My knees weakened and I fell back into my chair. We’d never even had a discussion about being clean, and I’d been in such a sensual fog, I hadn’t thought about insisting he wore a condom. But never in a million years would I have considered he was doing it on purpose in the hopes of knocking me up, something that wasn’t even possible. As stupid as I’d been behaving around him, I wasn’t that much of an idiot. “Caleb, there’s no way I’m pregnant. I’m on birth control.”
Chapter 9
Caleb
On some level, I knew I should have felt guilty, but I didn’t. I couldn’t find it in myself to regret doing everything in my power to keep Madeleine, to start our family, to begin living our forever. As if that wasn’t enough, there wasn’t room for guilt because anger consumed me. We would get around to discussing what happened in Paris, but first, I was going to lay my cards on the table and be honest about trying to get her pregnant. There wasn’t anything she could do to get me off that path.
I rounded Madeleine’s desk and leaned down to place my palms on the armrests, caging her in. My face was inches from hers, forcing her to tilt her head back, unable to avoid meeting my hard gaze.
“No, Madeleine, you’re not,” I gritted out. “You missed your doctor’s appointment. Your body is ripe and ready for me to plant our kid inside you. Make no mistake, baby, if I haven’t already, I will have you pregnant as soon as humanly possible. And,” my voice hardened, along with my cock as I imagine her naked body with a rounded belly, “you can expect to stay that way for a while.”
Madeleine’s eyes widened in shock as I spoke, but at that last statement, they narrowed and lit with fire. She braced her hands on my chest and shoved with all of her strength, but I didn’t budge. Not even an inch.
“I can’t believe you!” she yelled. “Get the hell away from me, Caleb.”
“That’s never going to happen, Madeleine.” I removed my hands from the sides of the chair and slowly slid them up her arms to cradle her face. I craved her with everything I was, and my body was aching with need, my cock desperate to be inside her. “When are you going to stop fighting? You know you belong to me.”
I stared into her deep green eyes and watched the play of emotions, ranging from longing and sadness to fear and anger. Then, she shuttered them, her face becoming a blank mask. “Let me up, Caleb,” she demanded, poking me in the shoulder.
I sighed and stood, backing away slightly and giving her room to follow. Once on her feet, she took a deep breath, drawing my eyes to her tits as they rose and fell. Fuck, I was hanging on by a thread, an inch away from bending her over the desk and making her scream my name.
“Caleb,” her voice drew my eyes back up to her face, “I want out.”
“Excuse me?” My tone was deadly, a warning.
“The—the clause,” she stuttered. “I want to use the penalty clause. Spend a night with you.”
Her words brought a rush of desire so intense, I nearly lost my balance as images of her under my complete control danced in my vision. She wanted to use the penalty clause? Perfect.
She obviously wasn’t ready for me to convince her with words of love. She wasn’t ready to admit she was wearing deliberate blinders when it came to examining her feelings for me. She had no idea what she agreed to—no idea she was about to be laid bare before me, literally and figuratively. What I had planned required the ultimate trust, and for Madeleine, that kind of faith was built on love. A small part of me—okay, not that small—was going to make her pay for running from me.
“Go home. Get some rest and meet me at my house tomorrow night. Eight p.m.,” I said tersely as I walked out of her office. Just across the threshold, I turned back, grunting, “Don’t be late.”
Her arms were wrapped around her body and her eyes tightly closed as silent tears streaked down her face. I wanted to cross back and take her in my arms, to comfort her and care for her, but I needed to stay my course. If this didn’t work, I was going to kidnap her ass, take her to a deserted island, and keep her all to myself. The thought was intriguing...let’s call that plan B.
***
At seven fifty-eight, the doorman rang to tell me Madeleine had arrived. I’d collected all of the items for tonight, put them in a duffle bag so they wouldn’t overwhelm her all at once, and tossed it into my bedroom on my way to the front door.
Madeleine stood on the other side, her head held high, back straight, but her eyes were filled with trepidation. I loved her strength; it was one of the sexiest things about her. However, it was the thought of her submission that had my body practically vibrating with desire. I’d changed into a pair of low-hanging, silk lounge pants, foregoing a shirt and shoes. Biting back a smile, I didn’t miss her head to toe perusal of my body, or the hitch in her breath when she got to the V of my abs and the visible erection beneath.