Duncan’s Honor (The Aegis Network: Jacksonville Division #7)

Chapter 11

11

D uncan blinked his eyes open. The morning sun peeked into the room, warming his face, but it was the body sprawled out over his chest that heated his skin and charred his heart.

Or maybe she mended his heart.

He’d gotten Chastity pregnant, and he feared she might not be ready. She was only twenty-six, and they hadn’t had any romantic relationship. Sure, he knew he loved her, but he had serious doubts about her feelings. Add in a baby, with her religious background, and he worried that everything she did going forward would be driven by what she thought she was supposed to do.

He needed to know—to believe—that she wanted to be with him, even if there wasn’t a baby.

He wasn’t sure that was an answer he could find.

Her long blond hair covered his chest. Her arm rested over his stomach, her knee between his legs, reminding his body how they made a little person in the first place. Spending the night with her was simply torture, so why had he held her so tight?

The answer was twofold. He needed to hold her like he should have that night. That was for him. But he also needed to show her he did indeed care very deeply and for whatever reason, he thought this might do exactly that.

Chastity moaned as she arched her back, brushing her hair from her face. “You let me fall asleep,” she mumbled, rolling to her back, but he pulled her to his chest again. He wasn’t ready to let go.

He might never be ready.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Almost six.”

“Oh my God.” She covered her face. “My parents have been up for at least an hour, and I’m sure my mom went into my room. She was notorious for peeking in while we slept.”

“I think all parents are guilty of that. I really hope no one opened my door.”

Chastity nuzzled her face into his neck. “I don’t think even my mother would do that to a stranger. Of course, if she couldn’t find me, who knows? I mean, my sister is missing. My mom is a little on edge.”

“That reminds me.” He reached over her body, snagging his phone from the nightstand and unlocking it. “Darius has sent a few emails. Why don’t you read them while I use the little boys’ room?”

“You’re seriously going to leave me here?”

“The damage is already done.”

“Fine.”

The cool floor did nothing to reduce the heat burning in his loins. He wanted her more than he wanted anything in his life. After hiking up his jeans, he poked his head out into the hallway before making a mad dash to the bathroom.

Quietly, he closed the door, turned the lock, and slapped cold water on his face. He braced his hands on the sides of the sink and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

He was going to be a father. He should be happy. Thrilled. Excited. Yet all he could do was recoil inside his soul. Besides the things that could go wrong in the first trimester, he couldn’t shake the sadness that Robin carved into his heart. The deception and betrayal cut way too deep, and he resented that feeling. He didn’t want to shout from the rooftops about his and Chastity’s news—good news—because they needed time to be a couple first.

Only, he kept backpedaling, and he had to stop. He had nothing to fear. Chastity was sweet and kind. She was everything any man could ever hope for, and he’d be the dumbest asshole if he let her slip through his fingers.

“Duncan!” her voice screeched through the door as she pounded on it. “Let me in.”

“What’s wrong?” He yanked open the door.

She shoved him, hard. His back slammed against the wall as she skidded across the floor, dropped to her knees in front of the toilet, and vomited.

He bent over and pulled back her hair, rubbing her back.

She gagged and retched for another good three minutes before flushing the toilet and rolling from her knees to her butt. “That’s something I never wanted you to see.”

“What, morning sickness? I hear it happens to a lot of women.”

“Excuse me,” her mother’s voice bounced between his ears.

He let out a long breath before glancing toward the hallway.

“Did I hear you say morning sickness?” her mother asked, clutching her middle.

Duncan sat on the floor, holding Chastity in his arms, while she buried her face in his bare chest.

Her mother stared at them with big eyes, her hands clasped together as if in prayer.

He mentally barraged himself for not closing the door. Had he done that, maybe her mother wouldn’t have overheard. But even with the cat out of the bag, it wasn’t his place to confirm or deny the coming of a child.

“Chastity?”

“Ma, I think I might be sick again.” She shifted from him to the porcelain bowl. “Can we discuss this later?”

Her body trembled and lurched.

“Sure,” her mother said, reaching in and taking the knob in her hand. She nodded briefly at Duncan, then closed the door.

He hadn’t expected her mother to let that go. No, he actually worried she might come back with a shotgun and a preacher.

His own mother was going to have his head, and he didn’t think he’d survive the lecture his father would give him.

But even that would be better than holding Chastity in his arms on the bathroom floor after she suffered from morning sickness—in front of her mother.

“That came on so quickly. I mean, I felt like shit yesterday morning, but I didn’t get sick. I took one step out of bed, and bam, my stomach started smacking my throat.”

“When my sister was pregnant, she said one day it started, and just as quickly, one day, it stopped.” He helped her to a standing position. “It won’t be like this forever.”

Tears lined her sky-blue eyes. “My mother sounded so disappointed.”

“She didn’t look that way. She appeared more shocked and concerned than anything else.” He swallowed. Not a good way to make a positive impression on your girlfriend’s parents.

Girlfriend.

Was that what Chastity was? God, he hoped so.

“I can’t deal with this right now. I need to get out of here. I only got to read a few lines from Darius’ message, stating that Joey isn’t in Canton, but he’s got a lead in Columbus and said Dylan was on his way there.”

“Let me jump in the shower real quick, and then I’ll meet you outside and we can leave. Is there a back staircase in this place? I’d prefer not to run into either of your parents right now.”

“You and me both,” she said, pulling her hair back. “Right now, I only want to focus on finding my sister. Then we can deal with this.” She placed her hands protectively over her belly.

He sucked in a quick breath. His lungs burned, and he couldn’t fill them with enough oxygen. His gaze zoomed in on her womb. His knees buckled, and he had to hold on to the sink in fear he might fall over.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I think I have morning sickness.”

“Oh no, you don’t. You don’t get to go there.” She waggled her finger. “I understand that this is a lot for you. We had two great sexual encounters and we find ourselves in a situation, but you don’t get to pretend to feel sick.”

“I’m not.” He placed his hand over her stomach. “We’re really going to have a baby?” Flashes of holding pudgy little fingers in his hand as he and a toddler walked across the beach flooded his mind. He’d had this vision a dozen times, but he never saw Chastity waving from a chair with her toes in the sand like he did now.

She covered his hand with hers. “Yes. We are. But I wonder if I should have waited to tell you until after we found my sister.”

“That would have made me angrier.”

“You’re angry?” she asked.

“I’m a little annoyed that you didn’t come to me when you realized you were late and that you could indeed be pregnant.” Annoyed wasn’t the correct word, and it was directed at himself, not her. Only he did wish he could have offered her a shoulder to lean on while she waited to find out.

“And tell you what? We weren’t a couple and why worry you until I knew for sure.”

He frowned. It might be a logical answer, but with this kind of life situation, emotion trumped logic every day of the week.

“I’d like for you to tell me everything that has to do with the baby, please?”

She cupped his face. “I won’t keep any of that from you, ever. I promise. But I really need to focus on my sister and not this. Can you do that for me?”

“I can.” He would part the Red Sea for her if he could.