Page 88 of Born a Queen

Chapter Forty-Seven

Mateo’s and Raina's truce didn’t last long. If Raina was being honest with herself, she would admit that they’d probably never have a completely contention free relationship. Although this time, their difference in opinion was monumental, one she didn't think she would be able to overcome. In the course of twenty-four hours she had discovered that she was more in love that she could ever imagine, then she was sent spiraling into despair with only a few words from her fiancé.

It happened the following morning, after a night filled with sex, laughter, and the occasional bout of sleep. Raina had woken up feeling completely satisfied, totally in love and ready to greet the world with her happiness. She stretched and reached over to Mateo’s side of the bed, not really expecting him to be there.

She was surprised when her hand landed on hard hot flesh. Her eyes popped open and she rolled her head to the side, looking at him. Mateo was looking back at her, his beautiful eyes expressing love though his face had fallen into its familiar granite lines.

She understood. He would have to go back to work in a few minutes, remove himself from their bubble and face the underground world that he was challenging.

"Good morning." She smothered a yawn against his shoulder.

He smoothed the hair off her forehead and leaned over to kiss her. "Good morning, mi amor. You were sleeping soundly, and I didn't have the heart to either slip away or wake you."

"So you decided to watch me instead. That's creepy you know, watching a person sleep." She said it with a grin and pushed herself up, rolling toward the edge of the bed.

"It's not creepy if you’re fucking the person."

Raina laughed as she made a beeline for the bathroom, shoving the door shut. She quickly relieved her screaming bladder, washed her hands and then ran back to the bed, hurtling herself on top of him. He caught her with a grunt and held her in place, her body sprawled out on top of his.

They lay that way for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of a nice long hug. Finally, Mateo set her aside, tucked the blanket around her legs and got off the bed to get dressed. She realized he was staying home when he pulled on a pair of gym shorts, a T-shirt, socks and running shoes. He was going into the yard to work out.

Not wanting to end her time with him, Raina asked, "Want help with a sparring session?"

He shook his head. "I need to work out hard this morning. Got to keep my skills at peak levels in case anyone decides to challenge my takeover."

Raina was hurt by his words. Obviously, he wasn't feeling the desperate need to spend more time with her, the way she wanted to be with him. She mumbled defensively, "I can spar pretty hard. You don't have to go easy on me."

He looked down at her and when she refused to lift her eyes, he tilted her chin. He wanted her to see how serious he was. "You will never be required, nor will you be allowed, to ever spar as hard as me. Not even as hard as Angela. That isn't your role here. You are my wife, keeper of my heart and my home. Though I want you to have some defensive skills, I won't allow your fragile body to become exhausted by the work."

Raina wanted to argue that she wished he thought of that weeks ago on the night he woke her up from her bed and dragged her into the yard to torture her with a brutal sparring session. But she knew that would be petty. He'd been upset, out of his mind over worry for her. This was different.

However, despite her understanding the difference, she didn't agree. "I'm not some delicate flower, Mateo. I can take a solid beating if I need to. You don't have to go easy on me all the time. I'm not going to up and die on you."

The last traces of softness left his eyes, leaving behind the awful blankness. She hated it.

"You will not die because I won’t let you. This is not up for discussion. You’ll never be placed in a position where you’re forced to give more than you can take. I won’t allow it."

"So all I'm good for is setting up your home, organizing your meals and laundry and having your babies?" she demanded. As much as she enjoyed feeling protected by him, she also felt stifled by his overprotection.

"No babies." The two words were said without inflection. At first, Raina didn't understand.

"What do you mean ‘no babies’." She let out a humourless laugh. "So far I haven't noticed us using any protection. And I'm guessing you would've mentioned it by now if you wanted us to be using it. I assumed you wanted babies."

Mateo stepped away from the bed, putting distance between them. "It's not about wanting babies, but about having them. We won’t be having any."

Raina frowned, attempting to understand his words. She really hoped he wasn't thinking what she thought he was thinking. The man was unbelievable. He wanted to control every aspect of her life, especially her health. But she was going to go out of her mind if he suddenly decided that she couldn't have babies simply because she’d had a kidney transplant when she was twelve years old.

"Is this about me? You don't think that I can have a baby?" she asked incredulously. "Have you done any research? Plenty of women who've had transplants go on to have perfectly healthy babies."

"I’ve done my research and I have determined that your health is not worth the risk."

Raina's mouth fell open. This really was about her. And this was a really serious conversation. Perhaps one that they shouldn't be having while she was still in bed naked. Raina climbed off the bed and reached for her bathrobe dragging it over her nude body and belting it tightly. She turned to face him, giving him the full wrath of her glare.

"You do not get to make this decision alone," she said furiously pointing at him. "This is my body. I’ve always intended to become a mother and if you think you’re going to stop me, then you're going to have one hell of a fight on your hands."

He continued to stare at her without expression though she wanted to believe that there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I was afraid you would think this way."

She threw her hands up in the air. "A lot of women want babies. Of course, it's natural for me to want one too. When I was a child, my parents made sure to ask all the right questions. We were told that I should be able to carry a baby to term without a problem."

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