Page 204 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 1-4

‘No,’ she said before he could finish. ‘I’m definitelynotliving in London.’

He wanted to argue, which was insane since the next step in his tactic was to concede minor ground until he got what heactuallywanted. And surely what he actually wanted wasnother living with him.

But then you’ll have the child. And you’ll have her in your bed. Why not?

He could think of several very good reasons why not. He’d only suggested it because it was the most outrageous demand, and one she’d never agree to. Yet now he’d demanded it, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

That moment on the sofa just before, with her writhing beneath him, obviously desperate for him, had been the most intense aphrodisiac he’d ever experienced, and it had taken almost everything he had to pull away.

But he’d never been intending to take it further. Again, she’d pricked his temper with her arguments and stubbornness, and he’d wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, make her desperate, make her stop pushing him. Perhaps even make her beg for him.

Yet it had almost backfired on him. He’d become so distracted by the thought of her begging that his intention to stop had fallen by the wayside. At least until she’d insisted she didn’t need him and...yes, again, he’d found that unreasonably annoying.

Everything about her was unreasonably annoying.

It had taken everything he had to pull away, but he’d managed it, and her look of surprise and irritation as he’d done so had made that worth it.

Except he was still hard and he ached, and he resented both of those things. That night in the forest he’d lost control and he’d found it freeing in the moment. But that moment was gone and he didn’t want to want it again. He didn’t want to wanther. Every interaction with her felt fraught, as if he were walking a tightrope between his control and her undeniable physical pull, and even the slightest wrong move would cause him to lose his balance and fall.

He’d never experienced a feeling like it and he hated it.

He hated, too, that the thought of her living with him, or, more accurately, her being in his bed, was far too tempting to ignore. He’d been so restless lately, not wanting any woman in particular, and it wasn’t until that moment on the couch that he’d realised that he did, in fact, want a particular woman: Maude.

‘What’s wrong with London?’ he asked, trying to cover his irritation.

‘I don’t like the city,’ she said. ‘I never have. And I don’t want to bring my baby—’

‘Ourbaby.’

‘Thebaby up in a city.’ She was glaring at him again. ‘He or she is connected to the forest and needs to grow up as part of the natural world.’

The muscles in Dominic’s neck and shoulders were getting tense. He uncrossed his arms and thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans instead. ‘The baby can visit the natural world in London,’ he said tersely. ‘There’s parks and woods, all sorts of natural phenomena.’

‘It’s in the city,’ she said insistently. ‘Those parks and woods are surrounded by houses and roads and train tracks and streets. We created the baby here and he or she needs to live here.’

Dominic stared at her, utterly bemused. Her hair was drying into a wild tangle of curls and waves, and the bedraggled remains of wildflowers were still caught in amongst the golden strands. The gold in her eyes was glittering, her delicate features flushed with temper, and she looked very much like a wild creature he’d somehow caught. There was something wild about her, too, something untamed, that made him want to catch her, tame her to his hand...

Maybe his demand that she live with him wasn’t so outrageous after all. Maybe that was what hedidwant, so he could have that magical experience of that night in the forest again. And again and again...

‘Well, he or she can’t live here,’ he said. ‘Because I’m selling the manor and the forest along with it.’

‘What?’ She paled. ‘But you can’t do that.’

This time her obvious shock didn’t give him any satisfaction, because if he wasn’t much mistaken that was a glint of pain in her eyes. As if he’d taken something precious from her and ground it into the dust.

‘Why not?’ he asked, feeling vaguely as if he’d made a mistake and resenting that too. ‘It’s my manor and my forest. I can do what I bloody well like with it.’

‘But...’ She stopped and her mouth compressed into a hard line, her chin jutting mutinously. ‘Who are you selling it to?’

‘I don’t know yet.’

‘I’ll buy it.’

He nearly laughed. ‘Oh? You have a few million pounds lying around, do you?’

She flushed. ‘No, but I’ll... I’ll save up. My grandparents were going to gift me some land further north that I was going to use to rewild. But I can sell that.’ She shoved herself off the couch after a moment, standing in front of him, all righteous indignation. ‘I’ll go to the bank and borrow as much as I can. I’ll do unpaid work. I’ll sign a contract—’

‘Why?’ he asked, cutting off the flood of words, mystified by her sudden passion. ‘Why on earth do you care so much about Darkfell?’

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