Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“We will?” I rasped.
“We will.” Maddie said, as she smiled at me and fucking stole my heart.
“It’s good,” Ash said. “It’s good that they built this on the land. It’s good that a nice family lives there now.” He nodded. “It’s good that you burned our house down, Flame. Poppa is dead, he’s fucking history, burning in hell with Pastor Hughes.” Ash sat back in his seat, keeping his eyes straight forward. “Let’s get the fuck outta here. I never ever wanna come back to this place.” Ash pushed the van door shut, taking the house away. I sat back down, and Maddie sat beside me.
“You okay?” I nodded. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the white house, the laughing kids or the mama who played with them. Maddie gasped, and then smiled up at me. “Our baby is stirring,” she said. “Our baby moved.” Her green eyes lit the fuck up. She looked perfect. “I will never get used to the feeling.” She laughed and it felt good to fucking hear. “It is a million blessings. To feel our baby move or kick… it brings me pure happiness.”
Maddie laid her head against my shoulder. Her hand stayed over her stomach. I never took my gaze from it. I watched her hand for hours, until we stopped at a motel. Even as we ate at a diner, my eyes kept coming back to her stomach. Inside was our baby. Our baby, who Maddie said I wouldn’t hurt.
When we walked into our motel room, I showered. When I came back, Maddie was standing beside the bed. “Better?” she asked. I didn’t answer her question. My blood fucking raced through my veins. The flames were there. But I let them burn. They couldn’t hurt me. Maddie had said so. “Flame?” she asked. I walked to where she stood. Water from my hair dripped into my eyes. It was still wet from the shower. Maddie’s hand came to my face. She pressed her palm against my cheek. Leaning down I kissed her. Our lips touched. You won’t hurt her, I told myself in my head. When I stepped back, I pushed the straps of her dress off her shoulders. Maddie gasped. “Flame,” she whispered. The dress fell to her waist. I moved the straps of her bra down her arms. Maddie unclasped it. I sighed when I saw her. Grasping the dress, I pulled it over her legs. I kneeled down. Throwing the dress to the side, I looked up at Maddie. She was smiling down at me. Fucking smiling. I pulled down her panties, then put my hands on her hips. Maddie held her breath. I looked at her stomach. I couldn’t look before. “Flame, you do not have to…” Maddie trailed off.
My heart fucking pounded as I moved my hands to her stomach. The flames in my blood got higher and higher, but I ignored them and pressed my palms to her stomach… and I left them there. Maddie made a soft noise. I opened my eyes to meet her eyes. She was crying. She was crying… I snapped my hands back. I’d hurt her. She’d been wrong. I fucking hurt her! “No,” Maddie said. Her voice was strained from crying. “No, baby, I am not hurt.” She took hold of my hands and pressed them back on her stomach. “It feels good.” Maddie’s tears fell down her cheeks. “It feels perfect. You, holding our child… is perfect.”
“I’m not hurting it?” I said. Maddie smiled and shook her head. Then she gasped. I felt something move under my palms. I tried to move my hands straight away, but Maddie held them on her stomach. “Our baby has moved.” Maddie laughed. “Flame, our baby has woken up to say hello.” She combed her fingers through my hair. “Our baby has woken to say hello to their papa.” Maddie sniffed back her tears. “Our baby has been waiting a long time for this, Flame. But it was worth the wait. You are always worth the wait.”
My eyes burned and my throat ached. They were strange feelings to me. I kept my hands on Maddie’s stomach. The baby kept moving. I never wanted it to stop. When the movement stopped, my flames flared. “It is okay,” Maddie said, before I could speak. “Baby Cade has just gone back to sleep.”
I looked into Maddie’s eyes. “But the baby is okay?”
“Yes, baby,” Maddie said. “I promise.”
The flames in my blood cooled. I ran my hand over Maddie’s stomach, and then I leaned in. I leaned in and kissed the soft skin. Maddie began to cry. I got to my feet and placed my hands on Maddie’s cheeks. “Why are you crying? Are you sad, Maddie?”
“No,” Maddie said and held onto my wrists. “I am happy, Flame. I am so happy.” She dropped her forehead to mine. “I am so proud of you. I am so blessed to have you as my husband. You are the strongest person I have ever known. You are a fighter. You are my heart.”