Scandalously Expecting His Child(60)

                Was that on account of her fainting, or of the offer she’d made before she had? Or both? Did he think he’d have a hysterical female on his hands once she woke up? One who’d start clinging and causing him problems he couldn’t afford?

                Might as well open her eyes and reassure him that he had nothing to fear from her. She’d made a desperate bid for more time with him, and she’d lost. As she’d known she would. But she’d had to try. Now it was over, and she’d go in silence as she’d intended. But he didn’t know that. It was time to let him know.

                She opened her eyes, and his image filled her aching gaze. He’d put on pants, was standing over her like a monolith, every muscle in his majestic body bunched, making him look even more perfect, more intimidating. That body that had owned and pleasured hers in magical ways would soon be only a memory. Just like everything else with him. Even his confession that he’d been with no other woman. No matter how he desired her, his plans were what mattered to him. As they should.

                Struggling to prop herself up, she pushed hair out of her eyes. “Sorry for passing out on you like that.”

                “How can you apologize? It isn’t as if you could have done something about it.”

                He sounded hoarse. She did, too, her voice abused with too many cries of pleasure. It felt so strange, made her feel so cold, after that indescribable interlude of intimacy, for him to be standing there, separate from her. But she’d known all along that this was coming. Maybe this fainting spell had been timely, ending the scene she would have so impulsively caused. Now discussing it would be without the flagrant emotions of the moment, would be distant and detached.

                She sat up. “I guess not. But I do apologize for what I said before I fainted. It must have been the euphoric high after the incredible sex. But I’m taking back everything I said and we’re returning to our scheduled separation. In fact, I think I just pushed the date forward. We had the revelations and confessions and got everything out in the open and off our chests, and had an unprecedented session worthy of a last hurrah. Anything after that would be redundant, so it’s time to say our goodbyes.”

                She flung the comforter off as if it burned her, even if it acutely dismayed her to be seminaked in front of him now. Now that their intimacies were over, she felt as she had all her life, stripped of her every dignity and hiding place. She felt far worse than she ever had. With any other, she hadn’t cared about feeling like a sullied, expendable object.

                She talked as she started to dress. “I’m leaving Japan within a week. So it will be before your wedding. This time when I disappear, you won’t have to worry you’ll ever see me again.”

                “Was that the original plan? To disappear without telling me?”

                She blinked up at him. His face was gripped in some emotion she couldn’t fathom. Every angle in his masterpiece bone structure jutted out more against his burnished skin, as if he was straining under an insupportable burden.

                “Telling you what?”

                “That you’re pregnant.”

                If Raiden had told her he was an alien, then flew around the room to prove it, she wouldn’t have been more stunned.

                She must have gaped at him for minutes before she closed her open mouth and tried to overcome her shock.

                “When were you going to tell me, Scarlett?”

                Slowly, carefully, as if testing her voice for the first time, she said, “Never, I guess. Since I’m not.”