The Purest of Diamonds(57)

                ‘Imagine having a nursery at the castle,’ he pressed on. ‘I know how much you loved your turret room, and you can speak to my decorators, have the nursery decked out any way you want. The top stores will provide cribs and toys and clothes and strollers, and any other baby equipment you might need. You’ll have a completely free hand, Leila—’

                ‘But I’ll be a prisoner,’ she said with horror.

                He shook his head wryly. ‘I thought we’d got past that Rapunzel thing. You’ll be free to come and go as you like.’

                ‘After the birth.’

                ‘Well, obviously.’

                As he gazed around the room Leila had been using as an office he should have known that a carefully preserved sixteenth-century citadel with a sheikh’s ransom in antiques and furnishings would cut no ice with her. He was right. Those hormones hadn’t gone anywhere; they were merely slumbering, waiting to explode.

                ‘You can’t keep me trapped on your island when I want to go home.’

                ‘Just think carefully before you make any rash decisions. Think about what you want, and then think about what’s best for the baby.’

                ‘Don’t patronise me, Raffa,’ she said quietly. ‘I don’t need to think about what’s best for my baby. What’s best for both of us is for me to return home to Skavanga and my life there.’

                ‘I’m not trying to patronise you. I’m trying to do everything I can to help you.’

                ‘Then let me go.’

                Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the expression in her eyes as she held his gaze was absolutely determined.

                ‘At least agree to sleep on it.’

                She stood up, ready to go. ‘I will,’ she promised without much enthusiasm.

                By this time they were mere inches apart. ‘What are you doing?’ she said.

                ‘I’m kissing you into compliance.’ Brushing her lips with his mouth to a lazy rhythm he felt her soften in his arms.

                ‘Get off me,’ she warned, starting to laugh as he continued to tease her. ‘You can’t get around me like this.’

                ‘Can’t I?’ His hands had moved down to cup the swell of her buttocks, bringing Leila into contact with the best argument he’d got.

                ‘You’re unscrupulous.’

                ‘Yes, I am,’ he agreed.

                ‘And a very bad man,’ she added with a shuddering sigh.

                ‘We’ve already established that,’ he confirmed, rasping the tender skin below her ear very lightly with his stubble. ‘Shall we continue this discussion in the morning?’

                ‘I’m not going to change my mind,’ she insisted, turning to stare into his eyes.

                But she wasn’t going to discourage Raffa from trying his absolute best to convince her he was right either, Leila concluded as he swung her into his arms.

                * * *

                Raffa shouldered the door to his bedroom and carried her inside, kissing her across the room before lowering her gently onto the bed, where he stripped off her dress and tossed it aside. As it floated to the floor she remembered the incident with the thong, and warned him not to lose her dress. ‘I don’t want to walk through the castle naked to find it.’