It was too much to take in. He had defined the meaning of love so beautifully that she could not hold back her tears. She must have misunderstood. He could not mean that he felt that wealth of emotion for her, she thought desperately. But the golden gleam in his sherry-brown gaze burned into her soul, and to her amazement love blazed in his eyes.
‘You…you love me?’ She was a lawyer, and she always verified her facts.
‘With all my heart, mi preciosa.’
The raw emotion in his voice touched her even more than the words, and she realised that she was not the only one who was shaking. Questions swirled in her head.
‘Why didn’t you say?’ she whispered, still finding it impossible to believe.
He gave a rueful smile and stroked her hair back from her face with an unsteady hand. ‘At first I did not know,’ he admitted huskily. ‘All I knew was that I fancied you like hell and wanted you in my bed. To my annoyance, I missed you when you weren’t around. But I think even then, during our affair, I knew you were special,’ he said slowly.
‘You know what happened the one and only other time I fell in love. My heart soon mended after Catalina, but I felt ashamed that I had disappointed my father, and I was determined to one day marry a woman from my own social circle of whom he would approve. My experience with Catalina made me wary of trusting my judgement of women, so when I met you and realised I wanted more than a casual affair with you I reminded myself that I could never allow our relationship to develop.
‘I was furious when I discovered that you had kept my son a secret from me, but I was secretly glad that it gave me the opportunity to make you my wife,’ he admitted. ‘I kidded myself that I only wanted to marry you for Mateo’s sake. When you walked towards me in the church, looking like an angel, I knew that you had stolen my heart irrevocably and for ever.
‘Don’t cry, mi corazón,’ he said softly, brushing his lips over her damp cheeks and tasting her tears. ‘Don’t you want me to love you?’
‘I want it more than anything in the world, and I always have—because I fell in love with you about five minutes after I met you,’ she told him fiercely. ‘I’m crying because I was so unsure of you, and of the happiness that we seemed to have. I wish you had told me how you felt.’
‘You wouldn’t have believed me,’ he said gently. ‘You had to learn to trust me first. I tried to show you how much you meant to me.’
‘By giving me things,’ Lauren murmured, suddenly understanding that the jewellery and other presents he had showered her with had been his way of trying to teach her that he loved her. ‘Oh, Ramon.’ She stared at his beautiful sculpted face and ached with love for him. ‘You wouldn’t really have agreed to a divorce, would you?’ she asked, a little tremor of uncertainty still in her voice.
‘You must be joking.’ He smiled suddenly, and snatched her into his arms as the restraint he had imposed on himself crumbled beneath his urgent need to hold her close. ‘Even as I said it I was frantically backtracking and planning how I could persuade you to stay with me. I never want to let you go, querida,’ he said, suddenly serious again. ‘But I blackmailed you into marrying me. You have to choose whether or not you want to be my wife.’
Joy unfurled in Lauren’s heart and radiated out, until every cell and nerve-ending in her body overflowed with happiness. ‘I choose you—and I want to stay with you as your wife, friend and lover until I die.’ She untied the belt of her robe and shrugged it from her shoulders, heat sizzling in her blood when Ramon studied the very daring black lace negligee with rampant appreciation in his eyes. ‘But I won’t object if you want to persuade me a little,’ she invited in a sultry tone.
The sight of her creamy breasts spilling out of her sexy nightgown was too much for Ramon, and with a groan he lowered his head and captured her mouth with a sensual mastery that elicited her urgent response. She was on fire for him instantly, and curled her arms around his neck as she pressed her body up against his hard thighs.
He was breathing hard when he finally lifted his lips from hers. ‘I have something for you,’ he told her raggedly.
She smiled and stroked her hand over the distinct bulge beneath his trousers. ‘I know.’
‘Witch.’ He eased away from her, strode over to his desk, and retrieved a small box from a drawer. ‘I’ve wanted to give you this for weeks, but the time never seemed right.’ He paused, and then added a shade bleakly, ‘And I wasn’t sure you wanted my love for you that this ring represents.’
He opened the box, and Lauren caught her breath as she stared at the exquisite sparkling circlet of diamonds set in white gold. ‘One day our son can give this “monstrosity” to his fiancée,’ Ramon told her, his eyes glinting with amusement as he tugged the enormous ruby engagement ring that she so disliked from her finger, and replaced it with the band of diamonds. ‘This ring is for eternity, mi amor, just like my love for you.’
There were not words to express the depth of her love for him, but he seemed to understand, and kissed away her tears before he swept her up and carried her out of the study. The speed with which he took the stairs was an indication of his fierce need to make love to her. He dropped her onto the bed and removed the wisp of tantalising black lace, his eyes burning with desire as he swiftly stripped out of his clothes and positioned himself between her satin-soft thighs.
‘I can’t wait, tesoro,’ he murmured, as he caressed her with gentle fingers and found her wet and ready for him. But he forced himself to be patient, and reached into the bedside drawer for a protective sheath, giving her a puzzled look when she took it from him.
‘I think it’s time I caught up with your sisters,’ she said softly. ‘Matty needs a little brother or sister, and this time I want you to be involved from conception to birth—concentrating very much on conception,’ she added with a blissful sigh, when his patience snapped and he surged into her.
‘Are you sure you want another baby when you are about to start studying?’
‘I can study while I’m pregnant—and one day when our children are older I’d like to resume my career. I have everything I could ever want,’ she reassured him softly, ‘You, Matty, and hopefully we’ll be blessed with another baby. But, more important than anything, I have your love—as you have mine.’
‘For ever,’ Ramon vowed fervently. And there was no need for further words as he showed her with his body the love that filled his heart.
ZACHARIE DEVERELL swept along the hospital corridor, paused briefly to check the name above the door before he entered a ward and strode purposefully towards the nurse seated behind the reception desk.
‘I’m here to see Freya Addison. I understand she was admitted yesterday,’ he added, the hint of impatience in his voice making his accent seem more pronounced. The nurse gaped at him but Zac was used to being stared at. Women had stared at him since he was a teenager and at thirty-five his stunning looks, combined with an aura of wealth and power, meant that he was accustomed to being the centre of attention.
When
