When she finally opened her eyes, Karl was gazing smugly at her, licking his lips in triumph. "How is my patient feeling?" Karl asked softly. Ava couldn't put into words how incredible she felt, and not just physically. It seemed as if with each release Karl had given her, he'd removed all of her fears, doubts, and anxieties, leaving her with only joy and hopefulness. "You're extraordinary," Ava whispered, once she finally caught her breath. Karl extended his arms and helped her to her feet, intent on guiding her back to bed. She was grateful for his gentle, strong guidance, for she was so worn out with pleasure that she knew she'd be unable to carry her own body weight. But then she felt an odd, snapping sensation deep in her belly, powerful enough to cause her to miss her step. "Ava, are you all right?" Karl asked, reaching for her arms before she could fall. Ava's face immediately turned red as the uncontrollable flood began to travel down her legs. She knew her embarrassmen

Lena knew without a doubt that he was looking for her. Her heart raced so rapidly that she felt she would soon become sick from the palpitations, and Lena quickened her steps to a run, desperate to reach the front doors and escape before the lion could close in on the mouse. Once outside, Lena was bathed in morning light as she continued to run, deeply inhaling and exhaling in a desperate attempt to still her frantic nerves. She ran all the way down to the lower drive of the estate, delighted to find several servants already awake and polishing the Wolfenbarger carriages. "I need to go into town, and urgently — may one of you please accompany me?" Lena asked, out of breath. A young man to her left smiled kindly. "It would be my honor, Fräulein Lena. Where do you wish to go?" "The hospital, please. Herr Günther's. Oh, and the flower shop as well," Lena explained, extending several marks in appreciation. To her surprise, the man politely refused her offering. "It would be my ple

"Oh dear...I'm so sorry to hear that. Poor Ava. And I'm sure Renz must be absolutely devastated," Ilise said. Lena's stomach violently churned, and for a second, she thought she might retch again. Ava had banned Renz from her birthing suite. She'd screamed at him through several rooms. She'd banned the staff of Schloss Wolfenbarger. She'd even banned her own maids. Lena and Karl had been alone with Ava from her first scream to her last. And Lena had fled the estate before most of the servants had even woken... No one had told Renz what happened. Lena's heart began to race again, and she was compelled with a renewed desperation to return to Schloss Wolfenbarger and speak to Renz, comfort him, before someone else could. Karl, the servants...no one else would understand exactly how heartbroken Renz would be to hear that another baby Wolfenbarger would not see childhood. Except of course, the woman sitting in front of her, who had willfully killed Renz's only heir less than two mont

Behind the drunkenness, and behind the fury, Lena felt pierced by the raw pain in his pale gray eyes. So pierced, and so frightened, that Lena couldn't halt the flood of guilty tears that immediately began to fall. She could see how heartbroken he was, behind the drink and the anger. He had lost another family member today, a nephew, who could have lived a life of greatness and possibility, just like his own son. It was only natural that the stillbirth would affect him almost as strongly as Ilise's termination of her pregnancy. And instead of choosing to comfort him, Lena had chosen to run away. It was then that Lena saw a small negative of herself within Renz, a perfect antithesis that seemed to reveal a vulnerable depth of Renz she'd never before noticed. Lena's greatest fear was too much of Renz, a forceful ambush she wouldn't be able to handle. Renz's greatest fear, however, was the exact opposite. He feared her absence. He feared her abandonment. Lena looked down at her hea

With her arms bound and neck bound, and with his cock spearing the lower half of her body, Lena realized that she was entirely defenseless. She couldn't move, resist, or fight, for Renz had taken control over every part of her body. She was limp in his arms, unable to move of her own will, for Renz was manipulating her body to his voracious pleasure. Lena looked up at Renz fearfully, for there was simply no where else for her to turn with his hand around her neck. She was surprised to find that he was actually staring back at her, his eyes intimidating in their utter ferocity. He looked more angry with her than he'd ever been, and Lena began to fearfully suspect his fury went far beyond jealousy at her interaction with Dr. Engel. It was as if he was punishing her with his body, and Lena knew without a doubt that he had the potential to destroy her. His thrusts were savage and brutal, violently pounding against her inner walls, hard enough to bruise. She felt certain that she could