“It’s just ice cream, Edik. And it’s not like the pregnancy is a ruse. You were at the hospital with me. You know it’s real. The paternity test confirmed it.”
Edik says nothing. Our silence continues even in the ice cream shop, and the entire way home.
I’m starting to get annoyed with him when we walk into the house, but my annoyance turns to worry as I enter Annika’s studio and find it empty. She’s always here in the afternoons.
I pull the radio off of one of the nearby guards belts and bark “Where is she?” into the mic.
Yana’s voice comes through a second later, informing me that Annika is not feeling well and in the bedroom.
Not feeling well?
She said on the phone she was fine. Did she lie to me?
I toss the radio back to the guard and head for the elevator. The moment its doors open to the top floor I’m all but running downthe hall to our bedroom, thrusting the door open as I feel panic spike through my veins.
Annika jolts up from her curled up position in bed as the door flies open. She’s wearing one of my button up shirts. Her hair is mussed and there’s a look of exhaustion in her blue eyes.
“You lied to me,” I growl, clenching the paper bag of ice cream tight.
Annika’s brows tenses as she shakes her head, her eyes still on me.
“It’s been coming and going and waves,” she explains, “I wasn’t lying when I called. I was fine then. Just had a craving. But now…”
Her eyes drop as her face grows a starker shade of pale. Her voice sounds so small, so weak, that the snarling beast inside me shuts up in a second. She doesn’t need discipline right now, that much is clear. She needs care.
“Mne zhal, devochka,” I sigh.
I don’t apologize often, but she deserves it.
I close the distance between us, sit the ice cream on the nightstand and reach for her. She stretches her arms toward me with a look of longing in her eyes, and I gently pull her to me. She curls into my chest like a little kitten, and I wrap an arm aroundher waist and rub her back with the other. Her sigh of relief is the sweetest sound, and I can’t help myself. I pepper kisses over her hair, her forehead, as I let her cling to me.
I’m not used to being so soft. But Annika? She melts me.
“Here,” I gently command, reaching for the pillows. I stack them against the headboard and ease her back.
I pull the covers up over her legs, note how natural it feels to care for her as I do, and then retrieve the ice cream from the paper bag. A smile of relief touches my lips as I watch Annika light up a little at the sight of the pint of butter pecan caramel crunch. After peeling the lid off, I unwrap the plastic spoon and hand them both to her.
“Thank you,” she says, her voice full of appreciation as she accepts the ice cream and immediately digs in.
For a moment I just watch her. Take in how she closes her eyes and hums after she has her first bite. How she does a little happy dance into the pillows. When she opens her eyes again and looks at me, it’s as if I’ve given her the world, and not a six dollar pint of ice cream. Something strange happens to me when she looks at me like this. My heart- it stings. Swells.
“Better?” I ask, and she nods.
I could stay and watch her eat her ice cream and do that adorable, sexy little happy dance all night- and that’s exactlywhat I intend to do. We’ve gotten into the habit of only spending time together in this room when we’re having our rough, incredible sex, but tonight I decide that just because I’m not fucking her brains out, doesn’t mean I can’t stay.
“Eat your ice cream,” I softly command, reaching out stroke a bit of melted cream from her bottom lip, “I’m going to shower and change, then I’ll be back.”
Her eyes light up as I say so.
“You’re staying?” she asks, and I like how excited she sounds.
I smirk.
“Yes,devochka.Are you alright with that?” I ask.
She nods rapidly and my smirk grows into a grin.
“Good girl,” I tease, and love how her pale cheeks flush soft pink. “I’ll be right back.”
