by Diana Fraser
“No.” She shook her head, frowning, wondering how he could believe that, after everything that had happened. “It’s not like that.”
“It think it is, but it’s okay.”
“Okay? So... you believe I set out to use you and yet you’re still talking to me?”
“I’m here because it wasn’t only the company and the child. You wanted something else from me, something I hadn’t given you enough of in the brief time we were together. Something I’m determined to give you every day of our lives together.”
She smiled and raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”
“You know...” He tugged her to him and kissed her. “You know.”
“Maybe,” she said when she emerged from another kiss. “But I’d like to hear you say it.”
“I never told you I loved you, although I did. I never showed you that I loved you, although I felt it. And I’m never going to stop showing you how much I love you for the rest of my life.”
She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest. “I like the sound of that.”
EPILOGUE
The night breeze was warm against Taina’s face as she sat on deck, watching the island grow ever larger. She could just make out a dark silhouette at the window. He was in the lounge, with the fire’s flames flickering behind him. Just as he had been that first night, eighteen months before. It seemed a lifetime away.
Suddenly bright green lights, shot with palest pink, floated up into the sky and she gasped in delight. She never tired of the northern lights—aurora borealis—but tonight, as they unfurled like celestial flowers against the star-studded sky, they seemed extra special as she held her sleepy little girl close, and her new secret even closer. She shivered. But not from cold, from anticipation.
“Papa!” Mirette stuck out her arms as Daidan opened the door and he picked her up with swoop and gave her a big hug before turning to Taina.
“Mustn’t forget your Mama,” he said, brushing his lips against hers.
“I’ll make sure you don’t,” said Taina.
“Sounds interesting,” replied Daidan as he took Mirette down the corridor to her room.
Taina went to the bedroom to shower while Daidan read Mirette her bedtime story. By the time she’d returned to the lounge, dressed only in a silk robe, Daidan was back in his position by the fire.
“That was quick,” said Taina, turning the lock on the door behind her. “Is she asleep?”
“She was fast asleep before I got to the bottom of the page. Now, come here.”
“Is that a command?”
“It certainly is.”
“In that case, I’ll think I’ll stay here.” She smiled as she perched on the edge of the couch, causing her robe to fall open and his gaze to drop to her bare thighs.
“So I can admire you better?”
“Of course. And while you’re admiring me, you can tell me how the meeting with Anton Kuzmich went.”
“Very satisfactory. They’re being as cordial as they’ll ever be and they’re keeping to our agreement. And as formidable as Anton is, he’s far more reasonable than his father. We’ve nothing to fear from them anymore.”
“Good.” It was as they’d anticipated. Their association with the Australian mines, now run single-handedly by Amelia, was going from strength to strength and it was a relief to know that there were no longer any threats—either personal or business—coming from the Kuzmich family.
“And you, Taina? You’re later than I thought. How did your meeting go?”
“Very well. My new design has been made up. They used the diamonds we chose.”
“What was the design again?”
“A pendant. A very sexy pendant designed to hang low. I have it on.”
“Show me.”
This time it was a command she wanted to obey. She walked over to him and slowly shrugged off her robe and let it fall to the floor. The heat of the open fire warmed her back and Daidan’s gaze warmed her front which was dressed only in a diamond pendant that dangled between her breasts.
His throat convulsed as he reached out and traced the chain down to her breasts, before taking the diamond cluster in his fingers and turning it back and forth in the firelight, causing shards of light to flicker across the walls. Then his gaze caught hers and entranced, she watched as he licked the diamond before brushing first one nipple and then the other with it. She gasped and clenched her muscles inside as she tried to contain her arousal.
“It’s beautiful, Taina. The setting you designed enhances its shape and color.”
“I’m glad you like it. But that’s not all I have to show you.”
“Really?”
She took his hand and brought his palm to her mouth where she kissed it. Then she moved it down her neck, over her breasts and the diamond which lay between them, and down to her stomach where she stopped. He tried to move his hand down further to her sex, which was so ready for him, but she resisted.
“Taina?”
She moved his palm over her stomach in a brief caress, watching his reaction all the while. She could see the moment he understood. It was there, in the expression of his brown eyes, warm in the reflected firelight. He kissed her. “You’re pregnant.”
She nodded. “Confirmed by Dr Linna this afternoon. A little brother for Mirette to play with.”
He kissed her again except this time his passion was unchecked as he trailed kisses down her neck to her breasts. Then he lay her down before the fire and kissed her stomach, his hands caressing the place where a new life was forming. Then he moved down further and kissed her lower, where she ached for him. She closed her eyes and submitted to the bliss of his touch, a touch that promised a future full of the things she’d always wanted—love and a baby by her most beloved sheikh.
THE END
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Daidan and Taina’s story. Reviews are always welcome—they help me, and they help prospective readers to decide if they’d enjoy the book.
Other books in the Desert Kings series are Wanted—A Wife for the Sheikh (Book 1), The Sheikh’s Bargain Bride (Book 2), The Sheikh’s Lost Lover (Book 3), Awakened by the Sheikh (Book 4), Claimed by the Sheikh (Book 5) and Wanted: A Baby by the Sheikh (Book 6).
If you’ve read all my other Desert Kings books, why not try my Mackenzies six-book series, set in New Zealand featuring the brothers and friends of the Mackenzie family? It begins with The Real Thing. Here’s the description:
After an itinerant childhood, art restorer Lucia yearns for what other people have—a home, husband and children. There's no way she’s going to get involved with a commitment-phobe again and Guy takes the concept of a commitment-phobe to a whole new level. But their lives become entwined when Lucia proves his 'forgery' is genuine and reveals a mysterious past from which neither can escape...
Check my website for more information about my books. You can also sign up to my newsletter here.
Happy reading!
Diana
The Mackenzies—Book 1—Guy and Lucia
Excerpt
He stopped in his tracks then, looked into the darkening sky and sucked in a harsh breath. He took both her hands in his, his eyes searching her own. “Have you listened to yourself recently? The woman abandoned you, and you insist on being reasonable.”
“There’s no point in being otherwise.”
“Okay.” He reached out and drew back the strands of hair that had escaped her band and which were blowing horizontal in the wind, and kept his hand lightly pressed to her head. With his other hand, he lifted her chin until her face was close to his. “Now tell me again… how do you really feel?”
Tears pricked her eyes. She tried not to think about it, to never let herself dwell on things denied her. It was history, right? What was the point?
“How do you feel?” he repeated.
She licked her lips that tasted of the salt that filled the turbulent air. “Honestly?” She closed her eyes. “Ok
ay. Abandoned, still. Still a little bit broken.” She opened her eyes again, this time refusing to look away from his intense gaze. “A bit scared of opening up to anything, anyone, who might leave me again.”
He shook his head slowly. “You’re so scared. I could see it in your eyes the moment I first saw you.”
She shook her head. “No. Impossible. I… I hide my feelings. No one—”
He pressed his finger lightly against her mouth. “Don’t protest. I know what I saw.”
She hesitated. Part of her didn’t want the conversation to go down that track, but part of her was seduced by the thought of Guy seeing her for who she was, truly understanding her. “And what did you see?”
“A beautiful woman who was hurting inside… hurting so much that that hurt had become a part of her that she scarcely acknowledged anymore, probably didn’t even know was there. That’s what heartache is like, isn’t it Lucia? It worms its way in until it becomes a part of everything you do.”
Before she could answer, he kissed her, with a touch so gentle and yet so powerful that the shadows of fear and hurt that formed a hard, tight ball deep inside her, softened and dissipated for a moment.
When he pulled away, she felt herself sway toward him, not wanting the warmth and tenderness to leave her. He smiled and swept his thumb across her lips.
“I’m sorry. I’m a creature of impulse. If I see hurt, I want to kiss it better. Did I succeed?”
She swallowed, trying to shift her focus away from his lips and back to reality. His hand still lingered on her cheek, and she placed hers over it and smiled. “What hurt?”
Diana’s Books
Desert Kings
Wanted—A Wife for the Sheikh (Book 1)
The Sheikh’s Bargain Bride (Book 2)
The Sheikh’s Lost Lover (Book 3)
Awakened by the Sheikh (Book 4)
Claimed by the Sheikh (Book 5)
Wanted—A Baby by the Sheikh (Book 6)
The Mackenzies
The Real Thing (Book 1)
PA’s Revenge (Book 2)
The Marriage Trap (Book 3)
The Cowboy’s Craving (Book 4)
The Playboy’s Redemption (Book 5)
The Lakehouse Café (Book 6)
New Zealand Brides
Yours to Give (May 2017)
Yours to Treasure (August 2017)
Yours to Cherish (November 2017)
Italian Romance
Perfect
Her Retreat
Trusting Him
An Accidental Christmas
<<<<>>>>
Sensual, Emotionally Intense Romance…
For more information on Diana Fraser’s romance books, please visit her website:
http://www.dianafraser.net