Chapter 14
I huffed in frustration and closed my laptop. “Done!”
Lincoln and I were sitting in our bedroom.
I guessed he had drawn the short straw while the others prepared for our next mission.
I had to admit, I wasn’t the most pleasant to be around today.
Unfortunately for him, his coddling and cheerful demeanor only seemed to mock me.
My hormones were making me more witchy than usual.
Lincoln looked over at me with a smirk. “Why do you seem so disgruntled? Shouldn’t you be more excited that you’ve completed all your math requirements?”
He was right. I should be more excited that I now had only one class left before receiving my diploma.
My anxiety probably stemmed from the amount of work I had already done and how daunting my English class assignments still were.
I had a book to read, several exercises, and a paper to complete.
It wouldn’t be all that bad if the book weren’t so dry and, frankly, boring.
Mr. Bates had been more than accommodating, but he was a stickler when it came to following some of Knightstown’s requirements.
Since my English credit was considered a dual enrollment course, I had to follow the college guidelines.
That meant, in order to receive my high school English credit, I had to adhere to the rules set by the college.
In the end, it would also give me my college credit, but honestly, it was bull crap if you asked me.
Jaxson, Ben, Mike, Taylor, Rick, Tamara, and a few other seniors’ requirements were a joke compared to what I had to do.
My college course required me to pick from a list of the professor’s approved reading material.
The frustrating thing was that no two people could pick the same novel.
The problem was, everyone else in my class had the opportunity to pick their favorites while I had been absent.
Only three books were left for me to choose from, and two of them had over 800,000 words. That wasn’t going to happen.
With my busy schedule, I barely found the time to read.
And don’t get me started on the fact that over ninety percent of the other novels on the list were available on Audible.
At least that could have saved me some time.
I could have listened to them while I had downtime on missions, but that wasn’t my luck.
I petulantly groaned. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled this is my last class to complete, but it’s also the most time-intensive. I’m cramming over five months of assignments into one.”
I knew I was being whiny and putting unnecessary pressure on myself, but today wasn’t a good day.
The twins had been restless last night, and I couldn’t find a comfortable position to lie in.
The guys had purchased me a pregnancy pillow, but it did little to alleviate the pressure in my pelvic region or the sciatic nerve pain I seemed to have developed.
I was thankful I didn’t have school today, but we were scheduled for another mission tonight.
Three more people were on the move and in vulnerable positions.
The three best teams had to be deployed.
I knew I didn’t necessarily need to be there, but I found immense joy in slowly, but surely, crippling Horatio and Alison.
It had been a week since we captured Casey and recruited Annika, Sylvie, and their families.
We knew Alison had to be suffering by now.
Without Casey “topping” her off, she was bound to be in pain.
According to Ethan, Casey typically visited Alison twice a week to keep her on a performance level. It had become like a drug to her.
To our knowledge, Horatio had never been gifted a connection, so he wasn’t feeling it physically, only mentally.
It gave me perverse satisfaction that he was experiencing a fraction of the helplessness I had felt when I was abducted.
I was sure he was losing his ever-loving mind, and I was loving that.
“Well,” Lincoln playfully drawled, “you can skip tonight’s mission and stay home and get some of it knocked out.”
I glared at him. Logically, I knew he was only looking out for my best interest. Unfortunately, my hormones weren’t logical at all. It felt like I wasn’t only giving my body to the twins but my mind and emotions as well. Most days, I reveled in my pregnancy, but today wasn’t one of those days.
“Blah. Blah. Blah,” I mockingly imitated his tone.
Lincoln placed the laptop he had been working on aside and turned so he could brace his arms on the bed.
He leaned down, resting his chin in his clasped hands.
He cocked his head to the side, and my eyes narrowed on him.
I had a feeling that the words about to come out of his mouth wouldn’t make me happy.
In fact, I saw the mischief dancing in his eyes and knew he was going to poke the bear. In this instance, I was the bear.
He jutted out his bottom lip in an over-exaggerated pout. “You know, treasure, your baby hormones sure do make you sexy as hell and give you that glow, people rave about, but you’re awfully cranky when you don’t sleep. Do you need a nap?”
“Are you serious right now?” I hissed.
I was genuinely miffed by his pronouncement. Rationally, I knew he was riling me up on purpose. Why? I had no clue. However, since I was touchy and feeling way too pregnant, I wasn’t amused by his teasing.
He raised a brow and smirked. “You know what attracted me to you the first time we met?”
“Like I care.” I snorted. “You’re my connection. We’re powerless to resist our gifts.”
He threw back his head and emitted a sexy laugh.
His gorgeous bronze throat bobbed with each sound, revealing the stubble that had grown on the underside of his jaw.
He hadn’t shaved today, and I had to admit I found that extremely arousing.
Don’t judge me. I could find the man annoying, but still recognized that the stubbled look on my bronzed god was panty-melting.
He leaned further onto the bed and, in an unexpected move, nipped my toe. I screeched and kicked out at him, more from the shock than the actual pain it caused me. I struggled to reach the offending appendage but quickly realized I couldn’t even get to it.
Lincoln seemed unaware of my conundrum. “Our connection may have been the kindling, but it wasn’t what made the fire roar.
It was the way you behaved as if you were a fierce lioness protecting Jaxson, Drake, and the others, which had been deteriorating.
At first, all I saw was a little hissing kitten.
“I loved the way you challenged me and didn’t seem in the least bit impressed by my career or my looks.
Some men hate it when women are full of fire, but I love the fire in you.
You think we drew straws this morning, and I have to admit Jaxson and Noah were insisting on it, but I willingly volunteered.
Well, Remy and I, that is. No matter how grumpy you are, you can’t push us away. ”
My heart melted, but my mind was still transfixed on the fact that he had bitten me, and I couldn’t even reach my throbbing toe. Just like that, I began to sob. I was tired, overwhelmed, and my toe hurt.
Lincoln made a sound of distress, and soon I was being wrapped in his warm, strong embrace.
He made soothing noises, which only made me cry harder.
Before these babies, I could count on one hand how many times I had cried.
Yet, it felt like I had been crying nearly every day for the last few weeks.
I used to believe crying was a weakness, and admittedly, a small part of me still believed that.
That realization made me sob even harder.
It took me a few seconds to realize that Lincoln was talking. Soon, his words began to filter through my consciousness. “Shh. Shh. You are a strong, fierce female. Shh. Shh. I never thought you were a kitten. Shh. Shh.”
I then realized he thought my tears were over the minor insults he had doled out.
He didn’t even notice that his little nip had actually hurt.
How like a man to completely miss the mark.
Then it hit me how this man who held me could take a verbal lashing from me, smile, and goad me, yet a few tears had him fumbling all over himself.
I began to laugh, still riding the rollercoaster of bizarre hormones.
He maneuvered me away from his chest and gave me a confounded look. The puzzlement on his face only made me laugh harder.
“You bit my toe, and I couldn’t even reach my toes,” I gasped between giggles.
“I have about twenty exercises and a book report on a novel I have zero interest in. I’ve tried to get into it, but I’m already fifty pages in, and nothing is happening.
Watching paint dry or water boil is more interesting than this dry read. ”
“The babies are taking up every little piece of real estate in my body, so I feel every movement they make. They’re like little MMA fighters using my bladder, lungs, and, ha, even my ribs as focus pads and punching bags.
I know I have about three months left, but I swear they’re trying to climb out of my vagina.
And the icing on the cake is that they sleep soundly throughout most of the day, yet when I’m ready to sleep at night, it’s like they’re attending a rave party in my womb.
“And don’t get me started on my food cravings and aversions. They change nearly every other day. I swear one of them has to be Jaxson’s, because they already enjoy playing pranks on me and causing chaos whenever possible.”
I realized my words might seem fractious, and I worried he might think I resented this pregnancy and the twins.
But I didn’t, not even an ounce. Ultimately, I felt this whole journey was beautiful and awe-inspiring, and I was amazed by what my body was capable of.
I was supporting not one, but two lives.