The Gold Collection. Maggie Cox

disliked from her finger, and replaced it with the band of diamonds. ‘This ring is for eternity, mi amor, just like my love for you.’

      There were not words to express the depth of her love for him, but he seemed to understand, and kissed away her tears before he swept her up and carried her out of the study. The speed with which he took the stairs was an indication of his fierce need to make love to her. He dropped her onto the bed and removed the wisp of tantalising black lace, his eyes burning with desire as he swiftly stripped out of his clothes and positioned himself between her satin-soft thighs.

      ‘I can’t wait, tesoro,’ he murmured, as he caressed her with gentle fingers and found her wet and ready for him. But he forced himself to be patient, and reached into the bedside drawer for a protective sheath, giving her a puzzled look when she took it from him.

      ‘I think it’s time I caught up with your sisters,’ she said softly. ‘Matty needs a little brother or sister, and this time I want you to be involved from conception to birth—concentrating very much on conception,’ she added with a blissful sigh, when his patience snapped and he surged into her.

      ‘Are you sure you want another baby when you are about to start studying?’

      ‘I can study while I’m pregnant—and one day when our children are older I’d like to resume my career. I have everything I could ever want,’ she reassured him softly, ‘You, Matty, and hopefully we’ll be blessed with another baby. But, more important than anything, I have your love—as you have mine.’

      ‘For ever,’ Ramon vowed fervently. And there was no need for further words as he showed her with his body the love that filled his heart.

The Frenchman’s Marriage Demand

CHAPTER ONE

      ZACHARIE DEVERELL swept along the hospital corridor, paused briefly to check the name above the door before he entered a ward and strode purposefully towards the nurse seated behind the reception desk.

      ‘I’m here to see Freya Addison. I understand she was admitted yesterday,’ he added, the hint of impatience in his voice making his accent seem more pronounced. The nurse gaped at him but Zac was used to being stared at. Women had stared at him since he was a teenager and at thirty-five his stunning looks, combined with an aura of wealth and power, meant that he was accustomed to being the centre of attention.

      When it suited him he would respond to a flirtatious look with one of his devastating smiles, but today he had other things on his mind. There was only one reason why he was here, he acknowledged grimly, and the sooner he saw Freya and told her exactly what he thought of her latest stunt, the better.

      ‘Um…Miss Addison…’ Thoroughly flustered by the presence of six feet four of brooding Frenchman holding an angelic-looking child in his arms, the nurse hurriedly flicked through the pile of papers in front of her. ‘Oh, yes, down the corridor, third door on the left—but you can’t see her at the moment, the doctor is with her. Please, wait a minute, Mr…?’

      The Frenchman was already striding along the corridor and the nurse scooted around the desk and chased after him.

      ‘Deverell,’ he murmured coolly, not slowing his steps. ‘My name is Zac Deverell and it is imperative that I see Miss Addison immediately.’

      Freya sat on her hospital bed and stared gloomily at her bandaged wrist. The past twenty-four hours had been hellish and she hoped that any minute now she would wake up and find that it had all been a nightmare. Instead the throbbing ache of her badly sprained wrist and a splitting headache were evidence of the force with which her car had ploughed into a fallen tree, brought down during the ferocious storm that had hit the south coast.

      She had been on her way home from the yacht club where she worked as a receptionist and fortunately hadn’t yet collected her little daughter from the day nursery when the accident had happened. Aimee was safe, and she was lucky to be alive, she acknowledged with a shudder, but her car was damaged beyond repair and she was going to have to take time off work, which was not going to help her ailing finances.

      She had spent the night in the hospital with mild concussion and the doctor had explained that the ligaments in her wrist had been torn and she would need to wear a support bandage for several weeks. After prescribing strong painkillers he had told her she could go home, but she was worried about how she was going to manage to carry Aimee and her pushchair up and down the four flights of stairs to their attic flat when she only had the use of one hand.

      She would have to ask her grandmother for help, she fretted, her thoughts turning to the woman who had brought her up after her mother had abandoned her when she was a baby. But Joyce Addison had taken on the role of parent out of a sense of duty rather than affection. Freya had endured a loveless childhood and when she had fallen pregnant and immediately been dumped by her baby’s father, her grandmother had made it clear that she would not support her or her child.

      She guessed Joyce had been furious when the hospital contacted her yesterday and passed on her request that she should collect Aimee from nursery. She had half expected her grandmother to turn up at the hospital last night with the toddler in tow, but there had been no word from the older woman and Freya was growing increasingly anxious. She glanced up expectantly when the door opened and felt a sharp pang of disappointment when a nurse entered the small side ward.

      ‘Have you heard anything from my grandmother? Has she phoned? She’s looking after my daughter but she’s due to fly to New York any day now.’

      ‘As far as I know, there has been no word from your grandmother, but your daughter is here at the hospital,’ the nurse said cheerfully. ‘Her uncle’s looking after her. I’ll tell him he can come in.’

      ‘Uncle?’ Freya stared at the nurse in bewilderment. Aimee didn’t have an uncle.

      ‘Yes, I asked Mr Deverell to wait in the visitor’s lounge while the doctor was with you, but I know he’s impatient to see you,’ the nurse added wryly. The Frenchman had to be the sexiest male on the planet, but it had been evident from the haughty expression in his flashing blue eyes that patience wasn’t one of his strong points.

      The nurse disappeared before Freya could question her further. The world had gone mad, she decided as she ran a shaky hand through her hair. The name Deverell conjured up a face from the past that she had spent the past two years desperately trying to forget and hearing it again caused a peculiar cramping sensation in the pit of her stomach. The nurse must have made a mistake. But who was this mysterious uncle—who exactly was looking after Aimee?

      ‘Mum-mum!’

      She glanced towards the door at the sound of her daughter’s gurgling laughter and focused on Aimee’s cherubic face, a heady mixture of love and relief coursing through her veins. But almost instantly her gaze moved higher and clashed with the cool blue stare of the man who had haunted her dreams for the past two years.

      ‘Zac?’ she whispered disbelievingly.

      Zac Deverell; billionaire businessman, renowned playboy and chief executive of the globally successful company Deverell’s, which owned exclusive department stores around the world, instantly seemed to dominate the room. He was even more gorgeous than she remembered, she thought numbly as her brain struggled to assimilate the shocking reality of his presence at the end of her bed. He was tall, lean and devastatingly good-looking, his black jeans and matching sweater were effortlessly stylish and accentuated his athletic build.

      Weakly Freya closed her eyes. For a few seconds the image of his bronzed, muscular torso and the covering of fine black hairs that arrowed down over his flat stomach flooded her mind. Zac was the epitome of male perfection. For a few brief, incredible months she’d enjoyed free access to his body and had revelled in the feel of his satiny skin beneath her fingertips as she’d trailed a daring path over the solid strength of his thighs. She had a vivid recall of how it had