The Morning He Came First

I barely slept.

Casper’s messages kept replaying in my head long after I turned off the phone. The cold order to be ready at 8:30. The second line that felt more like a warning than a request. Wear something that doesn’t make me remember how you used to look in my shirts.

I chose a plain black dress that covered everything and still felt like it revealed too much.

At exactly 8:25 the black car stopped in front of my building. I stepped outside expecting a driver. Instead the back door opened from the inside and Casper Ashton looked up at me from the leather seat.

“Get in.”

No greeting. No small talk. Just those two words and the same gray eyes that had watched me sign my body away the night before.

I slid in and closed the door. The car pulled into traffic without a sound. The privacy screen was already up. We were alone.

“You didn’t reply,” he said.

“There was nothing to say.”

He glanced at my dress, then away. “Good choice.”

I kept my eyes on the window. “Emma?”

“She’s meeting us at the clinic. She had an early appointment of her own.”

The silence that followed felt heavy. I could smell his cologne again, the same dark scent that used to cling to my pillows. Five years and my body still recognized it before my mind could stop the reaction.

“You look tired,” he said after a while.

“I wonder why.”

He didn’t answer. His hand rested on his knee, fingers flexing once like he was stopping himself from reaching for something. Or someone.

The clinic was a quiet private building with no signs on the outside. A nurse in soft gray scrubs led us straight to a consultation room that looked more like a luxury hotel suite than a medical office. White couches. Soft lighting. A single orchid on the table.

Emma was already there.

She stood the moment we entered, perfect in a cream pantsuit, smile warm and practiced. “You’re right on time. Perfect.”

Casper nodded once but didn’t move to her side. He stayed near the door, hands in his pockets, watching me the way he had the night before.

The doctor arrived two minutes later. Young, calm, professional. She shook our hands and opened a tablet.

“Miss Voss, Mr. and Mrs. Ashton, thank you for coming. We’ve reviewed the contracts and the preliminary bloodwork. Everything is in order. Today we’ll start the hormone protocol to prepare the uterus for implantation. The first injection will be administered here. You’ll continue the rest at home with clear instructions.”

I sat on the edge of the examination chair while she explained timelines and risks in a gentle voice. Emma asked intelligent questions. Casper stayed silent until the doctor turned to him.

“Mr. Ashton, as the intended father you’ll need to provide a fresh sample on the day of the transfer. We can schedule that for three weeks from now if the lining responds well.”

He gave a short nod. “Fine.”

The doctor smiled at me. “Lilith, if you’re ready we can do the first injection now. It’s a small subcutaneous shot. Most women feel only a brief sting.”

I rolled up my sleeve without a word.

Casper’s eyes followed the movement. I felt them on my skin even when I looked away.

The needle was quick. A sharp pinch, then pressure from a cotton ball. The doctor taped a small bandage in place and handed me a white paper bag filled with pens, alcohol swabs, and a detailed calendar.

“Any questions?” she asked.

Emma answered for me. “We’ll call if anything comes up. Thank you, Doctor.”

We left the room together. In the hallway Emma slipped her hand into Casper’s arm like it belonged there. “I’ll ride with you. We can drop Lilith off on the way.”

Casper’s voice was quiet but firm. “I’ll take her home first. You can go ahead. I have a call in twenty minutes that needs privacy.”

Emma’s smile tightened for half a second. Then it smoothed out again. “Of course. Don’t be long.”

She kissed his cheek, nodded at me, and walked toward a second car waiting at the curb.

The moment her car door closed, Casper turned to me. “Come.”

We got back into his car. This time the silence felt different.

He didn’t start the engine right away. He sat with both hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead.

“You didn’t have to do the injection today,” he said.

“The doctor was ready. Delaying wouldn’t change anything.”

He turned his head. Those gray eyes locked on mine. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s fine.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

I looked down at the small bandage on my arm. “It stung. It’s already fading.”

He reached out before I could stop him. His fingers brushed the edge of the tape, light and careful, like he was checking for himself. The touch lasted only a second but it burned straight through me.

I pulled my arm back. “Don’t.”

“Lilith.”

“I mean it. The contract says professional. You said professional. So keep your hands to yourself.”

His jaw flexed. He started the car without another word.

We drove in silence for ten minutes. The city moved past the windows in a blur of glass and steel. I kept my hands folded in my lap, trying to ignore the way my skin still tingled where he had touched me.

When the car stopped in front of my building he didn’t unlock the doors immediately.

“There’s a housekeeper arriving at your apartment at two,” he said. “She’ll stock the fridge with everything on the clinic’s list. A nurse will come every morning for the next week to check your levels. You don’t go anywhere without telling me first.”

I stared at him. “That wasn’t in the contract.”

“It is now. I added a security clause last night. You’re carrying something that belongs to the Ashton family. I protect what’s mine.”

The words landed like a claim.

“I’m not yours,” I said quietly.

He looked at me for a long moment.

“No,” he agreed. “You’re not. Not anymore.”

Then he unlocked the door.

I stepped out onto the sidewalk. Before I could close the door he spoke again, voice low enough that only I could hear.

“Lilith.”

I turned.

Casper Ashton sat in the shadows of the back seat, gray eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my pulse stumble.

“If you feel anything strange tonight,” he said, “anything at all, you call me. Not Emma. Me.”

I should have said no. I should have told him the rules applied to both of us.

Instead I heard myself whisper, “Why?”

His answer was quiet and dangerous.

“Because the second that baby starts growing inside you, every part of this stops being simple. And I already know I’m not going to be able to stay away.”

The door closed between us.

I stood on the sidewalk long after the black car disappeared, the small bandage on my arm throbbing in time with my heartbeat, and the terrifying truth settling deep in my chest.

Casper Ashton had just admitted what neither of us was supposed to say out loud.

And the hormones had only just begun.