She smiled at his indignation, as the tightness in her chest, which had been there ever since that morning, dissolved. ‘That’s good to know.’
His gaze intensified, searing her skin all over again.
‘Surely you can see we must be wed now, Cara?’
The roughened ‘R’ as he said her name seemed to stroke across her swollen clitoris, making her powerless to deny the yearning this time. The silence in the room seemed to vibrate around them both, making her more aware of the liquid pull which had been there ever since she had first set eyes on him.
‘Épouse-moi, Cara,’ he murmured in guttural French.
Marry me, Cara.
He closed the gap between them and kissed her neck, sensing her weakness and exploiting it.
She arched against him as a sob of desire burst out of her mouth.
Need arrowed down, making her tender breasts ache and swell, and the sweet spot between her thighs engorge in a rush as he suckled the pulse point under her earlobe.
His breathing became as ragged as hers but, before she could surrender to the sensations surging through her body and give him the answer he wanted, she felt the familiar flutter of movement in her womb.
Maxim jerked back, his brows launching up his forehead.
‘C’est le bébé?’ he asked.
She nodded, unable to contain her grin—or the choking sensation in her throat—at his horrified expression. ‘Yes, it likes to kick.’
Going with instinct, she untied her bathrobe, took his limp hand, placed it on her naked belly, then pressed down. The baby responded instantly, not that impressed with having its living space impeded.
His dark gaze was stunned and wary when it met hers. ‘Il est très fort, ce bébé,’ he murmured. ‘It does not hurt you?’
‘No,’ she said, unable to resist a sad smile at his question, knowing it came from a place of fear. ‘The obstetrician last night said it’s just extremely active... Most women don’t feel the baby’s kick until twenty-five weeks in a first pregnancy. But it’s perfectly natural and just a sign of how healthy the baby is.’
She knew she was babbling but he didn’t seem to notice as he stared at her stomach as if he were trying to see right through the skin to his child beneath.
His hand slipped away from her stomach, before he nodded. ‘Dr Karim suggested we go to her clinic this morning for an ultrasound,’ he said. He glanced at his watch. ‘The concierge can bring some new clothes to the suite this morning to replace the ones that were destroyed. Once you are dressed, we can leave for Harley Street.’
It wasn’t a question, it was a demand, his gaze fixed on her face with its usual intensity, daring her to refuse him.
She sighed. Even though Dr Karim had been wonderful last night, she didn’t need an expensive Harley Street doctor when she already had a great obstetrics team at her local NHS hospital. But now she knew why it was so important to him to give her the best medical care money could buy, she didn’t have the heart to refuse him.
‘All right, Maxim. If you insist,’ she said.
‘I do,’ he said, as she knew he would.
‘I guess I should be grateful you’re going to supply me with clothes first,’ she managed, trying to lighten the mood before the emotion in her throat strangled her. Perhaps she was being naïve and too hopeful. But it felt like a positive step to have him care about the baby’s welfare, even if it did come from an irrational fear.
‘I am being very magnanimous,’ he murmured as he braced his hands above her head, caging her in again. ‘As I much prefer you naked.’
She laughed, but the sound came out husky and strained, the heat in her core flaring again. Surely his willingness to flirt with her again was also a good sign, she thought a little desperately.
Pressing his forehead to hers, Maxim murmured, ‘Cara, you must marry me. Please say yes.’
Unlike before, the proposal wasn’t a demand. Instead, he sounded tense, wary, concerned. Her stomach dropped, the faint flutters of the baby’s kicks almost as if their child was giving its assent.
He lifted his head, his expr
ession strained but conciliatory. ‘I want you to be safe. Can you not see it is madness for you to work when there is no need? I have money. Let me spend it on you both, at least until the child is born.’
The emotion that had been so carefully contained welled up her chest. She dropped her gaze. ‘I don’t... I don’t feel comfortable having you support me,’ she managed round the huge boulder that was starting to choke her.