Chapter 23
Silas
She licked and swallowed while squirming on the bed. I let her not because I was in control, but because I couldn’t move yet. Her nipples were taut, and I palmed her breasts before her swollen belly caught my eye. I leaned down to kiss her stomach, smiling when I detected her heady scent.
My mouth watered.
It was time for some payback.
But before anything else, I took a breath, letting the weight of the moment settle.
I brushed a thumb over the curve of her hip, grounding both of us.
She’d given me everything—not just her body, but her trust, her ridiculous ability to forgive the world even when it never deserved it.
She rolled her hips, pulling away from my dick and gasped for air.
“Easy,” I murmured, not a command this time, but something closer to reassurance.
Her breaths were uneven, not from strain, but from intensity crashing back down into her chest. I felt my own heartbeat finally slowing, syncing with hers.
I let my hand rest over her belly, thumb stroking once, slow and sure.
She didn’t have to say anything.
I’d always give her what she needed. I parted her thighs and allowed myself to taste the beautiful mess.
My feast.
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The gel squirted onto Everly’s belly, and she gasped at the cold. My fingers tightened on her shoulder before I could stop myself. Irrational, maybe—but watching someone else touch her always pulled something dark and possessive out of me.
“Shouldn’t you heat that up or something?” I snapped at the woman.
Everly’s hand darted toward my waist, trying to pinch me, but there wasn’t much there to grab. I shot her a scowl for even attempting it.
“What? I’m just saying.”
“No, Mr Voss. We don’t have the facility to heat up the gel,” the technician replied, dripping sarcasm as she continued with her job.
Everly cackled—actually cackled—like the entire situation was entertainment. I sent her another look that should have silenced her, but it only made her laugh harder.
The truth was… I was more nervous than she was.
I hated how obvious it felt. My jaw was tight, my breathing slow, every muscle in my body braced for bad news I refused to admit I feared.
I’d barely slept last night; I kept imagining worst-case scenarios like a man who didn’t know how to hope without preparing to lose.
Their health was the most crucial thing in my world.
Then Everly slipped her hand into mine.
I didn’t just hold it.
My fingers curled around hers—top and bottom—like she was the only thing tethering me to the ground.
“Our baby will be fine,” she whispered.
The words hit harder than I expected. My breath caught, my heartbeat stuttered, and some of the pressure inside my chest cracked open. She said it so simply, so confidently, like the world would bend to her reassurance.
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
But I held her hand tighter—because in that moment, it kept me steady.
The woman moved the wand across Everly’s stomach, pressing down a little too firmly. I was about to snap at her again when I noticed the screen.
Blurry.
Blurry.
Black and grey.
And then I saw it—our baby.
No longer a bean with a yolk sac, but a tiny body with an alien head.
Everly’s hand tightened in mine, but I barely felt it. I was staring at a tiny limb on the screen, something so small and fragile it made my chest ache. I narrowed my focus and realised it was a leg and foot. A whole damn foot.
My God. Had I not met Everly when I did… this moment, this life, this future would never have existed.
The sonographer shifted the wand again. The image disappeared. My jaw locked, ready to demand where the hell it went—but it slid back into view.
“A little boy,” she said softly.
I glanced at Everly. Her eyes shimmered, tears waiting. Of course, she felt it instantly—she always did.
I squeezed her hand, clumsy in the attempt, because my mind was stumbling.
Then it hit me—why I didn’t feel relief yet.
Boy or girl, it didn’t matter.
I suddenly had no idea how I was supposed to protect a child from the world. From life. From everything I knew could go wrong.
The thought punched a hole straight through my chest.
“Is his head supposed to be that shape?” I rasped.
Everly tried to yank her hand free, but I held on.
“Sorry—our son is perfect… I’m just in shock,” I said, throat tightening. “Fuck, I think I’m about to throw up.”
“Uh, you’d better take a seat.” The wand was set aside, and the older woman pushed a chair toward me.
Utter humiliation washed over me. But I sat down and found myself contemplating the upcoming appointment I had with the private security firm. I needed more than a few cameras to survive fatherhood.
I had six months to sort myself out, and I was not going to fail, not as a husband or a father.