And that man would not cast her out or take Nate from her. He would protect them both always. Even through his anger and rage. And, darn it, she would be strong through this. As lion-hearted and courageous as he was.
Satin shifted across the sumptuous mattress as he stretched and smouldered in all his abeyant heat. Her gaze locked on the muscles in his back, on the flex and bunch of his ruthless power.
Luciana fisted the folds of the robe at her neck, ordering herself not to reach out. To touch. Become lost in him all over again.
He prised his eyes open and smiled sleepily at her. Lord, it hurt.
‘Come back up here, Luce. Let me hold you.’
She inhaled a lungful of fortifying air.
Come on, you can do this.
‘I…I can’t, Thane. I have to go home today. I have to go back to Arunthia and I need you to take me—like you promised.’
He sat up in one lithe rippling movement, like a panther uncurling, and pushed his tousled air back from his forehead. ‘No, Luciana, don’t say that.’ His husky, lethargic voice grew stronger, firmer. ‘You belong here with me. There’s no reason for you to go back.’
Luciana swallowed around the searing burn in her throat. ‘But there is, Thane. Someone is there that I can’t leave. Ever.’
His expression darkened and she felt a frisson of fear. Flinched when he suddenly ripped the sheet from his body, vaulted from the bed and shoved his legs into a pair of black silk lounge trousers.
Hands on his hips, he spun on her. ‘You love this person?’
‘Yes,’ she said, her voice cracking under pressure. ‘I love him more than life itself.’
His eyes grew furious, dark as rain-laden thunderclouds. And she knew it was only going to get worse. This, she realised, was merely the beginning. God help her.
‘Who do you love?’ he demanded.
You can do this, Luciana. For him—for Natanael. Thane will rip your heart from your chest but this is not about you. It is about the little boy you love and his father. You are doing it for them. They deserve this from you. Do it. Do it.
‘Please don’t hate me, Thane,’ she whispered, begging him. ‘I was only trying to do the right thing. I was scared. I only wanted him to be safe—’
His beauty took on a terrifying, dangerous edge. ‘Who, Luciana?’ He flung his arms wide. ‘Who do you love?’
‘Your son. Our son.’
CHAPTER TEN
THANE’S PULSE ROCKETED and the room took an untimely spin, making his breath whoosh past his lips in a sickening rush.
‘You…you had my child? I have a son?’
He couldn’t have heard her correctly, he assured himself. But her beautiful brandy eyes filled to the brim and one drop escaped, glistened as it fell. Shimmered over her pink-washed cheeks, along the side of her nose and down to the corner of her full mouth.
A mouth that whispered, ‘Yes…’
Thane shook his head jerkily. No. He could not be hearing her right. He would know. If he had a son he would know. Yet her words wouldn’t stop ricocheting around his mind.
‘You were pregnant?’
‘Yes.’
‘How?’ he asked stupidly, feeling adrift and as vulnerable as the boy he’d once been. Trembling inside, feeling weak. He loathed it.
Luciana blinked, her brow pinching, her voice so small she appeared just as lost as he. ‘Do you mean which time? I was on contraceptives, so I don’t know. There were…’
So many times? Yes, there had been.
And they had made a baby. Together. His child. His son.
Then—then it hit. Like a bullet ripping through his chest. And it tore his world apart.
He jabbed his fingers through his hair and fisted the silky strands. ‘How does no one know my son exists, Luciana? How do I not know my son exists?’
‘I fought to have him. I went away to have him. I—’
Acid flushed through his stomach and surged up to his throat. ‘Ah, so he is your dirty little secret? My son. With Galancian blue blood. The man who will take my throne. He is your dirty little secret?’
Affront clawed inside his chest with merciless razor-sharp talons and he slammed his hand over his bare ribs to rub, to try and ease the gashes of pain tearing through him.
With an unsteady hand she reached out imploringly. ‘I made a pact to have him. To keep him. I went to Hong Kong, where we were safe…’
‘Safe? You kept his identity secret to keep him safe? Safe from who?’ he hollered.