“You look pale. Let one of us help you.”
She took his arm and waited for another snarl but Brawn kept it in check if it pissed him off. Pink drove away in the SUV and the three of them entered a large lobby. It surprised Becca how normal the place looked, as if it were a regular hotel with a cluster of couches and chairs set up. No one stood at the desk but a male Species did rush out of one of the back doors and offered up a key card. He spun on his heel, didn’t even bother to glance at Becca and disappeared.
“Is it normally so dead in here?”
Tiger gently steered her toward the elevators. “No. Slade called ahead and had them clear out. He didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable being stared at.” He hit the button and they waited for the car to arrive.
She glanced back at Brawn and realized he silently hovered feet behind, his gaze locked on her. She turned her head as the door dinged and slid open. A tall woman Species was inside and wore jeans and a blue tank top. Her black hair flowed down over her shoulders and she openly stared at Becca.
“Hello, human.” A smile curved her lips and she chuckled when her attention focused on Becca’s belly. “Oh! You’re the pregnant lady. Trisha told me about you. It is so good you are here. I am Breeze and I like humans. Some of my best friends are human.”
“Hi, Breeze.” Tiger chuckled. “She’s starving and we need to take her upstairs. You can talk to her later.”
“Of course.” The woman stepped out of the elevator and suddenly punched Tiger lightly on the arm. “Good job, Tiger. She is very attractive.”
“Now wait a minute,” Tiger protested. “It’s not—”
“You will make a good father,” the woman cut his words off and grinned at Becca. “You must be a very good female to land him. Good for you.” Breeze laughed. Her gaze suddenly landed on Brawn and her face lit up with pure joy.
“Do not forget that you are supposed to pick me up at six. I will wear something sexy and easy for you to remove when we go to my place after dinner and dancing.” Breeze winked at him before strolling away.
Becca felt her heart break. Knowing Brawn had a date with that attractive, tall Species woman tore at her. He had told her he didn’t do humans and they were too fragile for him. She remembered the conversation vividly once again. He liked his women to be New Species and Becca could understand why after seeing a few of them.
The woman he had a date with stood over six feet tall, was beautiful with her strong facial features and muscular body. Breeze also didn’t have a problem making it clear that she planned to have sex with Brawn later. And she had a lot in common with him. Brawn wouldn’t have to hold himself in check during sex either. It hurt Becca to realize all of those things and she hated feeling the stabbing pain of jealousy. At that second she really hated Brawn too.
She stepped frantically into the elevator and refused to look anywhere but at the floor. Brawn stepped inside.
“Becca?”
She clenched her teeth. “Shut up, don’t say a word, or you can get the hell out.”
The doors closed her inside with Tiger and Brawn, one of them must have hit a button and it began to rise. Her stomach churned but it wasn’t from hunger anymore. Tiger’s hand on her arm squeezed gently to draw her attention and she made the mistake of looking up at his face. She saw pity reflected in his pretty eyes and she dropped her head. It made the situation even worse.
“We’re here.” Tiger sounded relieved as the elevator stopped and the door opened. He used the card key to one of the rooms and allowed her to enter first. “Your food has been delivered and from the smell, they sent you a lot of choices.”
Becca pointedly ignored Brawn but was aware of him behind her. She swept a glance around the nice living room, spotted the cart with silver dishes and hunger gripped her hard. She walked to the three covered platters and noticed the second shelf contained juices, sodas and milk, giving her a large beverage selection.
Her hand shook as she lifted the platter covers and her stomach rumbled when the smell hit her. She almost dropped the lids to the floor, barely managed to keep them from falling off the edge where she rested them and grabbed for the one with the big steak. She groaned, lifted it and turned to the coffee table a few feet away.
Tiger handed her silverware when she just lowered to her knees and placed the food on the table. Her hands shook worse as she unwrapped the napkin to get to the fork and knife. She didn’t look at her guests, didn’t care what they thought, since she needed to eat.
She sawed frantically at the meat, got a bite and shoved it into her mouth. The taste exploded on her tongue and she groaned. Thirst hit next after she swallowed and she turned, grabbed one of the mini cartons of milk and yanked it open. She drank, barely avoided spilling it down the sides of her mouth and set it down hard to grab for the silverware again. Her stomach rumbled and hunger gripped her as if she hadn’t eaten for a week.
“Rebecca?”
Trisha’s voice startled her enough to cause her to stop shoving food in to her mouth and turn her head. “It’s Becca, and I thought you were staying at the medical place.”
The woman held up a bottle of pills. “I forgot to give you prenatal vitamins.” Trisha frowned, moving closer and Slade followed behind her. “When is the last time you ate? You’re shaking.”
“I’m always hungry. I had a snack early this morning, ran out of milk and ran to the store before breakfast. I got held up on the way to town and then your guy was waiting at my cabin.” She finished the milk and reached for the juice, opened the top and drank deeply.
“You weren’t that pale or shaky,” Slade rumbled. “She doesn’t look good.”
“I had you looking out for me,” Trisha answered softly. “Becca? You need to eat every few hours. Your body is exhausted from the pregnancy and you need to consume more food than normal. Have you been eating red meat? You need a lot of that.”
“Yes.” Becca stabbed another bite of steak, chewed and swallowed it and some of the pain in her stomach eased. She could enjoy the food more now instead of just shoveling it down. She grabbed a soda and popped the top. She lifted and drank half of it before she set it down. “Is the thirstiness normal too? I’m always thirsty.”
No one said a word. Becca looked up to find Trisha frowning. “No.”
“It’s not normal? I just thought it was part of pregnancy.”
“It probably is but I’m going to need to run some tests on you, Becca.”
Alarm struck Becca. “What could it be?”
“I don’t know but the baby is fine. You saw him yourself and listened to his strong heartbeat. You just may be doing too much. We aren’t designed to have twenty-week pregnancies and it’s really a strain on our bodies. You have to rest and eat more.”
Becca nodded. “Okay.”
She finished the steak and ignored the baked potato. She stood and took the prime rib dinner next. She sank back to the floor and dug in, cut up her meat and ate it slowly.
“Do you usually eat this much at once?” Trisha moved closer.
Becca swallowed and eyed Trisha. “Isn’t this normal? Pregnant women eat a lot. I bought a baby book. I usually eat about nine times a day.”
“This much each meal?”
“No. I missed breakfast and lunch.”
“What is wrong?” Brawn’s voice was soft.
“Maybe nothing.” Trisha shrugged. “We’ll watch her and see how she does.”
Becca finished the soda while she ate. She opened a second one, wished she had more milk, but wasn’t about to ask someone to order some. The room was silent. Becca finally stopped focusing on her food to turn her head. Four people watched her every move and it made her angry.
“You can leave if you all are going to just stand there staring at me. I’m sorry if my table manners aren’t up to par but you’re making me uncomfortable.” She glanced around the room. “There’s no dining room table and I’m not going to sit on the couch and bend until I’m uncomfortable to reach over here.”