Asher, p.12
Asher, page 12
“Alright. Well, I pulled the security footage. I will send that over to you. That was the first time he had been into the club. He hadn’t come as a guest before. And from what Freya said, he didn’t enter the club at all, just filled in the forms and then left again.”
“He might have been just sussing things out by the sounds of it. If he comes in again, get Freya to either ring me or AJE immediately.”
“Will do,” I replied as I ended the call.
I wandered along the hall with the new employee forms and the application forms for the bartender job in my hand. I could hear March talking and when I listened, I heard that he was talking to a woman. When I rounded the corner, I noticed a face I didn’t recognize sitting in the bean bag next to him watching anime.
“Hi there, I’m Asher,” I introduced.
“Hi Asher, I’m Nova, it’s nice to meet you.”
I looked Nova over. With Trevor Daniel’s and the concern, I had about him fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help the scrutiny I looked at her with. She appeared to be around about thirty with auburn hair and deep brown eyes. From the scent, I could tell that she was human. We didn’t have a lot of humans that attended the club, so they stood out.
“It’s nice to meet you too Nova. Are you a middle?” I questioned as I glanced at her wristband and saw the color was white, meaning she was interested in playing and submissive.
Nova nodded her head. “Yes. I got the phone call yesterday that I’d been approved and thought I would come and check it out. There aren’t many clubs that offer spaces dedicated to middles. Most of the time they only cater to littles.”
“Yes, I have tried to be very inclusive. When did you fill in the forms to join?” I questioned. Normally it took Freya a lot longer than twenty-four hours to approve someone. It took time to get the police report back and research everything.
“Two weeks ago,” Nova replied with a smile. “Freya rang me yesterday, so I thought I would come by today seeing as I had a day off.”
“Ah, very well then,” I replied glancing over to March who was watching me with a small frown on his face. “I’m going to be in my office, going over a few things, if you need me, baby boy.”
March smiled and nodded his head. “I might go upstairs, I’m a bit tired now.”
“Very well,” I said as I stepped towards him and held my hand out so he could get out of the bean bag easier.
“It was really good meeting you Nova, I hope you come back again,” March said.
Nova smiled and nodded. “I will. I might go and have a wander around the main club area and see what I can find.”
Nova stood from the bean bag and skipped out of the door. Her school uniform bounced as she left. March and I watched her leave before March turned towards me.
“Do you think she is not a good person?” he whispered.
I smiled and shook my head. “I think she is alright. I am just a little wound up with this whole thing from Trevor Daniels. It’s making me look at people a bit more critically. But if she filled in the forms two weeks ago, then that was a long time before Trevor Daniels came here.”
March nodded. “Yeah. She said that she worked with Onyx Rebels. So, I don’t think she would be working with a bad guy if she wants to bring bad guys down.”
March didn’t know that Trevor Daniels was Ettore. It was something I planned to keep to myself. I didn’t want to make him worry. It wasn’t anything either of us really needed to worry about. Anghus had placed the Devil’s at the club as security and Coltrane and the AJE authority were tracking down Ettore.
I wrapped my arm around my boy and kissed the top of his head. “Alright, let's get you upstairs and laying down for a nap while I get some work done.”
March smiled and let me lead him out of the middle room towards the private quarters.
Chapter Thirty-Four
March
It was so weird to see the Devil’s Advocates in the club. They were great at keeping the security, but it still felt strange. I had been busy working on the art piece for Sloane. I’d contacted Burgess secretly and asked him to take a photo of Sloane. He’d managed to get a great shot and sent it over to me. The painting was almost finished, and I was really pleased with the way it was turning out.
My belly seemed to grow so big. I was grateful that I didn’t have any morning sickness. The only thing that I did have that was getting annoying was cramps in my hips and lower back. They had started a couple of days ago and just came and went constantly.
I wasn’t sure if that was something normal, or something that I should be concerned about. When I’d mentioned it to Asher, he told me that he would ring the doctor and get me in for an appointment.
I was just putting the final stroke on the picture for Sloane when Asher came into the room. We had turned one of the spare rooms into a paint room for me. It wasn’t ideal as there was carpet in there, but a drop sheet down on the floor kept the carpet safe.
“That is a really beautiful painting, baby. Sloane is going to be thrilled,” Asher said as he came to stand beside me.
“I hope so. I just hope that I haven’t crossed a line,” I replied.
Asher shook his head. “No, I don’t think you will have, but if she appears upset, just apologize and offer to do a different picture for her.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and nodded my head as I looked over the painting. I’d done the portrait of Sloane’s mum standing in an open field at dusk. I’d placed lightning bugs in the sky and painted the grass, so it looked like it was blowing gently in the breeze. Standing beside her mum I’d painted Sloane, looking at her mum and smiling. I knew that seeing the picture would likely cause strong emotions in Sloane, but I just hoped that they were for the positive rather than the negative. But like Asher said, if she hated it, I could always offer to paint just a portrait of her mum.
“What are you looking so happy about anyway?” I asked. Asher didn’t usually come home in the morning. He’d been busy training the two new staff members as well as overseeing the security. We hadn’t heard anything more from Trevor Daniels, well not that Asher had told me anything.
“I just got off the phone to Sally,” Asher said as his smile grew.
“Oh, please tell me they accepted our offer?” I pleaded.
“Not at first, but I was able to throw a little more their way and they have now accepted it. We go and sign the documents tomorrow afternoon and then in thirty days the house will be ours.”
“Oh my god, that is awesome,” I squealed, bouncing up and down.
Asher chuckled and pulled me into his arms. “We have to do some planning though. We have the baby shower on the weekend, so we need to work out exactly what food we are going to take. Remembering that my brothers eat a lot.”
I nodded. “I love those veggie burgers that you bought the other week. I think we should do them. And then I think barbecue or is that too boring?”
“Well expect Mama to bring loads, she doesn’t go anywhere without bringing half a kitchen with her,” Asher replied with a laugh.
“Maybe we need to talk to your Mama first and find out what she was planning on bringing. When I spoke to my Mama, she said that she and my sisters were taking care of desserts. Donte and Savannah were going to bring a heap of salads, now that Donte and Savannah both have work, they wanted to share some of the money. So, it’s just main food that we need to think about.”
“I’ll give Mama a call and find out what she plans on bringing. I am thinking she will most definitely bring lasagna or two or three. My brothers love her lasagna.”
I smiled up at my mate, before standing on my toes to press a kiss on his cheek. “I love you,” I said.
“Mmm,” Asher said before kissing my lips. “Show me how much.”
I moaned as the blood rushed to my cock. I was convinced that being pregnant had made me even hornier than normal. I wasn’t sure I could get enough sex. Asher would usually start off with a quick hand job in the mornings before we would slowly make love. Then by night time I was ready to go again, three or four more times. Asher said that he was going to run out of cum before I had the baby.
Guiding my hands down over Asher’s chest to the waist of his pants, I unbuttoned and slipped down the zipper, allowing his pants to fall to his ankles. His thick, veiny cock was hard and sticking straight out. The head was red and leaking. My mouth watered at the thought of having a taste.
Slowly I lowered to my knees and cried out. A sharp pain tore through my stomach and water splashed out from me. When I looked down, I was horrified to see that it wasn’t just water but blood too. I looked up at Asher with wide eyes before I felt myself sliding into darkness.
“March,” I heard Asher roar just as the darkness sucked me under.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Asher
Panic like I’ve never felt before gripped me. One minute I was about to get a blow job and the very next I was watching March’s eyes roll into the back of his head as he collapsed in a pool of blood. Ripping my pants back up I grabbed my phone and rang through to emergency services.
“Do you need Police, Fire, Ambulance?” the man asked on the other end of the line.
“Ambulance,” I replied. Even to my own ears, my voice sounded shaky.
“Ambulance, where is your emergency,” another voice came through this time a woman.
I rattled off the address and explained that I was on the top-floor apartment. Once we had that organized the woman asked me what emergency there was.
“My mate. He is a spider shifter and 12 weeks pregnant. He has just lost a lot of blood and fluid and passed out,” I said as tears sprung to my eyes.
“Can you see where the blood is coming from?”
I looked down at March. “Yes, I think he is losing the baby,” I said as I looked at the red stain on his pants.
“Okay and is your mate breathing.”
I placed my hand on his chest and felt the slow but steady rise of his chest. “Yes, it’s very slow though.”
“Okay, what I want you to do is to tell me every time he takes a breath in by saying now.”
I nodded my head even though I knew the woman on the other end of the line couldn’t see me. I kept my hand on March’s chest and waited for the next breath to come through. “Now,” I said as I waited for another one. “Now.”
“Alright, he is breathing too slowly. What I want you to do is lay him flat on his back on the ground,” she instructed.
“Okay,” I said as I rolled March to his back. “Okay, he is flat on his back on the ground.”
“Good job. Now you are going to tilt his head back to make sure his airways are clear. Have a look in his mouth to make sure there is no vomit or blood.”
I opened March’s mouth after tilting his head back. “No there is nothing in his mouth.”
“Good. The ambulance is on its way, I can see that they are close to you. Is your front door unlocked?”
“Yes, my receptionist will be able to let them in.”
“Great. Now with your mate's head tilted back I want you to place your mouth over his, covering it completely. Pinching his nose, I want you to give him two short sharp breaths. You should see the chest rise and feel the air going down into his lungs.”
“Okay,” I replied as I repeated the actions that the operator instructed.
I could feel the breaths go down into March’s lungs as I rested my hand on his chest.
“Okay, I’ve done that.”
“And you felt the breaths go down into his lungs.”
“Yes, his chest raised when I did it.”
“Good. Now I want you to feel for his pulse and count every pulse out to me.”
“Okay,” I said as I pressed my fingers against his neck. I closed my eyes and concentrated on feeling the pulse. It was very weak, but it was there. “One... Two.... Three.”
“That’s good.”
“It feels very weak though,” I explained.
“That’s okay. The main thing is that you can still feel it. How is his breathing?”
I looked down March’s body and watched his chest rising and falling. “It is still slow, but still steady.”
“Good, I can see that the paramedics are in the building now, so they should be with you very soon.”
“Okay,” I said as tears continued to flood down my face. My hands were shaking and my whole body was trembling in panic.
The door flung open, and Freya led two EMTs into the house. I quickly explained to them what happened as they went through their checks. Ending the call with the operator I watched with terror filling every part of me. My mate. Our baby. I didn’t know what was happening or what even would happen.
I sent out a prayer to the creator. I prayed that she would save both March and Bear. Freya came to stand beside me and wrapped her arm around my waist just as the paramedics lifted March onto a stretcher. His face was so pale and the puddle of blood on the floor was large.
“Alright, Asher are you coming with us?” one of the paramedics asked.
I nodded my head and numbly followed them outside and to the waiting ambulance. Once in the back, I took March’s hand in mine and kissed his knuckles.
“Please don’t die,” I whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I didn’t even have time to think about what was happening when we arrived at the hospital. Doctors and nurses were waiting at the ambulance bay as we pulled up. The paramedics rushed March out of the back of the ambulance and the doctors quickly took him inside.
“Are you March’s mate?” a nurse asked. I nodded my head as I watched the doctors disappear inside with my mate. “Alright, come with me, I’ll need to get some information from you about March, and then I can show you to the waiting bay.”
I nodded again mutely and followed the nurse into a small triage area. Another lady sat in front of a computer. “What is March’s last name?” the lady behind the computer asked.
“Rigby.”
“And his date of birth?”
“Twelfth of June 2004,” I repeated.
“Is March allergic to anything?”
“No, I don’t think so. Although he is a vegetarian, so when he wakes up make sure he doesn’t get served meat.”
The lady asking the questions smiled patronizingly at me and nodded her head. “Very well. Now, how far along is he in his pregnancy?”
“Twelve weeks. We just had an ultrasound a few weeks ago. The baby was fine. Everything was fine,” I said as I felt the panic starting to rise up in me again.
“Okay. That is all the information that I need right now. Asher go with Lily, and she will take you out to the waiting area,” the woman said abruptly.
I stood on trembling legs and followed Lily, the first nurse who had taken me into the triage area to where I could wait. The room was filled with people who looked just as distressed as I felt. All waiting to hear if their loved one would make it out of there alive.
“Can I get you a drink or something?” Lily asked.
“No thank you,” I said quietly as I sat down in the hard plastic chair.
“If you need anything, the receptionist desk is just there, feel free to come and we will help you if we can,” Lily said with a warm smile.
I tried to smile in return, but I knew there was not even a twitch in my lips. “Thank you,” I replied.
Lily nodded and turned, walking away. Leaving me alone in a room full of other worried family members.
I wasn’t sure how long I had sat there staring at the same tiles on the floor with tears trekking down over my face when I felt two arms embrace me. When I looked up, I saw Mama and Papa standing looking down at me with worry etched into their faces.
A sob bubbled up out of my chest and I stood falling into my Papa’s arms as he held me tight. My tears flowed steadily down my cheeks and my body shook under the weight of my sobs as I cried into my Papa’s chest. Mama stood behind me rubbing over my back, speaking soft soothing words that I couldn’t hear over the sound of my own sobs.
Finally, my sobs became hiccups and the tears slowly eased. I stepped back and looked at the faces of my parents. They had so much love in their heart, and I could see that they were in pain because of my pain. I’d never felt so relieved to have my parents by my side.
“Freya told us on the phone what happened,” Mama said as she took my hand in hers.
“Have the doctors said anything to you?” Papa asked as he guided us to sit down in the seats that I’d stood from.
I shook my head. “No nothing yet. He was unconscious when they rolled him away. There was so much blood. I don’t know if the baby is alive.”
“Was March’s heart beating and was he breathing?” Mama asked
“Yes. He was breathing really slowly, and his heartbeat felt weak, but it was still steady.”
“That’s a good sign,” Mama said as she squeezed my hand.
I hoped that she was right. I didn’t know what I would do without March. I didn’t know what I would do without Bear. We had just bought the house. The money meant nothing to me, but to move into that new house without our son wouldn’t feel right. To move into it without March by my side made me feel sick at the very idea.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
March
Darkness surrounded me. I could feel pain. Low in my stomach and back. I cried out as wave after wave of pain hit me. It felt like something was tearing me from the inside out. Voices floated briefly through the wind in the darkness, but I couldn’t quite grasp what anyone was saying.
I couldn’t even focus on my spider. He was somewhere, I could feel him, but I couldn’t see him. Asher. I wanted Asher. I tried to cry out for him. Hands stroked down the side of my cheek.
“Hush now March, it will be alright, we are fixing you up,” a lady's voice called.
“What happened?” I replied.
