“Let me help you to bed.” He stands to his full height but doesn’t step back.

“No. I’ll be fine.” I drag my eyes from him and use the wheels of the chair to scoot back enough to stand. I walk around him and pause when my hand touches the knob.

I turn my body around and straighten my shoulders, knowing that, if I just leave right now with the things he just said ringing in my ears, I won’t be able to even look at him or myself in the mirror.

“I don’t know what happened or why you’re acting the way you are, but let me make one thing clear so this doesn’t happen again.” I inhale a deep breath, letting it out slowly, making sure the words are well defined in my head before I spew them out. “I’m not one of your men. I’m not someone you can boss around and tell what to do. I’m your wife by choice, and like all choices in life, they can always be changed. So if you ever talk to me like that again, we will be talking through a lawyer when you’re done.”

I turn, open the door, and step out, shutting it behind me before taking off to our room. As soon as I reach our door, I notice that Aye is standing in the hall. I give him a wave, walk into the room, close the door behind me, and lean my head back against the wood as tears begin to slide down my cheeks. I know that jealousy was fueling his emotions, but I just don’t understand why.

Then his words filter into my mind. He said that he would send Pika away for good this time, meaning he had sent him away before. I had never even thought about Pika—or Aye, for that matter—in a sexual way. Kai had consumed my every thought from the moment I’d met him, and he’d continued to do so.

I step away from the door and begin pulling my clothes off as I step towards the bed. My reflection in the mirror over the dresser catches my attention, and I pause, looking at myself. My hand goes to my stomach and I lay my palm over our son, whispering a silent prayer that his dad and I can find a way to work things out.

I feel a flutter and press my hand closer to my stomach, trying to feel it again. I have never felt him move before, and a smile spreads across my lips when there’s another flutter, this one stronger than the last. I go to the bed and lie down on my back, placing my hands on my stomach and smiling again when there’s another movement. It feels like butterflies are dancing in my stomach, and I can imagine my tiny baby boy rolling and doing flips.

“Why are you smiling?”

“The baby’s moving.” I smile then press my lips together when I realize I have just spoken to Kai when, only moments before, I had plans to give him the silent treatment for a few days at least.

“You can feel him?” he asks, and I can actually feel him getting closer to me, his energy wrapping around me.

I don’t want to answer him, but I can’t help it. “I can feel him,” I tell him, not opening my eyes.

The bed dips, and his hand slides under my palm to settle on my stomach. I place my hand at my side and silently lie there, listening to him breathe. I don’t like feeling uncomfortable around him, but right now, I don’t even want him to touch me.

“Do not ever threaten to leave me again.”

My chest compresses, and I inhale through my nose at his words.

“I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did.”

Got that right, jerk, I think.

“Look at me, Myla.”

I squeeze my eyes tighter in refusal, and his free hand comes up to hold my jaw.

“He told me he was in love with you,” he snarls, and my eyes fly open. “Do you know how it feels to know that another man is in love with your wife?” His fingers at my jaw move so his thumb can run over my bottom lip. “Knowing that, when you were not around, she accepted comfort from him?”

“I nev—”

He cuts me off, pressing his thumb over my lips as his face dips closer to mine. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve tried to tell myself that it didn’t mean anything, that you didn’t feel the same.”

“Pika is a friend, the same as Aye,” I whisper.

“I know this, Myla,” he growls.

I scoot away from him leaning against the headboard.

“My world is consumed by you and thoughts of you. The idea of someone interested in you makes me fucking homicidal. Knowing that he’s someone I consider a friend, someone I entrust with your well-being, does not make me feel better. Then seeing you happy to see him, watching your face light up when you realized he was back—it was like a fucking knife to my gut.” He moves closer to me, and his body turns so that one hand goes on either side on my hips. “I reacted poorly, makamae,” he says gently, and my heart hurts from the vulnerability I see in his eyes. I hate this.

“I don’t even know what to say right now. You really scared me.” I close my eyes then feel his arms wrap around my waist and his head lie gently on my stomach. We are going to have to find a way to work this out or it will be something that drives both him and me insane. “I love you and only you,” I tell him, lifting my hands to run through his hair. “You said that I consume you. Well, you have consumed me too, from the moment I wake in the morning until I go to bed at night.”

I take a breath and tug on his hair until his eyes come to me. “I love you, Kai. When you make me mad enough that I swear I could spit fire or happy enough that I feel like I’m walking on air, I’m always yours and no one else’s.” I whisper the last part.

His eyes search my face for a moment before he ducks his head, kisses my stomach, and then lifts up, taking my mouth in a kiss I feel throughout my body, one that causes the warmth to seep back in.