‘Sto Diavolo! It would change everything. A child …’ He paused, dragging in a deep breath. He’d said the first thing that had surged into his numbed brain. But now the idea had lodged there.
How could he want another child when he had Eleni? How could he face the possibility of such trauma again? But despite the fear, he recognised excitement tremble to life in the pit of his stomach.
A child. His and Sophie’s. An invisible hand squeezed his heart. What a gift that would be.
‘You know I take my family responsibilities seriously.’ Somehow he managed to keep his voice even as he looked down at her.
‘Then it’s just as well that’s not a possibility.’
‘Of course it’s a possibility,’ he thundered. ‘We had unprotected sex, not once, but several times last night.’
That was what had been at the back of his mind down on the beach, the vague notion of something not right. But it hadn’t stopped him. Lord help him, even if he’d realised at the time, he doubted he’d have been able to pull back from her. His need for Sophie had been elemental, unstoppable.
He looked down into her staring eyes. Had she been too caught up in their mutual passion to realise he hadn’t used a condom? Inevitably the idea pleased him, softening his temper into something else. His iron hard grip on her arm loosened and he slid his fingers down her tender flesh, stroking. She trembled under his touch as she always did.
Abruptly she tore herself away and paced over to the windows, presenting him with her hunched shoulders. Something—pain—twisted deep inside him at her rebuff.
‘There’s absolutely no chance I’m pregnant,’ she said in a cold, precise voice that speared him like a knife.
Bright sunlight blurred her outline, and for an instant i
t was another girl who stood there. Another bloodless voice that echoed between them, taunting him.
Memories again. Stronger this time.
He’d married Fotini because he’d decided he needed a wife. But the marriage had held none of the peace, the trust or even companionship that he’d expected would grow with time.
And now he’d ignored his better judgement, shoved aside every caution and succumbed to the temptation of this woman, Fotini’s cousin. She was like fire in his blood, destroying his logic and his self-control.
Two girls so different.
But could there be similarities as well?
Nausea churned in his stomach at the possibility.
‘What if you’re mistaken, Sophie?’ He forced the words out, sickened by the fact that he even had to ask. ‘What if you are pregnant? Would you expect me to pay for the abortion?’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SOPHIE HAD THOUGHT an hour ago that she could bear the truth. Just. But this was torture. Listening to the man she loved. Yes—the man she loved, lashing her heart with his blatant contempt. What more did he want from her?
He’d taken her body. He’d taken her trust, her love, her tentative hopes and dreams and trampled them underfoot.
Oh, it hadn’t been his fault. He’d warned her, had been totally honest. He’d told her in no uncertain terms that his need for her was at the most basic, physical level only. He’d left her under no illusion that he wanted a relationship with her.
It had been her own naïve fault that she’d succumbed to him with such self-destructive passion. Hurting as she was, needing comfort and overwhelmed by feelings she’d never before experienced, she’d turned to him.
And then, when it was too late, she’d assumed that the situation had changed, that he felt it now too—the bond between them.
How could he not feel something so powerful?
She’d given herself joyfully, loved him with her heart and soul, not just her body.
And today she’d woken to the harsh truth. She’d deluded herself. He simply didn’t love her.
So she’d gathered the tatters of her self-respect about her and decided not to let him see how much she was hurting. Her plan was to escape, soon, with her dignity intact if possible. She’d remove herself far from his vicinity in the hope that time might heal her battered heart.
She’d been coping, just, with the trauma of seeing him again. It had been virtually impossible but she’d hidden her emotions as best she could.