Marriage Without Love & More Than a Convenient Marriage?

At the same time, his eyes held a somber rebuke. Gideon was a patient man, but this time he wasn’t going to let her avoid his silent question. Even as she absorbed his earnest statement, her mother’s voice whispered again, You have no idea how much power a man has over you once babies enter the picture.

But she wasn’t her mother. There weren’t any lies between her and Gideon. The secrets and recriminations that had surrounded her growing up, forcing her to close off her heart out of self-protection, were old news. Their child, unpolluted by any of that, gave her a chance to love cleanly and openly.

This fresh start with this man, who already stirred her so deeply, was a chance to build a truly happy life. If she dared believe she was entitled to it and opened herself to letting it happen. It was a huge leap of faith, but she’d taken one in marrying him at all. Maybe she was putting her heart at deep risk, but again and again he’d proven himself to be a man she could trust.

“We will, won’t we?” she said in quiet promise.

Relief and a flicker of deeper emotion was quickly transformed into his predominant mask of arrogant confidence. For a second, he’d seemed moved, which made her heart trip, but now he was his typical conqueror self, nearly smug with triumph—which was familiar and oddly endearing, making her want to laugh and ignore her old self trying to warn her that she might be giving up too much too quickly.

But if she had a soupy, awed look on her face, he wore one of fierce tenderness.

“You’re so beautiful.” The kiss he bent to steal was as reverent and sweet as it was hard and possessive.

Her lips clung to his as he drew away.

“Don’t get ideas,” he chided, breaking contact from her look of invitation. “We’re cut off until you deliver.”

“That’s you being overcautious. Karen didn’t say we couldn’t.” She was still aggravated that they’d shared a bed last night but hadn’t made love. She was nervous about doing anything to jeopardize her pregnancy, but they’d been making love without consequence until now.

“Karen doesn’t know how insatiable we are once we get started. Just do me a favor and don’t make this harder than it is.”

“Pun intended?” She drifted her gaze down his front to the bulge behind his fly.

“This is going to be a very long pregnancy.” He gritted his teeth, making her laugh as he guided her inside for an early dinner before driving home.

CHAPTER TEN

AFTER YEARS OF being the one who micromanaged to ensure everything met her father’s impossible standards, Adara was forced to let go and trust others to pull off top-notch work with minimal input. It wasn’t easy, but she eased up and was pleasantly surprised by her very efficient teams. Despite her working from home for months, only checking in electronically, they were managing great things without her.

Staying away from the office had a drawback, however. Moving through the ballroom decorated in fall colors of gold, crimson and burnt umber, she couldn’t h

elp congratulating people on putting together a brilliant event to celebrate the Makricosta chain’s thirty-fifth anniversary. They all reacted with great surprise and when Adara met up with Connie, a woman she’d worked closely with for years, she realized why.

Connie rocked back on her four-inch heels. “Wow, I’ve never seen a woman as pregnant as you act so happy and outgoing. When I got that big, I was a complete cow.”

“Oh, I...” Adara didn’t know what to say. Had her personality been frozen for so many years that a bit of friendly warmth was remarkable? Or was she really as big as she felt?

“That’s meant as a compliment,” Connie rushed to say, glancing with horror at Adara’s guardian angel, Gideon.

They’d learned to give each other space in the confines of the penthouse as they worked from home, but tonight he was right beside her, his ripped masculinity nearly bursting out of his tuxedo. He didn’t complain about their abstinence nearly as much as she did, but he spent a lot of time expending sexual energy in the weight room. It showed, making his presence all the more electric, while Adara’s insecurity ballooned to match her figure.

“It’s true,” he said with a disturbing slide of his hand beneath the fall of her hair. His touch settled in a light, caressing clasp on the back of her neck, making her follicles tighten. “The pregnancy glow isn’t a myth. You’re gorgeous.”

“I look like the Queen Mary,” Adara sputtered. Her reports from Karen continued to be good, and weight gain was to be expected, but playing dress-up for this evening hadn’t been as fun as it used to be. Her hair had developed kinks, she was too puffy for her rings and wearing heels was out of the question. Growing shorter and pudgier while her husband grew hotter and sleeker was demoralizing. All her excitement in having a date night deflated.

“I only meant that you seem very happy. When are you due?” Connie prompted.

Adara couldn’t help brightening at the topic of delivering a healthy baby, her misgivings from early in the pregnancy dispelled by her baby’s regular jabs and the closing in of her due date. Nowadays her fears were the natural ones of any mother, most specifically that her water would break while she was in public.

But a few minutes later, when Gideon interjected, “We should start the dancing,” and guided her toward the floor, her self-consciousness returned. He must have felt her tension. As he took her in his arms, he chided, “Are you genuinely worried about how you look? Because I was being sincere. You’re stunning.”

Biting off another self-deprecating remark, she chose to be truthful. “We haven’t been going out much, so I guess I wasn’t expecting so many stunned expressions at how huge I am. And look around, Gideon. Wait, don’t. There are far too many women with teensy waistlines and long legs and—”

“None with breasts like yours. Do you think I’ve looked anywhere but down your dress tonight? Unless it’s at your lips. You’re not wearing lipstick, are you? That’s all you, ripe and pouty and pink. You’re sexy as hell.”

Said lips parted in surprise. Everything seemed to taste funny these days, lipstick included, so she’d opted for a flavorless lip balm and yes, had noted that even her lips looked fat. She might have bit them together in an attempt to hide them, but his wolfish fixation on her mouth sent tendrils of delight through her.

With a little moue she said, “Really? You’re not just saying that?”