Page 239 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

“I am breathing,” I manage through clenched teeth. “If I weren’t, I’d be dead.”

The midwife doesn’t appear offended. She simply gives me the patient smile of someone who has clearly dealt with enough women during labour.

“Slowly,” she says. “In through your nose and out through your mouth.”

I inhale, attempting to do as she asks, but the pressure in my stomach intensifies; it feels as if my entire body is being torn apart from the inside. A cry escapes me, one hand gripping my stomach, the other fisting the sheets.

Jayce immediately moves closer. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs, his arm wrapping around my shoulders as he sits behind me, helping me through it. “Come on, Darling. Breathe with me.”

I turn my head and frown coldly at him. He isn’t the one trying to push a baby out of his body. I bite my lip to cut back a cry and rest my head back against his shoulder; his familiar scent is calming as another contraction hits me. His shirt is already creased from hours of me gripping it, and there are several faint marks of dried blood on his hands where my nails had broken the skin several times, but he hasn’t complained, not even when I nearly broke two of his fingers earlier.

His breath remains even against the side of my face, although I can feel his emotions, restrained but there through the bond. The fear, the concern, and the helpless frustration burning beneath his calm exterior, because during this, he can’t do it for me.

The contractions let up, leaving me trembling and breathless against him.

“I can’t do this,” I whisper. The words leave me before I can stop them.

Jayce’s arm tightens around me, and he reaches up, cupping my face and turning me to face him.

“You are doing it, and you’re doing fucking great,” he whispers, his green eyes burning into mine.

“I’m tired.”

“I know,” he murmurs.

“It hurts,” I whisper.

“I know, Darling, I know, and I fucking hate that I can’t take any of it from you.”

He reaches up, brushing the damp hair from my face before pressing a kiss to my forehead. His lips linger there, and through the bond I feel him trying to give me everything he can: his strength, his calm, the certainty he’s holding onto for both of us.

“I can’t take away the pain, but I can be by your side, holding you through it,” he promises.

I nod as another ache begins low in my back, and I close my eyes, already dreading what is coming.

Jayce’s hand wraps around mine as he settles properly on the bed right behind me, allowing me to lean fully against his chest. His legs are braced on either side of the narrow bed, his arms now wrapping around me as I grip his forearms and try to remember how to breathe.

You got this, Darling. His voice enters my mind, cutting through the pain.

I open my eyes, looking at his reflection in the dark window opposite us. His hair is dishevelled from the number of times he’s dragged his fingers through it, and he looks almost as exhausted as I feel.

We have been here for so many hours… This baby just doesn’t want to come out.

I gasp, and the lights flicker overhead, but Jayce’s aura immediately curls around mine, steadying it before I accidentally destroy the entire room.

Again.

An hour ago, I almost destroyed the windows, but Jayce had managed to shield the room from my chaos.

The midwife had just smiled, as if seeing her Luna’s power was normal.

“That’s it,” she now encourages from somewhere beyond the pain. “You’re doing very well. Let your body work through it.”

I nod, but the pressure has become unbearable, forcing a broken sound from my throat as tears spill down my face. Jayce presses his cheek against mine, whispering words I barely understand, his voice rough but constant.

“You’re alright. I’ve got you. Just a little longer.”

“You said that an hour ago,” I choke out before the pain surges. Jayce kisses the side of my head, holding me firmly. I collapse against him, every part of my body trembling.