Virgin Mistress(22)
Only then did he finally allow himself to surrender. He thrust inside her, imploding with an explosion of white heat that made him collapse against her on the bed.
Afterwards, he'd held her. He made love to her all night. And far more surprising—he'd slept in her arms. He still remembered the feel of her soft, gentle body. Knowing that when dawn came, he would have to give her up.
Biskreta, he grew hard just thinking about that night.
Staring at her now, even as he demanded that she leave both him and the baby forever, he wanted her back in his bed. Craved her beyond all reason. Beyond all resistance.
But he couldn't trust her. Ellie was young, naive, shortsighted. If Diogo hadn't guessed the truth about his baby's paternity, he would never have even known that he existed. Ellie would have married that bastard Wright. She would have given his child away.
Did she know what kind of man Timothy Wright was? Did she have any idea how he'd suddenly gotten so rich over the last few years—his nasty little side business?
Diogo intended to find out.
“A hundred million dollars is a lot of money, Ellie. It's far more than Wright would have gotten for you.”
Her china-blue eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
He watched her narrowly. “Don't you know?”
She shook her head, and her lips turned down in a sad little moue. “I just know I treated Timothy badly,” she whispered. “He's loved me for ages. But I couldn't love him no matter how hard I tried. Then I humiliated him in front of all our wedding guests…”
Diogo barked a laugh. “He deserves far worse.” Suddenly haunted by the image of a woman's face, he looked away. “I nearly killed him at Christmas. With my bare hands.”
“Why?” He heard Ellie take a step toward him, heard her intake of breath. “What did he do?”
“Do you really want to know?” he asked harshly.
She put her hand on his arm. “Yes. I want to know.”
He looked up at her. Ellie had changed a great deal from the shy secretary he remembered. Her body had changed, as well. He could now see the unmistakable signs of pregnancy. Her pale skin glowed. Her slender breasts had grown huge. They swelled beneath the pretty neckline of her maternity dress, straining beneath the fabric.
He found himself picturing what those new breasts now looked like. What they felt like.
How they tasted.
Maldição, she was the most alluring woman he'd ever met. And she didn't even realize her own power…
His whole body broke into a hot sweat. Desire went through him with an unbearable force that made his hands tremble. He wanted to toss her onto the bed, take her hard against the wall, to thrust into her again and again until he satiated this agonizing need…
He clenched his hands, turned away. He had to get a hold of himself. It wasn't like him to be so close to losing control!
“Ellie,” he said in a low voice, “do you know how Wright was getting so rich?”
“Timothy's private practice in Flint was thriving—”
“He's been buying and selling babies on the open market,” he ruthlessly interrupted. “Taking children from poor mothers and giving them to rich, childless couples who can afford his illegal fees.”
She stared at him, her mouth agape. Then she shook her head violently. “No! Timothy wouldn't do that!”
“Before your wedding, you told him you were pregnant with another man's child. What did he do?”
All the color slowly drained from her face.
“He told me he'd take care of it,” she whispered. “But I thought he meant… I thought…”
She sucked in her breath. Then covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God.”
Diogo stared at her.
Ellie hadn't known.
She hadn't intended to sell their child.
Not for love.
Not for money.
She'd just turned down Diogo's offer of a hundred million dollars. How many women would have done that? None of the greedy debutantes or avaricious actresses of his acquaintance. They all would have made noises about loving their child and wanting to be a good mother—but for a hundred million dollars, they would have tripped over themselves trying to shove the baby in his arms.
He had his proof. Ellie Jensen was…not a gold digger.
She was just foolish and blind. She'd given her precious virginity to Diogo, knowing that he had no intention of being a husband or father. Then she'd agreed to marry an unscrupulous, rotten man like Wright, because she actually thought he would be a good father for her child.
Like most women, Ellie was weak. But she wasn't immoral. She wanted to protect this baby, just as he did. She placed the security and happiness of her child above her own desires.
And that changed everything.