She couldn’t bear to be cast in that role again. Even for the sake of her own child.
‘Because you are going to have my child.’ Zane’s hand flattened against her belly. The warm possessive weight sent shivers throughout Cat’s body. ‘And because I still desire you, very much.’
‘You do?’ Cat blurted out. ‘But I thought you didn’t want me any more.’
‘Why would you think that?’ he said, his brows arching up his forehead.
‘Because you left me at dawn. And you’ve avoided me ever since,’ she said, admitting to herself for the first time how much his absence had hurt.
‘I was trying to protect you,’ he murmured.
‘What from?’ she asked, still confused.
‘From me.’ He huffed out a chuckle, the husky sound unbearably sexy. ‘Which was pretty dumb in the circumstances.’
His gaze drifted down to where his hand now caressed her belly in widening circles, making her sex throb in earnest.
His expression, dark with passion and intensity, made her belly float into her throat and her insides become giddy.
‘I didn’t know at the time I was shutting the stable door long after the damn horse had bolted and crossed the whole of the Narabian desert,’ he added.
A laugh popped out of Cat’s mouth, the unbearable tension dissolving as her heart lifted in her chest. She covered his hand with hers. ‘I still desire you very much too,’ she said. He still wanted her, as much as she wanted him. The realisation felt intoxicating. And powerful.
The amusement died on his face. Gripping her hips, he slid her across the bed, and lifted her into his lap. She grasped his shoulders, her knees straddling his hips as the gown rose up. She felt the muscles bunch and tighten beneath her hands, his breath gushing out as his hands rose up her back, drawing her towards those sensual lips that had always promised so much and delivered even more. The ridge of his erection butted against her sex, and she rubbed her yearning clitoris against it. His lips captured hers.
The kiss was urgent, demanding, possessive, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth, and claiming her in the most elemental way possible. She ground against his length, the contact too much and yet not nearly enough.
Her fingers threaded into his hair, clasping, clinging, dragging him closer.
The feeling of connection, of empathy, of need blossomed inside her. This passion, this desire, had to mean something, didn’t it?
The insecurities that had battered her burned away as he devoured her mouth.
He dragged her head back at last. ‘Damn it, we can’t. Not here. Not now,’ he said, his tone rough with frustration.
He lifted her off his lap and stood up. The thick erection was still prominent in his suit pants. ‘We should wait,’ he said. ‘Until after the wedding.’
‘The wedding?’ she said, still dazed and yearning.
Then to her astonishment he sank to his knees in front of her. The gesture was so romantic, her heart stopped.
He gripped her hands in his much larger ones, quelling the shaking as all the insecurities his kiss had swept aside came rushing back.
‘Marry me, Catherine, and become my Queen,’ he said, his voice so full of purpose she felt her heart dissolve.
She should say no, a voice whispered in her head. This was a proposal born out of duty and passion. And how could that ever be enough? They hadn’t even discussed an emotional commitment. He didn’t love her. And she already knew it would be far too easy for her to fall hopelessly in love with him.
But all the questions, the doubts, hung on her tongue as the spontaneous bubble of hope expanded in her chest.
Marriage was a big step, but having a baby together was a huge one. And that was a step they were already taking.
This wasn’t an end, it was a beginning. And surely duty and passion were something sturdy they could build on while they got to know each other better. In every way.
The blush rose up her throat at the thought of how much pleasure they could have discovering just some of those ways.
And even love didn’t come with guarantees, she reasoned frantically. It could be reckless and fickle—the way it had been for her mother. Or become twisted and destructive—as it had been for Zane’s parents.
Surely this was a chance to learn from those mistakes? And start out right? Why couldn’t this marriage lead to something wonderful? He wanted her, and he was a good man. Not just gorgeous and ridiculously sexy, but also strong and responsible and so protective.