wearing three-inch heels, Clare had to tilt her head to look at Diego’s face. She had not expected him to be standing by the door when she opened it and almost collided with him. He was unsettlingly close and her senses quivered as she inhaled an evocative scent of sandalwood cologne mixed with a sensual musk of maleness that was uniquely him.
His expression was unreadable. ‘You can have it back once I have confirmation that you are not pregnant.’
* * *
Diego waited for a heartbeat and watched the colour drain from Clare’s face. ‘You were a virgin and therefore I assume you were not prepared for sex any more than I was when we made love in the cave.’
The prospect that she might have conceived his child evoked mixed emotions in him, chiefly anger with himself that he had been so crassly irresponsible. He had never had unprotected sex before, and it was no excuse that the night he had spent with Clare in the rainforest had seemed unreal. The stark reality was that he could have fathered a child with her.
Deus, the idea that he was no better than his own father filled him with shame. But he would not abandon his baby as his father had done. His experiences had shown him that a child needed a father. He thought of Cruz’s baby twin boys who were growing up with loving parents, and Diego felt a curious tug on his heart as he imagined himself holding his own son or daughter in his arms. Children were so vulnerable. He had never understood how the man whose genes he carried could have been utterly uninterested in the offspring he had carelessly fathered. One thing was certain, he could not allow Clare to return to England while there was a chance she was carrying his baby.
‘I’m sure I’m not pregnant,’ she said in a strained voice.
‘Are you saying you are on the pill or used some other form of contraception?’
‘No. But I’d only finished my period a few days before we had sex.’ Clare told herself it was ridiculous to feel embarrassed discussing intimate details about herself when Diego knew her body more intimately than any other man. ‘It’s a biological fact that women are at their least fertile in the first few days of their monthly cycle.’
‘We are not talking about women in general; we’re talking about you and the fact that you could have conceived my child,’ Diego said bluntly. ‘When will you know?’
‘In a little less than three weeks.’ Her period came regularly every twenty-one days. ‘There’s no reason why I can’t go back to England, and if...if the worst has happened, of course I’ll phone you.’
‘So you would consider being pregnant the worst thing to happen?’
Clare bit her lip. ‘I...I don’t know how I would feel if I was actually going to have a baby. It’s not something I’d thought about at this stage of my life,’ she admitted. But now she was forced to think about the full implications of possibly being pregnant—and she realised with a jolt of surprise that being a mother would not be the worst thing to happen. She enjoyed her career and felt proud that her father had put her in charge of A-Star PR. But any job seemed unimportant when she imagined holding her own baby in her arms. Her and Diego’s baby, she amended as she glanced up and found him watching her. She wished she knew what he was thinking. ‘What I meant was that it wouldn’t be great news if I found out I was going to be a single parent.’
‘That won’t happen. My father abandoned my mother when she was pregnant but I will not allow history to repeat itself. If you are expecting my baby I will support you and the child. I can’t allow you to leave Brazil until we know.’
‘You can’t force me to stay. It’s preposterous.’ Clare’s anger was mixed with panic that Diego was powerful enough to do whatever he wanted. But, deep down, she felt strangely reassured that he had said he would support his child, unlike his own father, who had consigned Diego and his mother to a life of poverty in a favela. She reassured herself that statistically the likelihood of conceiving early in her monthly cycle was virtually zero.
‘Three weeks is not long, and the time will pass quickly while you are working on the PR contract for DC Diamonds.’
She stared at his chiselled features as if they might give some clue to his thoughts. If he really meant to award her the contract she would be a fool not to accept it. ‘I’ll be happy to work on the advertising campaign, but that’s all. You can’t force me to be your mistress.’
His lazy smile caught her off guard. He was altogether too sexy for her own good, she thought darkly. But her traitorous body did not care that he was danger with a capital D. A swift downwards glance revealed the hard points of her nipples jutting beneath her silk dress. She instinctively stepped away from him and found herself with her back against the wall as he moved closer, his wolf’s eyes gleaming as he cornered his prey.
‘I have never forced a woman in my life and I don’t intend to start with you, my little wildcat.’ Diego’s voice deepened and took on a sensual note that made Clare feel as if thick treacle was trickling over her. He placed his palms flat on the wall on either side of her head and watched the jerky rise and fall of her breasts. ‘We both know you will come willingly to my bed whenever I decide to have you.’
‘The hell I will.’
His outrageous arrogance fuelled her temper. As he lowered his head and angled his mouth over hers, she stiffened, determined to deny him a response. And she might have succeeded if he had claimed her lips with demanding passion, as she expected him to do. But he did not play fair and took her breath away with a kiss that was as gentle as the brush of a butterfly’s wings. He took little sips from her mouth, tasting her, tantalising her. His unexpected tenderness evoked a sensation like a knife being twisted in her stomach and desire flooded through her and pooled, hot and urgent, between her legs.
If she could not fight herself, what chance did she stand against Diego’s potent sensuality? Clare thought despairingly. He was not using his superior strength to demand her response, he wasn’t even touching any part of her body except for her mouth, but when he deepened the kiss she capitulated and parted her lips to allow him to slide his tongue between them. He continued to kiss her unhurriedly and with such exquisite eroticism that she moaned softly and swayed towards him, longing for him to press his body against hers.
She could have cried with disappointment when he lifted his mouth from her lips and stepped away from her. To give him credit, he did not taunt her for her pathetic weakness, and the sultry glint beneath his half-closed eyelids betrayed his hunger.
‘In a moment, Juliana will take you to meet the staff who will assist you with the DC Diamonds PR campaign. If you need to leave the Cazorra building for any reason, whether work related or for personal reasons such as shopping, you will be accompanied at all times by either me or a bodyguard.’
‘Is that really necessary? My sister was targeted because she is a famous model and easily recognisable, but kidnappers won’t be interested in me.’
‘I am not prepared to take the risk. While you are working for me, you are my responsibility.’ Diego’s firm tone dared her to argue. ‘I have assigned Miguel to take care of you.’
‘Miguel! You’ve asked one of Rigo’s thugs to be my bodyguard?’ Clare pictured the man who had come to the cave with the other kidnapper, Enzo. ‘I’d prefer to go out alone and take my chances. I know you said Miguel is your friend from years ago, but...’
‘But you still don’t trust me,’ Diego finished her sentence grimly. ‘Deus, without my help, you and Becky would still be trapped in Torrente and at
