Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers, #9)(32)
“Would you get me a glass of water?”
He didn’t know if she was getting rid of him so she could cry while she undressed, or if she really wanted the water, but he obediently went into the kitchen to get her a drink. He leaned for a moment against the sink, head down, breathing deeply, trying to steel himself for the possibility of delivering a baby. He’d never really considered that he might have no choice.
Not one for inactivity, he went through to the pantry, grateful she had stored books on actual delivery. He thumbed through a book to see what to do with a baby once it was born. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. He had no business trying to deliver his own baby. His blood roared in his ears, his heart hammered hard. If he could have, he would have just hyperventilated and gotten it over with, but his body refused to panic. His lungs kept breathing and his head kept assessing the information, even when his mind screamed at him that he was insane to try something like delivering a baby.
“Kane, where are you?”
It was a good thing he wasn’t panicking, because she sounded like she was. “I’ll be right there,” he called.
“Well, you might want to hurry. My water just broke.”
CHAPTER 6
Kane took a deep breath and went into the room. Rose was dressed in a long shirt she’d found in the closet and was trying to clean up the floor. He could hear her softly weeping, and it nearly broke his heart. “Rose. Come here, sweetheart. This isn’t the end of the world. The baby’s going to be fine.” He injected as much firm belief as possible into his tone as he reached down to lift her to her feet.
Rose leaned into him, trembling, her arms sliding around his waist. “I’m so scared, Kane.”
“I know. But we’re in this together, and we make a great team. You were smart and provided all the right books for us. You’ve read them and I’ve skimmed them. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
Still clinging to him, she lifted her head and met his eyes, a small, wan smile on her face. “According to the books, once my water breaks, I have to deliver, and it should speed up the procedure. Staying on my feet as long as possible should help cut down the time. I don’t want to be doing this one moment longer than I have to.”
“I’ll get the floor and then while you’re resting in between—um—you know—I’ll make something to keep the baby warm once he’s born.”
Rose didn’t let go of his solid strength. There was something about Kane, something steady and absolute and calming. He wouldn’t desert her. Her mouth was dry, her heart pounding, and she’d never been so scared in her life, but she wasn’t alone.
At first, she had to admit, she had idiot girl feelings, not wanting to look like an elephant in front of him and certainly not wanting him to see her in such a vulnerable messy situation. Okay, maybe she still did have a little of that vanity, but it was only a tiny impractical part of her; the rest of her was so happy he was with her she wanted to weep forever. “I don’t want the baby to die, Kane,” she admitted in a low voice. “Do you think I aggravated the situation by climbing on the chair?”
His fingers were soothing on the nape of her neck. It seemed every time he touched her, he brought her calm. She could fall in love with him for that alone.
“Of course not. I think you’ve been having the real thing all along, and we’re just getting to the good part. We’ll do this, Rose. You have to believe that.”
She looked up at him. Looked into his eyes, searching for—yes—there it was. This man would stand with her no matter how bad it got. She let out her breath, relaxing just a little. “I believe in you, Kane.”
“All right, let’s get this room prepared. We’ll need towels and water and especially something to keep the baby warm. Are you always so organized?” He took the old T-shirt she was using to clean the floor and crouched low to finish the job, sending her a little grin over his shoulder.
That grin made her stomach flutter. A slow, answering smile touched her mouth. “I really am glad you’re with me,” she said and had to turn away from those beautiful eyes. He was far too good-looking to ever really look at a woman like her—if the doctor hadn’t paired them.
He wrapped a hand around her bare calf, preventing her from moving away. He rubbed gently over her calf, down to the elegant rose tattoo circling her ankle and back up her calf. “What is it, Rose? Why look so sad? We’re about to have a baby.”
She closed her eyes briefly, savoring his words, the sound of his voice. What man would react like that? She’d trapped him, taken his honor, and yet he still treated her as if she mattered, as if she was someone special to him when he should despise her. She opened her mouth to tell him, but a swelling pain went from front to back, increasing in strength, holding her in its grip. She dropped one hand to his shoulder to steady herself and breathed through it, trying to imagine surfing a large wave.
Kane’s hand on her calf anchored her and kept her centered as she did her slow, even breathing. When the contraction eased, she took a deep breath and let it out and looked down at the man she was counting on to see her through this. He looked calm and steady. Her stomach settled and her heart took up a rhythmic beat.
Kane stood up, leaned down to brush a kiss on top of her head, and went out to collect the things they would need. How the hell had this happened? Rose should be safe in a hospital. He was no medic. He could sew up his own battle wounds, but this? He shook his head. This was one of those do-or-die situations, and he had no real choice. The baby was coming, and it was up to him to see Rose through it.