‘You want me,’ Aristide purred. ‘Youreallywant me…’
‘Pretty obvious, that, isn’t it?’ Tabby gasped, shaken by her own bold behaviour.
‘No. The first time we were together, you were so restrained that I felt like a trial you had decided you had to undergo. Initially, I didn’t understand your attitude, not until I realised that I was your first. But this is the veryfirsttime you have fully accepted the attraction between us and matched it…’
‘Well, if you must be pedantic about it,’ Tabby acknowledged defensively, not entirely happy to have put herself out there to such an extent.
‘As much as you resemble an angel, you are also my little witch and the sexiest woman I’ve ever met,’ Aristide growled with driven fervour as he claimed her parted lips with powerful hunger.
And the room fell away from her. In fact she felt as though, in a sudden move, she was being wrenched from her own protective skin and thrown into a new reality where she could shamelessly declare her own wants and needs as she never had before. And she would be secure in the knowledge that Aristide would deliver exactly what she wanted. His shirt fell away, leaving her free to spread explorative, worshipping hands over the bronzed expanse of his muscular, hair-roughened torso.
A groan was wrenched from Aristide and suddenly he was lifting her away, turning her round, lean fingers cool against her spine as he unhooked and unzipped her dress and it fell away in a splash of glittering darkness to her feet. She reached up to detach her bra, which an ambidextrous octopus would have struggled to remove, so devoted was it to upholding her pregnancy swollen breasts. He lifted her deftly out of her abandoned clothing and deposited her on the bed, standing back from her with scorching dark eyes while he shed socks, shoes and shirt and, finally, the narrow-cut trousers doing nothing to hide his arousal from her.
More daring now, particularly after being labelled the sexiest woman a notorious playboy had ever met, she slid back off the bed and dropped to her knees, peeling away the boxers and finding him with her hands, her tongue and her lips, listening to his breathing quicken and rasp in his lungs as she sought to give him the same pleasure he had given her. Long fingers settled on her head, guiding her, encouraging her. And then with a roughened, wordless plea he brought an end to her attentions and swept her up to return her to the bed with the sworn assurance that he had no intention of climaxing until he was deep inside her.
Her body tingled at the words, the heart of her already slick and desperately ready for him. She had never been as aroused in her life as she was in the moment he came over her and flipped her round onto her stomach and then up onto her knees. Almost simultaneously he moved behind her to find her tender exposed flesh with his mouth, his tongue and his carnal fingers. A low keening cry of arousal was dragged from her. Every touch he gave her only ratcheted up her tension and her ever growing need for more.
And then he was finally where she wanted him to be, pushing in, forcing her open, her inner sheath stretching to take him as he thrust forward with a growl of impatience that matched her own. From that instant of perfect fullness there was nothing but the wild thump of her heartbeat and the ever rising surge of excitement as he gave her exactly what she craved. Firm hands on her hips, he pounded into her and as she reached the pinnacle of her climax she threw her head back and cried out loud in ecstasy as the blissful release gripped her and roared through her trembling body to leave her slumped on the bed.
‘You’re always the first to leave the party,’ Aristide complained, turning her over and coming down to her, sliding between her thighs and driving into her again with tender confidence.
And in the midst of the aftershocks of that initial orgasm, he taught her that she could still want more. Throughout, smouldering dark golden eyes held hers and it was an amazingly intimate experience to meet his gaze while the flexing power of his lean, powerful body shifted over hers and, ultimately, he surged inside her as he too attained release and groaned out his satisfaction.
In the aftermath, pleasure still lingering within her like an addictive drug, she was surprised when he continued to hold her close. She breathed in the scent of his skin with the sudden jarring acknowledgement that she had never been happier in her life and had never felt more at home. And that was the definitive moment that it became clear to her that she had contrived to fall in love with Aristide Romanos, the father of the twins she carried. She had thought herself safe and far beyond such emotional fantasies and yet Aristide was here and the more she saw of him, literally the more she wanted of him.
He splayed a big, possessive hand across her no longer flat belly and her heart sank a little because she didn’t want to be snuggled only because she was the future mother of his children. She was much more keen to be held close and savoured because he wanted her andonlyher as a woman and a partner. But you couldn’t have everything, she reminded herself stoically, already far too used to a world in which she had never received what she truly wanted.
Was she supposed to settle into being Aristide’s occasional lover whenever he took the notion? Or was what they had actually heading towards a genuine destination? Possibly even a destination where the attraction between them would eventually fizzle out? She supposed that only time would tell.
After all, wasn’t she on a trial to see if she could become a part ofhisconcept of the perfect couple? Funny how it hadn’t yet occurred to him that if she was on trial,hewas as well. Strange how it hadn’t crossed his mind that telling her he would only be a fool for loveoncewas off-putting, rather than being a vote winner with the average woman. Who didn’t want to be loved?
Imogen had been a user, enjoying his wealth, looks and influence and all the extras those attributes had brought her. But Tabby was different, very different. Even if Aristide lost all his money and power, she would still want him. After all, what she had never had, she couldn’t lose or miss. No, she wanted Aristide for the fierce emotion and intensity he kept caged up inside him and was already showing towards the children she had conceived. He had so much to offer but he wasn’t yet offering it toher.
Everything he had given Tabby was temporary or fake. Like their engagement and the jewellery she had worn at the ball. He was tender, caring and committed when it came to the children she carried but what abouther? She neededmorethan lust, consideration and kindness. She was way too young to settle for anything less. And she wasn’t about to change simply because she had fallen inconveniently pregnant to her one and only one-night stand. Or because she had fallen head over heels for him.
No, she wasn’t going to be the adoring or slavish idiot who loved the unattainable guy regardless of whether or not he returned her feelings. She would sooner be alone and in little more than ten days she wouldbealone again, she reminded herself doggedly, back home in Violet’s little flat and running the bakery. A return to normal life and therealworld, she told herself, a first taste of being single and pregnant with nobody but her own family to fuss over her. It would do her good.
‘I wish you didn’t have to leave,’ Violet lamented over breakfast.
‘You knew I would only be here two nights. I’ll see you next time you’re in London,’ Tabby declared with determined cheer.
‘Only a couple of weeks until then,’ Tore pointed out helpfully.
‘But those will just be fleeting visits,’ Violet sighed. ‘We’re thinking that we’ll make this house our home base, particularly with Tore’s grandparents and the Renzetti HQ nearby. It’s the only move that makes sense.’
Aristide watched Tabby’s face fall before she managed a smile to hide her dismay that her twin would be making her permanent home outside the UK. If he stayed with Tabby, he foresaw that it would be a necessity to buy a property in the same area but such a thought was very premature, he told himself impatiently. He was not prepared to redraft his entire future over the truth that she would be the mother of his children.
In addition, the three of them were barking mad if they imagined that Tabby would be back living in London in ten days’ time. Aristide had never planned for her to return to her former life, scratching her living in that grubby little apartment while listening to customer complaints with a sympathetic smile. His care and protection of his unborn twins had begun the moment he was made aware of their conception and it naturally extended to Tabby’s living and working arrangements. He didn’t want her to work. He didn’t want her tired or struggling alone while missing out on the best possible medical attention. That wasn’t going to happen, he swore to himself. Her health and that of their twins were the top priority.
Tabby was damp-eyed parting from her sister and her niece. She and her twin had had long enough to thoroughly enjoy themselves but not quite long enough to cover all they longed to discuss in sufficient detail. Violet had recalled how weepy her late friend, Isabel, had been in the early months of her pregnancy with Belle and Tabby’s brimming hormones seemed to be sending her down a similar road of emotional overload. Her eyes had even flooded with tears while Belle was watching a sad moment in a cartoon.
‘You’ll see your sister again soon,’ Aristide informed her bracingly. ‘I’ll organise it but for the rest of your stay on the island, we’re going to relax.’
‘I’ve got no objection to that.’
‘You like it on Anthos, don’t you?’
‘I’m not sure I’d like it the same in winter. I’m used to a bit of bustle around me.’
