Page 31 of Revelations of A Secret Princess

CHAPTER SEVEN

JAKELAYBESIDEher and gathered Caro close, her head against his shoulder. Her tears tracking across him. His mouth set as she shook, her hiccupping breaths proof of her battle for control.

The contained, capable woman he’d begun to know disappeared. Wrapped against him she seemed fragile, slighter than when she stood up to him or when she’d kissed him. He tightened his hold.

‘It’s okay, Caro. Let it out.’

It didn’t take an expert to know this pain had been eating away at her. Her tormented expression and the desolation in her eyes proved that. As did the fact she’d gone from the edge of rapture to blind grief in seconds. Her broken voice replayed in his ears and pity filled him.

How long had she carried this burden? Had today’s drama dragged it to the surface?

Jake half rolled onto his back and pulled her across him while one hand went to the tumble of soft waves that had loosened as they kissed. He stroked her head, combing his fingers through her hair.

It was his fault she’d gone into meltdown. Why hadn’t he smothered his curiosity?

But given Caro’s age her baby would be young. He couldn’t imagine her leaving her child in order to look after someone else’s. It hadn’t seemed to fit.

Now it did.

He swallowed regret, cursing his determination to uncover her secrets. Yet he was glad he knew.

Not because he was an expert in comforting distressed women. Though as a one-time peacekeeper in areas ravaged by natural disaster and violence he had some experience. But because his need to know about Caro was insatiable.

He was fascinated by her and not just because he’d doubted her suitability as Ariane’s nanny.

His belly clenched as another shudder racked her. What would it be like to lose a child, one you’d carried in your body?

Jake remembered his sister Connie, her stiff upper lip as she’d told him via computer link about another miscarriage and their decision to adopt. He’d been on the other side of the world but he’dfelthis sister’s heartbreak. Jake had wanted to go to her but had been wary of interfering. The days of it being just the two of them against the world had gone. Connie had had her husband and Jake had feared intruding on their shared grief.

Who did Caro have?

There was no ring on her finger, no mention of a husband. Surely if she had a partner she wouldn’t be so eager for a live-in position?

How long had she bottled up this pain?

Protectiveness engulfed him. Her abrupt transition from carnal excitement to anguish indicated she had a long way to go to come to terms with this.

Did you ever come to terms?

He hadn’t given much thought to himself as a father, though over the last year he’d thought about creating a permanent base and finding a long-term partner. His experience of families and parents made him wary.

His father had abandoned them when Jake was born. As for his mother, she’d ignored her responsibilities, focusing on her own pleasure. With her stunning looks it hadn’t been hard to find lovers who’d shower her with the trinkets, trips and the lifestyle she craved. That kept her away from home for weeks and months at a time till finally she found a rich aristocrat, holidaying in Australia, who wanted her long term. She’d abandoned her kids without a second thought.

Yet now he had Ariane, Jake discovered a strong streak of paternal protectiveness. It hadn’t been simple, learning to accommodate a child in what had been a bachelor life. But he couldn’t imagine life without her. Thinking of her rare smiles and growing trust made him glow.

If he were to lose her...

Jake rocked Caro in his arms, his lips moved against her hair as he murmured that it was all right. When, of course, it could never be all right.

Like a douche of iced water memory chilled him. The memory of Caro that first night, motionless and intent as she watched Ariane sleep. There’d been something so eerily focused about her that his sixth sense had prickled. He’d known something was wrong. Now he understood. Caro looked at Ariane but remembered her lost child.

Something plunged through his body, a weight descending to crash into his gut.

Caro’s hiccups stopped and the shivers eased but she didn’t move away. Instead it felt as if she was trying to burrow in his chest. Surprisingly Jake didn’t mind one bit. She’d touched something inside. A chord of fellow feeling.

More. Something to do with Caro herself. He’d wondered what lay behind her façade of prim control. Now he knew at least one of her secrets. And she fascinated him more than ever.

Fascinated and attracted.

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