Page 8 of Venomous King
“There is a congenital heart defect they detected during a fetal echocardiogram. The term they gave me was double-outlet right ventricle, and I was told she would require immediate surgery once she’s delivered.”
“Fuck. How far along are you, and is she already in distress?“ The seriousness of his expression, and how he immediately steps into his pediatric cardiologist role, tries to pull a smile from my lips. He has always been an amazing doctor. He could have practiced medicine in any of the top hospitals worldwide, yet he decided to stay in a public hospital, to help those who don’t have insurance. His caring nature, and need to help everyoneregardless of circumstance, have always spoken glowingly of his character.
He steps back towards me, and his hands cradle my baby bump with a gentleness that brings tears to my eyes. Everything I have agonized over in the last couple of weeks since the diagnosis has led me here, to an impossible choice; I need him to save my child. I need him to ensure her survival. “Hello, little one,” he whispers in a hushed tone to my stomach, and my daughter rewards him by kicking out.
“Thirty-five weeks, but they don’t believe she will make it to term, and want to induce and perform the surgery immediately. I’m so scared, Kai. I don’t want to lose my baby.” His body tenses entirely, and for a moment, I think he will walk away from me and leave me to handle mine and my daughter’s fate all alone. A moment of weakness and desperation overtakes me. “Please don’t abandon me, Kai. Don’t abandon us, you are my only hope for her survival.”
It pains me to utter those words out loud. The new me, the stronger version who survived a madman and a jungle filled with perils, demands I take them back and look for another solution, but I know I’m running out of time. It’s either Kai, or I will have to contact my grandmother.
His large hands rise and cradle my face, as his blue eyes stare into the depths of my soul with a fierce expression, one that calls to me, and causes my knees to tremble. I place my hands over his, as his warm, rugged scent of mandarin oranges, and rich, smokey cedar fills my senses.
Home. Safety. Love.All of those terms slide through my mind as I refuse to look away from his intense gaze. My eyes track the movement of his tongue, which peeks out to moisten his lower lip, before his teeth sink into the plump pink flesh.
Fuck.I miss kissing those lips, and his scent all over me. I miss being in his arms and surrounded by his warmth. I always feltsecure and safe in the embrace of his arms, and my soul always felt at peace in his presence. Why did I ever leave him?
His jaw tightens, and a severe look graces his handsome face. The look gives me pause, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. He will deny me, he will walk away from me and leave me to my fate. I deserve no less for all the harm I have caused him. “I promise you, Isabella, nothing will happen to your daughter. Even if I have to rip out my own heart and give it to her, she will survive.Our daughterwill survive.”
“Our daughter?”The two words slip from my lips in a hopeful whisper, even as shock causes me to tremble.
“From this moment forward, you will never be rid of me, little rose. You will belong to me, and so shall she. I promise to protect the both of you with my last breath. I love you, Isabella, I never stopped. I will never let you go now.”
His lips meet mine in a mere brushing of warm flesh against warm flesh. I can taste the coffee he must have had earlier, and his own unique flavor. A flavor I have both missed and longed for. I rise onto my toes and press my small body firmly against his. My daughter between us,our daughterbetween us, and I deepen the kiss.
A moan rips from my lips as his tongue intertwines with mine, and one of his hands grabs the nape of my neck, sliding his fingers through my shortened locks, and holds me firmly just where he wants me. His other hand trails down my back until he reaches the globe of my ass, and he squeezes tightly, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach, and the desire for more intimacy to envelop me. I want him. I have always wanted him.
He pulls back from the kiss with a chuckle, and pecks my nose, cheek, and chin. “You are so beautiful, little rose. I’ve missed you, and now there is more of you to love.” He laughs as he squeezes my asscheek again, and I feel my face getting hot. Immediately, I’m self-conscious about my new body. I’ve beeneating healthy and walking a lot, but still, I know my ass has definitely gotten bigger, amongst other things. I refuse to meet his gaze, as I try to step back and away from him.
His grip on my hair tightens, and he nips my lip with his teeth. “None of that shit, little rose. I can see those wheels turning in your head. You’re fucking perfect, Isabella.Sexy as fuck, and if we weren’t on a very public beach, I would make you ride my face, while I licked that pretty pussy into an orgasm that I have missed so fucking much.“ He pecks my lips, once, twice, and on the third attempt, I kiss him back, warmth filling me despite the chill in the air around us.
“Kai, Jesus,” I moan. My fingers trail across his shoulders and arms, as the muscles underneath ripple with my caress. I know shit is far from resolved, and there are so many obstacles we will still have to cross, one of the largest being keeping my existence a secret from my family, and Diego Cabano, but at this moment, I feel a glimmer of hope.
At the thought of Diego, a tinge of sadness tries to overtake me. I loved him too, and I still do, if I am being honest with myself, regardless of what he did to me and how far he crossed the line, in his obsession with attempting to keep me for himself. He will never get to meet his daughter, or understand the love and connection I already feel for her. I am robbing him of that, just as he tried to rob me of my freedom. We are both thieves, it seems.
Kai pulls away from me, releasing me from his embrace, and I almost complain that I don’t want to leave his arms. “We are going to need a place to live together, Isabella, and I need to see any of the reports and scans the doctors have provided you with.”
“What about your life back in New York?”
“What life? Once you left me, I stopped living. I was just slowly dying without you. There is nothing there for me if you’re not there. You are where my home is.”
I kiss him again, joy and pain mixing inside of me, into a kaleidoscope of emotions that threaten to drown me. “Wait ’til you meet my roommate. Hmm, actually, she might try to maim you a little; she’s very protective of me.” A snort escapes me at the understatement I just uttered. Fuck, I hope Rachel doesn’t try to stab him with one of her fancyKatanaswords.
“Maim me? What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, Isabella?” We walk arm in arm towards the street access. I take a final glance back at the waves crashing onto the shore, and the seagulls playing in the sand.Magical.Maybe a little of that magic will rub off on us, and we will get our happily ever after with our daughter.
My mind warns me that things are never that simple, and tomorrow is never promised. Plus, I am still being hunted by a serpent, who won’t give up that easily on his prey, and release me from his grip. For now, though, I will enjoy a moment of peace and freedom, with one of the men my heart has always called out for.
Chapter seven
Kai
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
David Viscott
Almost five years later
“Daddy! Daddy! Momma is being so mean!” My dark-haired daughter races into my office with a frown etched across her little face, her pink lips in a fierce scowl, and her pretty green eyes blazing. She hurls herself at me without hesitation or fear, knowing full well that I will always catch her, and wraps herself like a spider monkey around me.
My arms wrap securely around her, cradling her close to my chest. My nose skims across her thick hair, and the smell of lilacs and sunshine fills my senses. She immediately starts squirming to be released from my embrace. Once I release her, her little fists make their way to her hips, in a look very reminiscent of her mother’s when she’s annoyed with me. “What did momma do, Lovebug?” I question with amusement, as her mother makes an appearance in my doorway.