"What's that?"
She arched basically her entire body off of the bed like a bow, trying to catch me. I took a few steps back.
"Get back here right now." Her bound hands were suddenly around my neck, and she jumped so that her legs were around my hips.
I pushed and slid inside of her, and then I kissed my wife. She moaned into my mouth, and I fucked her with my tongue.
We crashed into the bed, the two of us, and I heard the bed frame snap from the force. I was willing to break a dozen beds to get inside of her just once.
I held her wrists down above her head as I worshipped her perfect, full breasts. She shivered beneath me, and I bit her right nipple fiercely. I looked down at my handiwork, and I loved the mark of my mouth on my wife.
I pushed my hips against her, and she groaned as her back arched. I tucked my face between her neck and shoulder, and I gave her everything that I had. Every inch of me, every bit of me that I could pour into her, more than I could give and live - everything went into my wife. She was my present and future. I'd had plenty of women in the past, but Nora would be my last.
When I was done releasing inside of her, and once she was done clenching her tight body on mine, I rolled over and untied her hands.
"What do you want to do today?"
Facebook Official
Nora
"Well, first, I'm going to take a shower."
I saw Chris' eyes light up and shook my head. "No. If we shower together, we're not going to get anything done today."
He smiled ruefully. "True."
"You can go to work. I'll go shopping for some maternity clothes and maybe start looking at stuff for the baby."
"What do you need clothes for? What you're wearing now looks fine to me. Naked would be better." He reached for me, and I slapped his hands away.
"You can't keep me naked all the time, and I'm eventually going to get a baby bump that's too big to even fit inside of your t-shirts. I've got to get clothes."
He shrugged. "Okay." He reached for his wallet, and he took out a black credit card. It was an AmEx.
"Is that a-?"
"Centurion Card? Yeah. It's yours. See?" He handed it to me, and I read my name. Mrs. Nora King.
"Buy whatever you need. Hell, buy half a dozen things that the baby doesn't need. Go wild."
I blinked. "Carte blanche isn't a good idea when a pregnant woman is nesting."
He shrugged. "I can afford it."
He could, and I knew it, too. I'd buy the necessities now, but I also knew that I didn't have a good idea of what the necessities were. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to have some of the stuff delivered to the house because it wouldn't fit into my car.
The card made something else real to me: Chris and I were going to stay married. And if that was the case …
"Can we make our marriage Facebook official?"
Chris blinked. "What?"
"Well, it's not like we invited anybody we knew to our wedding. And I didn't know if we were going to go the distance. But now that we're definitely staying married … "
"Yeah." Chris picked up his phone and pulled up the Facebook app. "Relationship status: married to Nora." He tapped the screen a few times before he said, "Done."
I felt like a huge weight had lifted off of my shoulders. Now that the question of my marriage was settled, I could focus on this path, on this future.
I went into the guest bedroom and soaked in the tub while I thought about what it would mean to be married to Chris for the foreseeable future … at least the next 18 years. I put a hand on my stomach. There was a tiny human growing inside of me. I knew that Chris would be a fun dad, and I just hoped that I'd be a good mother.
My fingers were pruny by the time I got out of the tub. When I peeked into the garage, Chris' car was gone. He must have showered and left.
I didn't have any of my own clothes besides what I'd worn yesterday. I raided Chris' closet again, taking his smallest t-shirt. I put on a pair of his basketball shorts, which were the length of Capris on me. I shook my head. Chris was so tall. The jock strap felt weird, but I had to make the best of the situation. My first stop was definitely to buy some more clothes. I needed to go home to pick up all my stuff and pack it up. I understood from the way that Chris was talking about me putting together a nursery that he assumed that I was moving in. Living together would probably be the best for everyone involved.
I pulled my hair into a quick bun. I didn't put on any makeup. I looked like a complete hot mess, dressed in a baggy shirt and shorts that were too long on me, but it'd have to do. Surely the people at Target wouldn't faint from the sight of my hideous clothing.
Part III
Kidnapping
Target
Nora
I went into Target and signed into KickShop, which was connected to my Facebook account. I got points for running around Target and finding items while I was there.
I headed straight for the maternity section. There were really cute Liz Lange tops. I'd never fit into them before, but I would now.
I picked up a few tops so that I could try them on in the dressing room.
The dressing room attendant barely looked at me when I asked for a number. She handed it to me, and she texted somebody on her phone. Like nearly every retail dressing room attendant, she was checked out.
I went into the dressing room. Only one stall was taken, so I went into a roomy stall, closed the curtain, and got naked.
Abruptly, the curtain was pushed aside. I covered myself.
"Hey!"
I had a single second to notice that a tall blonde girl was in front of me before I blacked out from a punch.
* * *
When I woke up, everything was dark. I blinked a few times, and I realized that something was over my head. I struggled, and I felt that my hands were bound together.
"Oh, you're awake."
I stilled. "Where am I?"
"Somewhere that Chris won't find you."
"Who are you?"
"Jordana."
Something sparked in the back of my mind. "Chris' ex-girlfriend from high school? The one that got pregnant?" The bunny boiler who terrified Laila with her insanity? I kept that last one to myself.
"That's me." She laughed bitterly. "Why can you remember better than Chris can?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about waking up with Chris King in my bed again, only for him to have no idea who I am." I could feel her rage pouring out of her, almost physically burning me.
"We can work something out."
"You're married to him."
"Yeah, but it's only because of the baby."
"Baby? You're having his baby?" I heard the interest in her voice, and I winced underneath the hood. I probably should've kept that under wraps.
"Yeah."
She touched my tummy, and I cringed away from her cold hand. "I just thought that you were fat."
"Hey!"
"Don't make me knock you out again," she said with no emotion at all, as if she were an android. It made my whole body feel cold. I said a quick prayer to anybody who could hear me.
"You're married because you have a baby?"
It was more complicated than that, but I just said, "Yes."
She left me alone, finally. I breathed a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. I heard her get close to me again, and I screamed as I heard a knife being unsheathed.
"I want to see your face." The hood came off of my face. Jordana's eyes were beyond crazy - she looked extremely calm, which just served to terrify me.
"What are you going to do?"
"Get rid of your marriage." She smiled. "And your baby."
I screamed as the knife came down on my unprotected stomach.
Blood
Nora
I stared at the blade cutting into me. I felt physical pain of course. Jordana had sliced through my intestines, but that didn't really concern me. I recognized that it should, but all of my concern was elsewhere.
"My baby," I gasped.
"Die, bitch," Jordana spat as she sliced me a second time while pulling the knife out for a second blow.
I closed my eyes and made my peace as I waited for the second blow to come. I wished that I hadn't run away from Chris, because our baby and marriage had been stolen before we'd really had the time to get used to it.
The second blow never came.
I heard the door burst open, and I opened my eyes. There was a man wearing a black vest that said SWAT across his chest.
About 30 seconds ago, that would've meant everything to me. But now that my baby was dead, I was a casually disinterested observer.
I watched as they tackled Jordana with her knife safely knocked out of her hand, cuffing her as they read her Miranda rights.
I was quiet as Chris came running into the room, kneeling by my side.
"You're bleeding," he said. "Oh my god, you're bleeding so much. We need an ambulance." He took out a pocket knife and cut the zip ties that held my hands over my head.