She elongated the last three words, making them almost sound like a moan. Alex knew she was teasing, but she didn’t care. She wanted them, and she was tired of pretending she didn’t. If they wanted to abide by this stupid rule, then that was their choice. She was an adult woman with desires, and she was no longer going to shove those desires down and act like she was happy with the situation.
None of the brothers could look at her.
Xavier was the first to speak. “If you really think it would make you feel that
much better...” he trailed off.
“And if you think being less stressed would be better for the baby,” Charlie continued the thought.
“Maybe we should reconsider,” said Teddy. “The doctor only said we couldn’t have sex, he never advised us against... other things.”
Xavier looked up from his hands. “That’s true. We can do what needs to be done to make you feel better. For the sake of your health and the baby’s health, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Alex agreed. “We can agree right now that whatever we do or don’t do is strictly for health reasons. There are no feelings or desires here, just medicine.”
Charlie stood up and walked behind the chair Alex was sitting in. He put his hands on her shoulders and started to massage. With the feeling of his hands on her, pushing and pulling at her aching muscles with the same tenderness he possessed when they made love, Alex lost herself in the sensation. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.
Somebody was now at her feet. It was Teddy, she figured, considering how quickly he had gotten across the room. He picked up one of her ankles and began to rub her foot. After a few moments, another pair of hands, Xavier’s, took the other foot. Alex didn’t care if this was all they did, if this was all that happened. She was already in ecstasy. Charlie’s hands moved down from her shoulders and suddenly they were down her dress, touching her breasts. The two brothers at her feet moved their hands slowly up and down her legs, tickling her thighs.
Then, all the hands were gone. Alex opened her eyes. She went to speak, but her words were caught when Teddy reached one arm under her knees and one behind her back, and lifted her from her chair. He carried her to the bedroom, followed by Charlie and Xavier on his crutches.
Teddy put her down gently, next to the bed. She stood staring at the three of them. Her eyes met Xavier’s and she let out a sad, apologetic sight. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this. You’re still hurting, I can tell. I don’t want to do anything that might exacerbate the pain or make things worse. I was just being selfish before.” She continued to ramble, nervous and incredibly turned on, and walked over to Xavier. “Xav, I’m sorry. Let’s just go back into the living room and sit down. If we want to do this, or something else, after the baby is born or––”
“Shhh.” Xavier took one of his hands off his crutch and placed a finger to her lips. “Stop talking. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Tonight is all about you.”
All the sudden, Charlie was behind her, slowly pulling her dress up and kissing her neck. Xavier threw the crutches to the side, took Alex’s hand, and carefully led her to the bed. She closed her eyes. Her dress was off. A hand was pulling down her underwear. Soon, she was naked and sprawled on the bed. Teddy was kissing her, his now familiar tongue exploring her mouth and driving her crazy. She could feel her excitement dripping down her legs. Her eyes were closed, but she could tell which brother was where. Xavier was at her side, softly caressing her arms, and Charlie was at the foot of the bed, kissing her thighs.
Charlie put his hands on either one of her knees and lovingly opened her legs. His lips left soft kisses on the quaking flesh of her inner thigh, his mouth taunting her. Teddy stopped kissing her, and she let out a soft sound of pleasure. Teddy moved to her side and sucked on one of her breasts, Xavier took the other in his mouth.
Charlie had enough of her thighs, and he was kissing her between the legs now. His tongue was inside of her, licking at her hungrily like she was the sweetest, juiciest piece of ripe fruit. He plunged his tongue in and out of her, then brought his whole mouth forward and sucked on her clitoris. Alex’s soft sounds turned to deep, loud moans. She came once, and expected everything to stop. Instead, Charlie pulled Alex up by her arms and started kissing her.
He told her to get up on her knees and started kissing her neck. As she sat up on her knees, another mouth was suddenly between her legs. She no longer kept track of whose hands, mouth, tongue, were whose. One mouth was kissing hers, many hands were fondling her, and one tongue was inside her. It didn’t matter who was doing what. They were all in that moment together, and Alex let herself fall over the edge of lust, love, passion, and all the other feelings she’d felt since meeting the Armstrong brothers.
At this point, all four of them were breathing heavily, sometimes moaning. She came a second time and nearly crumbled with the satisfied pleasure.
Each brother slowly stopped what they were doing, and allowed her to lay back. She kept her eyes closed the whole time. It took her a good thirty seconds to completely come down from her multiple orgasms. By the time she opened her eyes the brothers were gone.
Slipping out of bed and into a robe, she poked her head out of the bedroom. Teddy was the only one there. He was in the kitchen writing something down on a piece of paper.
Alex cleared her throat. He looked up. “Oh, hi.” He grabbed the piece of paper and crumbled it up. “We thought you were going to fall asleep. I was just leaving you a note.”
“It will take me a while to fall asleep after that.” She leaned against the side of the doorway. “Can I ask you something?”
He folded his arms across his chest causally. “Sure.”
“I know you guys said you would help me and my family even after the baby was born, and that I could be as involved as I want to be, but I’ve been wondering... Once the baby is born, what will happen between us? Because I’ve already fallen head over heels in love with this child and there is no way I am not going to be here to watch it grow up. So, I guess what I’m asking is, are the four of us just going to be co-parents? Or are we going to be a family?”
Teddy squinted his eyes. “That’s a good question.” He shrugged. “Traditionally, with situations such as this, you would just be here to provide the child and, if you so chose, help raise it. There would not be much of a relationship between us and you.”
Alex’s eyes found the floor. They stung with the promise of tears. “I see. Okay.”
“But,” said Teddy. “So far, nothing we’ve done has been according to traditions. I don’t see why we would suddenly start following the rules after the baby was born.”
The tears still came, but they were tears of joy. “Really?” Alex looked up and smiled. “You’re not just saying that because I’m pregnant and emotional and you don’t want me to cry?”
Teddy laughed. “No, I really mean it. I don’t know for sure about my brothers, but if I had to guess, they would be just as interested in starting a family as I am.”
“That’s so good to hear,” said Alex. “Now, I think I’ll be able to sleep soundly.” She yawned. “I’m gonna’ head to bed.”
“Goodnight,” he said. “I love you.”
At first, she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. He’s spoken very softly. But when her eyes met his, and saw the intensity and fear behind them, she knew her ears did not deceive her. “I love you too.”
She turned her back on him and closed the door.
The Bun’s Almost Done
Alex’s belly was growing so large, she wondered if she might be cooking twins, or maybe even triplets. But the doctor assured her at her latest appointment that she was only going to have one baby, and that baby was perfectly healthy. He gave her a tentative due date for three weeks out and asked if she wanted to know the sex.
“Of course!” Charlie said.
“Wait, wait.” Alex put her hand up to the doctor before he could say anything. “I was sort of hoping we could have it
be a surprise.”
“Whatever you want,” said Xavier, clearly not caring one way or the other.
“I’m good with a surprise,” said Teddy.
Charlie frowned and his shoulders sunk. “Okay, fine.”
Alex grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Thank you.”
The ultrasound technician was having some difficulty getting the machine to boot up. Xavier was squirming and checking his watch.
“Do you need to get back to the office?” Alex asked. “You can go. We’ve got everything under control here.”
“You sure?” he said.
“Absolutely.”
“In that case,” said Teddy, “I might leave as well. Joel is bringing some contractors over to the mansion to figure out the plans for the nursery. I am supposed to meet him in ten minutes.”
“Yes, yes.” Alex ushered them towards the door. “Go, go. Charlie and I will be fine.”
They eventually agreed and with a kiss on the cheek from both of them, they left. The technician told them that it was a new ultrasound machine and she wasn’t sure how exactly to fix the problem. She went to go look for the older model, which she was much better equipped to use.
Charlie was still holding Alex’s hand. He rubbed his hand over her knuckles. “You feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Alex sighed. “Just hope she gets this up and running soon.”
Neither of them said anything for a while. The only noise in the room was the sound of their breathing and some non-distinct chatter from the lobby.
“So––” Alex started to say.
“I love you.”
He wasn’t looking at her. He was staring out the window, as if what he’d just said was as casual as mentioning the fact that it looked like it might rain. “You don’t have to say it back, but I’ve been dying to say so for a long time.”
“I love you too, Charlie.” She wondered if she should mention that Teddy had told her the same thing not four weeks before, but figured it didn’t matter. This was her moment with Charlie. “I’m glad you said it.”
He looked at her, apparently now feeling comfortable with eye contact again. They were both smiling; Charlie’s cheeks were rosy. For a moment, Alex felt like they might kiss, but they were interrupted by the technician coming back into the room. “I’m sorry for the wait, but it appears all our machines are down.”
“All of them?” Charlie’s eyebrows were halfway up his forehead. “That’s crazy. This is supposed to be the most advanced hospital in the region. How can all your ultra machines be down?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the woman said. “They are sending someone to come look at them, but it will probably be a few hours.”
Alex’s stomach growled. “I don’t know if I can wait that long. Maybe we should just reschedule.”
The technician sucked some air through her teeth, making a soft hissing sound. “Actually, the doctor is all booked up for two months.”
“Tell him it’s for baby Armstrong. I’m sure he’ll be able to squeeze us in somewhere.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we can’t make any exceptions,” said the nurse. “I suppose I can put you on a waiting list, but there’s no guarantee that any appointments will open up.”
Alex could tell Charlie was starting to get irritated. “Do you know how much money our father has donated to this hospital?”
Alex touched his arm. “Charlie, it’s fine.” She saw that the technician was looking panicked, and it wasn’t like this was her fault. “I can wait. It’s no big deal. They have magazines and Teddy left me a book. How about you go grab us some food while I wait?”
“I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Alex. “I’m in a hospital. I’ll be fine.” She lowered her voice. “There haven’t been any attacks since the first incident. I don’t think anyone is after us or me. You’ll only be gone a few minutes! I can be alone for a few minutes.”
Charlie bit on the inside of his cheek, causing a dent to form on the outside. Alex held his gaze, keeping her eyes confident and unblinking. “Okay. I’ll go. But I’m just running to the gift shop downstairs. I will be five minutes, max.”
“Sounds good.”
He kissed her, quick and on the mouth. Then hurried out of the room.
The technician let him pass and looked over her shoulder, watching Charlie leave. After a few seconds she turned back to Alex. “Since we have to wait anyway, I might as well get your blood and urine samples now, so I can go help other patients. Is it alright if we start with you blood sample?”
“That’s fine,” said Alex.
The woman closed the door behind her and Alex thought she heard the click of the lock. Don’t be so paranoid. She laughed at herself internally. You’re just tired and you’re hearing things.
The woman pulled a syringe from her pocket and motioned for Alex to hold out her arm. She took a tiny vial of something out of the same pocket.
“What’s that?”
“This,” said the nurse, “is a fancy new drug we use to calm our patients down before we do things like take blood or give extra-painful shots. We find it’s much easier to stick a vein when our patients feel at ease and are not stressed.” She loaded the vial in the syringe.
“Oh that’s okay, I’m not stressed.” Alex smiled. “Needles don’t scare me, and I’ve been told I have really prominent veins. See, there’s a few big ones right there.” She pointed at her forearm. “You can go ahead and save that drug for someone who needs it more.”
“Actually, it’s protocol.” The woman flicked the syringe a few times and looked at the liquid. Satisfied, she smiled at Alex and promptly plunged the needle into her arm. “Now lay back and relax.”
The drug felt cold as it entered Alex’s bloodstream. A chill went down her spine, and she suddenly developed a distinct, dreadful feeling that something was terribly wrong. “This is working very fast,” she said. Her voice sounded weird, distorted. “What is happening?” Her breathing slowed. She stared down at her hands, which looked like they were vibrating. “What–– what did you give me?”
The woman didn’t say anything. Alex’s eyes started to feel heavy. They fluttered once, twice, and then closed. The last thing she heard before she was pulled into the black void of unconsciousness was a familiar male voice.
“Yup, that’s her,” he said. “That’s the Armstrong’s bitch. Let’s get her out of here before husband number one gets back.”
The first thing Alex noticed when she woke up was the smell. Her eyes had yet to open, but her nostrils were alert with the stench of urine and mold. Alex’s sleep had been a dreamless, restless one. Her body ached and exhaustion melted through her bones. She kept her eyes shut, hoping maybe she could will herself back to sleep.
Something cold and wet hit the back of her neck and crawled down her shirt. Her eyes flew open and reality punched her in the gut. She was in a large, dim room. There were no windows. It appeared to be a basement of sorts. Her arms were outstretched above her and her hands were tied to a leaky pike that ran along the wall. Her feet were tied as well. Her little wolf kicked and repositioned itself inside her stomach, as if sensing Alex’s discomfort. A scared hiccup escaped her lips.
“Hello?” A woman’s voice came from the far corner. Alex could barely make out the shape of another person, also tied up. “Are you awake?”
“Yes, I’m awake,” Alex croaked. “Where are we?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” She sounded mousy and petrified.
“What’s going on?” Alex raised her voice. “Who brought us here?”
There came the sound of muffled voices from above. “Oh please don’t make them angry,” said the woman. “If you make too much noise, you will make them angry.”
“Make who angry?” asked Alex, lowering her voice ever so slightly. She didn’t care about making her kidnappers angry, but she also didn’t see any reason to make the other woman more upset than she already wa
s.
“They will be coming down to feed us,” said the woman. “The other girl was always yelling and talking back to them. They would punish all of us when she would disobey. You’re not going to do that, are you? Please, tell me you’ll just cooperate.”
“I can’t promise anything until I know what’s going on. Can you tell me anything?” Alex tried maneuvering closer to the woman, shimmying her tied hands along the pipe. After a foot or two, she grew tired and took a break. “Why are they doing this?”
The woman was not tied up. She crawled next to Alex and spoke in a whisper. “All I know is that all the women they’ve had down here have been pregnant. When the women go into labor, they take them upstairs and we never see them again.”
“How many women have they taken?”
“There were two other women here when I arrived. Both of them went into labor. They took the babies and disposed of the women.”
“Disposed?” Alex didn’t like the sound of that. The muscles in her arms and wrists tensed. At the mention of children, her instincts told her to reach for her stomach, but that was no longer an option.
“One of them screamed for help day and night,” said the woman. “Nobody ever heard her, or if they did, they never came to help her. It was no use, screaming. All it ever accomplished was keeping me awake.”
Alex’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness. There was nothing in the basement with them, save a bucket which, she guessed based on the smell, was where they were expected to go to the bathroom. She scrunched up her nose and was suddenly very aware of how full her bladder was. “My name is Alex, by the way,” she said, hoping to continue the conversation and distract herself.
“I’m Mary.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Er.” She frowned. “I mean, it isn’t really all that nice to meet you, considering the circumstances through which we are meeting, but I will say I’m glad I’m not alone down here.”
The BabyMakers’ Shared Property Page 11
