My mind flickers to that day up on the rooftop in the hot tub, and my body turns molten.
His gaze searches mine, and he gasps, pressing a hand to his chest.
“Why, Isabella Hudson,” he drawls, his voice coming out in a mock-victorian accent. “Have you been engaging in orgies without informing me? I’m appalled!”
I giggle, shaking my head, and flick his shirt-covered nipple. He squeaks and rubs the small hurt away.
“I’m not telling you anything while you’re still recovering.”
He scowls. “Why the hell not?”
Now I’m the one to wiggle my brows. “Because you’ll be so turned on, you’ll have no choice but to fuck your frustrations out on me, and you can’t so you’ll get blue balls, and then your blue balls will fall off, and I can’t be responsible for depriving the world of baby Hunters.” I shake my head and release a long, drawn out breath. “It would be a travesty.”
“What…” Hunter gapes at me. “That was the craziest shit you’ve ever said to me.”
I shrug, trailing my fingers across his chest. He’s silent for a long time. When he finally speaks, he clears his throat, shocking me with his words.
“Do you really think it would be a travesty?”
My brows furrow as I process his question. When his meaning dawns on me, I inhale sharply. “If you couldn’t have kids? I was only kidding. Of course, it would be.” I meet his gaze. “You’d be an amazing father, Hunt.”
“And what about you?” His eyes search mine. “You’d be a wonderful mom, my love. You know that, right?”
Acid burns in my gut and I shift uncomfortably. “I doubt it,” I mutter, looking away. “Besides, you know I can’t have kids.”
I hate how lifeless the words sound. There was a time when my heart was filled with a chasm of deep-seated pain at the realization that I’d never be able to have children. But over the years, I’ve become numb to it. What was done to me at such a young age caused irreversible damage.
Everything inside of me is too scarred to sustain life now.
Hunter brushes my dry cheek, probably expecting tears. I’ve already cried them all. There’s nothing left.
He tilts my chin up and kisses me softly.
“The doctor who diagnosed you,” he says gently, as if he’s afraid I’ll get upset at him for bringing up the past. I nod, not sure where he’s going with this. “Sweetheart, Eric was a licensed doctor hired by Augustus to destroy you. What if that doctor you saw was fake, or planted into your life like he was?”
I stare at him for a long moment, my muscles locked. His words trickle through my body like sticky tar. My heart races at the implication. Could they have been lying? Could I have been misdiagnosed?
I shake my head. It makes no sense. What reason would they have for lying?
I was seventeen at the time and had scheduled an appointment with the first doctor I found online. I was too scared to ask Evelyn for help, too scared she’d ask about my sexual history. I’d been worried about the fact that I’d never once had a period, and after all I’d been through when I was young, I knew there was a chance damage had been done.
I’d been so nervous for my appointment that when the doctor changed at the last minute and a man was brought in, I’d been in near hysterics.
My heart skips a beat and I shoot up, turning wide eyes to Hunter.
“The doctor…” I trail off, my eyes burning. “The nurse said my doctor was stuck in surgery and they brought in someone else. He…he took one look in-inside me and s-said—” A sob wracks my body and Hunter quickly bundles me against him, rocking us back and forth. “What if he wasn’t a r-real doctor? H-he wasinsideme, Hunt!”
My words are garbled and he curses viscously.
“I’ll fucking kill this bastard,” he swears. “Sick motherfucking bastard. I’ll kill all of them!”
I bury my face in his neck, clinging to him like a lifeline. God, I’m so tired of these twists and turns. Every time I feel like I’m getting my feet on solid ground, something else comes up that rocks my entire world.
“We’ll figure it out, baby,” he promises, kissing my hair. “Tomorrow, we’ll see Oliver. We’ll get him to help us find the guys. And when you’re ready, we’ll speak to a doctor. A real one.” He shudders. “A female doctor.”
I suck in a breath and nod, but another thought filters through my anxious mind. I pull away, looking up at him. “What if Madeline doesn’t let us search for the guys? What if Oliver finds them, and she won’t let us leave?”
His gaze fills with determination. “Then we run.”
