Page 78 of Warrior's Captive
What’s more . . . her heart was his. How could it not be? This man who’d given her all of him, who was here with her during a day in her life she would never forget, probably the most important day of her life.
The orgasm grabbed her, shattering her thoughts until she was nothing more than a mass of emotion, her consciousness floating on bright waves. Dimly, she heard Tai’ri cry out, his hands caressing her back with slightly unsteady fingers.
As she came down from the high, she pushed up. He helped her straighten, then settle back onto his thighs, her body still trembling.
She tried to speak, stopped and cleared her throat, then tried a second time. “Do you think that worked?”
She felt his chest move with his silent laughter. He pressed a kiss on her shoulder. “We should probably keep doing it until it does.”
27
They’d madelove again several times over the course of hours. Though she’d been doubtful, her contractions began again, coming strong enough to break the water sac and after that, Abeyya told her brother to keep his pants on. Not that Vivian was thinking about sex at that point. She stood under a hot water shower to alleviate the pain, and finally entered a pool staff set up in the room.
The pain felt like hovering on the edge of death. Even with the weightlessness of the pool surrounding her, and Tai’ri a supportive, thankfully silent, presence at her back, the contractions gripped her uterus with the ruthlessness of a rabid dog and dug in.
They’d dimmed the lights and Vivian’s mind drifted, Abeyya’s occasional murmur filtering through her semi-trance. She knew Daobah was present now as well, fetching fruit juice and honey sticks for Vivian to suck on. Her appetite was nonexistent, but the sugar and juice kept her energy levels up.
“Vivian?”
She opened her eyes. Abeyya crouched on the edge of the pool, speaking softly. “We’re monitoring the strength of your surges. Do you feel any urge to bear down?”
It took her a moment to respond. “I don’t feel like it.”
“That’s fine. You’re doing very well. Relax into the surge, and if you don’t want to push, then don’t. Your body knows what to do.”
Vivian wasn’t so certain of that, but it was barely an hour later when the need to escape—and the panic that escape was literally impossible—morphed into a sudden, lighting urge to bear down.
Abeyya was there, and Daobah.
“Get me up,” Vivian gasped after the third bearing down. “On my knees.”
There was no reason to her demands, only an instinct as old as the universe. Tai’ri helped her onto her knees and Vivian reached between her legs.
“Is the baby crowning?” Abeyya asked.
Later, Vivian would remember her calm, encouraging tone with gratitude—it helped ease her panic. She nodded. Her palm rested gently on something small, round, fingers running through what must be locks of thick silky hair.
“I feel the head,” Vivian gasped. Then she laughed, the sound closer to tears.
Another surge. She leaned into it, and the baby’s head emerged. “The head! Can the baby breathe?” What had Abeyya told her about water birthing? She couldn’t remember.
“It’s fine, Vivian,” Abeyya said. “Your baby won’t breathe until they first touch air.”
The point was moot for with the next surge the baby’s tiny body slid out of the birthing canal. Vivian caught the child, lifting them out of the water and clasping them to her chest.
A single, poignant moment later and a clear, piercing wail filled the room.
Tai’ri kissed her cheek, and Vivian felt wetness on her cheeks, not all of it from her. “Well done,yada’ami.”
* * *
She was up and walking two hours later.
After allowing the cord to stop pulsing, and her body to release the placenta, Vivian and Baby emerged from the pool. Once the birth was over, she’d wanted nothing more than to dry herself off and dress and then find some place warm and snug to relax with her new child.
“Do you want to see what gender the baby is?” Tai’ri asked. “I didn’t look.” They’d made the choice to wait, drawing out the anticipation as if it were a gift to unwrap. Vivian had wanted to save the moment for when she was dry and clothed and free of pain.
Vivian gazed at the tiny face almost obscured by her swollen breast. Abeyya swore the baby would be able to breathe, even though it looked like the poor child was being suffocated.
