Page 44 of At the Sheikh's Command
“Ah, then you have nothing to worry about.”
She stilled his hand. “Ah, but I think I have. Because I want nothing to come between us now or in the future. Nothing. No misunderstandings, no secrets.”
“Misunderstandings? What misunderstandings?”
She shrugged. “We have none yet. I’m saying I want us always to understand each other.”
He played with her, trailing his fingers around her, nearly making her forget what it was she wanted to—no,hadto—tell him. She sucked in a deep breath and pulled his hand away. It was the only way she could concentrate.
“Please, I want to talk.”
He shrugged. “About what? You said there are no misunderstandings.”
She nodded.
He frowned. “What then? Secrets?”
She swallowed and nodded again.
He smiled. “What secrets could you possibly have? What terrible things have you done, my love, that you wish to tell me? Have you stolen something? Have you lied? Or have you done some other outrageous thing which you need to confess?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve done none of these things.”
His face looked puzzled. “Then what is it?”
She licked her lips. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Need?” He sat up, suddenly realizing that she was serious. “Then go ahead, tell me. And then we can return to the serious business of lovemaking. You have a few minutes before I start.”
She didn’t smile back, and his smile faded. She hated that and wondered if he’d smile again after she’d told him her secret. He waited for her response, the seconds marked by the beat of her heart, which she now knew she could never bury again. Whatever the cost.
“I was pregnant.”
Shock slammed into his eyes and he froze, apart from a muscle which ground deep in his jaw. And in that moment of silence, she realized that this was more to him than she’d ever imagined. This wasn’t simply a child he didn’t know about, but a child who would have changed the course of his life. And she didn’t know what he would do.
He looked away from her abruptly and swung his legs out of bed. He sat for a moment with his back to her, his head in his hands, and then jumped up. He pulled a robe from the chair, shrugged it on, and walked away. And kept on walking through the open doors into the garden.
She waited for him to stop, to ask her the questions he surely must want to know the answers to, but he kept on walking. But there was no way she was going to let him walk away from her this time.
Not now.
CHAPTER21
“Darrius!” she called out to his retreating figure, but there was no pause in the sound of his footsteps. She scrambled out of bed, grabbing a robe as she went, and ran after him. But by the time she’d entered the gardens, there was no sign of him. Despair filled her.
“Darrius, please, wait!”
There was no reply. She pushed on, choosing one path over another at random. She couldn’t leave it like this. Not when she’d come so far. She turned a corner and nearly bumped into him. He was looking up at the mountains as if seeking help.
“Darrius!” she said, out of breath. “Thank God.”
She nearly recoiled under the dark anger she saw in his eyes. “Thank God for what? That I’ve spent all these years believing you hadn’t had a child with someone else?” He shook his head. “Don’t you understand how that makes me feel?”
The expression in his eyes told her absolutely how he felt. For the first time in her life, she didn’t know if she was safe with him. She’d done the forbidden. She’d kept a secret from not only her lover, but a king who never came second. He was an alpha male through and through. He was also someone who wasn’t used to forgiving people. And in that instance, she wondered if he’d ever forgive her. He shifted away slightly, his mouth grim as he tried to control his temper.
“It wasn’t like that,” she finally said.
“It wasn’t like what? You were pregnant with another man’s child! How can it not be like that?” He gritted his teeth and nodded, trying to force himself to accept this fact. But she shook her head.
