Page 29 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

Oliver Wintergreen had never wanted a girl, or so she’d told me once. He’d only wanted a boy, and so her mother had always tried to make her more acceptable to him, while her father had got impatient with what he saw as her ‘girlish tantrums and drama’.

I’d never understood how they couldn’t see what they had in her. She felt things very deeply and had a strong sense of justice and fairness. She also had a ridiculous sense of humour, and was fearless, yet had the most compassionate heart. She was perfect in every way, and I’d thought them as mad as Domingo in their own way, and just as blind.

‘Why not?’ I let the water lap up around her, my gaze dropping to her breasts, fascinated by how the cool touch of the sea made her nipples go hard.

‘So many reasons.’ She made no move to cover herself, her body relaxed and warm against mine. ‘We didn’t use a condom, either.’

A chill stole through me. I’d never forgotten protection, not once, since the thought of children was appalling to me. After all, who wanted to pass down the defective Silvera genes? Certainly I didn’t.

‘I’ll call the doctor.’ I kept my tone very casual. ‘We’ll handle it.’

The dazed look on her face began to dissipate and I could feel her body start to stiffen in my arms. ‘What do you mean, “we’ll handle it”?’

‘I mean the morning-after pill. Children can’t be part of this, Olivia.’

She stared up at me a moment and I could see it happen. I could see the softness leaching out of her, the hard veneer coming back down like a security screen in a bank. ‘And what if...?’

But I didn’t want to continue with this particular subject, so I made her break off in a gasp, sliding my hand up to cup one round breast, her skin slippery from the water. I teased her nipple gently with my thumb, feeling it get even harder beneath my touch.

‘And what if...what?’ I asked lazily, circling her nipple and squeezing her lightly.

She trembled in my arms. ‘Don’t...do that.’

‘Why not? You like it.’

And I could see that she did, her head falling back against my shoulder, hunger darkening in her eyes. ‘We need to...talk.’

‘You don’t want to talk, little star.’ I pinched her nipple and she jerked, a groan escaping her. ‘You want me to keep doing this.’

‘I...don’t...’ Yet even as she said it her back arched and she pressed herself into my hand.

‘We’ll have time to talk later.’ I dropped my head, brushing my mouth over hers, feeling her lips open beneath mine. ‘Plenty of time...’

She had no response to that other than to kiss me harder, which soon brought our little chat to a close.

I carried her out of the water and took her back into the villa. Then I ran some warm water into the big white bath in the bathroom and washed us both clean. I teased her in the bath, tantalised her, stroked every inch of her body; and only when she was gasping, trembling and begging did I lift her out, dry her off and take her back to my bed.

I made love to her again, this time taking things slowly, exploring every inch of her so that all she was thinking of when I finally pushed inside her was me and the pleasure I was giving her.

After we’d both recovered she was ravenous, because of course she’d had nothing to eat all day, so we wandered back down the jetty to the table. The food wasn’t any the worse for wear, and I insisted she sit in my lap so I could feed her little morsels of whatever she fancied.

Or at least, I tried to insist. She was adamant that wasn’t happening, so I’d decided not to force the issue, as the last couple of times I’d forced it, it hadn’t ended well for me.

A good choice, as it turned out, when five minutes later she changed her mind and sat regally in my lap as if I were her favourite chair.

It satisfied something deep in me to take care of her like this, as it had all those years ago when I’d managed to toast the perfect marshmallow for her, handing it to her with ceremony. The pleasure of watching her eat it had been...indescribable.

I’d never had anything of my own to take care of before. Constantine and I hadn’t been allowed pets. Nothing we might form emotional attachments to. We’d only had each other, and even then Domingo hadn’t liked it.

He had driven a wedge between us, and I had let it happen, because I hadn’t wanted Constantine to follow my lead. I was his older brother, if only by a few minutes, and I was supposed to protect him, so protect him I had. His safety had depended on him being Domingo’s favourite and that was what I’d made sure he was. By making myself Domingo’s target.

Except you failed, didn’t you?

But I didn’t want to think about that right now, what with Olivia in my arms, so I pushed the thought away.

‘Have you really been watching me all this time?’ Olivia asked, lying back against my shoulder, her hair, dry now, spilling over my arm in a long, straight fall. I was only wearing a pair of jeans, so it felt like silk against my bare skin.

She was in one of those floaty dresses I’d bought especially for her, though it was more a long, filmy tunic in blue and lavender silk than a dress. It was just as transparent as all the others, which meant I could see her beautiful body through the fabric.

---