Page 48 of Bradi

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Thank you again,” Sevan said, pulling her into yet another hug.

Marisa patted his back and laughed. “All I did was assist in the delivery of your boys.” She glanced toward the room where Lorelei now rested.

It had been a long delivery, to tell the truth, and both she and Christian had been concerned about Lorelei. Her blood pressure had plummeted and they’d lost heartbeats on both babies.

Three months earlier, shortly after Peter had been dealt with, Lorelei had begun to experience odd cramps—similar to the ones Marisa now had on a regular basis but kept hidden from everyone else.

“You did more than just assist, Marisa,” Sevan said, his voice low, his tone even. “You combined your power with Christian’s and saved not only Lorelei’s life, but my children’s as well. I will never be able to thank you enough.”

“Sevan,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “She would have done the same for me.”

He nodded, knowing it was true. Glancing back at the door, he smiled and let out a long breath. “I thought that I’d lost her there for a moment.”

Marisa patted his hand and motioned to the door. “Go, sit with her while she rests.”

Marisa rubbed her shoulders and did her best to let the tension out as she watched Sevan head into Lorelei’s room. Strong hands moved over her own and she jumped.

“Calm down, woman, it’s me.”

“Mmm, Bradi,” she said, rolling her shoulders under the weight of his touch. “That feels so good.”

Bradi wrapped his body around hers and she felt his cock digging into her back. “I could make you feel even better. Once, you’re rested of course.”

“Of course,” she said.

His hands slid around her and came to a rest on her very swollen belly. “How’s my son doing this morning? His mommy’s had a rough night and I’m worried about them both.”

As if on cue, the baby kicked out hard. Bradi yanked her back to him with such force that it knocked the wind out of her. “Was that what I thought it was?”

Marisa coughed and patted his large arms, encouraging him to loosen his hold on her. “Bradi.”

“Oh, sorry!” He kissed the top of her head gently. “Got excited.”

She ran her hand over his and pressed down lightly on her stomach. The baby immediately pushed back and Bradi gasped. “He’s a stubborn little thing with a heck of a kick.”

“Have you thought about a name for him yet?”

Marisa turned to talk to her husband and the room suddenly seemed to spin around her. She swayed and Bradi grabbed her. “Doc?”

Righting herself quickly, she smiled up at him, not wanting to alarm him. His stubble-covered jawline was tight and she knew he was concerned about her. The pregnancy had been plagued with problems for the last couple of months, but she’d done a fairly good job of hiding that from Bradi. He had enough to worry about as it was. The added stress of knowing she wasn’t doing as well as expected wasn’t something she wanted to concern him with.

The spies they had in Stegian’s camp had reported that his people were up to something again, so Bradi and the rest of the group had been busy preparing for the inevitable. His full focus needed to be there. Besides, she was the healer and the doctor. The only thing he’d be able to do was worry.

She didn’t want that.

Telling him that she wasn’t sure she’d make it through the pregnancy seemed wrong at a time like this. His people needed him level-headed, not worried and grieving. One problem after another had arisen and Marisa had done her best to heal herself, but for some reason, her powers couldn’t seem to fix this.

She chanced a glance down at her belly. No one knew for sure how long she’d be pregnant for. From talking with Christian, the non-shifter women of their race did not gestate as long as a human woman would. And sometimes those carrying children with shifter DNA went even less than that. And since no one had ever seen a pairing between whatever she was, and Bradi, a shifter male, no one could guess at how long she’d need to carry the baby.

And the baby, like his father seemed very capable of causing interference with her implanted medical scanner. Even she didn’t know how developed he was, and that scared her. Especially with all the issues she’d been having with the pregnancy. Issues that she’d been unable to diagnose with any type of modern medical means. Whatever type of magik that Bradi had, his son did as well, and it wrecked havoc on most everything modern she tried to use on it.

Her fear for their unborn child grew with each passing day. Deep down, she worried that something would go horribly wrong with the pregnancy or something else would happen—something that would harm the child. It had been why she’d been unable to bring herself to suggest names for the child.

“Doc? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

She really hated the fact that Bradi and his shifter sister could sense a lie. It made it extremely hard to hide the problems in the pregnancy. “I’m just tired, honey. Really. I need some rest.”

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