Page 56 of Storm

The hardness of the mattress gives way as Melek joins me, his hand resting on my abdomen. “I had the medic look you over. They said it was probably exhaustion, and you would need to rest for the remainder of the day.”

His spearing, haunted stare says something else. It’s more than a case of tiredness. Dropping his head, he leans in close, his heat moving through me. This close, it’s hard not to want to be cocooned by him. A heavy breath rolls from his lips. “I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

I stare unblinkingly at his stern, hard jaw, the clench in it constant. My fingers caress its roughened borders. Maybe if he relaxed, showed more of what he has hidden, we could— No.

“Why did you bring us?” My voice is barely audible as I look up to meet his darkening irises. I want to touch more of him. The slight crease of his frown lines… The tips of my wayward fingers want to travel to their unknown depths. There’s an urge to comfort my commander, who has somehow weaselled his way into the holes that were gaping to be filled.

Dropping his gaze, he looks towards the baby growing safely in my body. “With Mary gone, there’s no one else I can rely on to watch over you all.”

I knew this. Mary was his watcher. Over the years, I learnt to keep certain things from her unless I wanted them to get back to the Melek. Some things, I told her so they would get back to him. She was the only person in the house who had a phone with a direct line to the commander. Not even I was given that privilege. I was always classified as a flight risk. Nothing has changed there.

Leveraging the bed, I push to a sitting position. My husband quickly moves to fluff the pillows behind my back. I let him fuss, unwilling to handle his lectures or punishments.

“So what’s the plan here, Melek? Are you just going to bring us on these outings every year, with a baby in tow?” At my brash words, he runs his hand over his swiftly growing beard. The scratching sound it makes sends jolts of static through me. I can’t take my eyes from his bronzed skin, his capable fingers moving upwards to push his curling hair behind his ear. I want to pull his hair as he pushes his hard cock deep inside me. Fuck, how can a simple gesture turn into an aphrodisiac? I can never stay angry at this man. He’s so irritating.

He’s one of them. A hollow. One of the Halo-ruling class. The ones who enforce the harsh reality I once resided in. Yet, he’s never physically hurt me. He caters to my needs above his own, and there’s no one else I would give unwavering responsibility to my—our—children.

Staying lying down, his hand goes back to absentmindedly rubbing my bump as he looks up at the ceiling, working the calculations out in his head. Hello. Yes, there’s a baby in this rounded stomach. It’s not just for show.

“It shouldn’t be necessary to undertake any of these tours in the future. Adam will take over that part of my job.” Right. The fae who is planning on helping us escape if we can get out of this stupid tour and I can find the information in Melek’s office that will help the fae. If Melek only knew who Adam was. He would be livid. No one would be safe from his wrath, potentially not even me.

All hollows hate the fae.

“Okay.” The fight leaves my body. Considering leaving Melek is more complicated than I ever thought it would be. It used to be easy, in the earlier days, without children in tow, when things were different. Now… Now, unsettlingly, my chest is somewhat involved.

And, Sunny…he loves his father fervently. How am I going to get him out of the house without Melek knowing?

A silver chain with a heart-shaped locket at the end, sitting tucked away back home in my vanity, reminds me that I can. Nix and Mam would want me to keep going. Fight. No matter my feelings towards Melek, nothing beats my need to protect my children from the evil that is Halo. I will find the utopia Nix told me of if it’s the last thing I do. The Storm of years gone wasn’t made to be kept.

Tiny feet push within my stomach. Moving back at the disturbance, I rest my head against the wall behind the bed, helping the bronzed fingers lingering on my bump find the squirming toes within.

Eyes wide and mouth parted in awe, he says, “I think this one is going to give us trouble.”

“How so? She barely moves.” I roll the gold band on my left hand, unaware of the can of worms I just opened until I feel the burn of intense, unwavering steel.

I realise my mistake. Shit.

“She?” he questions.

“It’s just a hunch. She feels like a she.” I shrug so he understands how easily I could be wrong. It’s just a suspicion. Nothing more. Another boy would’ve been prosperous for Halo, a true blessing. A girl? She’ll get married off and bred. No daughter of mine will ever have my fate.

“And do you have a name for this girl?” The last question I expect from him is that.

My eyebrows have no doubt blended into my hairline. “That’s your job.”

Clouds, thick and imposing, form around the blacks of Melek’s inner irises. Grabbing my fiddling hands, he shuffles closer to where I sit at the head of the bed, leaving mere inches between us. “We can make some decisions together, Storm.”

There goes that insufferable organ in my chest.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. It quickens the closer he draws towards me.

His use of my name. Again.

Why? Why does he keep trying to break me? That annoyingly frustrating ball enters my throat, and I croak, “Stop calling me that.”

“What am I calling you?”

“You’re calling me by the name you refused to call me for twelve fucking years.” My anger seeps through. I can’t help it around him. My solence simmers.