His lips tightened. “Where were you running to? I know we didn’t give you any choice in this, but we all agreed to try to make it work.”
“You think I was running away? Is that what Reese and Dante think, too?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have their ability. I don’t know what they think. You’re saying you weren’t?”
Impulsively, she moved closer, caressing his cheek lightly with her fingers. He stiffened, but he didn’t pull away. “As crazy as it might sound, I love you. I love all of you. I wasn’t running away. At least, I suppose in a sense I have been, but not the way you think. It’s….” Her face crumpled. “…the baby. I think there’s something wrong with it. I just … I just wanted to know and I couldn’t think of any way to find out except to try to get my hands on a scanner. You know I can’t go to the med center. They’d know immediately that I’m … not the same as everyone else.
“It’s just been driving me crazy, trying to decide what would be the best thing to do for it. And then, after I did the scan and everything else happened—all I could think about when I was fighting those horrible creatures was that the baby couldn’t live without me, that it depended on me to keep it safe and give it life and I’d failed it. I think I’m just too selfish to do the right thing for the baby. I love it. I can’t terminate it, even if it’s so bad its life is a misery to it, I just can’t do it.
“But I was afraid that you would all hate me for producing such a defective child and I didn’t think I could face that either.”
Cain studied her for several moments after she burst into tears and finally pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.
Amaryllis wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry, Cain. So sorry! I tried to tell you I was wrong for you. I tried to tell Reese and Dante, too.”
He soothed her until she’d cried herself out and then went to get her a washcloth for her ravaged face.
“I hope this isn’t going to become a habit,” Cain said pensively.
Amaryllis mopped her face and peered at him. “What?”
“Crying all over me.”
Her chin wobbled and he pinched it. “No more of that,” he said sternly. “I don’t mind a little watering now and then, but I enjoy your smiles and laughter much better.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t really know what’s wrong with me lately. Ordinarily, I handle problems much better.”
“This isn’t a problem,” he said, patting her belly. “It’s a gift, and one we would all have rejoiced in even more if you’d shared it with us.”
“Everyone’s really mad with me.”
“Yes. You scared the hell out of us.”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“Which is why we’ve decided after a lot of consideration only to punish you for a week.”
Amaryllis blinked at him. “Punish?” she said slowly. “You mean locking me in?”
“I mean no sex.”
Amaryllis bit her lip. “You’re not serious.”
He sighed. “Alas, yes. I voted in favor of fucking you senseless, but Reese and Dante assured me that pleasuring you wasn’t the sort of punishment that would teach you the right lesson, that it might have the adverse effect of encouraging you instead.”
“You are serious?”
“Unfortunately,” he said glumly.
Amaryllis was more than a little inclined to think he must be teasing her, but he certainly seemed serious. “For a week.”
“Reese was inclined to make it more, but I pointed out that that would create an undue hardship on the disciplinarians.”
Amaryllis shook her head. “I can never tell when you’re joking.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m dead serious, baby. I adore you. We all do. But if you ever do anything that … dangerous again, you won’t come away from it unscathed. I will make sure you deeply regret it. Now come. Dante and Reese are waiting.”
Amaryllis stared at him distrustfully. “For what?”
