‘you don’t like being out of control.” He might not believe it, but she found no satisfaction in enthralling him sexually. Straight sexual hunger was nothing compared to love and respect.
‘I grew up learning self-discipline and control in the face of circumstances that would be impossible for many people.”
‘And the idea of a mere woman breaking through that terrifies you, doesn’t it?”
‘I am not afraid.” She couldn’t see him, but she could sure hear his affront.
‘Bad choice of words.”
‘I am not over there seducing you. I do have some self-control where you are concerned.”
But not a lot and he’d had to get out of the bed to exercise it. She didn’t rub that in, however. She had realized some time yesterday that she got no pleasure out of hurting him.
‘l’m sorry ”
‘sorry enough t
o let me make love to you?” She laughed at the absurdity of the question.
‘No way would you ever be able to accept sex based on pity.”
‘you would be surprised.”
His desire beat at her like a pulsing base in an orchestra of sensual composition.
Her own body’s needs warred with the thoughts going through her mind. This man had abandoned her and their baby. She could not trust him with her body again.
But he had also come back.
That fact had not struck her until a few months ago. He had been there when she was losing the baby because he had come to her apartment to see her. She didn’t know why and for a long time had not cared, but now she wondered.
‘Why did you come back?”
‘you said you were pregnant with my child.”
‘you didn’t believe it was yours.”
‘I realized it did not matter.”
‘What do you mean?” you believed the baby was mine. I would have married you. The baby would have been mine.”
‘you were prepared to marry me even though you thought I might be pregnant with another man’s child?”
‘This is the truth.”
Unbelievable! you weren’t willing to do that for Sofia.”
‘I was younger. Hot-headed. And she lied to me.”
‘you thought I lied to you.” He’d said so.
‘you told me what you wanted to be true. It is not the same. You believed it.”
While what he was saying touched her, the fact he still doubted her hurt.
‘lt was your baby.”
He didn’t reply for a long time and when the words did come they weren’t the ones she wanted to hear.