Split - Coffin Nails MC (Contemporary New Adult Erotic Dark Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 7) (20 page)

Hunter was taking deep breaths and shaking
off the snow when Asty grabbed his shoulders, trying to see any bruises or
blood that could have resulted from the fight. “Are you okay?” she uttered,
only now realizing how bad this could have been if Hunter hadn’t come for her.

“I’m fine,” he said despite not sounding
fine at all. He watched Ray go back toward the buildings and only turned to
Asty later. “If I see you around him again, I
will
fucking kill him. If
you don’t want me to go to prison, you better scream if he even dares approach
you. Do you understand me? He’s vile and dangerous. You cannot handle him.”

Asty nodded wordlessly and cradled his face
in her palms, petting his cold cheeks. She couldn’t imagine how hard this was
for him, and yet he stood by her despite just having listened to the horrible
things Ray had said. “I will, I promise.”

He touched her hands and she noticed dark
stains on his knuckles. “When will you tell everyone I’m the father?”

Asty stiffened and kissed the front of his
chest, still filled with adrenaline from the confrontation. “You heard my
father. He’s furious. I don’t want him to hurt you.”

Hunter sighed and pulled her into a tight
hug. “We can’t stay like this forever …”

She shuddered and slid her arms around his
waist, pushing against his powerful form. “I know. I’m working on him every
day, but he’s so stubborn. I don’t want him thinking you coerced me into this.”

Even through all the clothes, she could
sense Hunter’s rapid heartbeat. He was silent for a few moments, looking
somewhere far away above her head before finally glancing at Asty again. “I’ll
wait. But I don’t want you to think that this sneaking around is fine with me.
If it’s what it takes, I’ll wait. I just wish the whole world could know you’re
mine.”

Words were stuck in Asty’s mouth as she
looked at him, completely out of her depth. “Me too. I want everyone to know,
and so I was thinking ... maybe once he’s less angry about it, we could just
tell him we got together when I was already pregnant. This would make you look
like the good guy, too.”

Hunter was silent for a moment that felt
like forever. “If that’s what it takes. But you have to give me something as
well.”

Asty stepped back to look into his face,
which looked like marble in the cool moonlight. “What is it?”

“I want you to go with me to my family
reunion in March. I want everyone to see how great I’m doing. What an amazing
girlfriend I have.” Hunter watched her, oblivious of a trickle of blood that
dripped from his nose.

Asty exhaled, and her mouth spread into a
smile. “Of course. Of course, I’ll go with you. I want to get to know them,
too. That’s where you came from,” she said and quickly pulled out a tissue,
which she brushed over Hunter’s upper lip, gathering the blood.

“I’ll wait then.” He ran his fingers
through a strand of hair hanging out of her hood, and the softness in his eyes
confirmed the truth behind his earlier words.

In the darkness, far away from the party
lights and with just the moon as a witness, Asty held Hunter’s hands. She’d
never felt so happy in her life.

Asty

Asty breathed in the artificial aroma in
the waiting room at her doctor’s office. Lucky was by her side and one woman sat
across from them, but with the size of the room, it still felt pretty private.
It was March seventh, her birthday, and Lucky took her out for breakfast to
celebrate, but there were no party plans. She didn’t want any of her more
casual friends to see her pregnant when she couldn’t even introduce the baby’s
father to them without risk. They would just assume she did something stupid
and the guy who knocked her up left her. At least she was finally feeling
better after the maladies of the first trimester stopped.

She would have her second ultrasound, and
she couldn’t help but sulk a bit that Hunter couldn’t be there with her.
Knowing him, he’d try to somehow sneak into the clinic and participate, so she
refrained from telling him about her plans for the first half of the day. But as
she sat there, nerves were slowly getting the best of her, even though she knew
deep in her heart the baby would be a healthy boy.

“You’re really quiet.” Lucky smiled and
rested his elbows on his knees. “I get it, I hate going to the doctor’s too. I
have this needle phobia. I get really freaked out.”

Asty sighed. “It’s not that. I just wish
Hunter could be here,” she muttered and stroked his arm. “And don’t worry. They
won’t be using any needles.”

“Ah, I get it. But it’s for the better.
Dad’s got spies everywhere, and Hunter being here with you would be
super-suspicious.” Lucky nodded. “From what I’ve gathered, Tooth and Dad are
still on the lookout. Tooth’s been acting weird about it, too.”

Asty groaned. “Fuck ... I told him to stop!
It’s been four months. How can I ever break the news to him if he’s so
agitated?” After a second’s thought, she added, “What did Tooth say?”

“He was asking me about you yesterday. If
you’re seeing anyone, and he had this ‘This is serious, Lucifer’ voice.”

If this were about anything else, Asty
would have laughed at Lucky’s impression of his fiancé, but she just leaned
against him with a deep sigh. Her stomach was clearly enlarged now, but the baby
doll dress she was wearing had enough volume to hide it. It was so strange to
observe her body changing like this. When she saw other women in this state, it
didn’t bother her at all, but having been very small and skinny all her life,
the change in her own shape came as a bit of a shock. But on top of that, she wasn’t
really self-conscious about it. Every time she and Hunter were together, she
could see the same lust in his eyes, a fire that seemed to grow even faster
than her bump did. Especially now with her breasts hurting less, he could
finally play with them more. It was like a strange but very happy dream.

“But what do they want to achieve? I want
to tell them that Hunter and I started dating after I got pregnant, but I’m
afraid to even do that when I see Dad so agitated.”

“I don’t know. I think Tooth is skeptical
but sees that Dad isn’t letting it go, and he hopes that if they find the guy,
they can put the issue to rest. But with your plan, why don’t you tell him?”

Asty groaned and rolled her eyes. “I
brought this up so many times, but Dad doesn’t want to let me date anyone until
the baby is born.”

“What?” Lucky hissed. “You’re an adult. Oh,
my God, he can be such a shithead sometimes. Remember how he kept telling Bell
that he should go to the gym more often?”

Asty shrugged. “I mean, this is more
intrusive. He keeps trying to control my sex life. This is such fucking
bullshit.”

“It’s not like you’re gonna get pregnant
again.” Lucky snorted and winked at her.

“I know, but he just won’t listen, and I
don’t want him to do anything brash. Hunter’s position at the club is shaky as
it is.”

Lucky nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard a bit about
that. Everyone likes him a lot more than they do Ray, but he’s still looked at
with suspicion. He’s got a Coffin Nails patch, but he’s only been around for a
few months. He’s handsome and young, so a lot of girls try to get into his
pants, but because he doesn’t sleep around, there’s a rumor going ‘round that
he’s gay. Especially after that outburst at my engagement.”

Asty barked out a laugh, which made the
lady across from them look up. “Oh, he’s definitely not gay.”

“I’d say it’s a shame, but I have the
perfect future husband, so I don’t care.” Lucky grinned. “But seriously, be
vigilant, because it’s easy to slip when you sneak around like that. Believe
me,
I know
.”

Asty wanted to answer him, but the
receptionist came in and walked up to them. “The doctor will see you now, Miss
Horton. Do you want the father to be present?” she asked, glancing at Lucky.

Asty scratched herself on the forehead and
chuckled. “No ... that’s ... my brother.”

Lucky smiled and put his hands in his
pockets. “This kind of stuff freaks me out, but I’ll be right here, okay?”

“See you soon,” said Asty and followed the
apologetic receptionist to the treatment room. She was told to wait for the
doctor as he had something urgent to deal with, and she eventually sat down in
a chair by the desk and picked up her phone to pass the time. She might as well
have stayed with Lucky instead of being alone in the treatment room, which, of
course, was painted with that creepy shade of green that was supposed to make
patients calm.

Asty’s presence on social media was
limited, as she was usually busy with other things, but after checking her e-mail,
she decided to have a look at a site she used a lot in high school. As she
suspected, there were many notifications from the last few months, but after
looking at two invitations and reading a really stupid comment on an old post,
she clicked an icon for new photo where she had been tagged. She expected to
see an ancient picture from a school trip, but her mind numbed when an image of
her leaning against Hunter at the café, which they had visited on their first
date loaded on the screen. She could barely breathe. Lilly. Of course, that
bitch would mess up Asty’s life even now! Lilly even captioned it. ‘Aww, I met
up with Asty today. She’s still in Detroit, but seems to be doing well for
herself! <3 #SatanLove’

Asty’s fingers shook when she frantically
searched through the mobile version of the website to find the settings. As
soon as she found the option to delete the account, she did so, only to growl
at repeated questions asking whether she was certain. “Of course, I’m sure, you
stupid fuck. Why else would I even be in that section?”

“Um … Miss Horton?”

Asty raised her head, flushing with heat at
the elderly doctor, who frowned at her from the door.
Crap
, he must have
heard her. “I’m fine. I’m just ... almost ready,” she said and was glad when
the website finally deleted her account and she could breathe again.

The doctor had her lay on the treatment
table, but she was still panicking over the photo online even as she rested on
her back and uncovered her belly. The picture was floating somewhere on the
Internet, for anyone to find. And it dated three months back.

“Don’t be nervous, it won’t hurt, it’s just
a bit cold,” the doctor said. In all honesty, her belly looked as if she ate a
big orange, and it was stuck in there.

The doctor asked her some questions and
explained a few things, but eventually, he spread the lubricant over her bump
and started the test. Asty exhaled, trying hard to relax, but she couldn’t get
over the fact that Lilly posted the picture without permission after being told
explicitly to delete it.

But her thoughts trailed off when the
screen filled with the profile of a head, complete with lips and chin. She
exhaled, watching it, mesmerized. The doctor noticed her interest and smiled,
adjusting his thick glasses. “That’s what I call a handsome baby. A well-formed
skull, very nice,” he said and kept moving the transducer over her stomach,
making the black-and-white picture on the monitor morph.

“That’s the heart,” explained the doctor as
they watched a small shape twitch rhythmically. He pressed a few buttons, and a
graph appeared on the bottom of the screen before a rhythmical buzz filled
Asty’s ears. She couldn’t speak, suddenly feeling so very alone. She wished
Hunter could hear this as well. She brushed her finger against her wet eye, and
the doctor handed her a box of tissues.

“This happens more frequently than you think,”
he commented, unbothered.

Asty sniffled and dried her eyes, almost
sorry when the sound finally stopped and the doctor started examining limbs and
other structures. Asty’s anxiety grew, even though each subsequent picture was
called normal. She tried so hard to be healthy. She kept a strict regimen of
healthy foods, had no alcohol even before the pregnancy, just in case, and yet
there was this sinking feeling inside her that maybe she did something wrong.
Maybe she distressed the baby somehow and it would suffer because of it? But
no, everything was fine, and in the end, she dared to ask about the sex. She
knew it was a boy, but she still wanted it confirmed.

The doctor sighed but pressed the small
device against her belly again, looking closely at the screen. “It’s still
early, mind you, so maybe don’t buy those color-coded accessories just yet. But
I would say it looks like you will be having a boy. Congratulations,” he said
with a polite smile.

Asty grinned and exhaled, the photo
completely forgotten. “Thank you, Doctor. His dad will be so happy that
everything is fine.”

“I can imagine,” said the doctor as he
handed her more tissues so she could clean herself. “I was on pins and needles
the first time my wife was pregnant. It’s very stressful.”

Asty asked him for some more advice about
things she wasn’t sure off and rushed to the waiting room with a few ultrasound
printouts in her hand.

Lucky got up the second she came into the
waiting room. “Everything all right?” He smiled and held her hand.

She nodded, unable to control the smile on
her face. “And it’s gonna be a boy. Look,” she told him as she handed over the
pictures.

“I’m so happy for you!” Lucky hugged her
tight. “He’s healthy, and everything will go smoothly, I’m sure of it.” He
grinned and pulled away to look at the pictures again.

“The doctor said he’s handsome,” said Asty,
bursting with pride, even though she knew the man probably said that to all
expecting mothers.

Lucky nodded as they walked down the
corridor. “If he’s handsome, you know Hunter’s the daddy.” He wiggled his
eyebrows.

Asty smirked and nodded, chewing on her
lip. She couldn’t wait to see Hunter and break the news to him. She had told
him she had something to attend to before they met to celebrate, but now he was
up for a surprise. She wanted to see him so badly and watch his face when he saw
their baby boy for the first time. “Yes, he is ... pretty amazing,” she
admitted with a small smile.

“You want me to take you to the club, so
you can tell Dad?” Lucky asked and began putting on all the layers needed to
face the outside world in early March.

Asty sighed. “No, I’ll tell him later. Can
you get me somewhere else?” she asked, putting on her long coat. Hunter was to
meet up with her in half an hour.

Lucky smirked and pulled on a wooly hat.
“Ah, someone’s up for some birthday sex ... I’m also having a date night with
Tooth. We’re going to Nino’s.”

Asty grinned as they walked out of the
clinic and into the cold. “That’s so cute. Will you be doing the Lady and the
Tramp routine?”

Lucky snorted. “Tooth’s too serious for
that. But maybe at home … What do you guys have planned?”

“He wouldn’t say,” she said as they
approached Lucky’s car. I bet it’s something really romantic. Maybe he’ll play
some cello for me?”

“He plays the cello?”

Asty bumped into the car with her hip. “Oh,
fuck. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone,” she said quickly. “Please, don’t pass
that on.”

Lucky got into the car from the other side.
“Okay, okay, I’ll keep it secret. That’s too cute though. He doesn’t look like
a classical musician.”

Asty scowled at herself and joined him
insider. “He keeps it a secret because in his previous club, it wasn’t
accepted. And he plays so beautifully. After Christmas, when we got back
together, he actually serenaded under my window.”

“Maybe he’ll take you to the Opera tonight.
Wear a tux? Oh-em-Gee. I would so want to see him in a tux.”

Asty frowned. “Have Tooth walk around in a
tux. You can make him now that you two are getting married.”

Lucky gave a sigh and smiled just as he
started the car. “Maybe for the wedding. He’d look dreamy.”

“Good luck. He would look like one of those
lumbersexual models.” She on the other hand, wanted to see more of Hunter in
corpsepaint.

Twenty minutes later, Lucky dropped her off
in front of a small park, and she rushed between the trees, greedily looking
for Hunter’s tall form.

He was sitting on the backrest of a bench,
with his feet on the snow-covered seat, and reading something on his phone. His
slouched position reminded Asty of a gargoyle hunched atop a medieval church.