CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE-ONE MORE DAY

“Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.” Ben’s eyes snapped open as the faint ticking filled his wolf’s ears. He pushed himself up to his elbows and looked around the room as the early morning light filtered through the shutters. Not seeing anything out of place, he closed his eyes and laid back down on his pillow beside Imara. “Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.” The quick, faint ticking came again but this time lingered in his ears.

As it finally dawned on him where the sound was coming from, Ben rolled over to Imara and looked down at her finally peaceful face. He leaned in and smelled her, then closed his eyes and gasped as he caught the scent. Ben slid his trembling hand down to Imara’s lower abdomen. As the pulse of life surged into his fingertips, Ben’s face scrunched up into the ugly face of a desperately conflicted man. “Oh Eliza.” Ben whispered. “Hi sweet pea.”

As Imara started to stir, Ben blew out a breath through his mouth then quickly sniffed back his tears while wiping his eyes. He grabbed the hand that she had laid across her stomach and brought it to his chest. As Imara’s eyes fluttered open, Ben smiled and kissed her knuckles. 

Imara smiled and looked around his face. “I could get used to this.”

Ben leaned in and kissed her, then said, “Me too. How are you feeling, baby?”

Imara took a deep breath through her nose as she stretched out her shoulders. “Just fine, I suppose.”

Ben gently rubbed Imara’s fingers as he looked at them, then he licked his lips. Imara knew Ben well and she could tell he had something on his mind. “What is it, sweetheart?”

Ben closed his eyes. “You’re pregnant, baby.”

Imara didn’t seem surprised or upset by his words. She inhaled deeply through her nose and glanced around like she was trying to decide between two outfits. “Hmm. So, I know you all usually train all day, but I’d like to spend some time with you. Do you think you could come home early?”

This wasn’t the reaction he’d expected from Imara, she’d made it very clear she didn’t want to bring Eliza into the world again until the threat was over. “Whatever you want. I can stay home today. They’ll understand.”

Imara looked in Ben’s eyes and smiled as she pushed his shaggy hair behind his ear. “I’d really like that.”

As Imara flipped pancakes on the griddle, Thorin came into the kitchen and looked at her wide eyed. He glanced over to the table at Ben and he shrugged as he pulled his lips to the side.

Thorin approached his sister slowly. It’s not that he wasn’t happy to see Imara out of bed and acting like herself again, but after their talk yesterday, he was suspicious of this sudden change of direction. He pulled the chair out and then took a seat facing Imara. “Good morning, my dear. I’m so happy to see you up and about.”

Imara stacked the pancake on a plate, then turned to slide it in front of Thorin. “Can’t mope around forever.”

Thorin scrunched his face up in confusion, then he looked at Ben and cocked his eyebrow. Ben shook his head. “Thorin, I’m staying home with Imara today.”

Thorin looked back to Imara making pancakes and nodded. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. So, what do the two of you have planned?”

Imara swallowed the truth down hard. “I just wanted to spend the whole day with my handsome husband.”

“Alrighty then,” said Thorin. “Why are you cooking breakfast, Imara. Where’s Andre? I pay that cook a lot of money to do this so we don’t have to.”

Imara turned around and smiled awkwardly. “I wanted to cook you both breakfast, and I needed a few things, so I sent Andre out to the store. He won’t be long. Don’t you like my cooking?”

“It’s just wonderful, Imara. Thank you.” 

Imara tucked her hair behind her ears and turned around then started to clean up the kitchen. As she wiped down the counters, she got lost deep in thought. When she snapped back out of her thoughts, she said, “What would you like to do today Ben? This is your day. Whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Ben asked.

Imara put the washcloth in the sink, then wiped her hands on her apron and turned around. “Yes, of course.” She licked her lips then curled them under as she sat down beside Thorin and looked across the table to Ben. “Umm, we could go on a picnic or we could take a carriage ride.” Her eyes glassed over, and she fidgeted with her necklace nervously. “We could go to one of those picture shows I heard about.”

Ben looked her over and pushed himself back in his chair as he pushed his plate away from him. “Imara, we could just stay here in bed all day, if it’s all the same to you.”

Imara nodded her head. “If that’s what you want.” Then, she looked back to Thorin. “Will you be back for dinner? I was going to have Andre make something special.”

Thorin took Imara’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I’ll be here, Imara. Darlin? Are you alright?”

She sniffed back her tears. “Oh, yes. I’m fine. Everything’s just fine.” As the front door opened Imara looked over herself and said, “I’m a mess. I’m going to go get cleaned up. “ She kissed Thorin’s cheek and said, “I love you. I’ll see you at dinner.” 

“Andre! Andre!” Imara said as she walked into the foyer. “Did you get it?”

“Oui, Mademoiselle,” said Andre as he pulled a small bag from his pocket and handed it to Imara. 

“Merci, Andre,” Imara said then she kissed his cheek. As she walked away, Imara clutched the bag to her chest and smiled as tears streamed down her face while she walked back to her bedroom. When she got inside, she went to her dresser and tucked the bag inside the top drawer. 

When Imara left the kitchen, Thorin rubbed his hand across his chin. “Huh. I don’t know about this.”

Ben took his plate to the sink then crossed his arms and faced Thorin. “She’s pregnant.”

As it all became clear to him, Thorin closed his eyes and shook his head. “Ben, you can’t leave her alone for a second. She’s already made her mind up.”

Ben nodded. “I’ll be with her all day. You still have those guards coming right?”

“Yes, Jasper said they’ll be here in the morning.”

“Good.” Ben tapped the countertop and said, “I’ll see you this evening.”

When Ben closed the bedroom door behind him, Imara was looking out over the park outside the window with her arms crossed.

“It’s just so beautiful, isn’t it?”

Ben came to her side and looked down at her. “Yes, it is.”

Imara smiled to herself. “You know, I was born in this house. Right here in this room actually a long, long time ago.”

Ben wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of Imara’s head. “Of course, all this is, well, it’s different, isn’t it? Everything’s so...I suppose I just liked it the way things were back then. It was quiet and simple. You know, living in that cottage with you, those were the best days of my life, Ben. I don’t regret a single day of it. If I could, I’d go back there with you right now to our little house. Away from all this noise and all the people.”

Ben turned Imara to face him. “So, would I, baby. In a heartbeat. Someday we’re going to get that back, except, I think I want to live in the mountains or near a lake or something. We’re just going to go somewhere and find a little house and it’ll just be the three of us again.”

Imara threw her arms around Ben. “I can’t wait for that day, Ben. I wish, I wish we could just skip ahead.”

“So do I.” Ben kissed Imara’s forehead then looked down at her. “We don’t have to do anything, baby. I just didn’t feel like sharing you with the rest of the world.”

Imara slid her hand into Ben’s shirt and felt his bare chest. “I want to Ben. I need to.” She slowly unbuttoned Ben’s shirt as he watched her face then he pulled it free from his pants and slid it off his shoulders.

He hoped that if she could see something good in all this, that whatever she was thinking would just fade away. As Imara kissed his chest,

Ben grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to his lips. Ben swirled his tongue with hers then reached down and pulled up the skirt of her dress then pulled the rest over her head and threw it on the floor. 

Ben picked Imara up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to bed, then he gently laid her down. As she pushed her panties down her hips, Ben stood over her and pushed off his pants then he climbed between Imara’s legs. 

Imara closed her eyes and locked away every memory of the feeling of Ben inside her as his powerful hips pounded her into the bed. She didn’t care that the servants could hear them, she cried out for him with every thrust he landed inside her and smiled drunkenly as the bed beat against the wall. 

“That sure was quite a dinner.” Thorin rubbed his belly as he slumped down his favorite chair. “That Andre was worth every penny I spent bringing him here from France. Thank you for putting that together, darlin.”

Imara snuggled up against Ben on the sofa as he put his arm around her. “Yes, he’s wonderful. I’m glad you enjoyed everything.” Imara put her hand on Ben’s chest and closed her eyes as she listened to his heart beating. 

Ben placed his hand on Imara’s and rubbed the tip of his nose against her forehead. “I love you baby.” 

“I love you too, sweetheart. Always.”