Chapter Nine
Jessica ducked low into the basket and covered her head with both arms as the balloon careened into the upper boughs of the tree. It just grazed the branches, but it was enough to rock the basket and make Jessica’s stomach threaten an upheaval.
Sed was suddenly huddled over her protectively. “Are we going to crash?” he bellowed at Gary.
“We’re in for a rough landing. Remember how we told you to handle a rough landing?”
Yeah, Jessica remembered. She also remembered being told that the chances of said rough landing were miniscule.
“You can’t cover her like that,” Gary shouted.
“I have to protect her!”
“Beside her, not above her. Remember? We practiced this.”
Sed pulled away from Jessica’s body and knelt beside her on the floor of the basket.
“It’ll be okay,” he said, the fear in his eyes so acute, she could almost reach out and grab it. “I will never allow you to be hurt, Jess. Understand?”
The reasonable person in Jessica knew there were some instances when Sed wouldn’t be able to protect her, but the scared-shitless individual quaking uncontrollably on the floor of the basket clung to his words like they were a lifeline.
She’d be okay. The baby would be okay. The fates wouldn’t dare defy Sed.
This wouldn’t be like a plane crash, right? They weren’t all that high and weren’t moving at a high velocity. It was just a gentle hot air balloon. How bad could this be? Still… She covered her lower belly protectively and prayed for the safety of their child, remembering the warning they’d chosen to ignore prior to liftoff. If they got through this unscathed, she silently vowed not to do anything reckless for the rest of her pregnancy.
Sed’s gaze was glued to her abdomen.
“I’m not in my third trimester,” she reminded him. Reminded herself. A premature baby in the third trimester had a fighting chance, but if she went into labor now… She squeezed her eyes closed. She didn’t want to consider that possibility. “The baby will be fine. The baby will be fine!”
Oh God, please let the baby be fine. She sucked her quivering lips between her teeth and braced for impact.
The basket hit the ground with a hard thud, bounced, hit the ground again with a teeth-jarring crash, and then tipped over on its side. Jessica clung to her belly, not caring if she face-planted into the rattan as long as she could cushion the baby’s landing. Her face didn’t land on rattan. Somehow Sed managed a tuck and roll maneuver that caught her on top of him as his body took the brunt of the impact.
“Everyone okay?” Gary shouted.
“Yeah,” Jessica replied, struggling to crawl off Sed and out of the overturned basket. She didn’t notice that Sed hadn’t moved until she was standing beside the basket next to the deflated blue balloon with her knees shaking, but the rest of her surprisingly sound. “Sed?”
He answered with a groan of misery.
“Sed!” She dashed back to the basket and dropped to her knees beside him, running her hands over his body, looking for broken bones. She was pretty sure if she found one, she’d be sick all over him, but she had to find out if he was okay. “Where are you hurt?”
“I hope you want only one child,” he said breathlessly and then curled into fetal position with a whine.
She slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that! I thought you were hurt.”
“You obviously don’t have balls of your own,” he said, rolling onto his hands and knees, crawling forward, and collapsing in the grass outside the basket.
Gravel crunched and sprayed as the chase car skidded to a halt on a nearby country road. A car door slammed, followed by the sound of running footsteps.
Gary’s wife collided with her husband’s body, then she kissed every inch of his face.
“I’m so sorry. I took a wrong turn and ended up on a dead-end gravel road and had to retrace my path. By the time I spotted you again, the balloon was already down. Is everyone okay?”
Jessica nodded. Sed staggered to his feet, still slightly hunched over as he tried to regain his bearings and protect his balls from additional threats.
“Our sex life is going to end up killing us,” Sed murmured.
“I’d say it was worth it, but the baby…” She rubbed her belly, still not able to say what might have happened. It was hard enough just thinking about it. “We have to be more responsible. If something happened to our child, I—” Her voice cracked as the implications of what could have happened slammed down on her. Her knees buckled, and she grabbed Sed’s arm to keep herself from crumpling to the ground.
“You’re right,” he said, looking more dejected than Jessica had ever seen him. “I put you and the baby at risk. I was thinking with my dick. As usual.”
“You just wanted our wedding night to be memorable,” Jessica said, patting his arm. “You can’t take all the blame. I went against the advisement too.”
She studied him and then slowly smiled with relief as the enormity of what could have happened was replaced with the realization that it hadn’t. The baby was okay. She was okay. Sed was only slightly damaged below the belt.
“I was thinking with my pussy. As usual.”
He chuckled and attempted to stand up straight, but winced and leaned forward again. “We’ll just have to make love with our feet safely on the ground. And my balls safely away from your knee.”
Jessica sighed. “I already had to give up hot-tub sex for this kid, now I have to give up ankles-behind-my-ears sex too? Just how much do I have to sacrifice to be a mother?” She was joking, of course. She’d willingly give up any of her own comforts and pleasures to protect her baby. But she needed the relief of a good laugh.
“We do have that new tantric chair arriving any day. Supposedly it makes all one hundred positions easier on the body.”
“Are you sure there are only a hundred positions?” She gasped as if scandalized. “We’ll be bored with it in a month, Sed.”
“I could never get bored with you.” He wrapped her in both arms and drew her against his warmth, surrounding her in a cocoon of leather-scented protectiveness. “You’re my heart.”
“And you’re mine,” she whispered.
They stood like that for a very long while, afraid to separate.
Having already packed the balloon on the trailer behind the SUV, Gary approached them. “Are you ready to head back to your car?” he asked. “I think we’re all a bit rattled after that wild ride.”
“I’m ready,” Sed said. “Though I think our wild ride is just beginning.”
Jessica hugged Sed tighter, needing his strength and stability now and for the long road ahead of them.
Sed tried to take a step, but Jessica held him fast.
“Jess? Don’t you want to head for home?”
“Patience,” she said. “I haven’t quite found my strength yet. I need to borrow a bit more of yours.” She never thought she’d willingly admit something like that, but it was true. Sometimes she would have to depend on him. And there was nothing wrong with that.
“Anytime, sweetheart,” he whispered against her hair and drew her closer still. “Anything you need from me is yours.”
“Right now I just need a strong pair of arms around me and a hard chest to lean against.”
He chuckled. “Then I’ve got you covered, baby.”
And she trusted he always would.
November Rain