Read Online Broken by Teona Bell - Free Book Online Page B

surprised she hadn’t broken one or two yet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “You do.”
    She couldn’t admit that he was right. The compulsion for flight had grown stronger with each passing minute, and she’d already started talking to herself to work through getting over him. Not until he accused her of planning to leave him did she realize she was doing it. Dump him before he had the chance to learn the truth and toss her aside.
    To her horror, a teardrop rolled down her cheek, and Nathan made a strangled sound like he held it together by a thread. She couldn’t recall even once crying in front of Tony.
    “I was married.” The raspy tone made her question whether he understood, but he nodded. “We were working on getting pregnant.”
    Another damn tear escaped. She jerked her chin from his hold and turned her back. Expecting him to grab her at any second, she tensed, but he didn’t move.
    “We found out the problem with getting pregnant was me, my body.”
    “No,” he whispered. “Ciera.”
    She balled the covers in her fists and bit down on her cheek. Nothing stemmed the emotional storm that brewed.
    “We were trying for so long, and I hoped for a baby so bad. Then…then… then…” She couldn’t say the words. Her nose ran, and her eyes were flooded now. Shoulders shaking, she cried, but Nathan didn’t stop her. “He was seeing someone else and planning to have a baby with her! He left me because I’m—”
    “Because he’s an asshole!”
    She fell over onto the bed, and Nathan tumbled right after her. His strong arms came around her, but his hold only made her cry harder until she gagged. Nathan sprang up and pulled her with him. They made it to the bathroom where she sank to her knees at the toilet and threw up. Nathan didn’t tell her to calm down or stop. He let her cry and cry, sobbing and mumbling unintelligible words. She found it hard to hide her crying face and be sick at the same time. Right then she hated herself but was powerless to stem the feelings.
    After a long time, Ciera calmed down, and she climbed to her feet. Nathan stood behind her as she brushed her teeth and washed her face. Then she decided to shower, and asked him to leave her alone. For a while, she stood under the hot spray. She wondered what to do, and Nathan’s hand came around the edge of the curtain. He turned the water off before pulling the curtain back.
    “I said I—”
    “Shh,” he soothed her. “Let me help you get dry.”
    She thought to tease him about just wanting to see her naked, but she didn’t have the energy. He must feel some type of way about what she’d told him. Tony had confessed that he didn’t see her as a full woman when he learned the truth. How she hated him for his cruelty and hated even more how his feelings killed her.
    Ciera stepped out of the shower into Nathan’s arms. He stroked her skin with the towel he held and wrapped it around her torso. She winced in annoyance that it didn’t fit her hips all the way, but she also saw how he tried to hide his interest at the gap in the front. Someone should have told him a man’s dick never lied.
    He led her to the bedroom, and she sat on the side of the bed while he dug out an old shirt and pulled it over her head. “I can dress myself, Nathan.”
    “Let me do it, baby.”
    She pressed her lips together. He ignored the attitude and kept dressing her. She rolled her eyes at him. “Did you hear what I told you?”
    “Yes.”
    “I might not ever have kids. I know we’re not at that point, and we might not ever get there. Some men feel like—”
    “Don’t lump me in with him.” Nathan flared his nostrils, his eyebrows crashing low over his eyes. “If I want to be with you—and I do—I’m taking you as you are. All I ask is that you talk to me, Ciera. Please. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
    She pulled away from him and stood up. The T-shirt reached halfway down her legs, and she had nothing on underneath.