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He pulled away from her, his breathing ragged. ‘I have two minutes remaining. Why do you not sleep in our bed, mi corazón?’ he rasped.
‘Because...because you’re not in it,’ she choked out. ‘It’s cold and lonely without you, and I can’t stand it.’
He nodded solemnly, then captured her lips in another scorching kiss. Freeing her when his time was up, he picked up the control and handed it back to her.
He won the next game, too. Another bone-melting kiss, followed by a long look into her eyes. ‘If I told you I missed you every day I was away from you, would you believe me?’ His voice was low, deep. Almost prayerful.
‘No.’
The hand in her hair trembled. ‘I deserve that. I know I’ve behaved badly, have approached things the wrong way—’
‘Your time’s up.’ She handed him his control.
She had burning questions of her own, so Jasmine put all her effort into winning the next level.
Her control fell from her fingers. ‘You scheduled sex with your other candidates. But you left me, your wife—’
‘My queen,’ he growled.
‘Your queen, to sleep in our marriage bed alone. Why? Am I so unlovable?’
He squeezed his eyes shut for a split second. ‘You are far from unlovable, querida. It was me. I was afraid.’
She looked at him, stunned. ‘Afraid of what?’
‘The last time we were in this house together, you tried to get out of marrying me. I was afraid you’d change your mind about staying with me. We didn’t have to get married in three days. I rushed it because I didn’t want to let you go. I couldn’t see past the fact that you’d woken up in the middle of the night determined to leave me. I’d already jumped on the pregnancy to make you my bride—’
She gasped. ‘You wanted to marry me before you knew I was pregnant?’
‘I dismissed perfectly good candidates because they were not you. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I couldn’t see any of them as my wife. None of them touched me the way you did. When the pregnancy presented itself as an option for me keeping you, I took it.’
The timer on the screen beeped. They both ignored it.
Tears filled her eyes. He brushed them away with his fingers.
‘I thought you were only with me because of the baby.’
He looked down at her belly, then back at her. ‘I love our child more than I can adequately put into words. I was overwhelmed with terror that you’d wake up in the middle of the night and ask for your freedom.’
Her mouth wobbled before she pursed her lips. ‘And the night you came to me?’
‘I came to tell you that Joaquin Esteban had been arrested.’
She gasped. ‘What?’
‘Mendez handed him over as part of our agreement. If I have anything to do with it, Esteban won’t see the light of day again.’
Tears threatened. She blinked them away. ‘So you came to tell me...and?’
‘You looked so beautiful. I couldn’t stay away. I missed you so much I couldn’t breathe, never mind sleep. I planned to leave a note and be gone before you realised I was there. Leaving you ripped me apart. After that I didn’t want to put myself through it again...so I used my duties as an excuse to stay away.’
A deep tremble shook her. ‘Oh, Reyes.’
The timer beeped again.
She asked the question burning its way through her heart. ‘Why are you here now, Reyes?’
‘Because staying away from you is killing me. I need to be with you. With our baby. Loving you, protecting you both.’ He started to reach for her.
She pulled back. ‘Loving me?’
He closed his eyes. ‘Dios. This wasn’t how I intended it to go—’
‘Stop trying to wrap everything perfectly and just tell me how you feel!’
‘I love you.’ He exhaled, then struggled to catch his breath again. ‘You blew me away that first night in Rio. I went to sleep thinking I could have found the one, even though I wasn’t looking for you or even dreaming that the overwhelming feelings I felt for you existed. I let how I felt about my mother and Anaïs cloud my judgement so I could hate you for what you did. Even after I understood your motivation I was too scared to let you in.
‘But you wormed your way in anyway. I admire your courage, your intelligence. My people love you already and it’s been mere weeks since you entered their lives.’
Jasmine smiled. ‘I love Santo Sierra. I’ve loved your home and its people since I stepped off the plane, Reyes. And I adore its king. When he’s not breaking my heart by staying away from me for weeks on end.’
