A crash and the sound of a man swearing temporarily brought her out of her state of shock.
Ethan entered. He had a small, round bald man in a choke hold. The man was bleeding from his nose and a large gash on his brow. Ethan looked no worse for wear. He didn’t appear to be hurt except for a few small lacerations on his hands similar to Selene’s cuts.
Ethan’s face was a mask of anger and concentration. The cold expression on his face scared Selene. She was again struck by the feeling that this was not his first time in a situation like this.
Ethan released his choke hold on the man. “On your knees,” he ordered.
“I thought you were smarter than this,” he said to the man. “Did you really think it would be that simple? You could just kill us and walk away? Are you that stupid?”
The man looked as if he might cry.
“Do you know him?” Selene asked timidly from her seat on the couch.
Ethan turned. He looked surprised, as if he had forgotten she was there.
“Yes,” he said, “this is- was my private detective.”
“They threatened me… my family… I couldn’t- I had to take their money,” he said pathetically.
“If they threatened you, then you should’ve come to me. I would’ve protected you. We could have stopped them. Instead you chose to try and kill my girlfriend, not to mention me.”
Selene was momentarily taken aback by Ethan referring to her as his girlfriend. Was that what she was now? Her words from earlier echoed in her mind: we’re in this together now.
The man reached in front of him picking up a large, pointed piece of broken glass. He swung it at Ethan, but kept his distance.
“You can’t stop them!” he said. “You think I want to do this? That I want to hurt people?
I don’t want to hurt anyone.” His voice broke up and tears filled his eyes.
“Easy,” Ethan said, “just tell me who they are.”
“You can’t stop them,” he said again weakly, tear streaming down his face.
The arm holding the glass dropped and Ethan stepped towards him. Selene sat frozen on the couch, she could tell Ethan was going to attempt to disarm the man. The thought terrified her; she was certain he would be stabbed to death.
Ethan took another step closer. The man’s arm shot up. “You’re already dead and you don’t even know it,” he said. The man then brought the glass to his own neck and slit his throat.
5
Later, all Selene could remember was blood. It poured from the man’s neck and onto the floor in a flood of red. Then things went dark.
The next thing she knew she was in bed, back in Ethan’s mansion. Months passed. She stuck to her corner of the house. Ethan would attempt to comfort her, Selene would resist, on and on it went.
She would lay in bed all day haunted by the sounds of footsteps above her. Ethan’s wife never slept. She paced through the attic and down the halls at night, yet Selene never saw her and Ethan never spoke of her. Her belly grew and suddenly things changed. It happened the first time she felt the baby kick. It was like a light in the dark.
It happened in the middle of the night. She was startled out of a dreamless sleep. She sat straight up in bed, convinced someone was in the room.
After the events in Ethan’s Victorian mansion, Selene had wanted to go on the run. She begged Ethan to come away with her, to fly to Europe or Mexico, but he refused. He insisted on staying and fighting head on. It had become an issue of pride with him.
Someone had attacked his girl and his unborn child. He couldn’t let them get away with it.
They retreated to his mansion in the hills. Ethan fortified the house and brought in
‘trusted’ men. Selene wasn’t sure why Ethan trusted them, she suspected Ethan paid them well or had dirt on them. Blackmail and bribery were his preferred business methods, she’d come to learn.
So, they hunkered down and waited to be attacked, but the attack never came. After a while, Selene grew comfortable; Ethan grew restless. The security team lurked the perimeter of the house, reported to Ethan, and Selene supposed, kept them safe.
Months had passed and instead of growing closer, she and Ethan had grown apart. Then came the night she was woken from her sleep by the baby’s kicking. Her eyes darted across the room looking for an intruder, but the room was empty. She thought at first it had been her imagination, then it happened again.
She put her hands to her belly and jumped out of bed. Without thinking, she ran down the hall and burst into Ethan’s room. He sprung out of bed as if he hadn’t been sleeping. All he was wearing were his boxers. Even in the dark Selene could see his muscles tense and bulge. They’d grown bigger since the last time she’d seen him naked: he’d been working out.
He looked as if he was ready to attack. Given the degree of stress they were under, she belatedly realized that she should’ve knocked first before entering.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked.
When he moved closer, Selene could see a gun in his hand. Was he sleeping with it under his pillow, she wondered. In truth, she was too happy to care. She took Ethan’s free hand and placed it over her belly. He raised an eyebrow out at her quizzically.
“Just wait,” she said.
On cue, the baby kicked. Ethan laughed. It was the first time she’d seen him happy since before the bloody business at the Victorian house.
“He’s strong,” Ethan said.
“How do you know it’s a boy?”
A doctor had been to the house to examine her, but she had decided to keep the sex of the baby a surprise.
“Boys run in the family.”
“Do they?”
An awkward silence fell between them: this was the most they’d spoken in a month.
Ethan pulled his hand away. The smile on his face began to fade. Selene grabbed his hand and held it to her belly. She took a step towards him and kissed him lightly on the lips.
Ethan stared at her, unsure how to react.
“Can I sleep with you?” Selene whispered.
Ethan nodded and led her to the bed. He set the gun on the nightstand, then pulled back the covers. Selene crawled in and laid on her side. She was getting big and it was uncomfortable for her to sleep on her back. Ethan laid down beside her and pulled the covers over them. He wrapped his arm around her and snuggled in close.
“I’ve missed this,” he said, kissing her neck.
Selene wondered if he was thinking about nights in bed with his wife. Territorially, she took Ethan’s hand and moved it over her breast. They were full and swollen, much bigger than the last time he had felt them.
His hand cupped her breast and squeezed greedily. Since becoming pregnant her nipples had become extremely sensitive. When Ethan’s fingers stroked them Selene felt a tickling sensation spread through her breasts and down her body.
Selene giggled. Embarrassed, she covered her mouth with her hand, but once she started she couldn’t stop; she felt like a school girl.
“I’ve never heard you giggle before,” Ethan said.
Selene reached around and slapped his ass. “Don’t make fun.”
“Yes ma’am,” Ethan replied playfully.
He buried his face in her neck, kissing her flesh and biting her earlobe. Selene’s giggles turned to moans. Her nipples weren’t the only part of her to become super sensitive since falling pregnant. Her whole body felt like a live wire; the slightest provocation would set her off. Ethan’s lips on her neck was enough to make her wet.
Selene arched her back, grinding her ass into his crotch. She felt his cock grow hard. She pulled her nightgown up. Ethan removed her underwear.
Laying on their sides, Selene’s back to Ethan’s front, they moved hungrily. It had been a long time since either of them had felt the touch of the other; neither was interested in playing games.
Ethan held Selene’s hips. Finding entrance, he moved quickly to fill the warm, wet space between her legs. He groaned as he ent
ered her. Selene thought she could feel the vibration of his voice echo down to her bones.
He kept a relentless pace, moving in and out of her. She already felt as if she was climaxing. One of the only benefits of out of control hormones was that she tended orgasm quickly, even when she was pleasuring herself. Her libido was on a hair trigger.
Selene reached around Ethan and grabbed his ass. It was rounder and harder than it had been at their last sexual encounter. She loved his body before, but now it was sculpted like a work of art.
Selene regretted having not turned the lights on so she could properly see it. Patience, she thought: later.
Squeezing Ethan’s ass, she pulled him towards her, encouraging him on. Just as Ethan released her hips and began massaging her breasts Selene climaxed. Ethan wasn’t finished yet though.
Driving his cock faster and harder inside her, he clung to her desperately. It reminded Selene of their first fateful sexual encounter. This time however, Selene felt as if he was trying to reconnect, to merge their bodies and souls as one.
This act of making love felt more meaningful to Selene than any of the words spoken between them in the last few months. She felt tears come to her eyes.
Ethan lay behind her, spent. His arm still held her tightly as if she were his anchor, or was he hers, she wondered.
She ran her fingers over his soft hand and closed her eyes. She wanted to enjoy the silence and the feel of his strong masculine arms protectively wrapped around her. It was the fist moment of peace she had experienced since meeting Ethan.
When she opened her eyes it was morning. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. She felt beside her: Ethan was gone. The sound of a sharp intake of air like someone in pain startled her.
Selene’s head snapped around towards the noise. She expected the worst: Ethan under attack, a hidden assailant, new, unknown dangers. What she saw was Ethan suspended in mid air in front of a large window.
Early morning light poured through the glass, hurting her eyes. Selene blinked and squinted her eyes. Ethan was breathing hard, his body moved up and down in the air. It was then she noticed a bar hung across the top of the window frame.
Another pained grunt escaped Ethan’s mouth as he continued his pull-ups. Selene smiled: for once she was greeted with a pleasant surprise.
She laid silent determined not to disturb Ethan’s workout. His back was to her. Selene couldn’t help marveling at how his once lean, toned frame had been transformed into the hard-muscled body of an athlete.
He exercised in the nude. A bead of sweat ran down his neck over his large shoulders and down his back.
The bizarre geometric tattoo he sported on his back caught her eye. As his muscles flexed and strained the shape seemed to moved and twist. It made Selene uncomfortable.
She cleared her throat. Ethan let go of the bar and turned to face her. The smile, absent from his face for months, had returned again.
He walked to the bed, leaned over her an whispered, “Good morning.” He kissed her lips softly, then moved down over belly. He whispered, “Good morning,” again, this time to their unborn baby. He kissed her belly lightly.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked as he rose to his feet.
“Mmm,” Selene murmured as she yawned and stretched her arms.
In a motion similar to Selene’s, Ethan stretched his arms above his head, then fell straight down to the floor. Bracing against the impact by landing on the palm of his hands, Ethan hit the floor hard.
Curious, Selene peaked over the bed. He was doing push-ups. His body was so straight it looked stream-lined as he moved up and down on the floor. Selene rested her head on her hand and watched.
“I’ve been thinking…” she began.
“Uh-oh.”
Selene threw a pillow at him. “As I was saying, I’ve been thinking and I’ve changed my mind.”
“About what?”
“About knowing the sex of the baby. Can we have Dr. Graham come to the house and do an ultrasound?”
Ethan stopped. He rose to his knees.
Brushing the hair out of her face, he ran his fingers around her ear, down her jaw line and over her lips. “Of course. And I want you to start decorating the baby’s room.”
“But-”
Ethan kept his finger over her lips. Selene had been hesitant to start a room for the baby.
The events of the past few months had left her paranoid and a bit superstitious. She couldn’t stop thoughts of ‘what if?’ What if they were attacked and she miscarried? What if there was something wrong with the baby? And her worst what if: What if something happened to Ethan?
Distancing herself from him had been a defense mechanism, she knew that now. She thought that is she could stay away from Ethan her love for him would wane, but that hadn’t worked. And now staring into his eyes she realized how foolish she’d been. Life was short. They should take advantage of every second they could together.
“Promise you’ll start looking at decorating the baby’s room?” he asked.
Selene nodded her head. Ethan removed the hand covering her mouth and kissed her. The kiss started out slow and intimate, then quickly escalated. Their tongues volleyed against one another. They shared a common neglected hunger for affection: a need they set out to fill with each other’s bodies.
Ethan jumped on the bed. He hovered over Selene, afraid to put pressure on her pregnant belly. Selene laughed at how delicately he treated her.
To remind him she wasn’t as fragile as she looked, she grabbed his shoulders and pushed him onto his back. In truth, she wasn’t that strong. Ethan could have easily resisted her, but he enjoyed indulging her playful aggression.
He rolled over and eagerly waited for her to mount him. Selene wasted no time. She straddled his prone body, her legs spread wide over him.
“Take off your nightgown,” Ethan said.
“No, I’m a whale.” Since discovering she was pregnant Selene had become self-
conscious of her body. The thought of being naked in front of Ethan made the blood rush to her face in embarrassment.
“You’re beautiful. Don’t talk like that.” Ethan rubbed her thighs slowly until she relaxed.
Then he pulled her nightgown up around her belly and ran his hands over her tight round stomach. “Beautiful,” he repeated.
Selene took the gown and pulled it over her head, leaving her completely exposed. She looked down at her full figure. Her body had become foreign to her: her full breasts, her bowed expansive stomach: she was all curves.
Ethan ran his hands over her breasts. Her nipples had changed color to a deep red. At first Selene found this disturbing, but now she thought they looked inviting like Maraschino cherries. She wanted Ethan to run his tongue over them and bite into the milky flesh of her breasts. With that thought fresh in mind, she settled down onto Ethan’s cock.
There was something about sex in the morning that felt special to Selene: waking up warm and comfortable, the stress of the day ahead feeling distant and insignificant. It allowed her to focus on his body and her own without distraction.
His skin was warm and lightly tanned. Small droplets of sweat dotted his chest. Selene could smell the musky scent of sweat radiating off Ethan’s body. It mingled together nicely with the feint hint of sex from the night before. The aroma aroused her.
She took Ethan’s cock in hand and positioned herself over it.
The muscles of his abdomen clenched in anticipation. He slid inside her easily.
At first she moved in slow concentric circles. She wanted to feel every inch of his thick cock.
Ethan let Selene take the lead. He matched her speed, moving in time with her body, only breaking rhythm occasionally to thrust once hard into her. The jolt would send Selene into fits of giggles.
Feeling tempted by his commanding thrusts, Selene increased her speed.
Their moans echoed through the silent home.
Ethan fucked her high and hard. Even in their frenzied state th
ey maintained a kind of symmetry. Their bodies moved in time together. Each had an instinct for the other’s sexual needs and desires. It was the one area of their relationship without complication or complaint and when they came together Selene felt a long welcome peace.
They laid in bed side-by-side. Ethan rubbed her belly and laughed as he felt it kick.
“How about John?” he said.
“How about him?” Selene said facetiously.
“I meant as a name for the baby.”
“What if it’s a girl?” she asked, amused by his insistence that the baby was a boy.
He thought for a moment. His face turned serious. “My grandmother’s name was
Penelope. She was the only one in the family that was ever really good to me.”
Selene ran her fingers through Ethan’s hair. “Penny would be nice.”
He smiled at her ruefully in an effort to change the subject. “Of course, it’ll be a boy so…”
Selene hit him with a pillow. Ethan responded by tickling her, which sent her into another fit of laughter.
“We’ll know soon enough,” he said. “While you were sleeping I called Dr. Graham. He said he’d come by this afternoon.”
“Good,” she said and pulled the covers over their heads.
Dr. Graham was a tall, middle-aged man with glasses and dark hair that was just graying at the temples. Selene thought he was quite handsome and under different circumstances she might have flirted with him. She wondered if he was married. What was the life of a doctor’s wife like, she thought. Long nights alone, boring charity galas, still better than living under the constant threat of death. Selene shook the idea out of her head. She loved Ethan, for better or worse.
Dr. Graham smiled at them warmly as they entered the room. The doctor had just finished setting up his equipment in the library. He shook both of their hands and guided Selene to a chaise lounge.
After she laid down, Dr. Graham carefully lifted up her top exposing her belly.
“This’ll be cold,” he said.
He poured gel on her stomach then began the ultrasound. The fast paced echo of the babies heart beat reverberated through the room.
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