Ruthless Russian, Lost Innocence(64)

‘Then why did you say that living at Kingfisher House with me would be unbearable?’ he demanded raggedly.

She blushed. ‘Because I knew that I loved you, and I couldn’t stand the thought of sharing the house but not your life.’

‘I only said I would fight you for the baby because I hated the idea of you living away from me and having other relationships,’ Vadim admitted, tangling his fingers in her long blonde hair and tipping her face to his. ‘I refused to admit how much you meant to me until I went to Prague and it finally hit me how goddamned miserable I was without you.’

His tension suddenly eased, and he stared down at her, his blue eyes blazing with such tenderness, such love, that tears blurred Ella’s vision.

‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ella,’ he said softly. ‘Will you marry me, my angel?’#p#分页标题#e#

He felt her tremble, and mistook her joy for apprehension. ‘I know you have bad memories of your parents’ marriage, but I would never do anything to hurt you. I intend to spend the rest of my life taking care of you, and the baby, and any other children we might have.’

Ella’s heart turned over at the urgency in his voice. ‘I think we’d better concentrate on one baby at a time,’ she teased gently. She hesitated, and then said huskily, ‘I thought you had buried your heart with Irina.’

Vadim shook his head. ‘I loved her, but I’m ashamed to say that I took her for granted. I was ambitious, and often I was so busy chasing deals that I put her second to my business. When I met you, you dominated my thoughts from the start-and I knew I was in trouble when I realised I would rather spend time with you than at work. I thought I could have an affair with you and then dismiss you from my life, but deep down I think I always recognised that you are the other half of my soul, angel moy, and I will love you until I die.’

He cupped her chin and lowered his mouth to hers, claiming her lips in an evocative kiss that made her feel as though fireworks were exploding inside her. ‘I was determined not to fall in love with you,’ she whispered. ‘But I couldn’t resist you. And eventually I was forced to admit that I didn’t want to run from you, but to you. You are my life, my love…’

‘My wife?’ he queried gently.

‘Yes.’ Another tear trickled down her face and he caught it with his mouth, so that she tasted the salt on his lips when he kissed her again, this time with a sensual passion that sent fire coursing through her veins. He was the love of her life, and she told him so when he parted her silvery robe and it whispered to the ground. She stood before him, pale and ethereal in the moonlight. She told him again when he kissed her mouth and throat and breasts, catching her breath when he caressed each dusky nipple with his tongue before he knelt to press hungry kisses over her flat stomach, where their baby lay, and down to the cluster of gold curls between her thighs.

The sensation of his wickedly inventive tongue probing her slick wetness made her cry out, and she curled her fingers into his thick black hair as the intimate caress sent her close to the edge. He stripped out of his clothes with an uncharacteristic lack of grace that made her love him more, and then he spread her on the sand and moved over her, his brilliant blue eyes locked with hers as he entered her and made them one.

‘I thought it was just good sex,’ she said shyly, her eyes widening until they reflected the silvery gleam of the moon as he set a rhythm that drove them both higher.

‘It was never just sex with you, angel,’ he groaned, feeling the first delicious spasms of her orgasm close around him. ‘Every time I made love to you it was with my heart as well as my body-I just didn’t want to admit that you had such a hold on me.’

He moved inside her, and suddenly there was no need for words when their bodies could express the deep and abiding love they felt for each other. It was a love that would last a lifetime and beyond, Vadim vowed, and was finally able to translate the Russian words he had whispered to her every time they had made love, so that she was in no doubt as to how much she meant to him.





EPILOGUE




THEY were married a month later, in a simple but moving ceremony in the grounds of the Villa Corraline. Vadim’s close friend Sergey Tarasov acted as best man, and Jenny flew over to be Ella’s maid of honour. At the reception, Lena Tarasov commented that she had always suspected Vadim had fallen for Ella like a ton of bricks, and the love that blazed in Vadim’s eyes when he looked at his new wife supported her theory.#p#分页标题#e#