the same rule applies to you,’ he answered mildly. ‘I already know I am going to have to work extremely hard to keep you sated.’
Bereft of words, she could only glare at him. He turned away, his lips twitching.
‘These are not trinkets tossed to temporary lovers to placate them,’ he explained quietly. ‘These are royal jewels. Gifts from centuries past, kept within the family vaults and treasured for their personal value as much as for their supposed price. Which will you wear tomorrow?’
‘None.’ She couldn’t possibly pick any of them. She didn’t want to be adorned, to be reduced to a decoration. That hadn’t ever been a role of her choosing.
‘You do not even want to see them?’ A hint of steel underpinned the question.
‘No. I don’t wear jewellery.’ If she did she’d feel even more like a fake.
‘If you will not choose I will choose for you.’
‘They’re all amazing,’ she said, trying to pull together some politeness. ‘But I don’t want to wear any of them.’
‘My bride will wear what is appropriate and what is expected.’ She felt his gaze hard on her. ‘I will send my selection to you in the morning. If you are not wearing them I’ll put them on you myself.’
It was a threat. A promise.
‘Why do you want me all dolled up?’ she asked, not understanding him at all. ‘What’s the point? This is an elopement, right? No one is going to see me anyway.’
‘I am going to see you.’
That edge in his voice sliced, letting the lust within her stream out. Like smoke in a jar it swirled, constantly seeking escape—release.
‘I’m going to see all of you,’ he promised.
She knew he wanted to see only her body. He wasn’t interested in her soul.
And wasn’t that okay? She wasn’t interested in his either. She refused to be.
‘Then fine—whatever you want.’ She stepped back. ‘Send it to my room and I will wear it.’
‘So you are not going to jilt me?’ His lips twitched again, but there was seriousness in his eyes.
‘I’ll be there,’ she replied.
What choice did she have? She would marry Eduardo because he was right. He could give this child so much that she couldn’t. Together, they would give this child the best chance possible.
She’d stay fit. She’d survive the birth. And she’d tell her baby every single day how much she loved it. History was not repeating itself.
She’d marry a man who didn’t love her. She’d make that sacrifice because already she loved her baby. And she would do whatever was necessary to protect and defend not just its physical safety, but its emotional safety too. She’d give her baby everything she hadn’t had.
But at the same time she had to keep her heart safe. She had to rid herself of this physical infatuation as quickly as she could.
She walked out of the room without glancing back at him. ‘See you at the altar, Eduardo.’
AT FIVE-THIRTY THE next morning Stella rose and laced up her trainers. Despite almost zero sleep, she was so full of energy she needed to burn it off—hard and fast. She saw no one as she ran the gravel track looping the small island, but she knew her action wasn’t unseen.
Sure enough, when she got back Eduardo was waiting at the top of the stone stairs, looking annoyingly cool in black trousers and a white shirt.
‘Isn’t it bad luck to see me before the ceremony?’ she asked, as breathless as if she’d run round the track ten times, not two.
‘The new day has scarcely started. I do not think this counts.’ He looked down at her, his expression unreadable. ‘What are you doing?’
‘What does it look like I’m doing?’ she mocked. ‘Did you think I was trying to run away? I have many talents, but walking on water isn’t one of them.’
‘After your reckless rock-climbing escape that day at Cala de Piratas, I wouldn’t put it past you to try and swim to the mainland.’
‘I know about the rip between those two islands.’
‘But you like to take risks more than you’re willing to admit?’ he countered, his expression amused.
‘Not stupid ones. I know my own strength.’
‘And you must also know that my security detail is watching every centimetre of this island’s perimeter. No one arrives. Or leaves.’
‘That’s a threat?’
‘No, that’s just the way it is.’ He shrugged.
‘Always?’ Were his moments always so closely monitored? Even when he was on ‘holiday’?
‘Yes.’ His frown deepened as he watched her struggle to regulate her breathing. ‘It can’t be healthy for the baby for you to be working out to such an extreme level.’
‘This isn’t extreme.’ She stiffened defensively. ‘Get your doctor back if you don’t believe me.’ She needed to see that doctor again, to talk through her history properly. Privately.
‘I will. You might not obey orders from me, but you will listen to him. Agreed?’
‘Of course.’ She climbed to the top of the stairs and stood directly in front of him, but he didn’t move to let her pass.
He brushed the side of her face with the back of his fingers. ‘Did you sleep at all?’
The bed had been enormous, clad in luxury linen, soft and decadent—nothing like the narrow, hard beds at the barracks. It hadn’t been built for one person to sleep in.
‘I can’t think why I didn’t,’ she answered acerbically, fighting the way she was drawn to him. ‘Maybe it was the life-changing revelations of yesterday that had me all antsy.’
‘Maybe,’ he murmured. ‘But maybe it was something else altogether.’
She glared up at him, provoked. ‘You think you’re irresistible?’
‘Past form would indicate that you like what I do to you.’ He was charming again. Impulsive. Teasing. But he didn’t touch her again. Instead he glanced at the platinum watch on his wrist. ‘You had better run now—so you can get ready for our wedding.’
‘I’m not the kind of woman who takes two hours to get dressed.’ She folded her arms and sent him a surly look. ‘Why is the ceremony so early?’
‘So
