Page 125 of Dash

“Come and lie with me,” I say.

There’s no argument as she crawls into our bed and rests her head on my chest. She’s careful where she puts her hands, avoiding the wound to my side.

For a moment, I just breathe her in, the feel of her against me, the curve of her bump pressing into my hip. It’s small, but noticeable now if she doesn’t hide it under her clothes.

My hand gravitates there automatically, like it always does, slipping under her shirt, skin to skin.

“Any nausea?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve got a new symptom though.”

I stroke her stomach. “Yeah?”

“Heartburn. I’m pretty sure I could breathe fire like a dragon.”

I kiss her head. “I’d take all the heartburn, all the hip pain, all the puking if I could.”

Dayna sighs dramatically. “Did you know that male seahorses have the babies, not the female? Why couldn’t I be a seahorse?”

My hand stills on her bump. “You been hanging out with Diesel again?”

I shove down the fucking jealousy that snakes through my gut.

“He was at Ivy’s when I was over there yesterday.” She yawns. “He’s totally weird, but I kind of like that about him.”

“His food habits are worse than your sandwich abomination.”

I caught her putting pickles, hot sauce, and peanut butter on a sandwich yesterday.

“I’m not taking responsibility for my cravings. You got me in this state.” Her fingers interlace with mine over our baby. “Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not planning on getting stabbed again, are you? I mean, I don’t want to make it all about me, but I can’t lose you.”

The vulnerability in her voice shreds me. I kiss her head. “No, babe. I’m planning on staying right here with you and our family.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “There’s something bad going on, though, isn’t there? In your club. Riot and Diesel seemed stressed.”

I consider lying to her, but I want her informed. Knowledge is power. It’s the thing that keeps her safe. “There is but we’re handling it.”

She lifts her head off my chest to peer up at me. “Don’t make me a single mother, okay?”

“Never. We’ve only just started building our family, baby.”

“You want more kids?”

“As many as you’ll give me.”

She relaxes against me, and I wince my side pulls. “Let’s get through this pregnancy first. If this kid is anything like me, you’ll be begging the doctor to tie my tubes.”

“If they’re anything like you, we’ll have the most amazing kid.”

Her phone buzzes and she groans before she wiggles to get it out of her pocket. She opens it and sits up so abruptly I gasp as my side flares with pain.

“Shit, sorry,” she grimaces. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s fine,” I push out between gritted teeth. “What the fuck was so important anyway?”

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