Chapter 81: Chapter 81

Pregnant women have weird cravings.

They say it has something to do with the hormones while others say it's a disorder that rears its ugly head when women are pregnant. The cravings of some pregnant women are quite weird and they range from sitting close to the toilet to inhaling the smell of shit, to eating sand.

Thank goodness mine isn't anything that ridiculous.

"I want more fries," I tell the waiter.

Ash stares at me like I've grown a second head. "But you've eaten two helpings already, plus half of my burger."

"What? I'm eating for two now, or have you forgotten?" I say with an edge to my voice.

His incredulous look changes as he begins to laugh and shake his head. So yeah, my pregnancy craving is food - junk food - something I hated with a passion and wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.

Right now, it's the second love of my life.

The third, actually, after Ash and my baby. The waiter brings another helping of fries and within minutes, it's disappeared inside my stomach.

At this rate, I won't be able to fit into any of my clothes once my little girl is born. I burp and put my finger to my lips as I giggle. "Oops!"

Ash smiles and kisses me on the forehead. "Don't worry, Kitten, even though you're not going to be able to pass through the door, I'll still love you then, I promise."

My forehead wrinkles and I hit him hard on the chest, but he just laughs. I'm so going on a diet when Lily is born. Who knows, I might even go under the knife and have some of the fat cut away so I can look decent once again. I sigh as Ash helps me up. Even with him being so strong, it takes a bit of an effort to heft me up. I stifle a giggle when he grunts.

"Hazel eyes, you're going to have to lay off the junk food."

"Well. . ." I shrug. "If you keep bringing me to fast food joints, I'll stop, pinky promise." I jut out my little finger and he only shakes his head.

He knows it as well as I do that when that craving hits, he can't say no to me, just like he couldn't say no to me asking to be brought to MacDonald's. I woke up with the smell of burgers and fries and I'd kept griping about it until he capitulated.

Ever since our talk in the bathtub, Ash has been as free as air and even more loving. His libido is off the hinges and I love it because pregnancy makes me crave him like a dog in heat. We make love first thing in the morning, and then once more before we eat breakfast, when he goes out, he makes sure he comes back in two hours to eat me, then he eats lunch and goes out to his numerous businesses, but once he steps foot inside the house in the evening, he's craving me and we go at it again, and then once more before we sleep. He says I hexed him because he can't keep his hands off me.

Do I want him to? Naah!

"Where did you go just now?" Ash's face comes into focus and I blink and smile when I see the way his eyes have gotten. He's looking at me hungrily and I know exactly what's on his mind, but that will have to wait because we have somewhere else to be right now.

"Not right now, babes, remember you promised to take me to see him." His face goes rigid and he tenses. "You promised me, so don't go changing your mind now."

After a short tense moment, he turns to me. "But. . ."

"No, buts, please. . . I'm not made of glass, plus you'd be there the whole time."

He releases a sigh and nods. "As you wish."

We walk out of Mac Donald's and make our way to the car. I understand why he's wary, it's because I'm heavily pregnant and he wants to keep me safe, I understand, but when will he realize that I'm flesh and blood not made out of glass?

He helps me settle inside the seat comfortably before going around to his side and tapping the bonnet. Walter starts the car immediately. Ever since Lily began to grow bigger in my belly, he's been letting Walter drive us around, instead of him doing the driving so he can sit beside me. I think it's sweet how he takes care of me. I honestly wouldn't want him any other way.

We agreed we should both wait till Lily is born before getting married but we'll do the official engagement party in a month. Since Ash's proposal to me a week ago, I still haven't told Clarissa yet, I'm still basking in his lovemaking and proposal, wanting to keep them to myself for a little bit more.

Ash finds my hand and laces his fingers in mine. "Why the sigh?"

His gaze is penetrating, as if he can see deep into my soul. I shrug, affecting an air of indifference when I'm internally screaming with anxiety at who we're going to see. "Just realized I haven't told Clarissa you proposed to me."

Ash looks away from me and turns to the teeming life all around us before turning back to look at me. "Is there a particular reason you haven't?"

There's something different about him now. I stare at him probingly, the same way he's doing to me.

"You're angry?"

He shrugs. "Do you not want this?" He gestures to the space in between us.

So that's the problem. He thinks I don't want to get married to him. I smile and tighten our laced fingers. "Of course, I do, honey, more than I've ever wanted anything before. I just want to savor this moment with you for a while longer, but. . . I promise to call her this evening once we get back."

He nods and looks out the window, and we don't talk for the rest of the journey. As soon as we get to the warehouse, Ash turns to me and I can't believe what I'm seeing. He looks like a different person. The warmth I usually see is gone, and not just that - there's something else in their watery depths. It's like I'm looking at his twin.

"Whatever you do, don't leave my side."

I nod and try to come out but it's in vain, so I wait as Ash helps me out. His men stand at attention immediately, greetings falling from their lips on seeing Ash. He nods curtly to them as he leads my sluggish self past them and inside the massive warehouse. More men greet Ash respectfully and all he does is nod. I can feel the tension oozing off him in waves.

His strides eat up the floor and I have to keep telling him to slow down. The warehouse is so long, it feels like we'll never get to the end of it or wherever he's leading us to. Finally, he stops in front of an aluminum door at the very end and presses a button on the silver panel. From one moment to the next, the door slides open and he ushers us inside a box-like -

I turn to face him immediately. "This is a lift."

He nods absentmindedly and clutches my hand. As soon as the door slides shut, I lose a bit of momentum when it begins to go down. Fancy this - a basement in a warehouse. It's genius. No one would ever know. Within seconds, it stops and there's a ding before the door slides open and he ushers me out.

One of his men stands guard outside with a rifle pointed at us Immediately he sees Ash, he Lowe's it and greets him respectfully. Ash nods and we move on to a long corridor with rooms on either side. He stops at the last one and I wonder how we're going to enter when there's no handle on it. I watch in awe as he presses a blue button on the door.

There's a beep, and the button turns red, immediately the door opens of its own accord. It's like seeing another side of Ash I didn't know about. There's one thing in knowing what he does but there's another thing in actually witnessing it. I'm seeing him in a new light and I don't know how to feel about it. He strides forward and I follow at a more cautious pace. Bright lights from overhead pierce my eyes as I walk inside a bare room.

The smell hits my nostrils the more I move inside - of dirt, and ripeness, of a body that has not been washed in weeks. It's stank and ripe. I have to cover my nose with my handkerchief in order to block off the smell. My eyes are getting used to the lights now the more I stand and look around. My gaze falls on someone sitting on the bare mattress in the corner of the room.

Ash stands a short distance away from him but I walk right up to him. "Hello, Leonard."