarrassing knowing that she couldn’t control her moans when she was with her husband.
“Don’t worry, Little Sister. I know that that husband of yours is a sex God. So there is no need to be ashamed of how he makes you feel. Maybe he can teach Roger a thing or two.” Natasha joked, winking at her sister across the table.
This was the sixth day of Natasha’s visit and she would be returning home the next day. They decided to have lunch at a small café in town after they had done a ton load of shopping. Dahlia couldn’t wait to show Raphael all the little cute stuff she had bought for the baby. Even though Raphael made it clear that she should get whatever she wanted she was apprehensive about spending too much. It was just not in her blood to spend money carelessly. So many times she and Raphael had the “Dahlia, my money is your money” conversation but still she couldn’t bring herself to spend a lot.
She had made sure to enjoy every moment with her sister because when Natasha went home it would be months before they saw each other again. Soon, both of them would be too pregnant to travel.
Despite Raphael’s constant reminders that she needed to rest, she and Natasha were up and out early every day. When they got in at nights, Raphael would already be in. Always the attentive husband, he would bring her tea in bed, rub her feet that were beginning to swell and then he would make love to her ever so gently into the late hours of the morning.
The baby was fine, her sister was here, and her husband loved her. What more could she possibly want?
“So have you guys picked out any names for the baby yet?” Natasha was asking, but something in the distance behind her sister caught Dahlia’s attention. Focusing on the man stepping out of the hotel, a smile stole across her face, but faltered when she saw the woman holding the baby stepping out behind him. Her heart fell into her stomach when she saw Raphael take the baby from the woman, bringing it close to his chest. Dahlia let out a stifled groan when the woman said something to him and then brought a hand up to caress his face.
“Dahlia, Dahlia? What is it? What’s the matter?” Natasha was asking but Dahlia couldn’t seem to take her eyes from the events unfolding in front of her. The woman she didn’t know, but the man that was holding the child, the man that was bending down to place a kiss on the woman’s upturned cheek, she did.
Unconsciously she rose from her seat. Unwillingly, her feet took her closer to where they were. Dahlia watched as she got closer. Her lungs constricted, as the woman got into the car and then Raphael, baby in hand disappeared behind her. What was going on? Who was the woman he was so over affectionate with? Why was he cuddling the baby as if it was his own? Could it be?
Dammit! She had a right to know what her husband was doing with some woman and a child in the middle of the day. Without another thought, she stepped out of the pavement with every intention of stopping the vehicle that was now pulling away from the curb. The last thing she heard before the car came pummeling into her was Natasha screaming her name.
****
Chapter 11
This was not something Rafe was expecting or prepared for—to have Sarafina show up like this, with a baby in tow. The last he had heard from her was when he had called off the wedding six and a half months ago. In an act of rebellion she had packed up and moved to Miami with Maxwell Remington. She had even gone as far as cutting off her family when they asked her to come home. No one blamed Raphael. Sarafina was an adult and she was responsible for herself and her own actions.
To say he had been stunned to receive a call from her today would be an understatement because even he had not been able to convince her to come home. It was an even bigger surprise when he showed up at the hotel restaurant to find her sitting there with a baby—Maxwell Remington nowhere around.
The first word that popped into his head was “run.” He got the worst feeling that this visit had to do with the baby she was cuddling in her arms and him being the father. The second thing that surface was Dahlia. If this was heading in the direction he thought, it would crush his wife—that, he would spare her at all cost.
But it hadn’t gone at all like that. Sarafina was not the same immature woman she was a couple months ago. It seemed as if motherhood had forced her to grow up. She was back to stay. Maxwell had run off with some girl and he didn’t want anything to do with her or the baby. Rafe’s heart went out to her as she described the physical and verbal abuse she faced at Maxwell Remington’s hand. As he listened, Rafe made a mental note to break Remington’s legs if he ever saw him again.
What Sarafina needed, was support. She was too scared and embarrassed to face her family after the way she behaved. Rafe could do that. He could support her by going with her to confront her parents. Even though things didn’t end well between them she was still a friend. If for some reason she could not mend fences with her family he would help her with her son. He knew Dahlia would understand. His wife was the most loving and humble person he knew.
Now, more than two hours after, he sat here in his large executive office overlooking the city of New York. The glass windows allowed him exclusive views of the Hudson River. This is something Dahlia would love to see.
Everything was right in the world. Sarafina was back home with her parents, Dahlia loved him, and he was going to be a father in less than three months. Glimpsing at the Black Caviar Bang watch that adorned his right wrist he realized that is was going to be past two and he had not heard from his wife for the day. Retrieving his new smart phone from his jacket he hit one and then the call button. Those two must be stalking every baby shop in the city. It seemed that is all they ever did since Natasha flew in six days ago. By the time they got in at night Dahlia was exhausted and even though worried about the baby, she was happy. That was all that mattered. He knew she would never do anything to harm their baby.
The phone took forever to respond and when it did, it went straight to voicemail. Cutting the call, he tried again. This time there was no delay, it went straight to voicemail. After several attempts with the same results, Rafe began to worry. One thing Dahlia never did was let her phone battery go dead. That was the one rule they had. He must be able to always be in contact with her and her with him. Just for good measure he had also gotten her one of those solar charges that powered up with light. It never left her bag. Something was wrong! Scrolling through his phone, he found Natasha’s number but it ended in the same result. Voicemail!
“Damn it Natasha, answer your phone!”
He was in the middle of another voicemail greeting when the phone on his desk rang. Grabbing the phone, he nearly shouted at his secretary, “What is it Luann?”
“Mr. Cavos, there is a young lady on the phone asking for you. She says she’s your sister-in-law. Should I patch her through?” The shrilly voice on the other end asked.
Impatiently he answered “Yes, yes. Put her through.”
“Raphael…Oh God! Please, you have to hurry!” Natasha’s frantic voice vibrated in his ear.
“Natasha, what is it? What happened?”
“We didn’t see the car. It came out of nowhere!” She rambled.
“Natasha, calm down and tell me what the hell is wrong. Where is, Dahlia?”
“Dahlia! Oh God! There was so much blood…”
Fear coiled up from the recesses of his stomach to swallow his h
eart at Natasha’s word. Someone must have taken the phone from the other end because a more calm female voice asked “Hello, who is this?”
“This is Raphael Cavos. Is my wife alright?”
“Sir, my name is Jennifer Guiles. I am sorry to tell you, but your wife is here at Geneva Memorial. She was hit by a car earlier on and is currently in surgery.”
Rafe utilized the iron fisted control he always practiced. He could not, would not panic. “How bad is she?”
“I’m sorry Mr. Cavos, but honestly I cannot answer that right now. What I can tell you is that she was rushed into surgery the moment she arrived and she is still in there.” How the hell could that woman be so calm when she was delivering such bad news?
More than an hour in surgery? Was it that bad? Dropping the phone back on its hanger without so much as a ‘thank you’ to the Guiles woman, Rafe grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and headed out the door.
It was the middle of the day and this was New York. The traffic would be a nightmare. He needed something that could cut through the traffic without any obstructions. The Bugatti Veyron would not cut it. Grabbing his mobile once again he dialed. When the person on the other end answered he commanded, “Martin, I need the Tomahawk right away,” then he hung up. That beast is exactly what he needed right now.
Rushing past his secretary he threw her a quick “Luann cancel everything for the rest of the day” without even looking at her.
Before she could answer or ask a question the elevator door closed cutting him off. Resting his head against the cold wall he shut his eyes, praying that his wife and child would be okay. Without them he would cease to exist.
****
The first thing he noticed, when the elevator door opened to admit him to the large hospital waiting room, was a pregnant Natasha. She was pacing the floor, her clothing stained with what seemed like blood. She must have heard the ding of the elevator door because she looked up. For the first few seconds she just stared at him, but then she ran across the wide expanse of the floor throwing herself in his arms.
