‘But that pre-nup—’
‘Thee mou...think outside the box,’ he urged. ‘I will settle down with you if you give me a child.’
Lilah went pink. ‘And why would you think that I would be interested in that outcome?’
Bastien elevated an ebony brow. ‘Aren’t you?’
‘Are we bargaining again, Bastien?’
Lilah was so tense she could hardly breathe. The unthinkable was happening: Bastien Zikos, the legendary womaniser, was offering her fidelity and a real marriage.
‘Negotiating?’ he countered.
‘I may not even be able to get pregnant,’ Lilah countered with quiet practicality.
‘If and when that happens we’ll deal with it, glikia mou,’ Bastien told her levelly. ‘I don’t expect an easy ride. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.’
Her heart swelled like a balloon inside her chest at that forthright opinion, which perfectly matched her own. Tears lashed the back of her eyes and she blinked them back furiously to focus on the beautiful burnished golden shimmer of his gaze.
‘In that case, I’ll... I’ll give it a go,’ she responded jerkily, afraid of the way she was laying herself open to getting hurt again, but desperately wanting to give him another chance.
Another chance to smash her heart to smithereens? Another chance to walk away from her without a backward glance and console himself with other women? How likely was it that Bastien could settle down into marriage? Did she dare risk bringing a child into so potentially volatile a relationship? And why was she even considering doing so?
Stealing a glance at his lean, darkly handsome face, she felt her breath hitch in her throat. The freedom of choice was suddenly cruelly wrenched from her, along with much of her pride. The reason she so badly wanted to give Bastien another chance was that she had fallen hard for him two years earlier and had struggled to fight feelings almost stronger than she was. Sadly, now that she was actually in Bastien’s life and wearing his ring on her finger, she was weaker, more open to hope and dream fulfilment and love.
And that was the most basic truth, which she could no longer ignore or deny. She loved Bastien Zikos—had fallen like a giant stone the very first time he had settled those gorgeous dark eyes on her and smiled.
‘You look so serious,’ Bastien censured as he trailed off his shirt to reveal the torso that starred in her every fantasy. He was so wonderfully well-built, and he worked at staying fit—a reality etched in the lean hard sheet of roped muscle framing his pectoral muscles and abdomen.
Lilah’s mouth ran dry. He brought his mouth down on hers, nibbling sexily at her full lower lip, swiping the upper with the tip of his tongue to gain entry to the intimate space beyond. A ball of heat mushroomed inside her when his tongue flicked against her own. Her hands spread on his chest, fingertips grazing hair-roughened skin and smoothing down to feel him jerk with sensitivity when she found the hard thrusting length of him.
With a hungry groan he lifted her up and brought her down again on the bed, arranging her over him with careful hands.
‘I want you,’ Bastien growled, dark eyes shooting golden sparks over her warmly flushed face.
‘You sound so aggressive,’ Lilah scolded as she obediently bent forward for him to unclasp her bra.
‘It’s been a week.’ He swore bitterly. ‘An endless, frustrating week.’
Strong hands pulled her down to him, to enable him to close his lips round a pouting pink nipple. He hauled her close to him and rolled her over.
‘Didn’t think I was going to get to stay on top,’ Lilah muttered with helpless bite.
His broad chest rumbled with amusement. ‘Some day very soon...but not today,’ he agreed in a roughened undertone.
Employing every sensual skill he had acquired, Bastien worked his way down over Delilah’s slim squirming body, revelling in each sound that revealed her enjoyment. As her hips bucked in climax and she cried his name he smiled and flipped her over, lifting her up on to her knees.
He slid against her damp flesh to tease her, and then when she complained in frustration he sank into her, hard and deep.
Lilah moaned, her head still swimming and her body still sensitised, floating on the aftermath of extreme pleasure. Extraordinarily conscious of Bastien’s every slight movement, Lilah felt her heart race and her pulse quicken with exhilaration. Intense excitement controlled her as he ground his hips into hers, quickening his pace until all she was conscious of was the wild, feverish climb of pleasure. As the ascent to satisfaction consumed her spasms of potent sensation coursed through her quivering body and then rose to an irresistible peak, leaving her thrashing in explosive convulsions of delight.