Captive Hearts (Hearts on Fire Book 2)

by L. M. Connolly

  He took her hand, something inside him lightening at her touch. “Thank you. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

  Although she nodded, she didn’t look happy.

  He tucked his hand in his pocket and came out with his phone. Keeping her gaze, he answered it. “Sure. We’ll be there.”

  Putting the phone back in his pocket, he told her, “We have an appointment in Harley Street in the morning. Then we’ll know for sure.” He grinned. “Probably take the back way out for that one.”

  She swallowed. “Yes, okay.”

  He didn’t like seeing her so nervous. That wasn’t like her. “Come on, I’ll show you the hotel.”

  That perked her up. She got to her feet and brushed her dress down. “I need to clean up.”

  He showed her to the half bath. Ten minutes later she emerged, makeup freshened and hair tidied. She was learning already. He was proud of her. Taking her hand once more, just because he wanted to, he guided her out of the suite, where his bodyguard waited. Usually he didn’t bother using security in the hotel, but he wanted her to have a taste of what lay in store for her.

  “See that?” He pointed to the ceiling where a piece of the molding was misaligned.

  “Yes. But only you would notice it.”

  “It’s enough,” he said grimly. “There are spots like that through the whole hotel.”

  The grates of the elevator ground back as the car arrived. He winced.

  She nudged him and laughed. “That’s nothing. Wait until your kitchen catches fire.”

  Startled, he shot a glance at her. She was still laughing when she pointed at him and said, “Gotcha.”

  Despite her teasing, she noticed things. Pointed out a dark patch in the corner of a ceiling in the sixth floor hallway that he’d put down to wear and tear. She suggested it might be a touch of mold. Ethan took a photo of it to look at later, but once he studied the patch more carefully—damn, she was right.

  “If you think your contract to supervise the renovation of the Woodward is anything to do with what is happening between us, you can think again,” he murmured. “I would have snapped you up for that job in a hot minute.”

  “Thank you.” A delectable flush stained her neck and then disappeared. He should compliment her more often. But in this case he meant it.

  They stepped into the elevator and Ethan waved the black suit off. She didn’t need their bodyguard. In any case, he wanted to kiss her.

  When the door slid open on the floor below he was still kissing her. She had the most luscious lips and he’d missed their physical connection, her warmth and smiles. At one point today he’d feared he’d never know them again.

  Ethan set himself to showing his fiancée the deficiencies in the hotel, and why refurbishment had to happen. Standing in one of the first class bedrooms, he watched her take note of everything. The room was still acceptable, but the people who slept here wanted more than that. They wouldn’t go on the internet and complain, they’d just move on. The upholstery wasn’t as bright, the sheets had more starch because they were limp and aging.

  “How will you do the renovations?” she asked him.

  He knew that response inside out, and the variations of it. She deserved the bare truth. “There are a lot of advantages to closing and then having a grand reopening, which will happen. But the renovations will start while the hotel is still open. I’m looking at doing it floor by floor. When we close the front doors, we’ll renovate the main rooms. Nobody from the public will see them until they’re done.”

  She listened to his plans, clearly fascinated by the history of the hotel. Another link between them clicked into place. He’d never had a girlfriend, or a lover for that matter, who was interested in his work. They were too busy dealing with their own lives. The sense of companionship, of sharing the burden was new to him and he found he liked it. Instinctively, he trusted Scarlett. Nothing he had discovered about her contradicted his initial feeling about her. That reassured him. His gut feeling had been an important part of his decision-making process. “The board wants to downgrade the hotel.”

  “What?” She swept an arm around, indicating the room and the rest of the hotel. “But this is gorgeous! This place deserves to be celebrated.”

  He loved that her immediate response was the same as his.

  “Is it losing money?” she asked.

  “Not yet.” He turned to the window and gazed out over the lush greenery of Hyde Park. “But it will if they cut the luxury. There are savings to be made, no doubt about it, but not by cheapening the experience.”

  “A millionaire’s view,” she said softly, coming up beside him.

  He pivoted on one heel, catching her shoulders with his hands. “Oh, no. This is a millionaire’s view.”

  Bending his head and drawing her close, he kissed her.

  Ethan had never felt so close to anyone else in his life. Even his brother Ronan who’d shared many of his troubles didn’t understand him like this. Ronan was into cars and engines. That had never interested Ethan, apart from their efficiency and beauty. The intricacies of car engines didn’t concern him.

  What did was this. Especially this. The woman in his arms fit this place more than any other. She belonged because she understood. And more, she responded to him like a living flame.

  She melted into his arms. He accepted her trust, felt honored by it. Cupping the back of her head, he deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue deep, breaking off to kiss her from a different angle, taste her in a different way, possess as much of her as he could.

  And give her himself. He would gladly lose part of himself in her if this was the reward. Total surrender. Scarlett gave herself to him in every way possible. He needed that now. When his carefully ordered world threatened to get away from him, he could always find her and she would give him what he needed without a word being exchanged.

  His efforts to make her understand the world she was entering paid off tenfold now. He slid one hand down to flatten his palm over her delectable bottom. Her curves fit him perfectly.

  Reminding her how good they were together would only bind them closer together, help them present a united front to the world.

  Marrying Scarlett no longer felt like a reluctant chore he had to accomplish on his way to saving the hotel group. It was a necessity. Baby or not, they should do this, and discover what happened next together.

  She moaned into his mouth, and set her hands on him, one on his hip, the other roaming over his back, working down to his ass, before curling around to his front. He’d pressed her close, but now he released her enough to create a little space between them.

  Taking the unsubtle hint, she took hold of his erection. Hard and straining. He wanted nothing more than to have her do that with no layers of clothing between them. They were ten feet from the bed. It seemed like an impossible distance. But closer, a built-in dresser occupied the wall on the other side of the window. Barely a yard.

  Turning her brought her resting against the edge of the vanity. She still had hold of him, and now she could slip her hand down the front of his pants and open the fastening that held the waistband together. Sliding the zipper down, she pushed her hand inside. Only his boxers separated them now, and that was an easy fix.

  By the time she’d found her way to his naked cock, he’d worked the zipper down the side of her blouse. When he slid his hand inside, he found a soft bra, the cups pushing her breasts up into their delectable shape. Half cups. Gorgeous. Very different to the shabby old bra she was wearing the first time they’d slept together. That had made him smile, because it was obvious she’d worn them on purpose to put him off. He’d barely noticed her underwear at the time, only later when he’d tidied the clothes strewn around the floor.

  Her nipples were already peaked, but he tugged them between finger and thumb, hearing her responsive moan with deep satisfaction.

  Until she turned her head and then pushed him away.

  She’d abandoned his cock so fast he c
ouldn’t bear the separation, and ground against her. Still in their kiss, he took a moment to catch up with her. For some reason she didn’t want this.

  Ethan’s mood plummeted, but he could take a hint. However, when he made to step back and give her some space, Scarlett dragged him back. “Wait. Does this window have one-way glass?”

  Oh, right. They were doing this in front of a window overlooking Hyde Park, and they were only four floors up. Damn, he had never forgotten himself before, never thrown everything to the winds. If he indulged in public displays of affection, he did it deliberately, with a definite end in mind.

  He left her, turning into the room so he could put himself to rights.

  She smoothed her hair back into place. “What on earth were you doing?”

  At least he hadn’t stripped that blouse off her. Once she zipped up she was reasonably respectable again, which was more than could be said for him. “I was hungry,” he said. “For you.”

  Her back was to him, but that didn’t hide her responsive shudder. Deep inside, despite his frustration, warmth crept through him. He might have gotten carried away, but so did she. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, and that was a good thing.

  Although the kind of intimacy she seemed to be demanding out of bed gave him hives. Nothing in his experience gave him any expectation of success in that area. He pushed away from the end of the bed, where he’d gone to put himself in order. “Listen,” he said. “I need to go to New York for the next damned board meeting. I want you with me.”

  “At the meeting?”

  “Sure. The rest of the board members bring their family. Advisers, they call themselves, and claim the expenses for doing it. So you can be my adviser.”

  “Do you want me to claim expenses?”

  “No,” he said with feeling. “I want to stop that particular loophole. If you want expenses, I’ll give them to you personally.”

  The look she shot him spoke of a different kind of payment. He’d certainly pay that, whenever she called in the debt. “Unless you want me to close the drapes and carry on where we left off, I suggest we continue our tour.”

  Why had he said that? His cock had barely subsided, and now it was showing definite interest again. If he didn’t have her soon, he might well burst.

  *

  The next morning they were up early, and on their way to the doctor in Harley Street. Scarlett wasn’t at all nervous about doctors; she’d used that as an excuse.

  Truthfully, she’d wanted to enjoy her dream a little while longer. To even imagine she could be pregnant made her happy.

  She’d spent the night in Ethan’s suite, but not his bed, for which she was grateful. That gave her a night on her own to assimilate the changes in her life. Dizzying and fast, they were piling up until she wasn’t sure she could take any more.

  Her verbal agreement to the marriage had given her time. So had the promise of an engagement rather than a fast marriage. But the hotel had gone. Whatever happened next, it didn’t include the Woodward, apart from the time she’d spend overseeing the refurbishment. There was more, she knew it. Boutique hotels were growing in popularity, but surely Ethan wanted to do more than that. In a growing market he needed something to stand out, though she had no idea what that was.

  The contracts she’d signed didn’t cover confidentiality, apart from what was happening at the Woodward. So she’d find out soon.

  Lying in the huge, luxurious bed in the second bedroom of the suite, Scarlett felt alone, adrift, and then, remembering the money that had landed in her bank account, happy.

  She could continue her career in resort hospitality, or buy another hotel out of London. Somehow she’d find a way to celebrate the connection her family had to the Woodward. Maybe even retain the name.

  When she woke in the morning, she felt refreshed. Lying flat on her back she stared at the bright white ceiling. “Bring it on.”

  Rolling out of bed, she headed for the bathroom.

  Taking more care than usual with her appearance, she didn’t emerge for an hour.

  Ethan was sitting at a table fully laid for breakfast, an array of silver dishes emitting delicious aromas. “Come and sit down. I thought you’d never come out.”

  “I could hibernate in that room.”

  He grinned. “And I could hibernate with you, except we have an appointment in”—he glanced at the TAG Heuer on his wrist—“less than an hour. Will you be ready to leave soon?”

  Engrossed in helping herself to bacon, scrambled eggs, and mushrooms, she only nodded.

  “You look gorgeous, by the way.”

  She glanced down at the black skirt and matching shirt she wore. Someone had sent some clothes across from her favorite store. Glad she didn’t have to put on yesterday’s clothes, she wouldn’t ask where they’d come from. She’d also found a selection of high-end makeup still sealed, which she’d also used.

  “Thank you.” Today, they took the back way out of the hotel, where a shiny black limo stood waiting for them. It purred into life as Ethan courteously opened the door for her.

  The journey only took twenty minutes. Scarlett clutched her handbag all the way, concentrating on her breathing.

  Although she was more used to a crowded doctor’s surgery than the hushed and luxurious sitting area in this maternity clinic, the fear was the same. Sitting in these places waiting for the results of tests had been part of her life. And just like before, Scarlett’s stomach tensed. Even though she was an old hand at this stuff, and she told herself there was no chance she was pregnant, the tension still rose as they waited for the doctor.

  The nurse called her aside, and gave her a vial. “Can you fill it?”

  Easily, as it turned out. She sat down again, shooting Ethan a glance. “If that’s all they’re going to do, we could have stopped at the nearest chemist’s.”

  “I want to be sure.” He flicked over a page in the interior design magazine he’d picked up from the stand, the sound loud in the silence.

  “Ethan—” She was about to tell him she was sure she wasn’t pregnant and ask him if they could go when the nurse returned.

  “If you’ll follow me.”

  Half an hour later, Scarlett was buttoning her shirt, still trying to take in the dazzling news.

  She was pregnant. Really pregnant. Actually, absolutely pregnant. Maybe if she kept repeating the word she’d believe it.

  Ready to face the music, she went out to where Ethan waited for her, in a chair opposite the wide, mahogany desk the doctor occupied.

  “Congratulations,” the man said. “If I’m to care for you for the next nine months, I’ll need you to sign a few forms. You’re giving me permission to access your medical records.”

  Of course. “I do have one thing that you need to know.” She sounded hoarse. She cleared her throat. “My doctor calls it premature ovarian failure.”

  Dr. Bryan cocked a brow. “Then you’re very lucky.”

  Ethan might not think so. Scarlett risked a glance at him. He seemed his usual, smooth self, but he turned an interested gaze on to her. He didn’t have to say anything.

  “I have low fertility. My periods are infrequent and scanty.”

  “Have you taken clomiphene citrate?” Dr. Bryan asked her, making a note on his iPad.

  “I did before. Years ago, when I was engaged to someone else.” Heat rose up her neck. Talking about previous boyfriends wasn’t what she was used to. “It didn’t work.”

  “Hmm. Did your doctor then investigate?”

  She nodded.

  His smile held no shade, unlike Ethan’s. She’d have to explain to him later.

  He didn’t even wait until they’d returned to the hotel, but swiveled in his seat in the car to face her. “You mean we defied the odds? We used protection, you’re close to infertile and still we got pregnant?”

  “Yes.” When he reached for her hand, she snatched it back. “I never imagined I was pregnant. Even when one of the tests said positive I didn�
�t believe it. Peter and I tried so hard.”

  She stopped when she saw the expression on his face; hard and forbidding. “I don’t want to know what you were like in the past. It seems we have the magic key, because you are definitely pregnant.”

  Although she waited for the accusations, they never came. She could have been with anybody before or after him, but Ethan didn’t ask. Did he trust her to tell the truth, or didn’t he care? Was her pregnancy an excuse for him to continue with his plans to defeat the board of directors at the Noir?

  She didn’t know for sure but she wanted it to be because he accepted her and believed her word.

  “You’re the father.”

  “Of course I am,” he said impatiently. “You’d have told me if I wasn’t. You know what I want to do, but you could have used that against me, claimed somebody else was the father and turned down the marriage.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  His expression softened infinitesimally. “I’m used to thinking the angles before somebody else does,” he explained. “But you—you’re not like that. You don’t think that way. Having you on my side will be interesting. I value your opinion because you’re not used to devious thinking. Sometimes I miss the obvious.” He leaned forward and this time she didn’t stop him capturing her hand. “Like the fact that I’m going to be a father,” he added softly.

  When he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back, it didn’t just feel like an old-fashioned gesture of gallantry; it felt like a promise.

  *

  Scarlett tried very hard not to be impressed when she realized she was to travel to New York on a private plane. At least it wasn’t just Ethan and her, otherwise she’d have joined the mile-high club, judging by the way he looked at her. Several times. There was no separate bedroom here.