Long Lost Read online

  “Great. One week, one baby. No waiting!” I said, a small hint of hysteria in my voice. But then I was laughing and he was dialing.

  “Go ahead and meet your men while I—“”

  “Oh, no. If the doctor’s looking at you, I’m gonna be here for it. The meeting can wait till later. No worries.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. I really did want him with me. I just didn’t want to seem fragile.

  “Good?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.

  “Better than good,” I said, taking the hot tea cup he offered me. “Perfect.”

  “Well, I do try,” he said, buffing his nails on his shirt to play up his false pride.

  “Don’t think I’ve forgotten,” I said.

  “What?”

  “You told me later. I plan to have my wicked way with you.”

  Ellis splayed his hands on the table, leaned in and got in my face. “Little Bird, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  * * * *

  “It all looks good,” Doc Burns said, rolling the little portable sonogram wand over my belly. “Big, but good.”

  Ellis squeezed my hand and I swallowed hard. “Big?”

  He finished rolling it around as Ellis and I watched the small figure moving on the screen. A small profile, a small fist, and at spots he looked transparent, and I could see his bones. Which was both eerie and beautiful all at once.

  “Yeah. This baby is about 20 weeks.”

  “But I’m about…a week. Maybe?”

  “Yep.” Doc Burns printed out a shot of the baby, grainy and dark but coveted, and handed it to Ellis. “I’ll have to be honest, here guys, you are a bit accelerated.”

  “A bit!” I yelped. How long is a regular pregnancy?

  He smiled at me. That smile scared me. It was the smile we all reserve for one of two things: bad news or crazy people. I was pretty sure I wasn’t crazy. Almost.

  “Roughly forty weeks give a week or two. Some women go at thirty-eight, thirty-nine. But a good healthy full-term gestation is about forty weeks.”

  I sat up, my stomach sort of getting in my way a bit at this point. “So I am half way there!”

  Ellis blinked. Even Ellis looked stunned. That was saying something. It took a shit-ton of shock to surprised Ellis. I bit my tongue to keep from yelling at the doc more. It wasn’t as if he had done this. And then it dawned on me that Ellis had done this and I had a flash of rage and turned to him. “You,” I said.

  Doc Burns surprised us both my snickering. My ire deflected, Ellis said, “What?”

  “Hormones. Let me buy you a helmet, Ellis. On me.”

  I let my head flop back and I groaned. “So…what? I probably have maybe a week before I’m a mother? If I’m lucky. And I have a scary, bloody birth and am going to become…” I swallowed hard again. This was becoming a habit. “A wolf.”

  Chapter 16

  “You’re freaked out.”

  I stared at him, wanted to shield him, but had promised never to lie to him. So instead of answering, I just shrugged and wiped my stomach free of goo. Doc Burns had taken his leave after giving us his cell phone number that only family had. This seemed to be a rare case and he wanted to make sure the baby and I would be fine.

  I would be fine. As long as I didn’t come unglued.

  “I need a shower,” I said to him. I ran my hands over the swell of my belly. The other day my pants had been a bit too tight. Now when I tried to pull them on—for I had tested the moment we were alone—I couldn’t button them. At all. My stomach actually protruded over my waistband.

  Instead of a beer belly I had a baby belly. Now if I could just have some beer I might feel calmer.

  “Come on. Let’s get you clean.” Ellis took my hand. I hated that look on his face.

  I opened my big mouth. “Why do you look sad and worried? Don’t look sad and worried.”

  He led me into the bathroom and took the stained flannel shirt from me. I pulled my tank over my head and he kissed me. Me standing there, so terrified I was sure he could smell it, my swollen breasts looking heavily veined now.

  Scary.

  “I am sad and worried. Because you are scared and it’s my fault.”

  “We’re having a baby and that’s your fault, too,” I blurted and then giggled.

  “The last time I checked, Miss Ruby, it takes more than one person to make a baby.”

  “You know what I mean, wolf boy.” I let him pull me in and was a bit relieved to feel that his heart was pounding as chaotically as mine.

  “I’m sad and worried because you’re scared. And I don’t like when you’re scared. And in this instance,” he pulled back to look into my eyes, “there’s nothing I can do to protect you.”

  “It’ll be fine,” I assured him.

  I pulled him down by grabbing hunks of his crazy brown-blond-reddish hair. I kissed him in a sinful way so that he groaned.

  “What if you die, Ruby?” he asked.

  My stomach bottomed out and my fingertips went numb. Not because I hadn’t considered the scenario, but because of the true fear I heard in Ellis’s voice. The thought of him being afraid made me panicky.

  I ran my hand over the front of his pants, thrilling when his cock jumped to life. “I won’t die,” I said.

  “But you’re afraid you will.”

  “I’m always afraid I will,” I said. And it was mostly true. “Because we’re just getting started, you and I, and I want to enjoy every moment I have with you.”

  I reached blindly behind him and fumbled with the water.

  “And you think having sex every five minutes will do that?” He sounded serious but chuckled when he said it.

  “Well, the way I see it, sex is a huge visceral part of life. And we are about to have a baby. And wolf baby or human baby, babies are a ton of work. So…” I pushed at his jeans and he helped me.

  “So?” Ellis said but his voice had turned to gravel and broken glass as he kicked his jeans away and he was backing me up to the shower.

  “So we need to have as much sex as possible while we’re still getting rest and it’s still just us. Because soon, we’ll be a family.”

  We both froze for an instant and when he kissed me then, there were a million things in that kiss. I could nearly hear them whispering to me. Love, lust, need, happiness, anticipation, worry, protectiveness, awe. The list went on and on and on.

  “I concur,” Ellis said and pinned me to the white tile slippery with warm water. “Put your leg up, around my waist.”

  I did, despite being afraid I’d fall—because I knew he’d never let me, and he started to drive inside but there was something in the way. My belly.

  “I think you need to do me doggie style,” I snorted.

  “You like saying that to me, don’t you? Though a wolf is not—”

  “I’m kidding,” I said, slipping from his grip. I turned and spread my legs and presented my ass to him and said, “Now do me, Ellis. Stick it in me.”

  His face went dark. Talking dirty to Ellis was like tempting a bear with a river fish. It always turned him on. He yanked my hips a bit rough—the way I like it—and then he was in, filling me, thrusting, fucking me so my fingers curled to the wet wall.

  We took that moment to be man and wife. Ruby and Ellis. We’d be parents soon enough. And I tried not to realize how very nervous I was. I tried to only feel the excitement. Because I wanted to be a family. I wanted this baby. And yes, part of me even wanted to be a wolf.

  * * * *

  “Go, go,” I said to him. Peabody was in his room talking lowly to poor Madeline. Tyler was in his room and I wasn’t sure if he was alone. The warehouse was quiet down below. The incompetent movers must be gone.

  “Ruby, I don’t want to leave you alone,” he said. I could tell Ellis needed to take this meeting, I could also tell he was hesitant to leave me in the apartment.

  “What alone!” I said, throwing up my hands. “I’m surrounded. I’ve got all the bases covered. Ever
y supernatural color of the rainbow is represented,” I teased.

  His mouth was set in an uncertain line and he kept touching me. My arm, my face, my belly, my hand. His hand was hovering somewhere near me at all times.

  “But none of them counts,” he said, smiling wryly. “Because none of them are me.”

  “Ah, I see,” I laughed.

  “Mind if I come with you?”

  We both turned to find Samuel Soriano standing there. His bedroom door was open and I could see Bertie in there looking worried but strong. I waved and she waved back, giving me a small smile.

  “Why?” Ellis asked, not rudely. Just curious.

  “Because I sense that the prophecy is going to be questioned. How you’re the wolf to build a sort of bridge between humans and wolves and squelch the violent uprisings.”

  “And all that shit?” Ellis said, grinning.

  “And all that shit,” Samuel agreed.

  “Fine by me. Roberta, my sweet, what says you?”

  She stepped forward, giving him the kind of smile only a true friend could. It was a mix of I love you and fuck you all rolled up into a small twitch of the lips. “I say that the big man is going to do what the big man is going to do.”

  “Watch out for Ruby,” Ellis said.

  Bertie nodded. I remembered the vivid but brief flash of her as a salt and pepper kind of wolf with a lean face and bright amber eyes. When I started to protest, Ellis added, “And my baby,” to shut me up.

  To remind me that I was not the only one he worried for anymore. And that maybe I shouldn’t be so stubborn.

  I frowned but then kissed him. “Be careful,” I said. For some reason I needed to say it and make sure he heard me.

  “You be careful,” he said.

  “I will. And bring me some cookies.”

  He chuckled. “Any particular kind?”

  “Yes. Big ones.”

  Samuel let out a rumbling laugh and then the men were out the door and Bertie was putting on the kettle. “Tea?” she asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  I sat in the big open kitchen and looked into the area designated for the living room. Barring all the bedrooms that had doors on them, obviously, the bulk of the huge apartment was an open floor plan. Visually, it was appealing, but unsettling when people were out to get you. I felt like I was sitting in the middle of a field with a bull’s eye pinned to me.

  I sighed, playing with my hair. If I kept playing with my hair when I was nervous, I’d be bald soon.

  “Don’t worry. They’ll work it out.” Bertie kept her voice low, I guess I looked spooked.

  I did one more visual sweep of the apartment, even checking the exposed steel rafters, the high ceilings, the huge windows. I sighed again. I think it was because I couldn’t take a deep breath. The baby moved and I gasped a little, clutching my belly, relishing that feel of life in me. I found it miraculous and odd how quickly I had adapted to carrying a person in my body.

  “It’s good,” she said, nodding at the sweeping space.

  “What?”

  “Tactically speaking. Not too many blind corners. Not a lot of places to hide. You know, from the naked eye.”

  “Am I that obvious?” I laughed as she handed me the tea cup.

  “A little. I don’t blame you. It’s one thing to be a target yourself. It’s another thing to have to worry about protecting you and the baby.”

  I smiled at her. I liked Bertie. She didn’t seem much older than me. Maybe early to mid forties, but her startling gray and silver hair made you think she was older until you looked at her face. Then you realized she really was beautiful.

  “This baby is a mutant,” I said.

  She blinked and I choked on my tea.

  “Wow. I don’t mean that as bad as it sounded. It’s like my mother used to call me a monster and she thought I’d hung the moon. He’s just accelerated. Doc says I might only have about a week before I give birth.”

  Bertie blinked at me and then sat back. “Wow. No wonder you seem a little off. That’s not much time to adjust is it. Married and instant baby. Jesus.”

  I nodded. “Yes, it is a bit…fast.”

  “Anything I can do?” She studied me, her calm attitude calming me some.

  “Nope. Just put up with me when I say stupid stuff like that.”

  “Don’t worry about it, girl. I remember when my mother was pregnant with my baby brother, she threw a tea kettle at my dad because he said she’d gotten bigger. And she had!”

  “A tea kettle? Ouch.”

  “And it was full!” Bertie laughed.

  “Goodness. I hope I don’t do that.”

  “Nah. You won’t. And if you do, he’s got the reflexes of a god and he thinks you are the sun and the moon and the stars.”

  “I think the same of him,” I said softly.

  “I know you do, Ruby. That’s why we all adore you. Ellis needed love. He was a broken man before you came along.”

  I felt myself blushing and she patted my hand. “Hey kid, okay if I hop in the shower? Speaking of gods, my Samoan love god took advantage of me when I got back from my breakfast shift. I’d like to freshen up.”

  Her eyes danced with humor and I snickered. ”I’m fine. Go for it.”

  “Hey, then we can watch a movie or something. Something dumb and campy and scary. Sound good?”

  “Sounds good.”

  I watched her go and sat in the quiet apartment, drinking my tea, feeling my baby move in my belly. And then I heard sounds.

  Chapter 17

  I never pry. I’m not a prier. And yet, when I heard the sound of muffled voices coming from Tyler’s room, the lilt of their tones drew me in.

  I could hear Iris, her voice going up and down in a sensual dance. And then Tyler’s dark surreal growl of a speaking voice that once upon time made my body respond in a nearly violent sexual way…and still did a little bit.

  I knew it was wrong and none of my business. I had made a choice being with Ellis—though to me it was destiny more than a choice—and was thrilled with it. I had put anything beyond friendship between Tyler and me to bed. But there was still a sharp splinter of jealousy when I thought of him with someone else.

  Even red-headed awesome Iris who I couldn’t help but like.

  I pushed the door gently, with tented fingers. If it didn’t move, I’d walk away and leave it be.

  The door swung in just a half an inch or so.

  The whole damn place needed paint and oil on the hinges and all that jazz. Half the doors were hung a bit crooked or never shut all the way. And Tyler’s room was no different.

  I had just a slice of room in my field of vision and it happened to be the slice with the bed. The bed that held a very naked gorgeous Iris. Her pale white skin seemed luminescent in the early afternoon light, her dyed red hair a shock of color against her slim back. Tyler was on his hands and knees in front of her, shirt off, just a sliver of his jeans visible to me. He still had his pants on but his brilliant green eyes were closed in an expression I recognized as arousal crossed with ecstasy.

  He was feeding from her. His teeth fastened into her inner thigh and I could see his fingers buried deep in her cunt. His hand flexing and bulging as he worked her closer to orgasm. Her delicate fingers curled in the purple comforter, fisting hunks of it as he gave her pleasure. she was breathing like a woman on the verge and Tyler’s neck muscles stood out as he drew on her, drinking her in even as he fucked her faster with his fingers.

  I could hear the wet and secret sounds of him touching her and when she came I felt a small pulsing deep inside of my own sex. My nipples spiked and I held my breath.

  Tyler moved his mouth from her, his face painted with her blood. As he stood, he shucked the jeans and I waited to see that cock of his. The one I had held and sucked and taken into my body.

  I was with Ellis now, but that didn’t stop me from loving my friend. Or remembering our times together. Or remembering fondly exactly what he could do wit
h his equipment.

  He pushed himself between her legs and entered her quickly. This was first time sex, frenzied sex full of passion and need and urgency. He rocked into her hard and her bright hair fanned out on the brighter bedding, looking like art. Slabs of sunlight lit Tyler and Iris and I studied him, pale and brilliant, in the golden light.

  Unlike the myths, legends and lore, Tyler didn’t need to avoid sun. Too much and he burned way fast, too much and he got a blinding headache, too much was bad—but that was for most folks. He got the equivalent of sun poisoning times ten in too much bright sunlight. But he did not need to hide in darkness and avoid light like some Hollywood monster. He simply held a reversed schedule of most. He moved around more at night, hung out and vegged during the day. The lucky bastard didn’t really need sleep, either.

  I was getting light-headed from holding my breath and I could hear Iris, whispering to him, speaking softly.

  Her long limbs wrapped around him and she took him deeper by tilting her hips up. His mouth came down on hers, his lips pink against her redder ones. Iris tangled her fingers in Tyler’s curly chocolate fall of hair and yanked. He laughed lowly and there was that stab of jealousy again. That spark of loss.

  She tilted her head back while saying something else and he drove his fangs into her throat. Almost as hard and fast as he was driving his cock into her. She took it, seemed to revel in it, and urged him on with clutching hands and clinging fingers.

  When Iris came, Tyler sucked deeply before pulling free of her throat and surrendering to his own climax, his face smeared with bright smudges of her blood. He looked not only happy, but peaceful.

  Something I had never been able to truly give him.

  When his eyes found me, and I knew he could actually see and not just sense me, I stumble-stepped back from the door with a repressed gasp.

  * * * *

  “We’ve got Arachnophobia and Eight-Legged Freaks and all the Scream movies,” Bertie said, showcasing them all for me.

  All I could focus on was that Tyler had seen me watching him with his new woman. Their first time together and I’d stood there in the doorway like some heavy breather, watching. Ugh!