Page 37 of Pregnant After One Forbidden Night

“I want you and the baby to stay here at Redcliff. Beginning immediately,” he said, anticipating and not being disappointed by the surprise that flashed across her face. It was good to be the one throwing her for loops again.

“Live with you?” she repeated.

He nodded. “Beginning immediately. You can enjoy a long and luxuriously pampered pregnancy, followed by a harrowing labor you will never completely forget, and then both you and our child can reside here at Redcliff, where we will raise them together.”

“You’ve got it all figured out,” she said quietly.

Eyeing her closely, he gave a slow nod. “Only if you agree.”

“And if I don’t?” she asked.

“I anticipated your agreement.”

The bald statement elicited a dry laugh from her. “How do you propose we raise our child when there is no we?”

Hardness came to his voice. “I will be a part of my child’s life, Jenna.”

Rather than being intimidated, her voice grew in strength to match his in intensity. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said, “I would expect no less. Nevertheless, we are not in any way, shape or form a parental unit, or a unit of any kind for that matter. Therefore, we have to decide how we are going to manage this together.” She punctuated her words with one hand while the other rested over their growing child.

“Acknowledging that you’ve only recently become aware of it, we have had a long and productive track record of working very well together. I don’t imagine parenting will be any less demanding than ensuring the security of the royal family. I am confident we have the required skills,” he said.

“Did it occur to you that I might not want to stay here that long? Wrecked thought it may be, I have my own life.”

“No one is suggesting you don’t have a life, Jenna,” he said, dismissing her flare of temper as he would a child’s fit. “In fact, I believe it was I who suggested the opposite. What we are talking about is a matter of practicality. Here you have all of the resources of Redcliff at your disposal to ensure our child has the safest and healthiest environment to grow up within. As we are both aware of the fact that you are not currently employed and are residing with your parents, I would think it was the obvious best solution, with the smallest impact to your life, to prepare for the birth of our child and raise them in residence here, cared for with the whole world at your fingertips.”

Anger lit her eyes with a peppery spark at the same time as it brought color to her cheeks, visible even in the low night light.

“And what was your plan for the two of us, in all of your wisdom?”

He shrugged, hedging. “I assumed we would have our hands full with parenting.”

“And what happens when you get tired of playing house? Or when you identify your next conquest?”

“This is not a game to me, Jenna,” he said, deadly serious. “You are carrying my child and heir.”

“So, you plan to give up philandering when you become a father?”

“It had been my plan,” he said testily.

Her breath caught at his words, but she stubbornly clung to the point she was trying to make.

“What about me? What happens when I am ready to move on? I told you I wanted a full life, with love and family,” she pushed.

Something dark and dangerous moved inside him at the idea of Jenna moving on from him. He did not own her, he knew it logically, but that made her no less his. They were having a child together. That meant something more than romantic pleasure. Fair or not, he would not accept the image of her with another man. Yes, it meant a lifetime of fighting the desire that existed between, that threatened to carry them away with a force equal to the canyon carving the Soleil River he loved, but whatever logic worked in her mind, he was certain that its conclusion matched the picture in his mind: the two of them raising their child together. There was no room in that picture for another man. In fact, the mere idea lit his blood with cold fire.

“I would advise against that,” he said.

“You can’t just keep us locked away forever,” she said softly.

Agitated he sped up, strides lengthening as he replied, “And I don’t intend to.”

Catching up to him, she said, “What did you intend with all of your grand plans? You have many of them I assume.”

He did. He had begun putting details into place as soon as he had learned she was pregnant.

He had not questioned that the child was his. He had a sixth sense for truth, and this situation was no different.

He had not attempted to sway or control her behavior. He respected her...knew she had the integrity to mother his child. Nor had it even crossed his mind to take their child from her. He had simply begun making arrangements for their future.

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