Page 65 of Beau

Or partially blowing off. It completely disintegrated into nothingness when she closed those sultry lips over the smooth tip. When she pulled him deeper into her mouth, he thought he was simply going to die.

His heart was racing so much it was drowning out everything else, including rational thoughts. His skin was hot, so hot it wasmelting off his bones. He had no idea that the sounds echoing around the room were coming from him. Automatically, his hands reached out to cup the back of her head, his body arching toward her sweet mouth.

“Wait!” he rasped. “Christ! Just–”He found the strength to drag her head back so that he could move and when he did, strength failed him. Sagging to the side, he stared at her for a minute before going behind her.

For another few minutes, he just held her as he fought the animal passion that threatened to take over. Then without a word, he used trembling fingers to guide himself into her welcoming warmth, sighing as she closed around him like a vice.

Chapter 14

He jumped up as soon as the door opened and felt his heart stop beating when he looked at the doctor’s weary expression.

“My wife. Please–”He held out a hand entreatingly, his expression bleak.

“We have managed to stop the bleeding.” Lucien had designated himself the spokesperson and the bearer of the relatively good news. They had worked feverishly for three hours to save mother and the fetuses, and he could feel the ache in every part of his body. Not to mention the acid taste of fear in his gut.

“But?”

Turning his head, he looked at his friend, whose expression was anything but friendly. Blake Anderson had rushed over as soon as his son had called with the news that Georgie was at the clinic again.

“She is not quite thirty-two weeks, so we are trying our best to keep those babies inside her until their lungs and other parts of their small bodies are more developed.” Lifting a hand, he dragged off his skull cap and passed his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. “Your wife is a fighter," he told the younger man.

“But right now, it’s touch and go.”

The icy fear felt like a sword thrusting inside his belly. He had come home when she called, rushed home, in fact at the panic in her voice when she told him she was bleeding.

“Oh God, I am losing our babies!”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Lucien shrugged uneasily. “She lost a lot of blood, and her pressure is very high. She is also suffering from gestational diabetes–”

“You son of a bitch! If she dies–”

“Beau!”

He backed down at the sound of his father’s shout and wheeled toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I need some air. I feel as if I am suffocating.” With that, he stalked out of the room and slammed the door shut.

“I should go after him.” Blake stared at the door indecisively.

“I think he needs to be alone.” Lucien walked toward the refreshment table and poured himself a much-needed cup of coffee. It was edging toward ten in the night.

The summer was here, and he could smell the begonias and buttercups that had been planted by a very dedicated gardener just beneath the windows. July had come in with scorching heat and the promise of even more.

“Beau is not here now, so there is no need to soft pedal anything.”

Lucien turned to face him. “It’s touch and go," he repeated. “She is weak, and she could die.” He was blunt and knew Blake respected and appreciated the honesty. “I wish it was thirty-two weeks instead of twenty-eight, then we could deliver the babies by C-section. But we cannot risk that.

Taking them now will only end up being a disaster. What we can hope is that we keep her here for the duration and monitor her every minute.” He sipped the scalding coffee. “That’s the best I can give you, Blake.”

He nodded and sat back down, his entire body weary and defeated.

“We cannot lose her.”

“That’s not going to happen, not if I have anything to say about it. Carrying multiples is always a hell of a risk, but hers had multiplied mostly because she is so petite.