I turned away from the mirror finally and went to take a shower. At least I still have his scent on my sheets. I know from experience that it would last at least a week or more if I don’t wash them right away.
I was cranky and out of sorts for the rest of the week when there was no contact from him. I was sure that he’d taken off for parts unknown, that all those promises he’d made in the dark were all lies. There was no point in crying over it anymore since I’d already done that.
So I went about my life as usual. Two weeks passed and not a peep, and I wondered why he’d ever bothered to come back in the first place. Maybe he hadn’t expected to find me pregnant. Maybe now that he knew about the babies, he’d lost interest.
I wrapped my arms protectively around my middle after rubbing cocoa butter into the faint lines that were appearing in my skin from being stretched. My heart turned over in my chest as I felt the soft tap of a foot from one of the little ones.
As hard as I know it’s going to be; I’m looking forward to having them. That little bit of lingering fear that I have yet to get rid of reared its ugly head, but I tamped it down and repeated my little mantra in my head.
Just put one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get by. I have to constantly remind myself that they are people suffering much worse and that I’m one of the lucky ones. That doesn’t always help, though, especially when my back pulls from the strain of carrying three children that all seem to like that place above my uterus to rest, not to mention the added weight of my breasts.
I looked in the mirror at the wild bush that was now growing between my thighs. The last time I tried to shave, I almost cut myself to ribbons, embarrassing. I know I’ll have to shave it for the delivery, which is months away, even though the doctor had warned that I might not take the babies to term.
That night I dropped off before nine in the evening, too tired to keep my eyes open. It was sometime later that I was awakened by a strange noise in the room with me.
He was standing in the dark corner dressed in black from head to toe. My heart started pounding out of control. My eyes weren’t covered, but I still couldn’t see him, and when he stepped into the light coming through the window, I saw the mask. “Hello, sweet baby, I’ve come to get you.” I opened my mouth and screamed.
Chapter 14
Jamie
He was across the room in a flash, his hand over my mouth as my heart raced. I tried to communicate with him through my eyes that it was an involuntary reaction that I hadn’t meant to scream like that. It’s just that coming awake to see the strange sight of a masked man in my bedroom had shocked my system.
He seemed to get the message as he eased his hand away slowly. “Sorry you startled me.” I was staring up at him since this was my first time seeing him, always before he’d had my eyes covered. So I took in every detail I could now.
He was huge, his shoulders broad, chest full and muscular beneath the tight black sweater he wore, and he was tall, very tall, at least six foot four to my own five-foot three-inch frame. His big hand came up to cup my cheek, and it was so gentle, so tender that I almost wanted to cry.
I wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to wear the mask, that it didn’t matter to me if he were ugly, but before I could say anything, he brought another pair of goggles from the bag he had at his feet and placed them around my head.
Next, he taped my mouth and tied my hands behind my back. I didn’t think to struggle until he started to bind my feet. “Shh, calm down, you’re safe. I just need to do this for now, but nothing’s going to happen to you.”
Is he nuts? Am I supposed to believe that? I argued with him through the tape he’d placed over my mouth, but of course, that was of no help. He was calm and unflinching even when I started to struggle as he picked me up.
He was being extremely careful with me. I noticed as he placed me in some sort of military-grade type bag on my side. There was even some padding in there. My mind struggled between believing and accepting his word and sheer terror, especially after he zipped up the bag. Where is he taking me?