Beyond(43)

I lie back own and cover my eyes with my arm. “I don’t know. I could never hurt Sam.”

It would be like hurting myself.

The door opens and Dane steps in. “You’re awake.”

Dr. James leaves the room, giving us some privacy.

“How do you feel? I brought you some soup,” he says, placing the tray down on the table then coming to stand by the bed.

“I’m okay,” I say. “I hear you’re going to be a father.”

He smiles so widely that is eases some of the pain in my chest. “Just when I thought you couldn’t make me any happier.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

He leans down and lifts up my t-shirt, kissing my stomach. “You’re going to be the best mother. Our kid is so damn lucky.”

I smile. “He’s going to have the most badass dad too.”

Dane tilts his head to the side. “Maybe he will save humanity after all.”

“Maybe he will be a she. And she will save humanity.”

“With a mother like you,” he replies, staring into my eyes. “That’s something I could believe.”





When I go to find Sam the next day, I find that he’s gone. Left. Without a word. I don’t know how to feel. Surprisingly, he isn’t the only one that has left. Lars has gone too. I didn’t see that one coming. I think Sam was saving me, taking away the pain of having to choose what to do with him. I couldn’t hurt him, but I couldn’t just ignore what he did. I don’t know what was going through his head. Now I guess I will never know.

“What you didn’t leave too?” I ask Gina. When I see her red eyes, I regret my comment.

“I can’t believe this,” she cries. “I loved him Olivia. I loved Lars. But he chose Sam.”

I hug her and let her cry it out. “Why did you stay?”

She shrugs. You saw how I reacted to those beasts. It’s scary out there.”

“There are…” I trail off. I was going to say ‘there are plenty fish in the sea’ but we really didn’t have that many men here. I try again. “You should steal Wyatt from Jordan. He’s a good man.”

She smiles through her tears.

I smile back.





Sam left me a note.

Saying sorry.

That he loves me.

That I’m his best friend.

That he just wanted to be free.

That he’d never forget me, and not to worry about him. He’d be safe with Lars.

I wish he’d told me how he felt.

I could have freed him.





I fill the emptiness Sam left in me with my baby. Running my hands over my stomach, I take a bite of fish from my plate.

“You need to eat the lettuce,” Dane says. “Anything green.”

I smile, feeling amused. “I’m eating as much fresh vegetables as I can.”

“Eat my portion too. You need it not me.”

He slides his lettuce and carrots onto my plate.

“Dane--”

“No arguing,” he replies. “You and the baby’s health is my top priority.”

I shut up and eat his vegetables.

“It’s hard for you to have a balanced diet but we can do what we can,” he continues. “There’s some tinned corn and stuff like that you can eat. If you need anything let me know and I’ll venture out to get it.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’ll probably come back with another ex of yours.”

His lips tighten. “Baby--”

“I was joking.”

“I know you miss Sam,” he says quietly, studying me. “He loved you, you know that right? His mind was obviously messed up. In his head he thought he was helping everyone in the castle. He f*cked up. Maybe he has some issues to work out. What he did was… out of his character. Fucked up. Wrong. But I know that he loved you.”

I shrug. “It’s in the past now. Time to move forward, you know?”

“Olivia…”

“Yes?” I ask, putting my fork down.

“I can be your best friend,” he says, ducking his head. “I want to be everything to you. Your husband, your lover, your protector, and your best friend.”

I put my hand on top of his. “You already are.”





Epilogue





He wouldn’t make love to me.

“I want sex!” I yell, throwing a pillow at him.

He smirks, the infuriating man. “Yes, like that’s going to help.”

His dark hair was down, sitting by his shoulders, and I ached to run my fingers through it, preferably while he was going down on me.

There was an idea.

“You could use your mouth,” I say, pulling down my panties and spreading my thighs. “That can’t hurt the baby in any way.”

His eyes narrow and darken.

When he licks his lips, I moan. “You want me, do you wife?”

“You know I do,” I reply breathily. “I always do.”

He lifts his arms and pulls off his t-shirt. I admire his muscles, his six pack of delicious abs and his smooth toned chest. When he slides his pants off, I stare at the V on his hips, leading down to his thick, wide cock.