Page 87 of Ruthless Salvation
“Here,” called a female voice. “I’m here!” A woman in jeans and a Jets hoodie charged around the corner and squeezed by us to unlock the door. “Come on back. I’m Nicole Bromstead. Jonas said you two needed an ultrasound?”
“Yes,” Torin answered. “We just discovered that Storm is pregnant. As you can see, she was attacked a few days ago, so we want to make sure everything is okay.”
The woman halted and looked back at me, finally taking in my bruised face. “Oh dear. Yes. Of course.” She started to turn away, but I stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Just so you know, he didnotdo this.” I glanced briefly at Torin. “I was followed home from the subway.” I knew the assumption was easy to make, and I hated for anyone to think that of him.
Her brows knitted together. “I’m so sorry. What a very tumultuous few days for you.”
I smiled reassuringly. “I’m doing a lot better, thanks to this guy.”
“Good!” She patted my hand, quickly rebounding. “Okay, come on in here. I need you naked from the waist down since it sounds like you’re not far along. You can use this drape to cover you.” She set a folded paper drape on the table, then booted up the machinery. “I’ll put the game on out here while you’re changing and pop back in a minute. Jets were up ten-zero at half!” Her excited announcement hung in the air after she swept from the room.
“She has an awful lot of energy,” I whispered, starting to undress. “I think I like her.”
Torin rolled his eyes. “You would.”
Ten minutes later, I was on my back, my knees spread wide with a dildo-looking device up my hoo-ha, and a death grip on Torin’s hand. The machine made some static sounds like a microphone being jostled around in a bag of groceries, and the display was a swirl of black and white splotches. I couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Then the distinct beat of a rhythmic pulse filled the room.
It replaced all the air in the room, leaving me breathless.
That was my baby.Ourbaby. The sound of its tiny heart thrumming inside me. And I could see a defined white peanut-looking shape on the screen floating in the middle of a black circle.
“Here,” Dr. Bromstead said, pointing at a tiny flickering dot. “That’s where the heartbeat is coming from.” She used the mouse to draw a line from one end of the peanut to the other. “Looks like you are seven weeks and five days along, which puts your due date at July fourteenth. Congratulations, you’re going to be a mommy.”
I burst into tears. Heaving, cathartic crocodile tears that probably made me look insane.
“Is everything okay?” the doctor asked.
“Everything is fine,” Torin told her. “But can I have a minute alone with her?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll just be out here watching the game.” She pulled out the wand from inside me and set the equipment aside before scurrying out.
I pressed my hands over my face, embarrassed that I’d suddenly come unglued. Torin pulled them away and stood over me. Seeing his normally turbulent stare full of wonder and adoration, I nearly lost it again.
“Tell me those are happy tears,” he murmured.
“Yes, mostly,” I said with a hiccup. “I didn’t think it was possible, so I’m in awe that it’s actually happening. I’m a little sad that I can’t share this with Honey because I know she’d be tickled, but also I’m worried about what you’re thinking. I don’t want you to feel forced into anything.”
Torin swept my hair off my forehead, his hand resting on my cheek. “I’ve never thought much about kids—no reason to when I couldn’t even stand having a woman in my home—but all that changed when you showed up. I’d want this kid no matter what because it’s something you and I made together, but the fact that it makes you so happy seals the deal. I’d do just about anything to make your eyes shine like that.”
If my heart swelled any more, it would burst through my straining rib cage.
“It’s a damn shame no one else gets to see this side of you, Tor. You really are incredible.”
He grunted, making me smile. “Not sure you’d say that if you knew what else I was thinking.”
My eyes rounded when his grew hooded. “We can’t,” I hissed.” The doctor’s right outside.”
“Pretty sure she knows we fuck, babe.”
“Doesn’t mean she wants a front-row seat.”
With one long sidestep, he was at the end of the table, where he tugged on my ankles and had my legs around his middle in one swift motion. “I just learned this amazing woman is going to be the mother of my child.” He unclasped his pants with one hand, never taking his eyes from mine. “We were together once. She wasn’t supposed to be able to have kids, but it happened like fucking fate. I haven’t been inside her since.” He leaned forward, pressing his cock against my folds. “I wouldn’t give a fuck if the president of the United States was on the other side of that door. The only thing that matters is right …here.” Torin angled his hips and pressed inside me.
He took care to move slowly, giving my body time to adjust, but my heart struggled to keep up. I’d faced nothing but uncertainty and fear for weeks. Years, even. Torin’s words were everything I didn’t know I needed to hear.