Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

this to?” Her voice was very low, and it trembled.
    He sank down onto the bed beside her and pul ed her into his arms. It was awkward trying to hug her, so he simply lifted her onto his lap. Modesty be damned. If she gave him a hard-on al the time and he had to walk around with the damned thing, she could just deal with it.
    Holding her against his chest, he rocked her gently. “Jaimie and Flame have been monitoring Whitney’s computer as often as they dare. There’s been no mention that any of the women who escaped with you have been recaptured. I think he concentrated mainly on you because he suspected you were pregnant. Mari found her sister, Briony. They’re both married to GhostWalkers, who just happen to be twin brothers as wel . I believe Mari’s sister just had twins.”
    He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “When we’re out of this, I’l take you to see her. They’re very wel protected where they are.”
    “But they stil have to live in a virtual prison to stay that way, don’t they?” Rose said. She burrowed closer to him, as if trying to hide from the truth of their lives.
    “He made certain it would never be easy to live on the outside for any of you,” Kane replied, choosing his words careful y. What she’d said was the truth.
    The women—and any children they had—would always have to look over their shoulders. There was no entirely safe place, but there was safety in numbers and preparation. “We’re banding together, Rose, the four teams, finding places we can protect so our women and children can lead as normal a life as possible.”
    “We don’t even know what normal is,” she pointed out, closing her eyes as another wave rol ed over her body, tightening her bel y and pressing down hard on the baby. She took long, slow breaths like the books told her, trying to get on top of the contraction.
    Kane tried not to swear. He held her, automatical y breathing with her. He felt the way her bel y was gripped with a tight band. There was no ordering her to stop. No logic was going to dictate when the baby was coming. He tried to push down his own mounting fear. There was no doctor and no way to get her to a doctor. He’d thrown their link to his team down into the ravine. He couldn’t leave her to go try to find it, which would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But they would come. His team would come for them. He had absolute faith in them.
    When the contraction had let up, he set her on her feet. “Let’s get you back in bed.”
    “Would you get me a glass of water?”
    He didn’t know if she was getting rid of him so she could cry while she undressed, or if she real y wanted the water, but he obediently went into the kitchen to get her a drink. He leaned for a moment against the sink, head down, breathing deeply, trying to steel himself for the possibility of delivering a baby. He’d never real y considered that he might have no choice.
    Not one for inactivity, he went through to the pantry, grateful she had stored books on actual delivery. He thumbed through a book to see what to do with a baby once it was born. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. He had no business trying to deliver his own baby. His blood roared in his ears, his heart hammered hard. If he could have, he would have just hyperventilated and gotten it over with, but his body refused to panic. His lungs kept breathing and his head kept assessing the information, even when his mind screamed at him that he was insane to try something like delivering a baby.
    “Kane, where are you?”
    It was a good thing he wasn’t panicking, because she sounded like she was. “I’l be right there,” he cal ed.
    “Wel , you might want to hurry. My water just broke.”

CHAPTER 6
    Kane took a deep breath and went into the room. Rose was dressed in a long shirt she’d found in the closet and was trying to clean up the floor. He could hear her softly weeping, and it nearly broke his heart. “Rose. Come here, sweetheart. This isn’t the end of the world. The baby’s going to be fine.” He injected as much firm belief as possible into his tone as he reached down to lift her to her feet.
    Rose leaned into him, trembling, her arms sliding around his waist. “I’m so scared, Kane.”
    “I know. But we’re in this together, and we make a great team. You were smart and provided al the right books for us. You’ve read them and I’ve skimmed them. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
    Stil clinging