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‘You carried my name. You were supposed to be under my care. Believe me, your disappearance was punishment enough—especially when I was left imagining the worst,’ he rasped in a raw tone.
Plastered to him as I was, I felt the shudder that shook his frame, and his set jaw and the flash of bleakness in his eyes spoke to a vulnerability I’d never have imagined him capable of until tonight.
I stopped breathing, because... No, I hadn’t quite thought about it. ‘It wasn’t just our forced marriage, Axios. My father was threatening my mother too.’
Fury flashed in his eyes. ‘What?’
‘He wanted to keep me in line through her. But she made me promise I wouldn’t stay if I was unhappy. It all got a bit too much.’
‘Did he carry out his threat?’
I shook my head. ‘I’m guessing he was too busy playing with his windfall.’
The monthly phone calls with my mother had assured me she was okay, and had been all the wind beneath my wings I’d needed to stay away.
He bit out a tight curse and threw an arm over his forehead. ‘Your father has a lot to answer for, but he’s saved himself a trouncing by leaving your mother alone,’ he growled. After a moment, his gaze pierced mine again. ‘My investigators eventually traced your flight from Greece to Switzerland and assured me that my wife had simply chosen to run away of her own accord. At least now I know how you managed to avoid detection after you left Geneva, but perhaps you’d be so kind as to finish telling me where you went?’
The pulse of anguish still underlined his anger, but knowing it wasn’t directed at me made it easier to finish my retelling.
‘I took a train to Strasbourg and then wandered through Europe for a time before heading to South-East Asia. After that I made my way through Africa.’
All the while keeping in touch with Dr Trudeau and praying for my baby’s continued health.
‘When did you know you were pregnant with Andreos?’ he rasped.
My stomach hollowed out in remembrance, and it took every ounce of self-control not to show how that fateful day still affected me. How the possibility that I would never meet my child had left me broken and sobbing for one day straight, until the fervent prayers had begun.
‘I found out early. In Switzerland.’
He waited, his gaze imploring me for more. But I had nothing more to give. Nothing that wouldn’t see the precious time I had left with Andreos compromised.
And it would be. It was clear Axios was deeply possessive and protective of his son. Over the past few days I’d learned just how meticulous and all-powerful he could be. I couldn’t afford for the time I had with my baby to be compromised.
Or, on the flipside, he simply wouldn’t care.
Pain snaked through me, dulling my heartbeat. No, he was better off not knowing.
‘Why Kenya?’ he asked, tugging me back to the present.
‘Because I was seven months pregnant when I got there. Because I loved it there and knew I wouldn’t be able to travel. I chose to stay and have Andreos there.’
Again, he lapsed into contemplative silence, those piercing grey eyes pinning me to the bed. Then, ‘Thank you for telling me,’ he said simply. Gruffly.
Tears prickled. To hide them, I lowered my head until ou
r lips were a whisper apart. He didn’t protest. His eyes simply went molten and his hard body stirred beneath mine as I closed the gap and helped myself to the magic of his kiss.
He allowed my exploration for a minute. Allowed the tentative probe and the slide of my tongue against his in a deeper kiss while the hand around my waist moved in a slow caress up and down my back, until he boldly cupped my bottom and brought me into brazen contact with his impressive arousal.
Then he flipped me over and took complete control, effectively emptying my brain of everything but the naked desire snaking through my body, setting me alight with a need so acute all I could do was let it wholly consume me.
Nevertheless, his warning ricocheted in my head long after our bodies had cooled. Long after his deep, steady breathing indicated sleep.
Because telling myself I didn’t care what my actions had caused Axios after I took up the fight for my health, that I wasn’t important enough to cause a ripple in his existence, didn’t quite ring true in my head. I cared. Even if marrying him and taking his name had been a transaction dictated by my father for financial gain, our coming together had produced a son. And that mattered. Whether I liked it or not, Axios mattered to me. More than perhaps was wise.
The intensifying ache inside that reminded me I might have less time than I imagined added to the turmoil churning inside me, keeping me awake as dawn approached. Eventually mental exhaustion won out, and I fell into a sleep fuelled with pleasure and pain, blissful happiness and acute sadness.
Thankfully I was in a state of happiness when I resurfaced from sleep to the sound of a cooing baby.
