Dom Fever (Devlin Black #2) (3 page)

The door opening minutes later stirred me.

A woman paused a few feet in, the cart holding the sonogram machine stopping with her. She took one look at Devlin and I groaned out loud. Her lips were separated. Her large eyes, wide. Pure shock was registered on her face and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Jesus,” I growled. “Let’s just do this.” I sat up, not able to hide the
anger. I couldn’t even look at her as she stopped before me.

“We’re just going to take some pictures of the baby. This shouldn’t take too long.” I lifted the gown, turning my head toward the monitor and away from Devlin and he eased up to my side.

“Actually.” She lowered the gown to my hips.  “We’re going to be doing a transvaginal ultrasound today.” Her voice was low, so soft I could barely hear. But I didn’t miss what she said. My eyes closed, mortified.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

I brushed away one of the tears and tried to breath. The sheet was pulled to the side and my knees bent. Still, I couldn’t face what I was having to go through. To have a woman he was or had been involved with placing something in the most intimate place on my body. Completely…humiliating.

“
This will be a little uncomfortable, but I’ll try to be easy.”

I nodded, only opening my lids when I felt the pressure enter me. I focused on the screen, not willing to look at her or Devlin.
I couldn’t deny that she sounded sincere. I felt bad for reacting as I had. It was just too much. Too soon.

“You see this.” She pointed to what looked to be a small black
dot. At her moving her hand to get a better view, I clenched my jaw. “That’s the baby. You’re still really early.” She clicked a few buttons, taking measurements. “About five weeks, give or take a day or two.”

“I’d say that’s dead on,
” Devlin said, quietly. He leaned forward, his eyes squinting as he stared at the screen. “Does the baby look okay? I…” His head moved. “Isn’t there supposed to be legs or arms or something? A heartbeat?”

The dark haired woman looked over. “
The heartbeat typically isn’t detected until the sixth week. As for what we’re seeing, everything looks normal, but I’ll let your doctor have a better look and decide.” She took a few more pictures and handed me a cloth to clean myself as she finished. I almost felt bad for her. How did she know him? Had he hurt her too?

“Congratulations.” The smile she gave
was…genuine. There was no anger like with the last, but still, it got to me. Made my pregnant days with Ava come back to life all over again.

“
Georgia, can I talk to you for a minute? Outside.” Devlin glanced over and I closed my eyes, throwing my arm over my face. Footsteps sounded and I turned away, wiping the tears that started flowing again. I couldn’t do this. How many more women? It was almost laughable. I didn’t even want to know.

Chapter 3

Devlin

Today was just full of surprises. Some good. Some…shit. The timing of my past couldn’t have had a worse time to invade my life. Although, technically, Georgia was my present. She was one of the women who’d answered my ad to start a family.

As I watched her walk away, I knew I should have felt something. She didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore and I couldn’t deny the relief
that was there, but what about the others? Did I still want to pursue a relationship with one of them? Victoria didn’t want me and I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive her for what she did, but she was the mother of both of my children. God…

I pulled out my phone, hitting Branson, my best friend’s number.
He answered after the second ring.

“If you’re calling to cancel dinner plans, I’m going to be pissed.” I knew he was teasing, but I didn’t have the strength to laugh.

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you serious? Devlin, you promised. Jill went out and brought Charity a new outfit just so she could take pictures of you holding her.”

Branson’s baby hadn’t been born but a week ago. Although she’d been four weeks early, the little girl had been healthy and had been released to go home after three days.

“You have no idea what kind of day I’ve had. I’m at the hospital with
Victoria.”

“Is she working?”

“No,” I rushed in. “She’s the patient.”

He exhaled. “What the
hell happened?”

“I’ll get to that.” I glanced
down the hall at the nurses who sat not far away. “I have a daughter. She’s…” Shit, I didn’t even know her age. “Victoria got pregnant the night we met. That one time. Jesus, Branson, Ava looks just like me.”

He got quiet. “What are you going to do?”

My head shook, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “I’m moving in with her. Not as a couple, but so I can be with Ava. I didn’t leave Victoria much of a choice.”

“I figured as much. So why is she in the hospital?”

“Food poisoning. But there’s more. She’s pregnant by me. Again.”

“Oh…fuck.” He dr
agged out the words and I bit the inside of my cheeks.

“Yeah. So, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll skip dinner tonight. I need to be here with her anyway.”

“Absolutely. I hope she gets better soon. Call me tomorrow. I want you to keep me updated.”

Oh, I would.
Lately, we’d been pretty close, even though the last year had been rocky. It didn’t help that I pushed him and his wife away during my self-destruction stage. “Okay. You have a good night. Give Jill and Charity a kiss for me.”

“Will do.”

The line disconnected and I sighed as I opened the door. At the sniffling, I headed for the bed. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. The whole reason she’d stayed away was because of all the women. And here she was, pregnant by me again, and they were crawling out of the woodwork. Not that her withholding from me was excusable.

“
Victoria?” I eased to the mattress, placing my hand on her shoulder. She rolled over to face me, her eyes swollen from the crying. It ripped at my heart. I may have been pissed for what she’d done, but I couldn’t shut off my feelings for her no matter how much I wanted to. I’d spent months looking for her, and it’d been two years before I finally found her again. But never once had I forgotten about her.

“I’m fine. It’s just the hormones. Really.” She turned back over. “You can go home, Devlin. I’ll be okay. I’m just going to go to sleep. You’re not going to miss anything.”

It didn’t matter what she said, I wasn’t leaving. “Scoot over.” I was already crawling on the bed before she could argue. “Try to sleep. You have to be exhausted. Plus, I read getting plenty of rest in the first trimester is best.”

“You read?’ She rolled onto her back.
The way she said it almost had me laughing. She sounded shocked.

“Yeah. I’ve
always read.  Lately, I’ve focused more on babies. You forget, it’s the main reason I wanted to settle down.” I propped myself up on my elbow and eased the sheet down a little. “May I?” My hand continued to lower even as I spoke. I didn’t want her to deny me. Couldn’t stand the thought. My child was living within her and I wanted full access to what I created.

“You want to see my stomach?”
Confusion flashed and I could tell from the way her hands stayed close to the blanket that she was nervous.

I nodded,
trying to stop my breathing from deepening. Something about the whole situation sent my blood racing. For the smallest moment, I could almost forget about her betrayal.

“
It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re going to have a baby.” My hand dipped under the blanket and I moved down the length of her gown, easing it up, brushing her upper thigh by accident. The way her lids lowered and her breathing deepened, my cock instantly got hard. The moment was so intimate. Just us. Two people who had amazing sexual chemistry, sharing a moment concerning our baby…

The urge to touch her even more, to trace my fingertips up to her hip and over to her pussy
, was unbearable. How many days and nights had I envisioned having her again? Too many. Instead of giving in to my fantasies, I lowered my palm over the middle of her stomach as gently as I could.

“You’re too high,” she said, huskily. The baby won’t be up there for another couple of months.”

God, she wanted me lower? I moved down an inch and she shook her head, her eyes closing completely. I licked my lips, feeling heat pour from her skin as I headed toward the one place I yearned to go. Again, she shook her head. My heart was hammering so hard by the time that I got to the top of her shaved pussy that I almost moaned at the smoothness.

“Am I hurting you? I mean, with the pressure of my hand?”

Slowly, she shook her head. Her legs moved under the blanket and the biggest internal battle of the century began to play out in my brain. If I moved lower, I knew she wouldn’t stop me. I was almost betting she was soaking wet and swollen from what we were sharing. Yet, I knew where I stood with what she’d done. There was no way I was going to jump right back to where I’d been before. So, where did that leave me?
Still wanting a woman you can’t have, fool.

My jaw clenched and I pushed everything sexual away. My child was somewhere under my hand and that was what I needed to be focusing on.

“What are you hoping for?” I asked, looking up at her. “Have you even thought about it?”

Her eyes opened and she smiled. “A boy would be nice, but either way. As long as it
’s healthy, that’s all I care about.”

I nodded. “I agree.
A boy…” I laughed. “Wow. That would amazing. Another girl would be great too.” I swallowed past the emotion. “I really am looking forward to this, Victoria. I’m very happy you’re the one. Even if…” I stopped it at that, not able to continue.

This was no
t how I envisioned my life playing out. My dream of love was all but gone. Yet, I’d gotten the children part. For now, that would work. I’d embrace the miracle I had been given and be the best father I could.

The gown hindered my view
as I glanced down and I pulled it up, going back to rest my hand on her stomach.

“When is Ava
’s birthday? What’s her middle name?”

“July ninth
, and her name is Ava Devlin Farris.”

My hand paused from the caressing it had begun to do on its own. “You named her after me?”

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “Despite my fears, I never forgot or regretted what happened, Devlin. I always planned on telling you, my timing was just…wrong, to say the least.”

I got quiet as I looked back down at
where my baby was. Damn, I felt like someone had beaten me with a bag of bricks after they’d ran me over with a bus. Sleep was really starting to sound good. There were still a few hours before I’d typically go to bed, but with what I’d been through, it warranted a lot more than sleeping at around five in the evening. Like Scotch. Or Vodka. That wasn’t going to happen, though. Not now and maybe never again.

“Devlin?”
Victoria turned toward me, her head leaning toward my chest. My hand had stopped on her hip and for the life of me I didn’t want to remove it.

“Yes?”

She yawned. “If you leave the room, can you stop by the nursery and ask for Lorraine? She’s my boss. Can you let her know I’m here and I’d like to talk to her about my schedule?”

“Sure.” I moved my arm out from under me and settled my head on the extra pillow that rested on her bed. As her eyes fluttered open, we held eye contract. Still, my hand was on her hip.

“It’s nice to have you here this time.” Her eyes lowered to what looked to be my lips, only to raise back to my stare. “Thank you. It really does mean a lot.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to talk. I would have been there for her before, if she
had only let me know. God, I would have changed; taken to the situation with opened arms and asked… no,
convinced
her to marry me. She wouldn’t have wanted to then any more than she did now, but I wouldn’t have stopped. I would have wooed her and shown her she could trust me.

“Get some sleep.” My fingers twitched on her hip and I brought my arm up to brush the hair back from her face. Touching her was something I found impossible not to do.
I needed to distance myself. Yes. Once we left here, I’d have to back off. Try to move on.

Her eyes shut and I closed mine.
It didn’t take long for slumber to pull me under. Sleep came in vivid dreams of Victoria pinned underneath me as I held onto that same hip, thrusting my cock into her deep and slow. My other hand held her wrists and her moans increased as I felt her pussy tightened around me.

“Not yet, kitten. I want you to come when I do.”

“Sir,” she purred, just the she always did when I had her like this.

“Sir.” Shaking had me blinking and I fought to make out what I was seeing. A woman I didn’t know. Hell, this was familiar. The scrubs registered and I turned to see
Victoria huddled over away from me. She was sick again and I couldn’t believe I’d slept through it. “Sir, I need you to get up while I tend to Ms. Farris.”

I stood, walking around the bed as the nurse took the basin from her.

“You should have woken me up.” I tucked the hair behind her ear and cursed myself immediately. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, taking a drink of water from a
Styrofoam cup the nurse gave her.

“Tooth
brush?” Her voice was raw as she spoke to the woman.

“There’s one in the restroom. If you’re okay to walk, you can wheel the IV back there with you.”

I helped her stand while she fixed her gown. As I helped her over, I could feel how shaky she was. Even holding on to me and the IV machine.

“I’ll be okay,” she assured.

Breaking my hand from her was hard. Fear of her falling or somehow hurting herself and losing the baby suddenly became my biggest fear. I wouldn’t be able to bear it. Not with how much I wanted this; how long I’d dreamed it. Suddenly, I realized just how vast that need had seeded itself inside of me. I’d seen our baby. It was there. Living. Growing by the second. Reluctantly, I let go, walking back over to the new nurse as Victoria shut the door.

“Is she going to be okay?”

The woman glanced up from the computer in the room. “Yeah, she’s
doing better. The fluids are helping. She should be good enough to go home in the morning.”

The clock on the wall read ten and I yawned, my stomach growling. Damn. The cafeteria was probably closed and I needed food
, but there was no way I was leaving. “Is there a vending machine around here?”

She peered
over at me again. “Out the door and to the left. Pass the nursery and the elevators and keep going down. It’s on the right, by the waiting rooms.”

“Thanks.”

A few minutes went by and Victoria walked out. I helped her back into bed, making sure she was comfortable before I left. As I headed in the direction, I stopped, staring through the glass of the nursery.
I was a father
…and would be again in a few months. A smile came to my face at the thought. A boy. I’d like that.

“She’s not working, you know.”

I turned to face a tall woman who I’d seen not long ago with Victoria. I looked down at her nametag.

“
Lorraine. You’re Victoria’s boss.”

“And best friend,” she said, turning to look into the nursery too.

“Ah.” That would describe the over-protective looks she’d given me. “She wanted me to tell you that she needed to talk to you about her schedule. She’s down in room three-ten.”

The woman’s head spun in my direction. “I ha
dn’t checked the board. I just got here to cover a shift. Is she okay?”

“Food poisoning, but she’s better than she was.”

She went back to looking through the window. For some reason, I felt compelled to keep talking. “I met my daughter. I take it you knew.”