3

ATHENA

I am sure I imagined it, I thought.

The goosebumps coating my arms at the moment however would say otherwise.

I had felt it… that chill and hate about him. It almost made me whimper in fear.

“I did not know they kicked so early” He commented, his hand still on my stomach.

There was a slight smile on his face now, nothing like what I had seen.

“Yeah, the doctor did say anytime now” I told him.

He nodded slightly, removing his hand.

“Are you not going to eat anymore?” He asked.

I stared at the food, my appetite suddenly gone.

“I think I am full” I told him.

“Shall we leave then?” He rose to his feet, putting a hand out to help me.

I took it without saying a word in protest and allowed him lead me out of the restaurant and back into the car.

He must have noticed something was wrong because he spurn me around, his arms coming to my shoulders.

“You are suddenly awfully quiet” He commented.

“I just do not feel like talking after eating” I told him, taking a breath.

I was unable to meet his eyes.

“That has not stopped you before” He mentioned, opening the car door much to my relief.

I slid into the car not responding to his question and watched as he circled. I took in his features.

He was a very powerful man, tall and built and you could tell he had this agility to him.

He slid in beside me and I shied away, careful to not give myself away.

“It has something to do with the baby kicking, doesn’t it?” He asked, sighing.

He turned to me, his face warm and his eyes sincere.

“I lost a girl I used to know to pregnancy” He informed. “Touching your stomach, feeling the baby made me think of her for a little bit so thank you” He said.

My chest eased and relief flooded my veins.

Of course, that was the reason for his look.

“I am so sorry about that” I told him, suddenly feeling like a fool for even being afraid of him in the first place.

It was obvious that he only wanted to do right by me.

“She died trying to abort the baby” He added.

Oh.

Now I suddenly knew the reason why he was adverse to abortions.

“Was it your child?” I blurted.

“No, she was just a friend. Someone I met after my adoption. She was scared her parents were going to disown her and then decided to opt for aborting the baby”

I shook my head slightly… it was a sad tale.

“You must have suffered a lot because of her death” I patted his arm gently.

It was taut, like he was holding himself still.

“Yes” He murmured.

He turned dark eyes to me and then leaned forward so suddenly that I yelped.

“What are you doing? You cannot want to kiss me in-”

I stopped talking when his hand came back around and I saw he was holding my seatbelt.

“Oh, yes… the seat-”

His eyes lit up with amusement.

“You thought I was going to kiss you?” He asked.

Our face were inches apart now and I could hear the flutter of my heart. The butterflies in my stomach or was it baby was in full panic mode.

“Not at all” I cleared my throat, trying to look away from him.

He still held the seatbelt, poised in the air as his gaze burned me.

“You know, now that you mentioned it”

I gasped as his hand came around the back of my head and his lips touched mine.

Pull away, I told myself. Pull away and slap him across the face.

I did the exact opposite and leaned into him, deepening our kiss.

It was as hot as ever.

One thing about Rafael Hall was nothing was warm or cold about him. It was all fire and heat with a full dose of intensity.

He managed to knock the breath out of my lungs with his lips on mine.

He put my lower lip slightly, trailing his tongue across my mouth and then nibbling gently it.

When he released me, I wasn’t sure I was still on earth or now one with the angels.

“You taste like strawberries” He commented, slapping the seatbelt in.

“Probably the milk” I squeaked.

“Yeah, probably”

We drove away from the restaurant and back to the house with no conversation about how he had kissed me the way he did or while I had not tried to stop it.

When we arrived at the house, he helped me out of the car and back in.

Ella was standing by the door and bowed her head slightly in greeting.

“Help Miss King up the stairs, she must be very tired” He ordered.

Ella nodded again and grabbed my hand.

“I can walk by myself” I argued, turning to him. “Where are you going?”

He seemed surprised by my question but he answered none the less.

“I have some business to attend to but I will be back” He explained.

“Okay” I said in a small voice.

I was just about to turn around when he stopped me with a hand to my shoulder. He reached for my hair, brushing it back with his fingers and tucking it behind my ear.

“You should rest… for the baby” He muttered gently.

I nodded and then watched him walk away to what I assumed was his study.

A smile cracked up my features and I turned to Ella who had been watching the scene.

“What is with him?” I asked. “Touching my hair and tucking it behind my ear” I demonstrated while she looked at me.

“One would think he has no heart but he just has a weird way of expressing his feelings” I began walking and saw she followed behind me.

“I mean, I know I am pregnant with his child but he does not need to treat me like I am his wife or something”

I stopped walking, turning to her.

“What do you think?”

“I do not know, Miss”

“You saw the gentleness in his eyes, didn’t you?”

She nodded her head

I wasn’t sure she was agreeing with me or saying she did not know again.

“You know this is just temporary so he had better not fall for me”

I giggled as I bounded up the steps and straight to our room.

Ella remained outside.

I guess her job was just to make sure I had everything I needed.

I was grinning from ear to ear, replaying the moment he had tucked my hair behind my ear.

For the baby? I scoffed.

Fine, I will rest for the baby.

I climbed into the bed, wrapping the duvet around my body and drifting off to sleep.

I dreamed of walking down the aisle with my father muttering something funny in my ear as he led me to my future husband who weirdly had the face of Rafael Hall.

When I woke, I blamed such asinine dream on the pregnancy.

Surely the hormones were making me imagine the impossible