Page 48 of Revelations of A Secret Princess

Horror slammed into her. Bad enough to see his distaste, but to have him witness her distress was mortifying. This was the second time she’d cried in front of him. She, who’d spent years burying her emotions!

‘I was rough. I hurt you.’ Jake’s voice sounded different, not the familiar mellow rumble that tickled her insides but taut and scratchy.

‘You didn’t hurt me.’ Caro looked down, focusing on the bodice she couldn’t tug up. Probably because she was sitting on the dress, holding it down. Desperately she shifted her weight, trying to drag the skirt higher so the bodice would move.

‘Then why are you crying?’

‘I’m not!’ The tears must have escaped earlier.

Instead of moving away, Jake confounded her by capturing her chin in his broad palm and lifting it so she had to look him in the face.

‘You looked like you were in pain.’

Of course she did. No woman wanted to be abhorred. But Caro couldn’t bring herself to say that. The pain was still there but she masked it as she’d learned to mask so much.

‘You’re wrong. I’m fine.’

Except for the anguish deep inside. And the other, disturbing sensation that urged her to lean into his touch and ask for more, as if she had no pride.

Those pale eyes were intent. ‘If you weren’t in pain, why did you cry?’

Caro shrugged. ‘It was an intense experience. It surprised me.’

She waited for him to say something offhand or derogatory. Instead she thought she saw a glimmer of understanding in his face. Until his next words.

‘Not because we had unsafe sex?’

It was like being smacked in the face. Her head reared back in disbelief. She gave up struggling with her dress and wrapped her arms protectively around her chest, as if to ward off his words. But, pressing her thighs together, feeling the wetness, she realised it was true.

How could she not have given it a thought? With Mike she’d been the one to insist on safe sex, despite his protests. It had been like fate laughing at her to discover she was pregnant, given the precautions they’d taken.

Her eyes locked with Jake’s and she read her surprise reflected back. And more. Something that again, fleetingly, looked like understanding.

‘I’m safe,’ he said. ‘You won’t get any health problems from me.’

Except a possible pregnancy.

Caro bit her lips rather than blurt the words. Her first accidental pregnancy showed she was, or had been, very fertile. Her mind boggled at the idea of another baby. Jake’s.

His forehead creased as watched her. ‘This is where you’re supposed to say you’re clean too.’

‘I’m clean too.’

‘You don’t sound very convincing.’

Probably because she was still stuck on the possibility of pregnancy. If it could happen once...

‘How many lovers have you had lately?’

Caro frowned, his terse tone penetrating the fog of shock. ‘None.’ Then, when he lifted his eyebrows in disbelief, ‘Well, one, but years ago. When I got pregnant.’

For long moments nothing moved except her blood pumping and the unsteady rise of her chest with a new breath. Jake looked as if he’d been turned into a statue. A frowning, disbelieving statue.

‘You’re telling me you’ve only had one lover?’ At least his voice wasn’t starkly accusing, but his disbelief tore at her self-respect.

She hiked her chin higher, profoundly glad that her crossed arms covered her bare breasts.

‘Is that a crime? I don’t ask how many you’ve had. I take your word that you’re...clean.’ She was lucky she was too, given what she’d discovered about Mike’s lifestyle.

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