Page 18 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)

“Or did you mean that you’re gonna love the baby more than you love me?” he demanded.

“Not fair. That’s just not true.” I didn’t know what he wanted from me. The honest truth was that I never did. What he needed seemed to change every day. And I was never smart enough to keep up with whatever he needed.

The whiplash of the bliss of a moment ago and then the terror that was shooting through me now was so common that I should be used to it, but every time, I was thrown for a loop like a fool.

Me tiptoeing around his volatile emotions was the essence of our relationship. I knew I was reeling because of the shock of finding out about the pregnancy, so I couldn’t figure out what he needed fast enough. And that was going to be a problem.

“It seems as though you’re gonna love that baby more than you love me.” He said the words with venom, yanking his hand away from mine. “If that’s how it’s going to be, tell me now. ”

I knew I was in trouble when I realized he was accelerating the car. He always drove erratically when he was angry. But this seemed a little different.

“I will always love you more than anyone in this world,” I lied to him.

Lying had become more and more useful in a relationship.

I had to lie that I was happy, I had to lie about being in love with him still.

Because I really truly did not know if I was.

If what I was feeling for him was love, or if it was something toxic and altogether wrong.

“You’re just throwing bullshit at me now,” he scoffed. He grabbed my hand again, yanking me across the center console until I was almost on his lap.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“If you’re going to love this kid more than you love me, then you are going to get it,” he gritted out between his teeth. “We’ll all go together. Like a family. Like it was meant to be,” he added.

He yanked at the wheel until we were speeding on the edge of the road. Gasping with fear, I clutched at him, hoping that he was just joking.

“You can’t do that David.” I struggle to find anything to tell him that would calm him down. He was so hard to calm down when he was like this. “Think about the baby.”

“It’s the baby that I’m thinking about,” he laughed, sounding a little hysterical. “You’re going to decide that you love it more than me, I just know it.”

Fear for myself and for the tiny baby in my stomach rushed through me. In that moment his eyes looked insane. He looked crazy enough to do it.

“Never. I’ll never love anyone more than I love you,” I pleaded, sounding absolutely desperate.

“Lies. Promise me. Promise me that you’ll never love anything more than me. Your life is in my hands, Baby. It’s up to me whether we live or die.” He looked over at me and I saw everything in his eyes that I had feared I would see. He was insane, and I was just along for the ride.

Terror ran through me straight to my soul. This male was the biggest mistake of my life. But what could I do? I’d already come so far and I was pregnant with his baby.

If I tried to leave he would hurt me and he would hurt the baby. I was sure there was a way that I could deal with him. I just needed to figure it out.

That’s what marriage was. For better or for worse I needed to find a way to work it out with my husband. Gritting my teeth and knowing the truth, I reached out to cup his jaw, pressing my lips to the other side.

“It’s us, David,” I told him with a sob.

“It’ll always be you and I. This baby is just a stepping stone for us to get closer, I promise.

” I added, knowing that I’d never known a greater love than what I felt for that life growing inside of me, but understanding that the only way that life would survive would be if I figured a way through this relationship.

Maybe I could grow to love him. After he showed his true colors I hadn’t even tried to give it a real chance. Maybe I could help him.

Whatever it was, whatever I needed to do, for now I had to save my baby. And this was the only way to do it.

He was looking at me, his eyes off of the road while we were still too close to the edge. “Are you telling the truth?” he demanded.

“Yes,” I said, trying to sound as sincere as I could.

“And you’ll never leave me?” His hand tightened on my wrist and I could feel his fingers imprinting themselves in my skin.

I swallowed hard, fighting back the sobs that wanted to leave me and were wracking through my body, making me shake against him. “Never.”

The lie spilled from me because if he did anything to put my baby at risk again, I would find a way to leave.

He searched my face some more before he seemed to relax, the wrinkles between his eyebrows settling. His fingers relaxed against my wrist and a happy hum left him.

His eyes returned to the road and he chuckled. “Look how close you are to the edge,” he laughed and I felt a bubble of fury burning inside of me unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

He could have killed all of us and in that moment he was laughing about it as if it was all a big joke. I couldn’t leave, but by the Mother Goddess I wanted to.

As we drove home, he acted as though nothing happened. As if it was just another happy day in our lives having found out that I was pregnant.

Settling into bed next to him, his arm pulling me against his side, it was as if I was being smothered and couldn’t breathe.

What have I gotten myself into?