Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I laugh reluctantly, clinging onto my belly, as though the babies could follow with the speed of the amniotic fluid. Goldie’s expression shifts in an instant. The lightness is gone, replaced by practiced urgency. She sets her cup onto the coffee table, already moving. “Okay. Let’s get you settled. Reed, towels. Finn, clear the floor. Nixon, call for your midwife, but don’t expect she’ll make it in time. We may be doing this ourselves. “
The first contraction hits hard, and it’s like the air is knocked from my lungs. I curl forward instinctively, pressing my hands to the top of my thighs, breathing through the deep, low pressure.
“She’s early,” Nixon says, voice too tight and too loud. “Is that normal? What does it mean? Is it safe?”
“Nixon,” Goldie says, sharply but kindly, placing a hand on his arm. “This is happening. Focus.”
He swallows hard and then paces back and forth in front of the hearth like a caged wolf who doesn’t know whether to fight or flee. Ahya stares at him with wide eyes from her spot on the rug, sensing the shifting energy in the room. He’s poking his finger at his phone like he wants to smash the screen, then he’s growling orders at the poor midwife.
I lose concentration, funneling all my attention to my body.
Finn’s behind me, a strong and steady presence, hands pressed to my lower back in broad, comforting circles. He murmurs something low into my hair, something meant to soothe, but I can’t hear it over the rush of blood roaring in my ears.
Reed returns with towels and blankets, laying them out calmly under Goldie’s supervision. His face is pale but focused. He kneels beside me, brushing a damp wave from my forehead, his other hand bringing a cool cloth to my neck.
Goldie guides me to my knees, urging me to bend over the sofa for support. “This position will help with the pressure. Breathe, Scarlet, and try to relax. That’s all you have to do. Let your body do the rest.”
I close my eyes and lean forward, fists clenching into the cushions, hissing through clenched teeth. Relax? Is she high?
The next contraction comes sharp and fast, and I cry out, but Finn’s hands don’t leave my back. Reed murmurs soft encouragement from beside me.
“We’ve got you” Nixon says. “We’re here. All of us. You’re safe. “
I nod, a slight motion, as another wave of pain grips me and I moan through it, loud and primal and utterly unconcerned with anything but the need to push.
Goldie peels away my wet underwear, and I’m so grateful to have another woman who’s been through this to support me that it isn’t weird.
Time seems to blur the space between my birthing pains like I’m underwater as I pant and focus to regain my strength, then the tightening agony grips me so violently, I lose all connections to the world around me.
Goldie hands Finn something. “It’s a sex toy. Use it on Scarlet to improve her pain. I’m going to take Ahya outside and call Hunter.”
“Are you sure?” Finn says, his voice high with disbelief.
I pant like a crazy person, eyes fixed to a crumb on the sofa.
“I’m sure. Trust me. It’s all about happy, pain-relieving hormones.”
“Okay.” He doesn’t sound sure, studying the thing like an unexploded bomb that’s suddenly appeared in his palm.
Goldie closes the door behind her, and then Finn kisses my temple and whispers, “Goldie has recommended helping you to orgasm to help with pain relief. She’s given me one of her weird fruit-shaped toys.”
“Nothing’s going up there,” I gasp. “Somethings about to come out.”
“It’s for your clit,” he laughs.
“It’ll help,” Nixon says firmly. “The power of the female orgasm. It’s the goddess's gift to women.”
“Maybe she should have focused on painless childbirth instead,” I grumble. Then, as I’m almost flattened by another gripping wave of pain, I gasp, “Anything… just… oh fuck.”
Finn’s hands move between my legs. His finger searches out my clit, then he latches a clit sucker on and holds it to me. It’s strange when the first flutters of pleasure rise from beneath so much pain, but as the contraction subsides, the pleasure overtakes its clutches and I moan, rocking into Finn’s hand. “That’s it, Scarlet,” he says. “Let yourself feel good.”
I moan, low and deep, more like a cow than a woman, but the toy is clever, and it varies its sucking action, edging me closer. Another contraction builds, but the pain is muted by pleasure. Reed’s hand caresses my back in long, slow swoops, and I moan again, gripping the edge of the sofa cushions desperately.
“Let go,” Finn says, and I’m so close, I can taste the release on the back of my tongue. I clamp down, my pussy constricting in wave after wave of pleasure that swamp the next rising contraction, making it bearable.