Kate spent the day alternating between pacing the room and running on the treadmill.  Her cravings had subsided but she had a constant feeling of nausea, keeping active seemed to help it.

Kate couldn’t believe Ryder’s apartment above her.  It was luxurious and all this time Kate had thought he was lying about how much he had.  Perhaps he wasn’t such a madman.  How could someone that would kidnap someone and then keep them as a sex slave in their basement still function in the normal outside world?

Kate pushed the button on the treadmill to run faster.

Ryder walked through the door, leaving it open behind him as he walked up to Kate, sprinting on the treadmill.  He pressed the stop button, immediately slowing her down.

“God Kate if you keep this up you’ll be a skeleton.  I need some flesh to hold onto.” He said as he reached for the back of her head, pulling her to him and kissing her deeply.

“Ready to try out the four poster?”

Kate nodded, “Just need a quick shower.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.  We’re going to get pretty hot and sweaty anyway.”  He grabbed her hand and led her upstairs.

+ + +

In the bedroom, Ryder sat on the bed looking at Kate.

“Ok, strip.”

Kate began to peel off the sweaty leggings and singlet she had worn.

“Now turn around.”

Kate did as she was told.  Suddenly she heard a swoosh and jumped in surprise at the sudden sting on her left buttock.

+ + +

Ryder began to stroke her breasts again and then ran his hands down her torso, to her groin.  He stopped and rubbed his hand over her stomach again.

Kate looked down at his hand.  She had lost so much weight that her hips protruded much higher than her stomach but despite this her belly was rounded.

She looked at how her ribs stood out from her concave stomach and then just a rounded belly exposed above her bony hips.  She hadn’t really looked at herself over the past month.

“Oh, Katie, you’re so skinny.” Ryder said rubbing the protruding belly again. “What’s this though?”  He rubbed around it.  “Our baby?”

Kate shuddered again and felt like retching, surely not she thought.“You haven’t had a period since you’ve been here.” Ryder said.

He continued to rub her stomach where it protruded from her pelvis as she lay beside him on the bed.

Kate didn’t want to look down, at her stomach, she knew she looked bloated despite being skin and bone everywhere else.  Kate had always tried to be skinny but she was beyond what she would normally allow herself to get to, apart from her swollen stomach.  She touched it with her palm, feeling the hardness under her skin.

Ryder leant in and nibbled her ear, “what do you think it’s going to be, boy or girl?” he whispered.

Kate swallowed, “I need to do a pregnancy test.” She said urgently.

“Ok, babe, I’ll pick one up tomorrow.” He said, continuing to rub her stomach, “I’ll cook us some  dinner and then it’s back down to the basement for you.  You need to spend more time on the treadmill, I don’t want you to become one of those fat mommas.” He stood up and put his trousers on.

+ + +

Downstairs, Ryder busied himself in the kitchen, whisking eggs for an omelette for their supper.

“I’m starving, how about you?” he asked, not waiting for an answer as he poured the egg into a frypan.

“How exciting, I didn’t think you would fall so quickly, after all you’re an addict and way underweight.” He continued, tilting the pan so the eggs coated it evenly.

“I can’t wait until we start work on the nursery.  Did you see the spare room beside the master?” Ryder turned to look at her.

Kate’s eyes had filled with tears, and had begun to spill down her cheeks, dropping in splashes on the marble counter.

“Oh, babe. Come on it’s a happy time.” He smiled broadly and then his face turned hard.

“We’re going to be a family, always.”

Kate shivered.

After their supper Ryder instructed Kate to stack the dishwasher.  As she placed their cutlery in the dishwasher basket she noticed a sharp knife in there.  Kate crouched down and peered around to see Ryder putting things away in the pantry and quickly slid the knife into her gym pants, feeling the cool blade against her skin.

“Ok, well I’m exhausted.  Must be bedtime.” He smiled. “That means downstairs for you.”

Kate nodded and began to move to the stairs that led to the basement.

“Oh, wait Kate.” He said, grabbing one of her arms.

Kate froze, wondering if he could see the knife protruding from her pants.

“We’ve got time for a kiss good night.  You never know, it might lead to something else.”

Kate felt fear prick at the hairs on the back of her neck.  If she dropped her pants the knife would fall out and Ryder would see it.

She turned slowly, lifting her arms to wrap around his neck.

“You liked it tonight, didn’t you babe?” he asked as he snuggled into her neck.

Kate nodded, tilting her head so he could nuzzle into her neck.

“I can smell you Kate.  You’re so hot.  Such a tart.” He lifted his hand from the small of her back and brought it down on her bottom narrowly missing the handle of the knife.

Kate shifted slightly, hoping to move her hip and knife away from his hand.

He grabbed her waist and ground himself into her.

“Oh, I think we should wait until the morning.” He yawned.

Kate lifted her head and stood on tiptoes to peck his lips and smile.

“You want it don’t you Kate?”

“Oh, I can wait until the morning,” She said, “we might have something to celebrate.” She added.

Ryder’s face lit up. “Yes, you’re right.  And you’re going to need your sleep if you’ve got a little one in there.

His hand moved from her waist to her stomach.

Kate relaxed, kissing him good night and tuned to walk down the stairs.