Sasha Ramirez
There’s Life Within You
“Itrust you are feeling well-rested, my dear?” Razortip asked with uncharacteristic benevolence when he came to my room that evening. I frowned at him and folded my hands on my lap. I’d spent the afternoon being thoroughly examined by a small, wizened man who’d been introduced as a doctor. Though I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d also been a vet.
Swarthy and seamed, the little man’s eyes had darted about me in a way that made me feel like a lab specimen. He’d done blood tests, weighed me, taken my blood pressure, and performed a string of examinations that, to me, seemed wholly unnecessary. I was prepared to die, and I’d do it any way that I could.
Finally satisfied that he’d seen enough, he’d left without a word to me. It had been clear from the start that there’d be no point in asking him for help to escape. He was one of them, answering to my abductors. There were no allies here.
“You will eat,” Razortip continued. I set my jaw but didn’t raise my eyes to meet his. I knew he had ways to compel me, but I wasn’t going to make his task any easier. “You know I can force you.”
I nodded.
“But you will cooperate,” he said. There was a quiet confidence to his words that made me glance up at him cautiously. Why would he feel he could change my mind about this? I wasn’t going to give him any further hold over Prince.
“You are with child,” he said abruptly. His words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest.
“I…! I… What?” I gasped out. He was wrong! It couldn’t be true!
“You are pregnant.” His smug expression made me want to smack him in the face, but my head was still reeling at this revelation. “You will eat. Your baby needs it.”
I felt sick once again, but this time for a completely different reason.
“I can see that this is a surprise to you,” he said. “You are not far along. But there is a child growing within you. It would be wise to protect that new life.”
I was shaking my head. “How…how far?” I asked eventually. I was frantically trying to run through dates and mental calculations but couldn’t think clearly. When was my last period? Had it been that long ago? Perhaps…Fuck!Timelines were falling into place. I hadn’t been thinking about it…too lost in the fairytale that had been our whirlwind romance. I’d been on the Pill, although I knew such things weren’t fool-proof. And from the amount of sex we’d been having, it shouldn’t surprise me. Particularly since we’d stopped using the additional precaution of condoms.
“My doctor would need to do a scan to tell you how far along you are. But the tests confirmed it.”
My mind was still racing. This changed everything. Everything! There was no way I would do anything to harm my unborn baby. Our child was inside me. Nothing was as important as that. I put my hand over my belly and rubbed my thumb there gently.
A baby. Alec’s baby.
I felt tears threaten. It shouldn’t be this way. This should be a moment of joy, not a bargaining chip for the evil bastard in front of me. My hand curled more protectively. When the door opened and Gloria walked in carrying a tray laden with food, I felt my jaw clench. She set it on the small table they’d set up on the side of the room. Razortip gave a nod in the direction, and I rose hesitantly and moved over to it.
“Good girl,” he said smugly as I lowered myself into the chair and reached for a fork. “You are doing the right thing,” he continued. I hated him so much. But the rich aroma of beef stew and vegetables was wafting up to me, and suddenly my mouth was watering. I needed to do this.
I took a mouthful of food and began to chew.
