Needed: One Convenient Husband(27)

Kyle's hand curled over hers, holding her palm to his chest. "What about?"

Lifting up on her toes, she boldly wound one arm around his neck,  leaned in close and gently bit down on one lobe. "About the clause in  the agreement that prohibits sex. If anyone is going to sleep with my  husband, it's going to be me."

"There's not exactly a line." When she would have drawn back, his hands  closed on her hips, holding her against him. "I'll get my lawyer to  strike out the clause in the morning."                       
       
           



       

"But as long as we have a verbal agreement, the new condition is in effect."

"We could shake on it," he muttered, "but I've got a better idea."  Lowering his head, he finally did what she had been dying for him to do  ever since the wedding ceremony; he kissed her.

Long minutes later, the world went sideways as Kyle picked her up. When  he reached the top of the stairs, instead of going into her room, he  continued on down the hall and into the master suite, where he set her  on her feet. The sun was down now, and the room was dim with shadows.  Moonlight silvered the walls and threw light over the large bed  occupying the middle of the room.

Kyle cupped her face and bending, he kissed her again. "Since we have a  new agreement, this is where you'll be sleeping from now on."

She tried to both kiss him and start on the buttons of his shirt. When  he finally lifted his mouth, she finished the buttons. "You won't get an  argument from me."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"No chance." She caught the corner of his grin, as if he liked it that  she argued with him, and out of nowhere hope flared, built on the  foundation of a long-ago friendship and the mystifying strength of the  connection that had always sizzled between them.

"Thought so." He shrugged out of the shirt and let it drop to the floor.

Closing her arms around his neck, she lifted up against him, loving the  hard-muscled planes of his body held tight against hers. She felt his  fingers at the zipper of her dress. Seconds later, it drifted to the  floor. Her bra followed, and she shivered at the searing heat of his  skin against hers. Kyle's fingers tangled in her hair, and she found  herself walked backward in the direction of the bed.

He bent his head and took one breast into his mouth, and for long  moments her belly coiled tight, the room seemed to spin and there was no  air.

The first few times they had made love the sensations had been intense,  now they seemed even more so and the awareness of the changes to her  body settled in more deeply. She could not say for sure she was  pregnant, but with every fiber of her being she felt it to be so and the  knowledge added a depth and poignancy to their lovemaking, because  every touch, every caress could be the last.

When Kyle lifted his head, Eva ran her hands down his torso and  deliberately unfastened his pants. She heard his swiftly indrawn breath,  felt his tension. A split second later, he had scooped her up and  deposited her on the bed. She watched as he peeled out of his trousers,  but when she would have expected him to come down beside her, he  remained standing and she realized he had a condom and was sheathing  himself. When he climbed onto the bed beside her, she wound her arms  around his neck and pulled him close.

She felt the drag of her panties as he peeled them down and obligingly  shimmied a little, helping him get rid of that last barrier. She felt  his gaze on her in the dimness as he came down between her legs. Loving  the weight of him, she clutched at his shoulders as slowly, gently, he  fitted himself to her.

His gaze connected with hers again. "Okay?"

"I'm fine." Lifting up against him, she pulled his mouth to hers and  kissed him, the passion white-hot and instant as they began to move  together. Long moments later, caught in a maelstrom of sensations that  were almost too intense to bear, the responses peaked, jerking through  her in dizzying waves. Moments later, Kyle collapsed beside her then  half rolled, pulling her into a loose hold.

The room had darkened further, so that the shadows appeared inky and  the moonlight by contrast threw stark, cold light over the bare  floorboards and the bed.

Kyle's fingers tangled in her hair, stroking the strands, as if he  loved the feel of it. Emboldened, Eva propped herself on one elbow and  studied the planes and angles of his face. She cupped his jaw, enjoying  the abrasive roughness of his five-o'clock shadow. "How many times can  you do that?"

Kyle's head turned into her touch. He caught her hand, bringing it to his mouth. "It depends. How many times did you want?"

"Once more, at least." Gathering her courage, Eva straddled him. Since  the first night together, she'd made it her business to do some in-depth  research about sex and had made some fascinating discoveries in the  process. "But this time I get to be on top."





Fourteen

Eva got up just as dawn touched the sky with gray. Sliding from the  bed, she walked softly to her room, found her robe and belted it at her  waist. Still moving quietly, she walked barefoot down to the front  foyer, retrieved the test kit and took it with her into the downstairs  bathroom.

After she had used the kit, she set the stick carefully down on top of  the cardboard box it had come in and washed and dried her hands. There  were two windows in the stick. According to the instructions, if the  smaller one showed a line, that meant she had done the test correctly,  if the second window also showed a line, that was a positive result.                       
       
           



       

Taking a deep breath, she checked the stick. There were two lines.

She sat down on the side of the bath, her heart pounding. She was pregnant. The morning-after pill hadn't worked.

She had known it. Her period was late, and even though so little time  had passed, she felt different. Her breasts were tender and she had gone  off food. Her sense of smell had become acute, so that scents that  hadn't bothered her before were suddenly overpowering.

She touched her abdomen, feeling a sense of wonder that there was a  baby forming inside her. In the same instant, dread struck as she  wondered if, in the lottery of genetic inheritance, her baby would lose.  Her twin had died at age four. Her younger brother and sister had  almost made it to five.

Just long enough for her and Kyle-if he agreed they should stay  together-to fall hopelessly in love with their child before having to  say goodbye.

Which was why she had to leave now. Kyle had already loved and lost a  baby, but at least, as tragic as his loss had been, it had happened fast  and unexpectedly.

If she left now, she could go through the pregnancy and birth alone.  She could choose to have the baby tested while she was pregnant, or wait  until after it was born. Once she knew the result, she would contact  Kyle and let him know. If the child was healthy, she would happily share  custody if that's what Kyle wanted. Given that this was a Messena  child, she could not imagine that he would turn his back on his child.  Kyle was an honorable man; when it came to the crunch he would be a  father. But she was under no illusions about how he would feel about her  for forcing the issue. She did not think they would have any chance now  of a real marriage.

If the child was affected, it would break her heart. She didn't know  how she would cope alone, but she would. Her mother had never recovered  from watching three of her children die, but she was determined to be  stronger than that. This child was precious. She would love it for every  second that it was with her and if she was very, very lucky, maybe the  baby wouldn't have the disorder.

Pushing to her feet, she put the stick back in the box and dropped it  in the bin then walked quietly upstairs. She had packed last night, so  other than changing into a pair of jeans and a soft cotton hoodie and  slipping on sneakers, she was ready to go. Although, she needed to write  Kyle a note first.

Berating herself for not thinking to do that last night, she looked for  pen and paper. There were pens in her tote, but the only paper was the  back of an envelope. Beginning to feel a little frantic, because it was  almost fully light now and she knew Kyle was an early riser, she quickly  scribbled a note, explaining that she was leaving him and that she  relinquished all rights to her inheritance until she was forty and that  he could have the house.

The plumbing gurgled as if the upstairs shower had just been turned on,  which it probably had. Adrenaline pumped. That meant Kyle was awake.

She picked up her overnight bag and checked that the hall was empty.  Walking as quietly as she could, she made her way downstairs, wincing as  a tread on the steps creaked under the extra weight of the bag.