Virgin: Undone by the Billionaire: The Innocent's Dark Seduction / Count Maxime's Virgin / Untamed Billionaire, Undressed Virgin. Jennie Lucas

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СКАЧАТЬ she wanted him.

      Not just in bed.

      But in her life.

      Forever.

      She realized with a sudden shock: she was falling in love with Roark.

      No! she thought in desperation. I can’t fall in love with him! She desperately tried to remember all the reasons she had to hate him.

      But all she could think of was the stark vulnerability she’d seen in his face when he’d told her how his family had died in the fire. How his own grandfather had despised him and not even allowed him to love a nanny. How since he was seven years old he’d never had a real family or home …

      But he doesn’t want those things! she told herself fiercely. He doesn’t want a wife. He doesn’t want a child!

      It was so hard to keep silent about their baby. She wanted to tell him so badly that it was choking her.

      But she couldn’t risk Ruby’s happiness on a father who didn’t want her. And she didn’t want to force Roark into a responsibility he didn’t want.

      If she were truly starting to care for Roark, she told herself, she had to keep the secret. She had to give him the freedom he wanted.

      And, a tiny voice whispered, if he knew how you’ve lied all these months, he would hate you.

      She closed her eyes, unable to meet his gaze that ripped through her defenses, that ripped through her soul.

       She was falling in love with Roark.

      And she had to let him go.

      She glanced at her diamond-crusted Piaget watch. “Two o’clock,” she whispered. Ruby would be waking up from her nap. She took a deep breath. “It’s late. I have to go.”

      “Late?” He moved beneath her. “Our flight across the Pacific doesn’t depart for two hours.”

      “No.” She started to sit up. “I’m sorry. This afternoon is all we can ever have. I can’t travel with you. I can’t risk …”

       Can’t risk my child’s heart on a father who doesn’t want her.

       Can’t risk you hating me if you knew what I hid from you.

      He stared at her. “Lia, don’t do this.”

      She briefly closed her eyes, gathering her strength. “You said if I came to your bed of my own free will, you’d let me go.”

      He grabbed her wrist. “Lia, wait.” He took a deep breath, then looked her straight in the eyes. “If you won’t be my mistress … then be my wife.”

      CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      BE HIS wife?

      Lia stared at him in the luxurious hotel suite, her heart pounding.

      “You … want to marry me?” she whispered.

      “I want to have you in my life.” His eyes were dark, intense. “At any cost.”

      She took a deep breath. So nothing had changed. He still didn’t love her. He was merely willing to marry her just to get his own way.

      But how long would that kind of marriage last?

      And if he knew about Ruby …

      He didn’t want a baby. And whatever he said now, he didn’t want a wife, either. A man like Roark would never settle down with anyone.

      He admired Lia because he thought she was honest and good. If he ever found out how she’d lied all this time—lied to his face—lied to him as she surrendered her body to his …

      He didn’t love her, and he never would.

      And if he ever knew the truth, he would hate her.

      Hot tears rose to her eyes as she grabbed up clothes from the floor. “I have to go.”

      She dressed quickly, then turned to go.

      “Lia.”

      He rose before her, naked and strong and powerful. Her heart was in her throat as she remembered every inch and taste of his body. The way he’d felt against her.

      “I know you want a home and family of your own,” he said quietly. “Those are things I can’t give you. But I’m offering you everything I have. More than I’ve ever offered anyone. I want you, Lia. Come with me. Be my wife.”

      She swallowed back the pain of wanting him. Perhaps if she weren’t a mother, she might have been willing to sell herself short for the promise of the life he offered her.

      But she was a mother. She had to put Ruby first.

      Lia had already made a mistake by sleeping with a man who had no desire to be a father. She wouldn’t compound the mistake now by marrying him.

      “I’ve made my decision,” she whispered. “Goodbye.”

      “No!” He took her hand.

      She turned away. “You gave me your word.”

      Sucking in his breath, he dropped her hand.

      “Yes,” he said dully. “I promised.”

      “Goodbye.” She started running for the door so he wouldn’t see the tears streaming down her face.

      But after she’d gotten into the hallway, slamming the door behind her, she leaned back against the door, wracked with silent sobs as she said goodbye to the only man she’d ever kissed. The only man she’d been tempted to love. The father of her child.

      I’m doing the right thing, she told herself as she pressed the elevator button with a sob. The best thing for all of us.

      So why did it feel so wrong?

      She’d left him.

      Roark couldn’t believe it. He’d been so certain that she would be his.

      He’d just asked her to be his wife.

       And she’d refused him.

      Perhaps it was for the best, he told himself. He rubbed his head wearily. He’d been a fool to impulsively blurt out the offer. He would have tired of her in a week. In a day. Lia had done him a favor turning him down.

      Hadn’t she?

      The penthouse, with all its exquisite furnishings, echoed with silence. Marble, crystal, expensive hardwoods—all cheap and ugly now that she was gone.

      His phone rang as he got out of the shower.

      “The СКАЧАТЬ