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‘Losing myself in painting has been my salvation, as devoting yourself to your business has been yours. Why change the status quo when we have found a successful formula?’
‘A formula,’ Kris remarked, unconvinced. ‘Can’t we try for something more?’
‘I’m not sure. Can we?’
They sat in silence for quite a while. It wasn’t a tense or angry silence—it was a thoughtful silence.
‘What do you want from me, Kimmie?’ Kris said at last.
‘I want too much,’ she admitted. ‘I want someone to share everything with, someone who loves me for myself and who won’t try to change me. I want a man I can respect and trust, who will protect me when I’m not able to protect myself.’
‘I can’t imagine that time coming,’ Kris admitted, lightening up a little.
‘It will when I have a child,’ Kimmie admitted. ‘I won’t be a warrior woman then. I’ll be vulnerable. I’ll trust the nurses, of course I will, but having someone close, someone special to share that unique moment of happiness with...’ Her voice tailed off. ‘What will I do if you’re away on business when I go into labour? You see my problem,’ she said when Kris looked taken aback.
‘So marriage is out?’
‘It would never work,’ Kimmie said confidently. ‘I’d stand up to you.’
‘And you think I don’t want that?’
‘I know you don’t. You want the easy life, the woman waiting for you with her hair combed and her make-up on, and the children fed, bathed and asleep when you get home from work.’
He laughed out loud, shattering the tension between them into countless tiny shards. ‘You’re so wrong,’ he said, dragging her into his arms. ‘Marry me, and I’ll take care of you and you’ll never feel vulnerable again.’
‘I’ll just feel lonely when you’re not there,’ she remarked sadly.
Holding her at arm’s length, Kris stared deep into her eyes. He was so easy to succumb to, with those satanic brows and molten black eyes, but she hadn’t yet found a way to jump over that gulf between them and until they found a way to bridge it there wasn’t a chance she’d accept Kris’s proposal.
‘I want you,’ he ground out.
‘I want you too,’ she admitted.
‘Then marry me.’
‘Without love?’
‘I didn’t say that. You’re jumping to conclusions again.’
‘Based on everything you’ve said. Look, I understand a man as rich as you might attract the wrong type of people, but is that a good enough reason to hold your feelings in when you find something you seem to feel so strongly is right? Until you change...that’s if you’re even capable of changing... I’m not going to agree to marry you. I don’t want to fill a vacancy on your staff. I want to be loved wildly and passionately, deeply, and for ever, as your uncle loved your aunt.’
‘I’m a realist, not a romantic.’
‘Well, when you become a lover, let me know.’
Pulling his head back, Kris stared into her face. ‘You’re a hard woman, Kimmie Lancaster.’
‘I’m anything but,’ Kimmie insisted. ‘I’m full of love.’ As she spoke she stroked her precious bulge. ‘And I’m still full of hope for the future, and I want you to be happy too.’
‘I will be happy if you agree to marry me.’
‘Which amounts to nothing more than signing a piece of paper, just another contract as far as you are concerned. You’ll have to try harder than that.’
‘Then tell me what to do,’ he said, frustrated.
‘Express your feelings freely, passionately—don’t hold them in a place so deep that even you can’t find them. Take a chance, as I did.’
A stiff breeze chose that moment to ruffle Kimmie’s hair. Smoothing it back from her face, she turned her collar up. ‘Do you think we could go back to the car? It’s getting cold out here.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Kris agreed immediately. ‘Let’s do that.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THERE WAS ONE area in their lives that neither of them had any trouble in expressing. Physical reassurance could be as potent as countless words, and their needs were mutually pressing. They started off walking at a normal speed down the path, but their footsteps gradually quickened until, reaching for each other’s hand, they began to run through the park. Arriving at the car, they dived in and sat tensely while Kris turned on the engine and manoeuvred the growling vehicle through the sluggish London traffic.
‘To hell with this!’ he exclaimed, swinging the wheel as they approached a private underground car park.
Shadows enveloped them as he drove around and found a space tucked away in a private corner. Parking up, he switched off the engine and then performed some cunning adjustment that made Kimmie’s seat fall flat. Moving across the seat, he came to kneel between her legs. Freeing himself, he removed her underwear. ‘Yes?’
‘Yes!’
‘I couldn’t wait,’ he explained in a throaty husk as he took her deep and began to move.
‘So glad...’ Kimmie managed to gasp out as she wriggled beneath him to allow an even deeper thrust. ‘Ah, good...so good. I’ll never get enough of this.’
‘It’s to be hoped not,’ Kris groaned.
It was quite a long time later that they finally sat back and straightened their clothes. It was sexier leaving her with her thoughts and well-used body than talking, Kimmie mused contentedly as Kris flashed his card at the barrier and they drove away.
‘Promise me you’ll always be spontaneous,’ she murmured, leaning back and closing her eyes as he drove smoothly on.
‘That’s one thing I can promise to do,’ he said dryly.
When they pulled up outside his town house, Kris came round to the passenger side. ‘My legs are still weak,’ she murmured as he helped her down.
‘Then I’ll carry you.’
‘No, that’s really not necessary.’
‘Yes, it is, Ms Independence,’ he assured her as he swung her into his arms and jogged up the steps.
‘Put me down and I’ll walk,’ she protested as Kris opened the door.
‘I prescribe rest...eventually,’ he amended as the door closed behind them.
‘What do you...? Oh,’ Kimmie exclaimed softly as Kris stopped halfway up the stairs.
Lowering her carefully on to the plushly carpeted step, Kris freed himself and took her again. This was one time she was glad to have left her underwear off, Kimmie thought, laughing out loud as Kris explained in a matter-of-fact tone, ‘I get really good purchase in this position.’
She wasn’t about to argue with that. She wasn’t about to speak at all. Sometimes actions spoke louder than words and this was one of those times.
‘You see,’ he said when they paused for breath, ‘we don’t need to get married to be together.’
‘We can just make love on the stairs.’
‘As often as we can,’ he confirmed, ‘though it may get harder as you get more pregnant.’
‘I’m sure you’ll find a way.’
‘So am I,’ he said, smiling as he helped her up. ‘And, by the way, I’ve got something for you.’
‘Something else?’
‘This is serious,’ he told her as he carried her the rest of the way up the stairs. ‘It’s something my uncle wants you to have.’
Shouldering the door to his bedroom, Kris had stripped off her remaining clothes before they even reached the bed. Resting her carefully on the crisply dressed mattress, he stripped off too.
‘I thought you had something to give me,’ she reminded him.
‘I do,’ Kris assured her as he began to tease her with just the firm, smooth tip of his formidable erection. ‘I have quite a lot to give you.’
Nudging her back onto the firm, supporting pillows, he hooked her legs over his shoulders, spread he
r wide and took her deep.
