Page 71 of Devoted to the Duke (The St. Clairs 1)

He laughed. “That was merely a way to pleasure you, sweetheart. Now, I will make love to you.”

She put her palms against his bare chest. “Wait. So we haven’t consummated our union yet?”

“No. But give me a moment.”

“Wait,” she said again, this time more firmly. “Why do you need a French letter?”

“I told you. It helps prevent a baby from coming.” His eyes shifted a fraction. “I thought we could enjoy being a couple for a while.”

Catherine knew him well enough by now. She said, “You’re lying.”

He looked startled. “Why do you say that?”

She took a risk and said, “Then make love to me without it.”

Anguish filled his face. “I can’t.” He tried to kiss her but she turned her head away.

“Jeremy, I want the truth.”

“I don’t want you to have a child.” He moved away from her, rolling to her side.

“Why?” she asked, curious as to his reason. “Jenny is a girl. Surely, you need an heir.”

He took her hand and entwined their fingers. “My mother died in childbirth. I never knew her. I watched Father marry two more wives. Both Luke’s and Rachel’s mothers died in childbirth. Then I foolishly got Mary with child and she died after birthing Jenny.”

Jeremy touched her cheek. “I can’t lose you, Catherine,” he said hoarsely. “Not after all those years apart. Besides, Luke can be my heir. You don’t ever have to risk your health in order to give me a son. I won’t let you.”

Catherine saw this was a way to get out of her marriage. It wouldn’t hide the ugly truth that would come out later. If anything, she could trust Statham to publicly divulge what he knew. But by then, she and Leah could be far away.

She braced herself for she knew her words would wound him deeper than any knife.

“Let me?Letme? You let me marry you, thinking I would become a mother, what I’ve wanted my entire life.”

“You can be a mother,” he said stubbornly. “To Jenny. She needs you. Mothering her should satisfy your maternal instincts.”

“I want children of my own as well, Jeremy,” she said angrily. “I assumed I wanted your children. Now that I know how deeply you deceived me, you are the last person I’d ever couple with. You are not the man I thought you were.”

Catherine paused before her voice broke and then softly said, “If you refuse me in this, then I don’t wish to be wed to you.”

“What?” He sat up quickly. “No, you don’t mean that, Catherine. You couldn’t.”

She swallowed. “I do. I want a child. Many of them. I can’t imagine my life—or our marriage—without children. My mother only had Leah and me and I always wished I could have had several more brothers and sisters. Children are what give a marriage purpose. They’re everything I’ve dreamed of for as long as I can recall.”

“I love you, Catherine,” he said, determination filling his face. “I’m not prepared to fill your belly with my seed and then see you perish when we can live and love and be happy together.”

She slowly shook her head. “You don’t seem to understand. If you won’t give me children, then I entered this marriage under false pretenses. I’m not willing to stay wed to a man who denies me the very thing I want most in life.”

Jeremy cradled her face in his large hands. “I love you, Catherine. I know you love me. Can we not be enough for each other?” Misery filled his face.

Catherine divorced herself of every feeling she had for this man. To save him, she must lose him.

“No, Jeremy. I want an annulment.”

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