Knight Takes Queen (32 page)

In the end, though, Kate was amazing and he told her so, kissing her between contractions, wiping her forehead with a damp washcloth, giving her ice chips when she needed them, holding her hand through it all. She endured the pain with a grim stoicism, squeezing his hand hard during the worst of it, while he counted for her, helped her with her breathing, wished he could suffer in her stead.

And then someone suddenly said, ‘You’re almost there, Mrs Knight.’

Kate shut her eyes, took a deep breath and almost broke Dominic’s fingers.

A moment later, an elated voice said, ‘It’s a girl.’

Kate’s eyes opened, she smiled at Dominic and whispered, ‘You can stop worrying now.’

‘I love you so much, baby,’ he whispered, feeling the weight of the world lifting from his shoulders.
She was safe; he hadn’t lost her
. Leaning over, he brushed her damp curls from her forehead, then bent and kissed her gently. ‘Now I have to get the world wrapped up in a bow for you.’

She smiled. ‘Show me our baby first.’

It took a moment for her words to register; he was so grateful Katherine was alive, that she’d survived. Then he looked up, surveyed the busy scene, found Dr Gregory holding the baby and raised his brows.

‘She’s a healthy little girl,’ the doctor said, knowing Dominic’s concern, why he’d been brought in at enormous cost to guarantee the baby’s life. He carried her to the bed and gave them their first glimpse of Rosie. ‘Give us a few minutes to warm her under the lamps,’ he said. ‘Just a precaution.’

Ten busy minutes later, with everyone quickly doing their job, the baby had been examined, weighed and dressed, Kate had been bathed and put in a new nightgown, the bedclothes had been changed, the doctors had confirmed both Kate and the baby were in good health. Then Melanie shooed everyone out of the room. ‘I’ll have some food sent up. And we’re all downstairs if you need us,’ she said before closing the bedroom door.

‘Hungry?’ Dominic asked, standing at the bedside, his gaze on Kate, his daughter in her arms.

‘Not right this minute.’

He smiled. ‘She looks like you.’ He lightly touched the baby’s small hand, and the tiny fingers closed on his thumb.

‘You’re crying.’

This man who’d been alone most of his life looked up, his eyes moist. ‘I don’t cry.’

Kate held out her free hand.

He blinked. ‘Well, maybe just this once,’ he said, taking her hand.

‘We have a family now, you and I,’ she whispered, knowing what had brought him to tears.

‘You’ve given me an incredible gift, Katherine.’ The blue of his eyes were luminous with love, his smile for her alone. ‘Ring the bells, fire the cannons, send out messengers far and wide to proclaim the miraculous birth,’ he said with a grin. The baby suddenly opened her eyes and looked up at her father.

‘Did she hear me?’ he whispered.

‘I don’t know. You’re the one who read all the baby books.’

‘She’s looking at me like she sees me. And she’s still holding my finger.’

‘She’s going to be amazing.’

Dominic smiled. ‘Of course. She’s yours.’

‘Ours.’

‘The amazing part is yours, baby. I’m seriously pleased she doesn’t look like me.’ Then his smile broadened. ‘One question. Will she always have pink hair?’

‘Are you saying it matters if she does?’

‘God, no, she can have purple hair for all I care. She’s perfect.’

‘That’s what I thought you meant.’

He laughed. ‘OK, now she really is looking at me. There’s no question. Come on, Rosie, let your daddy hold you.’

*

And in the following months he did more than just hold her. He stayed home, doing most of the care giving, letting Kate sleep whenever she could between Rosie’s every-two-hour nursing schedule. Their baby was soon plump and chubby with little folds on her arms and legs and Dominic refreshed his babysitting skills from his years watching Nicole and Isabelle. It was like riding a bike, you never forgot and looking after his daughter was a joy he’d never imagined. Very early, whenever Rosie heard his voice and saw her daddy, she’d start pumping her arms and legs in delight. And Dominic’s heart would melt.

*

At three months, when Rosie began sleeping through the nights, their parenting schedule became less demanding and Dominic managed to put in more hours at his computer. Kate slept longer, they actually watched TV again occasionally, and had more than a few minutes to eat their meals. It was practically heaven.

Kate said it first, but then she’d borne the brunt of Rosie’s demands in the early months. ‘Small pleasures, right?’ she said, smiling at Dominic across the kitchen table.

‘A few minutes alone with you, baby,’ he saluted her with his milk glass, ‘heaven.’

‘You can drink, you know. I won’t be pissed.’

‘I’m good. I’ll drink when you drink. I like milk.’

‘Thank God for Patty. I’m hungry all the time.’ Their dinner was the equivalent of Lucia’s five-star cuisine: Lobster Cioppino for an appetizer, toasted goat cheese and fig salad, a perfectly broiled rib-eye to keep Kate’s strength up, four small covered bowls of diced organic vegetables and chocolate mousse for dessert. Patty had tiptoed upstairs before she left, saw that the baby was sleeping and whispered, ‘I thought it was quiet up here. Your food’s on the table for a change.’ She tapped her wrist watch and grinned. ‘Eat fast.’

Then one night, a few days after their daughter first slept through the night, Dominic came downstairs and into the living room where Kate was reading.

‘Jesus, is that a book in your hand. Is life back to normal?’

‘Getting there,’ she said, setting the book aside, surveying him with raised brows. ‘Why are you wearing a robe?’

He held out his hand. ‘Come upstairs and I’ll show you.’

She rose from the sofa. ‘Sounds intriguing.’

Dominic laughed. ‘Depends what you mean by intriguing.’

She put her hand in his. ‘I figure you’re going to show me.’

‘I’m gonna try, baby.’ He put his finger to his mouth. ‘Provided our daughter cooperates.’

She followed him upstairs and into their bedroom, saw all the packages on the bed and quickly glanced up at him.

‘I told you if you came through with flying colours, I’d wrap up the world in a bow. Those are just a token. Go on, open them.’

He led her to the bed, then took a seat in a nearby chair. ‘Open the blue one first.’

The gifts were beautifully wrapped in all the colours of the rainbow. ‘This is where I say you shouldn’t. It’s so much.’

‘That’s just Nana talking. This is nothing, baby. A few trifles.’

She ripped the paper off the blue package and squealed in delight. It was a high-end laptop favoured by hackers and not on the market yet. Kate had seen the prototype and lusted after it. Dominic had paid a premium to have one put together for her. ‘Ohmygod, Dominic. I’m going to be up all night with this.’

‘If only, baby. Not with Rosie. You need your sleep.’

‘Jesus, I forgot for a minute. I’ve been coveting this model.’

‘I know. They hustled for you. Pump a couple of bottles of milk for me and I’ll watch Rosie tomorrow.’ He grinned. ‘You can have sex with your new laptop.’

‘I’m going to take you up on your offer. You’re sure, now?’

‘Absolutely. Rosie and I get along, you know.’

She smiled. ‘I
have
noticed.’ She hugged the gleaming laptop. ‘Thank you so much.’

He laughed. ‘Kiss your laptop, then open the other stuff.’

Dominic had bought enough jewellery that he must have made a number of jewellers super happy. Starting with a huge Bulgari emerald ring with a matching bracelet. ‘To go with your eyes,’ he said. Then she opened boxes with several kinds of earrings in every imaginable jewel, a necklace of natural baroque South Sea pearls, one of gold and Venetian
glass beads. ‘You can wear that one with jeans,’ he pointed out, ‘along with these.’ He handed her a package that contained a pair of Dior black velvet beaded flats with a tree of life design. He had three pairs of custom-made boots for her and four dresses, two for evening that were short and flirty.

At the last he handed her two envelopes. ‘This one first,’ he said. Inside was a photo of a green Porsche 918 Spyder. ‘It’s a hybrid,’ he said. ‘Good for the environment and zero to sixty in three seconds.’ He didn’t mention the $845,000 price tag. ‘And you’ll like this one.’ He watched her carefully as she opened the second envelope.

She read what Dominic had written on the card inside.

Your home town needs a new grade school and the last three bond issues failed. We can build a new school for the town and if you agree, it could be named for Nana and Roy
.

Dominic had written a cheque to the school district and left the amount blank.

Tears welled in Kate’s eyes. ‘You don’t know how hard Nana worked to try and get those bond issues passed.’

Quickly coming to his feet, he sat down beside her and took her in his arms. ‘I heard. But don’t cry, baby. They’ll have their school now. Everything’s good.’

She sniffled. ‘With Nana’s and Gramps’ names on it.’

‘Nice, hey?’ Grabbing the box of tissues on the bedside table, he set it in her lap.

‘It’s just perfect.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘Really wonderful. All this is wonderful,’ she said, gesturing at the gifts on the bed.

‘They’re nothing compared to what you gave me, baby,’ he said, softly. You gave me love. You gave me an incredible daughter and made me the happiest man in the world. And with my history that was the equivalent of you dragging me up Everest a couple times.’

She grinned. ‘So I’m something of a miracle worker, you’re saying.

‘You’re the miracle of my life, baby,’ he said. ‘And as a small token of my appreciation,’ he opened his robe and smiled, ‘one more gift.’

‘You remembered.’ She admired his lovely erection tied at the base with a white silk bow.

‘Of course I remembered. I promise, I deliver.’ He grinned. ‘I just wanted to wait until there was … time for you.’

‘Because I don’t like to rush.’

He shook his head, laughing. ‘Because you like to rush – repeatedly. We need time for that.’ He pulled the bow open and tossed the ribbon aside. ‘Now at the risk of destroying the romance, condom or withdrawal. Your call.’ Kate wasn’t on birth control yet because she was nursing. Not that she couldn’t have been, but they both were overly protective of their daughter’s health.

She wrinkled her nose. ‘Condoms are—’

‘An issue, I know. I bought some that weren’t latex in case you wanted to give them a try.’

‘I like to feel you.’

‘We’re both on the same page then. I’m super dependable. In fact, I first became interested in Tantra because I
wanted to learn how to control ejaculation. So don’t worry. And tonight’s for you, baby, so give me a menu.’

‘I’d say instant gratification.’

‘Menu items one through ten?’

She smiled. ‘You must be psychic.’

But they’d no more than settled into a lovely languorous sexual rhythm with Kate softly sighing in pleasure and Dominic thinking he’d almost forgotten how good he could feel, when the sound of the first little soft snuffle resonated from the baby monitor.

Dominic tensed for a fraction of a second, then resumed his downstroke.

A second louder snuffle reverberated in the silence of the bedroom.

Dominic’s withdrawal stroke faltered momentarily before continuing.

Kate looked up at him.

He shook his head, then plunged back in so deeply, Kate’s lush groan was a small blast of heat on his throat.

The first little whimper echoed through the monitor speaker. Rosie was waking up.

‘Done?’ Kate whispered, her brows faintly arched.

Dominic smiled. ‘Probably.’

‘You’ve come a long way from whips and handcuffs, Mr Knight,’ Kate murmured, a teasing light in her eyes.

Dominic softly laughed. ‘No shit. On the other hand,’ he said, in an easygoing drawl, ‘you haven’t even had the first item on your menu, so shut your ears. I’ll make this fast.’

And he put into practice some of those skills his wife found so attractive, those adept and super competent ones that persistently and compellingly pressed his hard dick against her G-spot with each plunging downstroke. Encouraged an even more heavenly friction on his slow withdrawal. And just for good measure, he brought her clit into the highly stimulating game with the masterful attention of his index finger.

He wasn’t timing it but if he had to guess, he’d say three minutes before Kate’s orgasmic scream momentarily drowned out the baby’s whimpers.

Afterwards, he politely waited less than usual because Rosie was beginning to really wind up. Gently kissing Kate, he whispered, ‘Gotta go,’ and slid from her body and a second later from the bed.

He was hopping into his sweats on the way to the bathroom. After quickly washing his hands, he bolted for the hallway and Rosie’s room.

The crying stopped. Two minutes later, Dominic came back into the bedroom with Rosie in one arm, looking very small against his large frame, all baby pink against his bronzed skin. ‘Say hi to Mommy,’ he murmured to the chubby cheeked baby staring up at him. ‘She’s just waking up too.’

While Kate slowly returned from her very first orgasm in a long time, Dominic changed Rosie into the diaper and jammies he’d carried in. Then sitting down on the bed, he
propped his daughter against his drawn-up knees so she had a view of the world. Glancing at Kate still half dozing beside him, he said, ‘You’re going to have to top her off with a little milk. But she’s OK for a few minutes. Change of scene. She’s looking around.’

Rolling on her side, Kate touched Rosie’s toes. ‘Hi, sweetie. Can’t sleep?’

Dominic grinned. ‘I think she doesn’t want us to have S-E-X.’

‘Too late,’ Kate said with a contented smile, running her hand down Dominic’s arm, twining her fingers in his. ‘Thanks, thanks, thanks …’

‘I have to make sure both my girls are happy,’ he whispered. ‘Not a bad job to have,’ he winked, ‘even without whips and handcuffs.’

‘Speaking of—’

‘Someday maybe, baby. We’ll see.’

‘You don’t know what I was going to say.’