“But—you promised!” she sobbed.
“And unlike you, I never break my word.” His handsome face was cold as he looked down at her. “You will never be my mistress. But I swear to you now—you will be my wife.”
The night was dark as Diogo's black heart.
Their SUV was covered with mud as they traveled over a rough road into the deep of the jungle. With her window rolled down a crack, she could smell the exotic flowers of the dark forest, hear the eerie howls of spider monkeys and the call of night birds.
Ellie saw a tiny ruined church with peeling white paint that was half-swallowed by jungle.
“I can't marry you,” she said desperately. “Please!”
He didn't even glance her way. “It's for the best.”
“The best for you, you mean.”
He turned to her. His eyes were dark, half-hidden in shadow. “I don't understand why you continue to refuse me.”
“No, of course you wouldn't!” she said sarcastically. “No woman ever refuses you anything!”
“You are the first.” He leaned forward with a frown. “Why? Why do you want our children to be born without a father, without a name? Don't you know the devastation it will cause them? You want me so badly I can feel the heat from your body whenever I draw near. Why do you persist in refusing what we both want?”
“Because… Because I want more!” she cried out.
“More what? More money? More? I do not understand! I offer you what I've never offered any woman.” He sounded exasperated, even bewildered. “I've asked you to be my bride.”
“You're not asking anything. You're forcing me.” She looked away, suddenly fighting tears. “And that should be enough for a woman like me, I suppose. I'm knocked up and have no money, and you're kindly offering to take care of me. I should be grateful, right?”
He ground his teeth. “Enough of this. You won't see reason. Tá bom. It doesn't change your fate.”
Picking her up in his arms, he carried her into the church.
Five minutes later, the village priest was smiling down at her with kind but bleary eyes, drunkenly swaying on his feet as he spoke the words that would marry them.
At least, Ellie assumed that was what he was doing. It was all in Portuguese.
He turned to Diogo, asking a question.
“Sim,” Diogo said with a pleasant nod.
The priest turned to her with the same question.
“No,” she gasped out. “No! I won't!”
Looking bemused, the priest turned his red, rheumy eyes questioningly on Diogo. He shrugged with a smile, then turned with a tender expression to his bride. Smoothing his arrogant expression into a smile, Diogo replied to the man in the same language.
“Ah,” the priest said with a grin. And he started speaking the ceremonial words again.
“What did you tell him?” she bit out.
“I explained that you're reluctant to marry, due to an innocent bride's blushing modesty.”
“I'm standing here in a maternity dress!”
“Fortunately, it's sometimes difficult for a man to tell the difference between early pregnancy and being a bit fat in the waist.”
She stiffened. “I wish to God I never let you touch me!”
“Strange, I don't remember that. Oh my God, my God, don't stop, Diogo,” he said mockingly. “I love you, I love you, I do!”
Her cheeks went hot with shame and she wished she could either die—or murder him! “That was a long time ago. I will kill you if you ever touch me again!”
His gaze traced her body in the white lace dress. “A very intriguing proposition,” he mused. “Will having you in my bed be worth the risk of death?” His eyes caressed her lips, her breasts. “I think it will.”
Self-consciously, she pulled the neckline a little higher over her swelling breasts.
The elderly priest lifted his hand to give benediction on their marriage. Diogo slipped a plain gold band on her finger, and it was finished.
She was Diogo's wife.
Mrs. Serrador.
Married to the man who'd seduced her. Who'd married her without mercy. Who'd stolen her pride along with her heart. Who'd gotten her pregnant with twins.
Who'd made her shiver with desire—who'd once made her love him….
Ellie's teeth chattered as their driver took them from the tiny, remote village on a winding dirt road. She stared out at the mysterious dark jungle, and thought of the life she'd dreamed of having as a girl. Growing up with parents who hated each other and blamed their only child for their wretched lives, she'd been so determined that her life would be different.
But now she'd been forced into marriage, just as they had been. And Diogo would cheat on her, just as her father had done to her mother. He would cheat. Then he would leave….