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  Jed yanked open the cupboard door. “Get that look off your face, Diana. It’s not going to happen.”

  “Jed, I felt you. I know you want me.” She opened her arms. “So take me. Give yourself some relief.” She pressed her hands over her heart. “It’ll help me, and it’s supposed to bring on labor.” She couldn’t keep the passion from her voice.

  He put down the knife with a clatter on the wooden cutting board. It was then that Diana noticed the cold roast beef in plastic wrap and cold vegetables—leftovers from the previous night’s dinner.

  “I’m not making love to you to help you, for the love of God,” he said. “Don’t you get it? I’ll hurt you.” He brushed past her, swearing in a tone she’d never heard before, not from Jed.

  “Jed, you would never hurt me. Why would you say that?” She took a step to follow him, before he turned on her like a bear stalking its prey. She could feel his anger.

  “Are you kidding me? I’ve been patient and ignoring my needs for you, and right now the only thing I want to do is throw you down on that bed and ride you like an animal.” He growled, putting his face inches from hers. “But I won’t, because I’d hurt you and I’d hurt the baby. I can’t go slow and easy right now. I’ll snap. So don’t ask me again.”

  Diana put her hand on his bare arm. “You would never hurt me or the baby. Jed, please, just try. Please.” She reached up and slid her hand over his cheek.

  He sighed. Even with that frustrated, irritated expression on his face, he couldn’t hide his feelings for her. “The fact that you discussed it with my mother really pisses me off, Diana.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  He watched her with an expression that said he could eat her up. For a minute, she wondered if she should worry, maybe take a step back. His eyes flared, and then he lowered his head to touch her lips, but he stopped a hair’s width away, allowing his warm breath to caress her lips. “You better get ready, and, by God, don’t you dare say I didn’t warn you,” he said. Then he put his lips on hers in a passionate, no-holds-barred, kiss.

  Chapter 7

  Diana lay in the crook of Jed’s arm, the covers pulled around them. Still no labor, not even a twinge of anything. Damn it.

  She didn’t know what she expected after Jed had followed through in a creative way, turning what she had expected to be nothing but the mechanics of sex, into the most erotic experience she could remember. Not only had she screamed out his name, not once but twice, but she’d also discovered just how overly sensitive her breasts, her thighs, and her skin had become. Jed’s simple touch had become magical, nearly sending her over the edge in a way that had her writhing about, as elegantly as a very pregnant woman could.

  After Jed had run his tongue over every erotic spot, he had her bend over, resting her arms on the bed, and took her from behind. With every thrust, she could feel him fighting and holding back, but, damn, did he feel good. She should have been exhausted, beyond tired, but there was something about what he’d done that had filled her with such completeness that she felt deeply loved, and it relaxed her and gave her an energy she hadn’t felt in a while.

  Jed was fast asleep behind her, and she could still feel the aftereffects of him inside her. She ran her hand over her belly, where Jed’s arm surrounded her. She was damp and wet, and she felt something warm trickling down her inner thigh. She lay there, wondering in the darkness, and when the trickle didn’t stop; she realized her water had broken.

  Diana stopped herself right before she grabbed Jed’s arm and shook him awake. He was so deeply asleep that she couldn’t do that to him. Jed was absolutely exhausted, and, for the first time in weeks, he was relaxed. She didn’t know how long she lay there, waiting for the contractions to start, but they never did. Then she started wondering what she was supposed to do when her water broke and labor didn’t start. She didn’t think that was something they had covered or even talked about.

  She checked the bedside clock. It was after midnight, so maybe she had dozed for a bit. The phone was on Jed’s side of the bed, and she couldn’t rightly slip out from under the covers when Jed had her anchored to him so effectively.

  He breathed roughly and then moved his hand up, covering Diana’s breasts and then kissing her cheek. Then she felt him stiffen.

  “Why’s the bed wet?” he muttered groggily. He leaned over her and switched on the bedside light.

  “I think my water broke,” she said. She met the surprise in his eyes, and then he slid back the covers and looked.

  “So it worked,” he said in a voice that sounded surprised.

  “Well, sort of, I guess. I haven’t had any contractions.”

  Jed appeared concerned. He reached over and snatched up the phone, dialing. As soon as someone answered, he said, “Yeah, it’s Jed Friessen. Diana’s water broke, but her labor hasn’t started.” He listened to something and leaned over, pulling the covers down further.

  “Jed, what are you doing?” Diana asked, shivering in the chilly night air.

  “The doctor asked me to check the color of the fluid,” he said. “Hey, Doc, it doesn’t look discolored to me. The sheets are wet, nothing but clear fluid.” He watched Diana as he spoke. “Well, funny thing, my wife had this brilliant idea that she wanted to have sex, so—we did. Any chance that’s what caused it?” He appeared to listen to whatever the doctor was saying, and Diana couldn’t shake the feeling that Jed thought he had made a mistake.

  “You sure?” he asked. “Okay, see you soon.” He hung up the phone and let out a sigh that sounded way too much like frustration. He slid out of bed, rubbed his head and said, “Well, let’s go.” Then he pulled on the jeans he’d tossed to the floor and grabbed a shirt from the closet. He shrugged it on and turned to Diana as she lay there, watching him.

  “Diana, do you need help getting up?” He strode around the bed to her, looking at her and raising his eyebrows, expecting an answer when she said nothing.

  “You’re mad at me again,” she said. She didn’t move but started to pull the sheet up higher over her breasts, hiding herself from him.

  Jed reached down and yanked back the sheet, taking hold of her elbow and pulling her up into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. She shivered against the damp sheet. Jed said not one word as he grabbed a t-shirt from the drawer and then a blue skirt from the closet; one of the maternity skirts she’d lived in for a while. He didn’t look at her as he squatted in front of her. “Diana, step in,” he said. Boy, he was mad.

  “Jed, talk to me.” She lifted one foot and then the other into the skirt, and Jed lifted her, standing her beside the bed, pulling her skirt up over her swollen belly.

  “Diana, put this on.” He pulled the t-shirt over her head.

  “Jed, I need underwear and a bra.”

  “Why? You’re going to the hospital, not the supermarket,” he snapped.

  Diana refused to budge when Jed grasped her elbow and tried to get her to move, giving her one of his exasperated glances. “Jed, why won’t you talk to me? I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

  “Oh, for the love of God, Diana!” He dropped his hand. “You are the most exasperating woman sometimes. I’m mad at me, not you. We need to go because Doctor Caldwell is meeting us at the hospital. Now!”

  “Why are you mad at yourself? I don’t understand.” Diana started walking as Jed reached for her elbow again and guided her out the bedroom door, flicking on the hall light.

  “Because I’m the one who couldn’t control myself. I was probably too rough with you, I…let’s just go.” He stopped her at the front door, stomped his boots on, and grabbed her coat, putting it over her shoulders. He reached for her shoes and kneeled down.

  “Jed, you weren’t too rough. Are you telling me the doctor said you shouldn’t have had sex with me?” She couldn’t believe the doctor would say that, as it made no sense. She lifted her foot, holding on to Jed’s shoulder, as he nudged her shoe on.

  “Diana, I didn’t want to be
cause I don’t want to be taking chances with you and the baby. The doctor said not to worry, just bring you in so she can assess you both.”

  He stood up, and Diana felt the dribble down her thighs. She peeked at the puddle forming on the floor. “Jed…”

  “Yeah, I know. Maxi pad and underwear, right?” He carried on down the hall, and Diana worried as she waited for her husband, listening to him rummage in the bathroom. How could she lessen his guilt and ease his conscience for something she knew, deep down in her soul, had been so right?

  Chapter 8

  “Everything is fine, but I can’t examine you much more, Diana, since your water broke. The risk for infection is so much higher now.” Dr. Caldwell had cut her dark, curly hair to a close-cropped style, and it made her round face and dark, chubby cheeks stand out. She was very pretty, sharp, and all business.

  “Doctor Caldwell, can you please tell Jed this wasn’t his fault? He’s beating himself up because I talked him into having sex with me. I wanted this to start labor,” Diana explained. She was dressed in a faded blue hospital gown in the maternity ward of the community hospital of North Lakewood. Jed hovered beside her, and she didn’t need to look up to see his irritation. She could feel how he stiffened beside her as he sat on the edge of the bed.

  Dr. Caldwell offered a wide smile, showing a flash of white teeth, and then she laughed softly. “No, let me assure you, you caused no damage, Jed. And…” She cleared her throat roughly before continuing. “I often tell my late-stage moms that sometimes having sex helps to stimulate labor. The water breaking, well, it happens, and generally I’d send you home again since labor hasn’t started, but I think I need to keep you here for a bit. Jed, I’ll get you to help Diana up and start walking the halls; see if we can’t get this labor started.” She headed for the door.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t because I was maybe a little rough, and I didn’t hurt Diana or the baby?” Jed said, stopping the doctor. Diana wondered, when the doctor glanced back, if in fact she wasn’t blushing.

  “No, they’re both fine. Baby’s good, strong heartbeat. Start walking,” she said. Then she left.

  Jed seemed to relax a bit, but Diana could tell he was still annoyed. “Well, you heard the doctor. Up,” he said as he helped her sit and put her legs over the edge of the bed.

  “Jed, I need my housecoat or something. I didn’t bring the bag I packed for the baby, and my ass is hanging out the back of this drafty gown.”

  “Such a pretty ass, too.” He put a kiss on her lips and helped her down.

  The door pushed open, and a short nurse, with her dark hair pinned up, walked in. “How’s everything going?” she asked, stopping in front of Diana.

  “I need a housecoat or something to put on. I’m too exposed in this,” Diana said.

  The nurse glimpsed her backside and smiled. “I’ll grab you another gown. Wear it like a coat—it’ll cover your behind.” She stepped outside, returning a few minutes later, shaking out a hospital gown. She helped Diana slip it on. “There you go. Okay, Doctor Caldwell just left, but she said you were going to start walking. We’ll keep an eye on you.”

  “Walk the halls, yippee,” Diana said with more than a hint of sarcasm, and both Jed and the nurse gave her an odd look.

  “So do you think this will help?” Jed asked.

  “It can, and it’s a start,” said the nurse. “Start walking up and down the hallway. We’re going to want to check the baby’s heartbeat in about fifteen minutes.”

  The nurse left, and Jed urged Diana forward.

  “Jed, I need my shoes since I don’t have slippers, either.”

  He grunted and grabbed her brown flats, bending down to slip them on her feet.

  Diana lost count of the number of times they walked the halls from one end to the other, mostly in silence. “Jed, what if my labor doesn’t start? I’m overdue, my water broke, and still no labor. Why?”

  Jed rubbed her back with his hand. “I don’t know, honey.”

  Just then, they heard a woman scream from a labor and delivery room. Diana froze. With Danny, she’d had an emergency c-section. She had never experienced giving birth, so she couldn’t help worrying about how bad it was going to be.

  Jed guided Diana back to her room after the nurse called them. He helped her back on the bed, and the OB nurse checked the baby’s heartbeat. It was then that Diana started wincing.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” Jed asked. She glanced his way, and her face took on an edge of surprise and relief; edged with some discomfort, he was sure.

  “I think I just had a contraction,” she said.

  “Hmm,” the nurse murmured, ripping off her gloves. “Well, keep walking, because we need to get you into active labor, and it could take a while.”

  Jed watched the nurse leave. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s keep walking, see if we can’t get this labor going.”

  Chapter 9

  “Come on, honey, that’s it. You’re doing great.” Jed pressed his hands into Diana’s lower back as she struggled through another contraction. She leaned over the bed, resting on her forearms, groaning and breathing.

  They had been at this for almost eight hours, and he was wondering how much more Diana could take. He’d asked for drugs for her, and the OB nurse had contacted the doctor but had heard nothing back yet.

  “Jed, I want an epidural. I’m so tired, and it hurts,” Diana mumbled. Her voice was scratchy, and she sounded so tired.

  Just then, the door pushed open, and Dr. Caldwell walked in, wearing scrubs.

  “I was starting to wonder if you’d ever show, Doctor Caldwell,” Jed said, in a voice he knew sounded a little irritated.

  “Sorry. Have another mom in labor. Seems to be a busy day. How are you doing, here?”

  Diana moaned again and started rocking against the bed.

  “She’s in a lot of pain. She wants an epidural. Why is this such a problem?” he snapped.

  “Well, I have to order it, and the anesthesiologist is in an emergency surgery right now. Okay, let’s get Diana back on the bed. After this next contraction, I’ll have a look and then I can order it.” Dr. Caldwell motioned upward, putting her hand on Diana’s back and rubbing. “You’re doing good, Diana.”

  “I want to push,” Diana snapped. Her face was damp, and she blew out a huff of air and groaned.

  “No, not yet. Don’t push.” The doctor put on rubber gloves, and Jed helped Diana up on the bed. The doctor checked and shook her head. “You’re only six centimeters, Diana.”

  Diana started crying. Jed could take anything, but her tears always hit him in the gut. “Diana, it’s okay,” he said.

  “No, Jed, I’m so tired. I want to push. I feel I need to. This is taking so long.” She went onto her side and grabbed the side rail. She yelled, and he could tell she was getting hit by some pretty tough contractions. She was really struggling to get through each one.

  The doctor lifted her leg. “Diana, I’m going to try to open your cervix. I don’t want you pushing. Stop pushing.”

  Jed pressed his hand into her back and massaged. “Diana, listen to the doctor. Don’t push.”

  “I’m trying!” she yelled.

  “Okay, there we go,” the doctor said, glancing up at Jed.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Opening her cervix. I can only do it during the contraction. But, you know, sometimes your body tells you it’s gone as far as it can without some help, and Diana is there.” The doctor gave him a meaningful look. “Okay, Diana, on the next contraction I’m going to get you to push.”

  Chapter 10

  Diana cuddled her baby boy, although her eyelids drooped a couple of times. She was relieved and exhausted. He was big, at nine pounds and fourteen ounces, and she was sore, with five stitches. Thankfully, the nurse had just brought in an icepack, and she was sitting on it. It eased the ache some, but holding her baby boy as she traced the light brown curly hair and touched his nose, which was so Jed, gave
her peace. Then she felt him, Jed, as he surrounded her with his arms, leaning over her, them, gazing at his son.

  He kissed her forehead again and touched his son’s tiny fingers as he waved them in the air. “Beautiful,” he murmured. “How are you feeling, honey?”

  Diana gazed up at Jed; into his sweet brown eyes. He was a man she’d given her heart and soul to, a man she loved more than her next breath, and she could see her future in his eyes. She knew with absolute certainty that this man would treasure her and their children, their family, loving them deeply.

  “So what do you want to name this big boy who gave his mama so much grief?” Jed teased.

  Diana glanced down at her baby, who grunted. “Our boy, who didn’t want to come out. Hmm, Jed, I don’t know what to call him. You have any ideas? None of the names we talked about seem right for him. He needs a name that suits him.”

  “Well, maybe it’ll come to us after we get some sleep,” he said. It was then that their baby boy, the newest addition to the Friessen family, decided to let out a howl.

  What’s Coming Next

  in the Outsider Series

  The Unexpected Storm

  (Neil & Candy)

  He can have any woman, except the one he wants.

  —“You can’t help but fall in love with Neil and Candy. Neil is Candy’s knight in shining armor” – Reviewer – April

  —“It is nice to know that a story can be so powerful that a man can consider a woman’s feelings and show her that love can conquer all and be lover’s and friends” – Reviewer – Theresa

  Click here to download THE UNEXPECTED STORM

  Read excerpt from The Unexpected Storm

  Every once in a while, your heart has a mind of its own. It aches, it weeps, but there are days it soars and pumps with so much joy that you want to shout out to everyone just how wonderful everything is: The sun is perfect, the stars have all lined up, and you feel absolutely mind-blowingly freaking fantastic. The heart can also be responsible for you doing the most stupid, dumb-ass things ever, such as sliding your arms around the first good-looking babe you see and leaning in to taste her sweet lips with an out-of-this-world kiss that zings rockets right through your body, blowing off the top of your head, further proving you’ve checked your brain in to the nearest broom closet.