In Wicked Chains (The Wicked) by Avril Ashton

get up. I have to see, have to make sure …She became aware of the sticky mess under her, on the sheets, when she finally reached a sitting position. Gritting her teeth at the pain, feeling like she was being split in two, she rolled to her side, pulling at the blankets.
    Blood covered the yellow sheets, her legs, and the cheap two-dollar night gown. She flung away the blankets with herculean efforts, exposing her rounded stomach. Another rush of pain brought sweat to her brow. Once again she opened her mouth, and once again no sound escaped. She brought her watery gaze to her thighs, marked obscenely with red and knew.
    He’d taken her child.
    Stuffing her fist in her mouth, she screamed.
     
    “Elina. Elina, wake up, baby.”
    Someone shook her.
    “It’s only a dream.”
    “Oh, Dios .” She came awake screaming, arms and legs flailing. “Oh, God. He took my baby, he killed my baby.” Her throat hurt, her head hurt, but her chest hurt more, her heart. Elina placed a hand over her racing heart and stared up at Kingston. Her lips trembled, tears rolled down her face. “ Mi bebe se ha ido .”
    “Christ. El, I’m so sorry.” He gathered her in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”
    She sobbed into his bare chest, hanging on to him for dear life. “One minute my baby’s there and the next he’s not. I had a life growing inside me and he took it away. My father took it away.”
    “I know, baby. I’m so sorry.” Kingston rocked her, pressing kisses to her head. “If I could take your pain as my own I would.”
    “I’d never seen so much blood. Red everywhere.” She shuddered. “And the pain.” Tears fell harder. “It tore me apart. They couldn’t put me back together. I’m only half of what I used to be.”
    Kingston froze. “What does that mean?”
    She squeezed her eyes shut and forced the words out. Words she’d never spoken before. “I-I’m not…I can’t get pregnant anymore. C-can’t have children.”
    “Oh, God. El…” His arms tightened around her. “That fucking bastard is lucky he’s dead.”
    She cried. Kingston didn’t seem to notice her tears sliding down his chest. Or maybe he didn’t mind. Elina cried for all she’d lost, openly, in broken sobs. She never got the chance to share her pain with anyone. Niko disappeared while she lay in her hospital bed and then she was back under her father’s thumb, a puppet for three years.
    She had her nightmares, revisiting all the horror nightly, but this was the first time anyone held her while she mourned the little boy she’d already fallen in love with, the future she’d lost, and the family she’d never have.
    Kingston held her through it all, whispering soothing words, dropping kisses and stroking her back. As she calmed down, it occurred to Elina maybe she should be embarrassed Kingston saw her in this state, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She’d worry about it later. Right now she snuggled deeper into his hold, inhaling his clean skin.
    He lay on the bed, maneuvering them so her head ended up on his chest.
    “Do you have those every night?”
    She nodded. “Pretty much.”
    “Jeesuz, El. That’s why you always look so tired, so pale. You’re not getting any sleep.”
    “I manage.” She sniffed.
    His fingers curled in her hair. “No, you have to do more than manage. Have you spoken to someone about this?”
    She lifted her head to look at him. “What, like a shrink?”
    “Yes. Have you spoken to anyone at all?”
    She shook her head. “You’re the first person I’ve cried to, the first person I talked to about this since it happened.”
    The room was dark, with the blazing fireplace as the only light source, but she caught the surprise in his eyes. “But…what about Niko? You both lost a child, didn’t he comfort you?” He sounded positively bewildered at the notion.
    She smiled and stroked a hand over his heart. “My father chained Niko in his basement while I was still in surgery, then sent him over a