Chapter 0347

Hannah

The doctor put away his stethoscope with a sigh, his brow furrowed as he turned to face us. The sound of the metal instrument clinking against his desk seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet room, echoing off the sterile white walls.

“You may need to undergo amniocentesis,” he said, his voice grave.

Noah stiffened beside me, his hand tightening around mine. We exchanged worried looks, the fear in his green eyes mirroring my own. The leather of the examination table crinkled beneath me as I shifted uncomfortably.

“Why?” I asked, my voice hardly more than a whisper. “What’s wrong?”

“Your latest blood panel has come back with some concerning red flags,” the doctor explained, flipping through the clipboard containing my medical information. “There’s a possibility that your baby may have complications.”

Complications. The word felt dirty, empty; like a puddle of muck that went deeper than it appeared. My free hand instinctively went to my swollen belly.

“What kind of complications?” Noah asked tightly.

The doctor took a deep breath before explaining the amniocentesis procedure in detail. He described how they would use a long needle to extract amniotic fluid to test for genetic diseases. The thought made me queasy, my stomach churning uncomfortably. I couldn’t help but squirm a bit on the table just thinking about it.

“It will be uncomfortable, I’m afraid,” the doctor warned, his eyes softening as he saw my pained expression, “but it’s necessary to ensure your pregnancy goes smoothly. This is the heir of Nightcrest, after all.”

To my surprise, Noah’s eyes flashed with irritation. “It’s not just the heir of Nightcrest,” he said firmly, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “It’s the health of my wife and child.”

A warmth spread through my chest at his words, my heart softening toward him once again. These moments of tenderness seemed to be happening more and more lately.

“Right,” the doctor said, paling slightly beneath Noah’s glare. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

As we left the doctor’s office with an appointment set for two weeks hence, Noah’s arm was wrapped protectively around my waist. His jaw was set hard as he opened the car door for me, but his eyes were gentle, worried. So different. He was so different now.

Our contract had evolved into something more passionate, more intimate lately. We were having sex more than once a day, sometimes stealing moments in his office or having hurried encounters in the shower. It was almost like we were newlyweds again, unable to keep our hands off each other. The way Noah looked at me now, with hunger and adoration in his eyes, made my skin tingle with anticipation. I tried to tell myself it was just hormones, just the pregnancy making me crave his touch. But deep down, I knew it was more than that.

Noah had changed lately. Glimmers of his old self, the boy I had fallen in love with as a teenager, kept slipping through the icy facade he usually wore. He smiled more often, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that made my heart skip a beat. He laughed more readily, the sound rich and warm. He flirted with me shamelessly, his eyes twinkling with a roguish charm I thought he had lost long ago.

I found myself wondering where this version of him had been throughout our entire marriage. I had missed this Noah, the one who looked at me like I was the only woman in the world. And as soon as I had gotten him back, we would be divorcing.

“Hannah…” Noah’s lips left trails of blazing embers across my back, his hands roaming my spine and hips delicately, reverently, and yet with a fire that spoke of a deep and primal hunger. As we reached our peak together, I arched my back for deeper access, my cheek pressed into the pillow. The sound of our mingled cries filled the room, our bodies trembling against each other.