GREEK HUSBAND

chapter 25

Bella breathed in slow and deep, fighting the sense that he was putting her on the spot because she knew that was unjust. She was in a highly stressful situation and any decision she made would put her under pressure. 'This year of my degree I have to spend a lot of time working long unsocial hours in hospitals. Coping with that while pregnant will be a challenge.'

'We can find some way to work around the problems. I've made an appointment for you with a doctor, who's a friend of mine,' Edward told her quietly. 'We're calling in with him first—'

'A doctor? Why for goodness' sake?' Bella demanded impatiently.

'I want confirmation of your pregnancy and the reassurance that you are in good health,' he admitted quietly.

Bella breathed in deep, suppressing her frustration. He had a right to that official endorsement, she reasoned ruefully.

Edward's friend was in private practice and her pregnancy test was processed at supersonic speed before the suave, smoothly-spoken doctor gave her a brief physical check-up and the usual advice offered to pregnant women.

Having satisfied Edward's request, Bella was quiet when she slid back into his limousine and thought about her baby. Possibly she had been a little too quick to consider the avenue of adoption, a solution that would enable her to continue her life after the birth as though she had never been pregnant. Obviously, the idea of reclaiming normality had an appeal but what sort of normality would it be when she had to live forever after with the awareness that she had given up her baby? A cold chill clenched Bella's spine at the prospect of that ultimate consequence. Adoption was final and could well sentence her to live with a secret heartbreak and sense of loss for the rest of her days. Suddenly, the chance to think at her leisure, while not having to worry about where or how she lived or what other people thought, shone like the most luxurious indulgence in front of her. Edward, she dimly appreciated, could talk a lot of good sense when it suited him to do so.

When they arrived at the block of exclusive apartments where Edward lived, his guards and her luggage went in the service lift, imprisoning her with Edward in the opulent confines of a far smaller and less utilitarian lift. She met his stunning eyes once and her heart stuttered as she immediately turned her head away, only to be greeted with a mirrored reflection of him instead: the luxuriant blue-black hair she wanted to tousle with her fingers, the arrogant angle of his head and the firm jut of his jaw, the sheer blazing confidence that inexplicably drew her like a magnet. Her mouth drying, she swallowed with difficulty. She felt out of step with herself, challenged to recognize the stranger she became in Edward's presence, a stranger with random, often inappropriate thoughts and no control over her own body.

'Stop fighting it,' Edward growled soft and low, his abrasive accent purring along the syllables.

Bella glanced up. 'Fighting what?'

'This...'

And he reached for her, pulling her up against his big powerful frame with easy strength. In unmistakable contact with the long, hard length of his erection Bella's tummy flipped and her knees turned to water. Dangerous heat shimmied between her legs.

'It's crazy—'

'The most powerful craving I've ever felt,' Edward sliced in. 'I felt it the first time I saw you. I fought it to let you walk away. But I'm done being sensible.'

Completely disconcerted by that blunt admission, Bella parted dry lips. 'But—'

'No...buts, meli mou,' Edward husked against her cheek, his breath fanning her parted lips. 'The words you're looking for are Yes, Edward.'

A strangled little sound of amusement escaped Bella. 'I hope you're the patient type?'

'Not even remotely.' Strong arms banding around her, Edward lifted her up against him and claimed her mouth with a voracious driving passion that curled her toes and made her nails dig into his shoulder. When she made a half-hearted attempt to evade him his arms merely clamped tighter around her while he delved deeper into her mouth to send a current of fire arrowing through her quivering length. He tasted spicy and sweet and so unbelievably good she couldn't get enough of him. She was barely aware of the lift doors whirring open or of the momentary separation of their mouths as he cannoned into a doorway with a muffled Greek expletive. Indeed the entire experience was like a time out from her brain because a hunger she couldn't fight had taken control.