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‘But you—regretted it.’

  ‘Only because you did.’ Faint colour darkened his cheeks. ‘Olivia, when I awakened and found you gone … I didn’t know what to think. Then, when I heard you talking with Jules, begging him to take you away, I was sick to my stomach.’

  ‘But you stopped him,’ she reminded him softly, and he nodded.

  ‘A dirty trick, as you pointed out. But it had to be done. I couldn’t let you go away with a man like him, and then, afterwards …’ he shrugged, ‘I convinced myself that I was to blame for ruining your life.’

  ‘Oh, Richard!’ Impulsively, she kissed his lips, and he was not immune to the lingering sweetness of her mouth.

  ‘I love you,’ he muttered huskily, when at last he drew back. ‘Marry me. Marry me—and soon. I couldn’t live through another couple of months like these.’

  Olivia’s lips quivered. ‘I have something to tell you, too.’

  He shook his head. ‘Whatever it is, it can wait.’

  ‘No.’ She drew back to look at him. ‘It can’t.’

  ‘What is it?’ Anxiety had entered his eyes, and his face was so strained, she wondered how she could have been so blind for so long.

  ‘I—I’m going to have a baby,’ she said without preamble, and waited for the strain to disappear.

  ‘What?’

  His reactions were not what she had expected, and almost nervously she whispered: ‘I’m pregnant. I’m going to have your child. That’s—that’s why I have to rest. I—I haven’t really hurt my back. I did fall, but I—I almost miscarried the baby, that’s all.’

  ‘God!’ To her dismay, he drew right away from her and got off the bed, staring down at her almost angrily. ‘Pregnant! God Almighty! Why didn’t I think of that?’

  Olivia knelt, facing him. ‘So? Does it matter?’ she breathed anxiously. ‘I mean—are you—angry?’

  ‘Angry!’ He raked back his hair with shaking fingers. ‘No, I’m not angry. I’m—stunned!’ He paced to the end of the bed and back again. ‘Why didn’t I think of anything like this? Why didn’t I suspect …’

  Olivia was really concerned now. ‘What do you mean—suspect? Why should you suspect?’

  ‘You! Your coming here.’ Richard’s mouth contorted. ‘God knows, I found it hard enough to believe, but I wanted to believe it. So like the fool that I am, I did!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You!’ Richard’s face was tormented. ‘I should have known. I should have guessed. Bella should have warned me.’

  ‘She didn’t know. Until today—yesterday. Nor did I. Not definitely, anyway. Richard, what aye you saying? You don’t want me now I’m going to—to swell up like a balloon?’

  ‘No!’ His denial was contemptuous. ‘You know I’ll always want you.’

  ‘Then what is it?’

  ‘Don’t patronise me, Olivia. I can take it.’ He was pale and haggard. ‘And don’t imagine you have to put on this act for my sake. If you’re pregnant, then of course I’ll marry you. There was no need for this pretence——’

  ‘Pretence! Pretence!’ Olivia scrambled off the bed. ‘Richard, I love you. I love you! Oh, God! You’ve got to believe me!’

  He stared at her, and she could see the yearning uncertainty he was trying to hide. ‘You shouldn’t be out of bed,’ he said, automatically, and she agreed.

  ‘I know, I know. But if you think I only told you I loved you because of the baby, then I hope I lose it. If I have to choose, I’ll choose you every time.’

  ‘Olivia …’

  ‘It’s true!’ She stumbled against him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face to the sweat-moistened skin of his chest. ‘Do you honestly think I’d go through with this marriage, just to get a father for my child? Richard, there are abortions! And if that’s what it takes to prove it to you, I’m willing.’

  ‘Oh, Olivia …’ With a groan, he swung her up into his arms and deposited her on the bed again, stretching his length beside her, absurdly gentle after the way he had treated her earlier. ‘You’re not just saying that?’

  She pulled him down to her with a distinct disregard for gentleness. ‘Richard, make love to me. Now—here. I’ll prove what I say is true. If you’ll let me.’

  ‘Isn’t that dangerous?’ he demanded thickly, but Olivia was already burrowing beneath his shirt, and he was totally incapable of resisting her.

  Almost a year later, Richard’s Mercedes turned between the gates of Copley, with Richard himself at the wheel. It was a crisp autumn day, and the trees in the park were already shedding their leaves. Those that remained provided a muted rainbow of colour, shading from honey-yellow to deepest umber, and Olivia, seated beside her husband, nestled a little closer to him. It was chilly after the heat of Dom Joachim, but she was not sorry to be home. So long as she was with Richard, she didn’t care where they were, and to see him looking so tanned and well was a satisfying reflection of their love for one another.

  Richard’s smile was possessive as it rested on her, but she didn’t mind. She had learned how sweet possession could be, and these last four weeks, having him all to herself at last, she had experienced ecstasy.

  ‘I expect you’re longing to see him,’ Richard remarked dryly, as the ivy-hung walls of their home came into sight, and Olivia didn’t pretend not to understand what he was saying.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she murmured, remembering the chubby four-month-old baby she had left behind. It had been a wrench, but it had been more than worth it. ‘Aren’t you?’ she added, allowing her hand to curve around his thigh, and he stilled those teasing fingers with lazy reluctance.

  ‘I guess so,’ he agreed, looking into her caressing eyes. ‘But I’ve no doubt Bella’s been in the seventh heaven, having him all to herself for a month. She’s probably even taught Alex how to change nappies.’ He shook his head reminiscently. ‘Our son. Something tells me he won’t be an only child.’

  Olivia gurgled with laughter, but then she sobered, resting her head against his shoulder. ‘Oh, darling, I love you so much. You do believe that now, don’t you? I’ve never been so happy.’

  Richard brought the car to a halt and turned to her urgently, these past weeks of their belated honeymoon not nearly enough to satisfy him. ‘You’re mine,’ he said, with evident satisfaction, and there was no denying the truth of that. ‘My wife, my mistress, and the mother of my children. Can you take that kind of commitment?’

  ‘Easily,’ she breathed. ‘Can you?’ probing his waistcoat with a caressing finger.

  Richard thrust open his door and got out as Bella appeared on the steps of the house, young Steven Jenner in her arms. ‘Not now,’ Richard said huskily, a humorous twist to his mouth. ‘But later, Mrs Jenner, definitely later …’ And she took his arm as they walked towards the house.

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  IMPRINT: Sexy

  ISBN: 9781488708251

  TITLE: MELTING FIRE

  First Australian Publication 2014

  Copyright © 2014 Anne Mather

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Mills & Boon®, Level 4, 132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, N.S.W., Australia 2060.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the p
roduct of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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