“No,” Chloe’s denial was instantaneous. She didn’t look at Raffa. “I can’t be. You’re mistaken.”
“Impossible,” the doctor demurred, his smile kindly. “I can feel it for myself.”
“But I…” But what? She’d been so grief-stricken since leaving Ras el Kida, she’d ceased tracking her cycle. It had no longer seemed to matter; she knew she wasn’t pregnant and that she couldn’t become pregnant. So what was the point? Had she menstruated since she’d left?
It was absurd, but Chloe couldn’t recall! Surely there’d been something?
She shook her head; none of this made sense.
“I don’t believe this. It can’t be true.” Chloe dug her fingernails into her palms, her mouth wide open.
And the doctor frowned, a look of confusion on his face. “I take it this isn’t the news you were hoping for?”
Raffa, rendered immobile by the revelation, stood to his feet now. “Thank you, that will be all.”
The doctor’s frown deepened. “I will need to consult further with Her Highness – discuss pregnancy guidelines, prepare some vitamins, and arrange for further testing…”
“In due course,” Raffa said with steely firmness.
“Very well. Call me when you’re ready.” The doctor bowed and walked from the room, pulling the door shut after himself.
They were alone. No. Not alone! They’d never be alone again! This changed everything! It was impossible! A miracle!
Chloe’s smile stretched across her face and tears sparkled on her lashes, but they were happy tears now. Tears of utter, unadulterated joy. Her husband didn’t love her, but she was able to give him what he needed, and she would love their baby more than she’d ever thought possible.
“Did you know?” The question was thick with doubt, thick with despair. “Is that why you left?”
Chloe was sucked out of her moment of jubilation by the very real darkness of her husband’s emotions.
“Oh, no, Raffa.” She stood, and moved towards him, lifting her hands to his chest. He gripped her wrists, as though he wanted to pull them away, but instead, he held her where she was, held her close to him.
The words tumbled out of her, one after the other, just a jerk of sounds that she hoped made sense. “Raffa, I’m so sorry for what I did. I thought… I thought it was for the best. Leaving you, I mean. I was told I couldn’t have children. And I thought… I thought Amit would be enough, that you would accept him as your heir, but then you told me the truth about him and I knew I could never give you what you needed and so I left, but I had no idea! I was told I could never fall pregnant.”
He looked beyond shocked, of course. “When? When were you told this?”
“The morning I left,” she said, shaking her head. “Oh, I don’t mean that I lied to you. Only after a few months, I started to worry, to suspect something was wrong and I got tested. I needed to know. And the morning after we came back from the desert, the doctor called. Believe me, Raffa, if the results had been ambivalent, I wouldn’t have left. But with no possibility of giving you the heir you needed, how could I stay? This is impossible, Raffa. It’s a miracle. I can’t believe…”
“So you left me because you thought you couldn’t conceive,” he said, as though slowly piecing together a puzzle. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Chloe went to pull her hands away but he growled and instead wrapped them around his waist, before doing the same, locking her in his embrace.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He repeated.
“Because I thought you’d feel obligated to stay with me.” She dropped her gaze. “I know how much is at stake here – how much this baby would mean to you. I understand your duty to your kingdom, and the kingdom’s need for continuity. And I couldn’t bear the thought of locking you into marriage without being able to give you the one thing you needed from me.”
“The one thing I needed from you? Chloe,” he shook his head. “There is much I need from you, and a baby is lower on the list than you might think.”
She shook her head. “Sex isn’t enough either.”
“I don’t mean sex,” he promised, running his hands over her back.
“Then what? What do you want from me? I can offer you nothing, Raffa.”
“What about your heart?” His eyes flared when they met hers. “What about your kind, sweet heart?”
She gasped. “You guessed how I feel?”
“No.” He dropped his forehead to hers. “I hoped. I hoped when I had no reason, I hoped every night when I went to your room and stared at your empty bed and wondered where you were, and how you were. I hoped that you were missing me, that you loved me. And then you sent the divorce papers and I had my answer, yet still I hoped. And now I hold you in my arms and I am so close to having everything I want and need in life, but it all rests on you. Chloe, did you leave me because you wanted to? Did you leave me because you couldn’t bear to be married to me?”