Page 32 of Claiming His Baby At The Altar

In the back of the car, she huddled herself against the door, trying to create as much distance from Ramos as she could.

She could still taste him on her tongue. Her lips still tingled manically. The hot, sticky sensation...it still simmered in waves.

‘Something troubling you,querida?’ he asked lightly.

‘No... Yes!’ Taking a deep breath, she faced him. ‘That was a mistake.’

‘What was?’

‘You know what.’

He pulled an innocent face. ‘The ballet?’

‘Stop playing games,’ she cried. ‘Our kiss.’

His eyes gleamed. ‘Ah,that.’

‘Yes, that. I don’t want you getting the wrong idea.’

He leaned his face closer and dropped his voice to a husky drawl. ‘Are you trying to tell me that I shouldn’t build my hopes up and expect you to throw yourself into my arms the minute the bedroom door is closed?’

Her skin danced just to imagine it. ‘Exactly.’

‘Then consider your message understood.’

‘Thank you.’

‘What we do in our bed will be up to you. If you wish to do nothing but sleep beside me then that is your right and I will respect your wishes.’ Nostrils flaring, he shifted ever closer so that his cheek was a tissue away from touching hers and whispered, ‘But just think, what we found the night we spent together... We can have that again,querida. And more. Much more.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

THEBEATSOFFlora’s heart were weighty as she climbed the villa’s stairs, Ramos close behind her.

His bedroom door loomed large.

Her bedroom door now.

Theirs.

She swallowed. ‘I’m going to check on Benjamin.’

Not waiting for a response, she opened the door opposite and tiptoed to the cot that had pride of place next to the king-size bed Benjamin would one day upgrade to.

He was fast asleep.

The urge to lift him into her arms and hold his comforting, solid weight to her chest was almost overwhelming but, knowing it would be pure selfishness to wake him, she settled for lightly stroking his soft hair.

She couldn’t use her son as a human shield against his father... No, not his father, she admitted painfully, but herself.

Benjamin’s cherubic sleeping face reminded her that she’d found the strength needed to carry her through a time when she could have easily crumbled under the weight of her fears and worries. In comparison to that time, sharing a bed with Ramos was trifling. Even if it didn’t feel trifling.

All she needed was to find her zen.

Breathing deeply and slowly, she willed her mind into a state of calm.

Only when her heart had slowed to a vaguely regular beat did she leave the nursery, filled with resolve that she could act and behave as if sharing a bed with her husband meant nothing more than the sleepovers she’d had with her school friends.

She entered the room her son had been conceived in for the first time since his conception. There was no sign of his father.

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