Page 44 of Thorns of Love

The door opened behind me and I stood up to my full height. I trusted my doctor, but I never left my back open for anyone to stab me in it.

“Mr. Konstantin. Mrs. Konstantin,” he greeted us with respect.

Tatiana stood up stiffly, her hands behind her and studied the doctor. “I have a doctor back home,” she told him. “I’ll let you check me over once because this guy–” she tilted her chin my way, “ –is a pain in my ass, but it won’t be repeated. Understood?”

The good old doctor’s eyes darted my way in surprise. I was too fucking tired to argue, so I just nodded. We’d only been married for a day, and I felt like we’d been at it for years.

“Very well,” he acknowledged. Truthfully, I’d have preferred a female doctor to check her, but I didn’t have one I trusted on my payroll. So here we were, a man would touch my woman. At least he was old.

The doctor’s eyes roamed the room and when he spotted the bed, he instructed her to go lay on it. She kicked off her flats, then headed over to the bed. I followed right along. Fuck if I’d let even a sixty-year-old doctor see her without me present.

She laid down and glared at the doctor. “Now what?”

“We’re going to listen to the baby’s heart first,” the doctor started explaining, holding Tatiana’s gaze. “Nothing invasive.”

She nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

FIFTEEN

TATIANA

Illias' gaze burned on me.

He took my hand into his, I assumed it was his way to comfort me, but I was still pissed off, partly because someone just tried to kill me. Mostly because it seemed that my husband had used me. I wasn’t sure I wanted him near me at the moment, much less touching me.

It annoyed the hell out of me that my chest still warmed at his offered comfort. Something was seriously fucked up here. A small, innocent touch and I was putty. Where was my feminism?

In my vagina, that’s where.

But I’d be damned if I let Illias get away with manipulating me. I was going to beat my heart into submission if it was the last thing I did. I would not be used by anyone, least of all by a man who knocked me up intentionally forleverage!

The doctor opened his black bag, then slipped on a pair of latex gloves. He retrieved his instruments and started his exam.

Truthfully, I wanted to hear the baby's heart again. I wouldn’t mind listening to it every day. After finally being pregnant, it was hard to keep the paranoia at bay. If Konstantin had gotten me knocked up on purpose, I couldn’t even say that I hated it. Not even close.

A baby of my own was all I ever wanted.

But the least he could do was be upfront about it.

The doctor asked me to pull down the top of my dress so that he could check my own heartbeat before the baby’s. A growl vibrated through the room. It belonged to Illias. I gained a degree of satisfaction knowing he wasn’t happy about this. I shifted around and offered my back to the doctor, smiling smugly.

“Do you mind unzipping my dress?” I asked sweetly.

The poor doctor paled a few shades even before another growl vibrated against the walls. It appeared I married a wolf, not a man.

“I’ll do it,” Illias growled, his eyes promising retribution to the doctor if he even attempted to touch my zipper.

I blinked my eyes innocently while part of me relished in making my husband suffer. At least a little bit. It would seem he wasn’t the sharing type, regardless of the reason he married me.

The sound of the zipper replaced the growl.

The doctor listened to my heartbeat, took my blood pressure and then drew my blood. And all the while, Illias’ hands never left me.

“Wow, I’ve never had two men touch me at the same time,” I remarked casually, keeping my tone light. I knew it was a lie but Illias didn’t need to know that. After all, I’d had two men kissing me the night Adrian took my virginity.

A hiss sounded and Illias pulled me closer to him with a murderous expression aimed at the poor old doctor. The doctor’s hands immediately left my skin and he turned his back to us, fumbling with his bag. I almost felt sorry for him. I shouldn’t be using him to get back at the son of a bitch who forced me to marry him.

“What about the twins at the party that got kicked out?” Illias asked. I frowned, wondering how in the fuck he would even know that. But the doctor's words chased all the thoughts from my mind with his next words.