Veiled (Rapture's Edge 2)

She felt drugged out and tried to remember if she’d had anything to drink the night before. But she hadn’t. She’d made love with Duncan high in the air then fallen asleep in his arms as he brought her back to earth.

She smiled happily and put a hand to her chest. She felt full and complete. Her hand drifted to her stomach and she winced. There was only one problem. Her nausea was back and just as her mouth filled with saliva, she pushed herself from bed, sprinted for the arched doorway, and stumbled into the bathroom.

She barely made it to the toilet when she threw up. And not just once, but repeatedly. She finally had to force her body to calm down because there was nothing in her stomach.

Sitting on the tile floor, she leaned against the side of the bathtub. The cast iron was cool against her skin.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d vomited. The stress of the past month must really be getting to her.

Queasy, faint, sore breasts.

And a vision of a child.

A strange white haze suddenly filled her mind. She didn’t really want to think about anything right now except her need to keep moving forward with the black ops team. But the haze meant something, pointing her toward a couple of facts she didn’t want to ponder.

Like why she’d thrown up.

Or why she’d been dizzy earlier when she’d first arrived at Duncan’s cabin.

Or why her breasts hurt like they were on fire even now, though nothing was touching them.

No, she didn’t want to think about these things. Not now. Not when she’d become a Warrior of the Blood and spent her nights killing death vampires and Third grid wreckers. Not when she served as the black ops team’s shield.

But other realities intruded like the simple fact she now realized she’d missed her period.

She covered her face with her hands.

No, no, no.

This couldn’t be happening, not to her, not in the middle of a war, not when she was about to go on a rescue mission to retrieve Merl’s sister from Yolanthe’s prison.

But her new reality wouldn’t be denied as she recalled the vision of the dark-haired little girl calling Duncan ‘Dad’.

Her hands fell away from her face. She stared at the open shelves opposite, at towels stacked up beside several bars of soap.

She was pregnant.

With Duncan’s child.

And they were having a girl.

She focused on the Paradise Valley master bedroom and on the closet she’d stocked with new clothes. She mentally located jeans, underwear, and a soft violet cashmere sweater. She folded them onto the nearby bed then, while still sitting, she looked down at her tender, swollen breasts.

God help her, she was having a baby.

She rose slowly to her feet. As one in a dream, she turned the shower on and moved beneath a warm stream of water. She once again looked down at her breasts. They were definitely bigger, already preparing to nourish a child.

Moving her hands to her lower abdomen, she splayed her fingers over what would soon become swollen and full.

She was pregnant and she would be a mother, something she’d never expected.

Tears joined the streaming water as she let her emotions flow. She’d ignored the symptoms until now. On some level she must have known, but kept explaining away the nausea and the increased size of her breasts, as well as their painful tenderness.

She also knew a pregnancy would seriously complicate her life, her role on the ops team, and especially her relationship with Duncan.

She’d once asked him whether he ever thought about having children. His response still rang in her ears, sending a shard of fear into her heart. ‘God no,’ he’d said. ‘What kind of father would I make with Carlyon as my example?’

She needed to tell him, though, right away. After getting dressed, she headed into the living area. This was not the kind of news she thought it would be wise to keep secret.