“Am I yours?” he demanded, moving closer, pulling her flush against him.
She held her breath as she stared up at him. “I want you to be mine,” she admitted. “I’ve been such a fool this week, but I don’t want to be Duteille any longer. I don’t want to be frozen in my life, just watching the world pass me by.” She lifted up onto her toes and kissed him gently. “I want to be all the way in,” she concluded, and waited for his response.
“It’s about time!” he groaned, wrapping his arms around her and spinning her around, kissing her with all of the pent up passion that he’d tried to ignore while she’d been with her family.
When he put her back on the floor, they were both panting. “I don’t want you around your family, if you can even call those people that, anymore. You have a new family. Starting now!”
“Okay,” she said, beaming up at him.
“That means marriage, Rachel. I want my ring on your finger!” He dug into his pocket and produced a stunning diamond ring. “If you accept this, it means more than just our engagement. It means that you’ll be with me forever. And you’ll recognize how bad your family is and get rid of them. I’m serious, your mother and sister are evil and your father is weak, allowing them to do whatever to him. You need and deserve so much more than that.”
“Okay,” she replied, stunning them both.
His eyes widened, then narrowed as he looked down at her. “Okay? Just…okay?”
She laughed. “You’re right, Tarin. I’ve been letting them manipulate me for too long. I can’t let it continue. And…” she blushed, but his hands tightened around her waist, giving her courage. “Well, if we have children, I don’t want my family to…”
She couldn’t finish again because he kissed her. She melted into his kiss and she wanted to laugh and cry and scream with happiness. She felt liberated! For the first time in so long, she was completely and amazingly free! She hadn’t realized until this moment how much her family dragged her down. But it was time to break free from that toxicity and find her happiness. They’ll just have to survive without her and, whatever happens to their business, would happen because of their ineptitude.
“I love you,” he murmured against her lips.
“I love you too,” she replied, kissing him with all of the love she felt in her heart.
Epilogue
“I’m going!” she announced in a tone that brooked no argument.
Tarin followed her out of the dressing room, his eyes focused on her back instead of…well, the rest of her because looking at the rest of her just drove him wild with lust. He couldn’t think about…that…right now.
“You’re not going!” he countered, his tone absolute.
Rachel slowly turned around, pulling the dress over her eight and a half month pregnant belly and hiding the pretty red bra she’d pulled on moments ago. Her panties didn’t match because the panties that matched the bra were now too small for her pregnant body, but Rachel knew that Tarin still desired her. The evidence was pretty clear if she just looked down.
This argument couldn’t be resolved with sex though. So she didn’t look. She kept her eyes upwards.
“Tarin, this is the opening ceremony for the university center. You’ve been working on this project for years and I’m proud of you! I’m going! I’m standing by your side and I’m going to be clapping harder than anyone else.”
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “But you’re pregnant, Rachel!”
Rachel laughed. “Yes. I noticed!” she replied softly. Moving closer, she rested her hands on his chest, tilting her head back to look into his face. “Tarin, we’ve been married for two years now. And you’ve been working on this center the whole time. I’m going to this ceremony. I will be with you.”
“I want you here, resting with your feet up and eating something nutritious,” he countered, his hands caressing her belly.
She covered his hands with hers, loving him so much that it overwhelmed her sometimes. “I’ll be fine. Besides, if anything happens, the university is only two miles from the hospital. I love you and this is your moment. I have to be there.”
He moved closer, leaning forward to kiss her. “Fine. But if anything happens, you’ll tell me, right?”
She grinned cheekily up at him. “You’ll be the first to know,” she vowed.
Tarin sighed, closing his eyes as he accepted the inevitability of her attendance. He didn’t like it, but one thing he’d come to love about her was her determination. It was sexy as hell and he loved her more with each passing day!
Six hours later, Rachel beamed and clapped so hard that her hands stung as Tarin cut the giant ribbon with a pair of shining scissors. The crowd roared and stood up, but Rachel was in too much pain to stand. Thankfully, no one noticed as they surged forward, eager to offer their congratulations.
Still, Rachel waited for another thirty minutes. The crowd had finally thinned out by then, most people moving over to the food tables and mingling around the atrium of the main building for the new university campus.
Finally, Tarin turned and saw her. She’d stayed in her chair, her hands covering her round tummy. But he didn’t notice her beauty. He only saw how pale she was.
“Rachel!” he roared, moving over to her and bending down to peer into her eyes.
“What’s wrong, love?” he demanded.
She lifted one finger, silently asking him to hold on a moment. When the contraction eased, she took a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing, and she gave him a genuine smile.
“Oh my, that was a bad one,” she
