Chapter 10
Piper
My lips tugged downinto a frown. I ran my hand over my stomach that had begun to swell more than before. I turned one way and then the other looking at the way my stomach protruded over my pants in the mirror.
I sighed and dropped my shirt. No matter how I look at it, no matter how many times I tell myself that it's just because I’m pregnant, my brain still sees that I’m getting fat. Even in a dream.
Turning from the mirror in my bedroom, my heart jumped into my throat. “Damn it, Antoine. Make a noise would you.”
Antoine’s lips twitched. He leaned against the bedroom door, his suit jacket and tie gone this time and his hands tucked into his pockets. His pale gaze slid over my form and settled on my stomach. I forced myself not to shy away from his gaze.
“You are lovely, Piper. Never doubt that.”
I pouted and placed my hands on my stomach over my shirt. “I know. Just feeling self-conscious today, I guess.”
“Why do you think that is?” Antoine asked, moving away from the door frame and walking with precise steps toward me.
I sank into his arms as he slid them around me, letting his hands settle on my hips. “I don’t know. I’m probably being silly. It’s just, I’m here and you are all at home and I just feel so...” My throat tightened. “...alone.”
Antoine lifted his hand from my hip and stroked my hair away from my face. “I understand. However, without any idea of where you are we are unable to reach you. Have you been able to find anything out that could help Rayne search for you?”
I chewed on my lower lip and pinched my brows together as I thought. I hadn’t been able to go outside so trying to see what it looked like from the outside was a no go. “Well, we know I’m still in the same time zone. So that narrows it down some...” I trailed off and then my eyes lit up. “I don’t know what it looks like from the outside but I convinced them to let me walk around the courtyard. That’s in the middle of the building or at least I think it is.”
Antoine nodded. “I can have Rayne search for buildings with a courtyard. What does it look like?”
“Well...” I began picturing the courtyard in my head. “There are four floors. With windows pointing into the courtyard. The walls are made up of some kind of old-fashioned stone in an off white grayish color. There’s a pretty fountain in the middle...”
“Do you remember what it looked like?”
I lifted my head to meet his gaze. “Will it help? Knowing what the fountain looks like I mean?”
Antoine cupped the side of my face and stroked his thumb over my cheek. “Anything right now could be the imperative to us finding you.”
I blew out a breath and lifted my eyes up to the ceiling. “It was like marble or something. With a woman...I think? Yeah. It was definitely a woman ‘cause I remember thinking her nipples were really pointy.”
Antoine chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Of course, you would.”
My lips pursed and looked at him warily. “Why are you being so lovey dovey all of a sudden?”
Leaning away from me, Antoine tilted his head to one side. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if I didn’t know it was impossible for anyone else to be in my dreams ‘cause of the whole blood bond thing, then I would think that you’d been possessed by one of those body snatchers they talk about on those sci fi shows.”
Antoine let out an impatient sigh and stepped away from me. “I can promise you I am who I have always been.” He held his hands out to either side letting me look over his form, then he added on, “However...”
“Oh no.” I sank down on the nearby chair. “Here we go. Just give me the bad news already. I can take it.”
Shaking his head, Antoine moved a few steps closer until he stood before me. I braced myself for whatever he had to say. If Antoine was worried then the rest of the guys were probably freaking the fuck out and that just made me want to freak the fuck out.
“Vincent stopped by.”
Just those three words made me want to throw up. I knew Vincent would come by sometime. I knew it was just dumb luck that he hadn’t until now. All kinds of scenarios began to swirl around in my head and even in a dream my heartbeat ratcheted up until it was throbbing in my throat.
I gripped the edges of the bed and licked my lips. “And what happened with Vincent?”
Antoine’s gaze focused on me in a way that I hadn’t seen since I learned that they were vampires.
“Fucking hell, Antoine. Just spit it out already. The anticipation is killing me. Where did you tell him I was?”