'I thought you said you didn't do family.'
'I don't. Normally. But you can't bring up my baby here and you wouldn't come as my mistress. I had no choice. Now you have no choice.'
She let his slur on her house and what she could provide for a child slide away. She couldn't tackle everything at once. 'Did you tell my mother about the baby?'
His hands left the railing as he turned fully to face her. 'No, but I was left to wonder why you wouldn't. So now you don't have to worry about having an illegitimate child. Now your child will have a name and your baby will have a father. You could thank me for taking care of your problem.'
'Thank you? My problem? Tell me, where does your particular brand of arrogance come from? Did you make it yourself or did you take it over, like just another one of your corporate acquisitions?'
It was his turn to bristle, she noted with considerable satisfaction as he shifted his stance. 'Do you seriously think I haven't told my mother yet because I'm worried that she'll be devastated about me being an unmarried mother?'
'What else? You don't seem to realise how much a baby would mean to your mother. How could you not tell her such news?'
'Don't you think I know what my own mother needs? You're the last person who needs to tell me how much she would love to see another grandchild.'
'So now it's not an issue. Now you have nothing to be ashamed of.'
'I never had anything to be ashamed of. For your information, I haven't told my mother yet because I'm little more than six weeks' pregnant. Do you understand that?'
'You mean,' he interrupted, his face a tight frown, 'there's a chance you could be wrong?'
'No. The pregnancy has been confirmed. But that doesn't mean things can't still happen. What if I lose the baby?'
'Is that likely?'
'Not likely. But not impossible either. This is still very early days in the pregnancy. The last thing I need is for my mother to get her hopes up and then have them dashed once more. That's why I haven't told her yet-not because of some stupid idea that she won't be happy unless I have someone's ring on my finger.'
His silence lasted for barely a second and then he shrugged. 'It's of no consequence. We're getting married anyway-it's all decided. You can hardly let your mother down now.'
'And if something happens to the baby?'
'We'll have another.'
She shook her head. 'Damien, you're not listening to me. I never said I'd marry you.'
'You don't want marriage? You surprise me. That seemed to be exactly what you wanted this morning. You weren't satisfied with just my house, my servants, my income. It was clear to me you wanted more.'
'You can't just waltz in here and take over this house and this family like it's one of your business deals. Those kind of tactics might work in the boardroom, but they certainly don't wash here.'
Immediately she'd mentioned it she wished she could take it back. There was no way she could think about boardrooms without thinking of that night, of the night that had started it all, and with the memories came the heat, heat that was all the more raw after their lovemaking of today. She didn't need to remember such things now, especially not now, when she was trying to put distance between them, when she was trying to make him see sense.
Her eyes sought his. Damn. They narrowed, a predatory gleam infusing them, and she saw that he'd made the connection. With two quick steps he'd forced her backwards until his arms dropped either side of her and she was trapped.
'I'm not the only one around here who engages in boardroom tactics-or have you forgotten that first little episode?'
She shook her head as she backed up hard against the railing, fighting the sheer magnetism of his body, the pull of his body increasing with his proximity. 'No. But it's not relevant. You can't just make people do what you want. You can't just decide for them their future without a thought for their own needs and desires. You can't-'
Her words were cut off as his arms crushed her to him and his mouth found her throat, sending bold heat suffusing her veins, washing through her on a torrid tide that threatened to blow her resolve, if not her sanity.
His head forced hers back, leaving her neck and throat exposed to his mouth, his lips and tongue working together immediately finding all of those special places-that spot on her neck just below her ear lobe, the line where her skin disappeared under the neckline of her dress. All of her skin, anywhere his mouth touched, came alive and it was impossible to stop her body responding to his assault.
'You see … ' His head lifted just a fraction so his lips skidded over her skin, a dance of breathy heat and liquid movement. 'See how much you want me,' he said. 'I could take you here, on the deck, and you would be powerless to stop me.'
She tried to breathe, to clear her mind. Yes, she wanted him. No matter how much she wished she could refute his claims her body would not be denied. Her heart would not be denied. She wanted him body and soul. But that still didn't make what he was doing right. It was one thing for her to give herself freely. It was another for him to take it.
'But that's the way you always operate, Damien. You take what you want.'
'You don't fool me. You want this too.'
'So why not take me then? Take me now, right here, while my mother sleeps inside. And what exactly will that prove? Do you for one moment imagine I will be so blown away by your love-making that I will be desperate enough to rush down the aisle for more?'
The change in his breathing told her that her words had hit their mark. His head twisted to rest on her shoulder as his arms relaxed their grip. He surged away towards the house without looking at her, one hand on his hip, the other sweeping back through his hair all the way down to his neck.
She was driving him crazy. He must be crazy, to want to attack her on her own back step, her mother sleeping inside the house.
But he wanted her-so much. Why did she continue to frustrate him? She'd fled from him that first night, hidden her identity and kept it concealed. And she still made out she was an innocent in all this when she'd held all the cards right from the beginning.
'You seem to take a great deal of satisfaction in pointing out my failings, but do you think your own behaviour is beyond reproach?' She looked up at him, startled, as if not expecting him to go on the attack so soon.
'What do you mean?'
'You're the one who ran away the night of the masquerade ball. You're the one who kept your identity a secret. If you hadn't told me today about the baby-' He stopped, reeling back the hours to that time.
She hadn't told him.
He'd intervened in her dispute with that loser, Bryce, and Bryce hadn't been the only one who'd believed him. In her fragile state she'd thought he was telling the truth. She'd thought he really did know the baby was his.
He looked up at her, his eyes open for what seemed the first time as the layers of her deceit peeled away.
'You weren't going to tell me, were you.'
It wasn't a question, it was an accusation. 'You were never going to tell me.'
'No, Damien, that's not true.'
'You were going to keep this baby a secret. You never intended to let me in on it. If I hadn't come to your rescue and you hadn't taken me seriously, I never would have known.'
'No! I was going to tell you today.'
'But you didn't.'
'I didn't have a chance. I was about to tell you, in your office, but Bryce-'
'Bryce nothing. I don't believe you. You've hidden the truth from me all along. Why should today be any different?'
'Because it's the truth.'
'No. You were going to keep it your secret. Another little secret. Like making love to me that night. That was your secret. You didn't want me to know who you were-that's what that mask was all about-why you wouldn't take it off. You never wanted me to find out.'
'Damien, listen to me-'
'Why should I listen to you? You've hidden the truth all along. You hid your face that night so I wouldn't know who you were. Then you let me believe you were never at that Christmas party. Why would you do that and then suddenly decide to tell me you're pregnant and it's my baby?'
'Because it is your baby. You have a right to know.'
'You care about my rights?' he scoffed. 'I very much doubt that. But this isn't about rights. I believe you never had any intention of admitting you were in that boardroom let alone advising me that I was the father of this baby. If it hadn't been for that blunder you made when I threw Bryce out, you would never have told me.'
'Damien, that's simply not true.'
'Isn't it? You can honestly say you never once considered hiding the truth about this baby from me? You never once considered the possibility of bringing this child up on your own?'
Her eyes slid sideways before they slowly meandered their way back to his. His own narrowed in response. What did that mean if not an acknowledgement of his claims? She'd planned to keep this baby secret from him. Blood rushed to his temples in a flush of heat and anger. Just as well she had no way out of this arrangement. She'd never escape him again.