The Secret Baby Revenge

If Nicole did get pregnant and had his child, she’d be tied to him for life.

But that wouldn’t be a free choice.

He wanted her to want him in her life.

And he didn’t want to be stopped now.

So the protective sheath had to be used.

She climaxed as he drove his triumphant possession of her as deeply as he could go, but that wasn’t enough for Quin. He was consumed with the burning desire to feel her coming again and again, rolling from one ecstatic peak to the next. He wanted to drive the memory of any other lover she’d had right out of her mind so she remembered only him. He used every bit of sexual expertise he knew to keep her body tuned to his, responding instinctively, blissfully, lustfully, lovingly, long into the night.

As she had in the past.

Oh, yes, he wanted that back.

And more!

CHAPTER EIGHT

IT WAS the twelfth night coming up. Almost halfway through the deal, Nicole told herself, trying to quell the growing sense that she would never really be free of Joaquin Luis Sola. He was like a drug. The more she had of him, the more she wanted him. Just like before. And labelling what they had together, just sex, did not lessen the impact of it. Walking away from him a second time was not going to be any easier than the first.

She stared at the reflection of her eyes in the bathroom mirror. They literally glittered with excitement, all because she could tell him tonight they didn’t have to use condoms anymore. She’d now been taking the pill long enough for it to be effective. They didn’t have to think about protection, didn’t have to stop, didn’t have to blunt the feeling of absolutely natural intimacy.

She couldn’t even pretend her skin was tingling from the brisk towelling she’d given it after her shower. Her whole body was anticipating his touch. And here she was blow-drying her freshly shampooed hair so it would look good for him, feel good to him, silky and sensual and…

“Nicole…” Her mother called out, knocking on the bathroom door to gain her attention. “You’re wanted on the ’phone.”

“Coming…” She quickly switched off the hair drier, laid it on the vanity bench, then grabbed her bathrobe and wrappe

d it around the nakedness she hadn’t bothered to cover before, secretly revelling in a sense of wanton expectation. She opened the door to find her mother still loitering in the hall, watching for her to emerge. “Who is it?” Nicole asked, wondering why she appeared anxious.

Linda Ellis looked at the happy glow emanating from her daughter and felt her own heart tighten with concern. That same aura of happiness had been totally blighted by the man Nicole had picked up with again. If that happened a second time, it would be completely her fault for not ever having stopped to count the cost of trying to save Harry. A futile sacrifice in the end. And this sacrifice by Nicole could also end in wretched grief.

“It’s him,” she said flatly.

“You mean Quin?” Nicole asked, the sparkle in her eyes disappearing under a sudden cloud of worry.

Linda nodded.

Frowning heavily, Nicole hurried down the hall to the kitchen where the house telephone resided. Linda trailed after her, disturbed by this direct contact with the man who had never wanted to meet her, never wanted anything to do with Nicole’s family. She propped herself in the kitchen doorway, needing to eavesdrop on the call, needing to know where all this might be leading

Nicole snatched up the telephone receiver which had been left waiting for her on the kitchen bench. Her heart was racing, her stomach fluttering. “How did you get this number?” she demanded, the fear of Quin encroaching on her real life shooting through her mind.

“I looked it up in the telephone book,” he answered matter-of-factly.

“It’s in my mother’s name,” she snapped back.

“The same name, Linda Ellis, attached to the debts I paid off, including the mortgage on a house in Burwood,” he drawled.

Nicole paused to take a deep, calming breath and to get her wits in order. Of course Quin had enough information to find her. The question was…why bother? He never had before.

“Calling me at home is not in our deal,” she stated pointedly.

“I am calling out of consideration for you, Nicole. I didn’t think you’d like coming to my apartment tonight and not finding me there.”

Not there tonight? The sexual excitement she had been trying to contain all day took a dive into disappointment. Anger at herself stirred. She was letting Quin get to her far too much. A determination to halt that process put a coolness in her voice.

“Thank you for letting me know you’re forfeiting the twelfth night of our deal in favour of something else.”