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A Husband's Regret (The Unwanted Series)(11)

By:Natasha Anders


"How did they meet?" she asked, curious.

"Hospital. Pierre was visiting me and wandered into the wrong ward.  Alice had been in an accident too, a really bad one from what I  understood. She was unconscious, apparently in a coma, and while every  other patient in the room had cards and flowers, Alice had nothing. I  don't know, I think Pierre felt a little sorry for her, so he checked in  on her every day on his way to visit me and soon learned that she had  no family and that she had just moved here from Johannesburg, which  meant that she'd had no time to befriend anyone yet. He kept visiting  her even after my discharge from the hospital. He brought her flowers  and talked to her for months until one day she opened her eyes, smiled,  and said, ‘It's you.'" Bryce shrugged. "Damned if I know what that  meant, but Pierre fell hard and fast. They married a couple of months  later, after Alice had convalesced enough to walk down the aisle without  aid."

"Oh, what a beautiful story." Bronwyn smiled mistily and Bryce rolled his eyes.

"How like a woman to find it romantic," he scoffed.

"You don't think it's romantic?"

"I think that Pierre just liked feeling needed and enjoyed the idea of  having someone almost totally dependent on him. It happens! The love may  have come later but initially, in my opinion, that's all it was. Men  tend to like it when women arouse our protective instincts; it makes us  feel heroic."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," she couldn't stop herself from pointing out, and he sneered.

"Why the hell do you think I kept coming back to you?" She had known it  was coming, but she had been unable to prevent herself from rushing into  those deep, dark waters. "You made me feel like an all-conquering hero.  You kept staring at me with those doe eyes, and I felt like I could  take on the world. It's a heady thing, being elevated to near-godlike  status like that. I should never have let things go so far. You were a  naïve little thing and I took everything you offered, but when we had  sex and I learned that you were a virgin, I had no option but to do the  right thing, didn't I? Especially since we were so stupid and careless  that first time. Even though I wasn't keen on the idea of kids, I didn't  want any child of mine growing up without my name."

"What are you trying to say?" She asked softly, glad for once that he  could not hear the emotion in her voice but unable to hide the tears  sparkling in her eyes. "That our marriage was based on a lie?"

"No lie." He shrugged. "Well, okay, maybe a lie by omission. I never told you why I was proposing."

"I thought . . ." that you loved me. She couldn't bring herself to say the words, and her voice faded into nothing.

"I know what you thought, but I felt it was best to allow you to  continue believing in your happily-ever-after fairy tale." There was  absolutely nothing she could say in response to that, and she stared at  him through her misty eyes. He broke eye contact first and raised his  glass to his lips, taking a hearty slurp from it. For a second she was  almost certain his hand was trembling, but he quickly lowered it and  raised his gaze to meet hers once again. There was nothing but disdain  in that stare, and she knew that she had imagined the slight trace of  vulnerability. "Would you like to meet Alice? I'm sure the two of you  will get along."

Surprised by the sudden change in subject and the unexpected gentleness  in his voice, she nodded helplessly. She had lost contact with all of  the friends she had made at university. She had tried contacting a few  of them since her return. Of course, most of them had moved on to their  postgraduate studies, a few had left the city to continue their studies  elsewhere, but the ones who had remained had shown no real desire to  resume their friendships with her. If she could befriend Pierre's wife,  it would go a long way toward staving off the crushing loneliness she  was starting to feel in this house.

"I'd like that." She lowered her eyes to her plate, lifting her knife  and fork in an attempt to pretend that nothing was amiss, but the  violent trembling in her hands made a liar of her, and she had no choice  but to put the utensils back down. She really should not be this  devastated by the knowledge that everything she had initially believed  about her marriage was a lie. Like her belief that Bryce had married her  because he loved her when he had never loved her. His revelations  should hold no surprise, not after the way he'd treated her two years  ago. Still his words had hurt so much more than they should have; it  felt like she had been punched in the stomach, and the pain was  unrelenting.





  

"I'll invite them to dinner tomorrow night. Pierre and I have business  to discuss anyway," he said softly, and she nodded, lowering her head  even more, petrified that he would see her tears. She stared blurrily  down at her plate but was barely able to see its contents. To her  absolute horror she felt the scalding tears overflowing and watched as  they dripped into her plate. With an agonized sound, she hurriedly got  to her feet, scrubbing at her face in the process.

"I . . . excuse . . ." She caught a brief look at his grim face, and  unable to stand it anymore, she fled, hearing his muffled curse on her  way out. There was a horrible silence, followed by an equally horrible  crash as Bryce apparently flung something against a wall. The sound of  breaking glass spurred her on and she was up the stairs and into her  room like a shot. Thankfully the violent noise had not awoken Kayla, and  Bronwyn curled up into a small ball in the center of her bed, leaving  the lights off, needing the dark to lick her gaping wounds in private.



She had awakened in his arms. Bronwyn smiled in contentment and snuggled  closer. His strong arms tightened around her and he kissed the top of  her head almost reverently. They had been seeing each other for only a  month but the chemistry between them had been so potent that it had not  taken much for Bronwyn to forget all her grandmother's warnings about  men and their "salacious appetites." In fact she thought she had been  particularly strong in not giving in much sooner; Bryce was a very  persuasive kisser, and tonight it hadn't taken much for them to fall  into bed together. It had been her first time, and Bryce had been a  little shocked at the discovery. He had been excruciatingly gentle and  incredibly thorough in making sure that she was completely satisfied. He  hadn't left an inch of her body unexplored. Now she was limp, sated,  and wondering when they would be able to do it again. She moved her  thigh experimentally but still found him disappointingly unprepared for a  second round.

"Give me a second," he groaned. "You wore me out, damn it. I need to regain my strength!"

"You just can't keep up with me, can you?" She purred teasingly and he  growled before flipping her onto her back, pinning her down, and kissing  her thoroughly. She felt him stir against her and grinned against his  lips.

"Now that's more like it," she murmured encouragingly, and he grinned,  lifting his head to look down at her. The grin faded abruptly and his  eyes went silver with desire and something deeper, something so achingly  tender it made Bronwyn's heart melt.

"I can't remember my life before you," he said wonderingly. "I can't  remember me without you. I never want to let you go. Tell me you'll  marry me . . . please?"

"Bryce?" she whispered uncertainly.

"Bronwyn Kirkland, will you marry me?" he asked almost desperately. She  was so overwhelmed by his words that she could do nothing but nod.

"Yes, yes, Bryce, I love you so much," she managed to whisper, her voice thick with tears of joy.

"Shhh . . . don't cry . . ." he soothed as he slid gently into her  welcoming body. "No more tears. We're going to be so happy together."



She awoke in his arms, feeling both warm and protected. Bronwyn felt a  dizzying sense of déjà vu as she struggled to find her bearings. She  couldn't believe that she had fallen asleep after the emotional turmoil  at dinner-she had been so certain that her tumultuous thoughts would  keep her awake. She had her face pressed to his chest and she could feel  his heart beating steadily beneath her cheek.

"Bryce?" she whispered tentatively, not sure where her dreams ended and  real life began. Maybe she was just now waking up after their first time  together and everything in between had been nothing but a vivid dream.  He didn't stir and she moved restlessly against him, feeling his arms  tighten possessively around her. His large hands started stroking her  back leisurely and she burrowed closer, reveling in the comfort and not  quite ready to relinquish it yet. She still wasn't certain if this was a  dream or real, but she didn't care anymore; she was in Bryce's arms  exactly where she belonged.

His warm hands crept beneath the thin cotton blouse she was wearing  until his dry palms found the soft, naked skin of her slender back. She  sucked in a breath at the electrifying contact and arched toward him  with a slight moan. It felt like forever since he had touched her last.  Her hands crept up over his broad chest, feeling the heat of his skin  through the thin material of his T-shirt. She looked up, trying to see  his face in the dark, but she could see nothing except the gleam of his  eyes.