Modern Romance Collection: July 2017 Books 1 - 4. Sharon Kendrick

one of your precious Fabergé eggs?’

      ‘Or maybe,’ he continued, as if she hadn’t spoken, ‘maybe introducing you to the Greek teacher was simply a clever diversion and the pretty-boy waiter has designs on you himself?’

      ‘You think he has designs on me?’ She stood up and gave a disbelieving laugh as she angled her palms over the curve of her belly. ‘Looking like this? How dare you? How dare you say such a thing to me?’

      Ariston let her words wash over him but instead of being irritated by her defiance, all he could think about was how ravishing she looked in her anger. Her blonde hair was spilling wildly around her face and her green eyes were spitting emerald fire and automatically he reached out to pull her into his arms. That first contact made her pupils dilate and although she had started beating her hands furiously against his chest, she moaned when he started to kiss her and she moaned some more when he palmed her nipple and felt the tip pushing hungrily against his hand. She kissed him back and her kiss was hot and hard and angry, but the beating of her fists became less insistent. He levered her closer, and jutted his hips so that she could feel just how hard he was and she writhed against him in furious frustration.

      Slipping his hand underneath her dress, he felt her bare thigh and as he began to stroke his fingers up towards her panties his desire went right off the scale. Just like hers. He could hear the unsteady rush of her breath as she scrabbled at his belt, and as she slipped the notch free he felt as if he might explode. He was rock-hard and the unmistakable scent of her arousal was in the air as his slowly moving fingers reached her panties to discover they were damp. So damp. He groaned again, and so did she as he pushed the taut panel aside and slicked his finger over her honeyed flesh, confident that sex would dissolve the tension between them as it always did. Couldn’t he show her who was boss and wouldn’t her hungry body accept that, the way it always did? Her arms wound themselves around his neck and he was about to pick her up and carry her over to the chaise-longue when suddenly he came to his senses.

      ‘No,’ he said suddenly, his heart pounding in protest as he removed her hand from his trousers and pushed her away.

      It took several moments before she spoke and when she did she looked at him in confusion. ‘No?’

      ‘I don’t want you, Keeley. At least, not right now.’

      ‘You don’t?’ she questioned, before giving a disbelieving laugh. ‘Are you quite sure about that? Isn’t that the way you like to settle any kind of disputes we have?’

      He suppressed a ragged groan before forcing himself to step away from her. ‘I’m not making love to you when we’re in this kind of mood,’ he said, his voice thick. ‘I’m angry and so are you, and I fear I might be more...physical with you than I should be.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘And that’s probably not the best idea given that you’re pregnant.’

      Keeley stared into his shuttered features as desire drained from her body, like water from the bathtub, and in its place came a horrible sinking realisation. Because no matter what she did or what she said—no matter how hard she tried or how long they stayed married—Ariston would always remain in command. She could learn Greek until the cows came home but it wouldn’t make any difference. She could even try to find out more about ship-owning, but she would be wasting her time. Because what she wanted didn’t count. It was what Ariston wanted which counted and it always would, because he ruled the roost and had been allowed to do so for years.

      He liked her to know her place and to run everything past him first. He didn’t like strangers in the house and now she knew that, she would be expected to respect his wishes. Her home had become her prison and her husband the rigid jailer. And the reason he didn’t want to make love to her right now was nothing to do with his fears about her pregnancy. The expression on his face was as dark as the time he’d told her about his mother and suddenly she understood why. Because he didn’t like the way she was making him react, she realised.

      He didn’t want to lose control or to be seen to lose control.

      And she realised something else, too. That if she stayed, she would spend the rest of her life sublimating herself to his desires and his whims. The one thing she had asked for when she’d agreed to marry him hadn’t materialised. They would never be equals—and what kind of an example would that be for her son?

      Smoothing her hands over her hot cheeks, she stared at him. ‘I’m done with this, Ariston,’ she whispered hoarsely.

      He narrowed his eyes. ‘What are you talking about?’

      ‘You. Me. Us. I’m sorry. I can’t do this any more. I can’t stay in this...this mockery of a marriage.’

      His smile was cruel. She hadn’t seen him look at her that way in a long time, but now she was reminded of the essential ruthlessness which lay at the very core of him.

      ‘But you don’t have any choice, Keeley,’ he said silkily. ‘You’re pregnant with my child and there’s no way I’m letting you go.’

      She met the quiet fury in his eyes. ‘You can’t stop me.’

      ‘Oh, I think you’ll find I can,’ he said. ‘I have the experience as well as the wherewithal. You have nothing while I have everything. I can get the full weight of any international court to rule in my favour in a custody battle—don’t ever doubt that—though it’s a path I’d rather not take. So don’t make me, Keeley. Why don’t we just calm down and recalibrate?’ He fixed his steely blue gaze on her. ‘Perhaps I was a little unreasonable—’

      ‘Perhaps?’ she demanded and she realised something else, too. That people didn’t interrupt Ariston. His power had allowed him to build a wall around himself so high that nobody ever dared try. He’d made up all the rules and everyone else was supposed to just fall in and obey them. And everyone always had—until now. She was the only one who had dared to step out of line, but he couldn’t wait to make her step right back in it again. ‘You don’t get it, do you?’ she said shakily. ‘This isn’t a marriage, Ariston. It’s a farce and a prison—and I’m not just talking about your lack of trust or the jailer-like behaviour you’ve demonstrated simply because I had the temerity to invite someone home!’

      ‘Keeley—’

      ‘No! You will hear me out. You will. Do you want to hear the reality of what it’s like being married to you? Of how great it really is? You spend long hours in the office—and when you’re back, at best you tolerate me. Guaranteed orgasms and the occasional trip to the theatre don’t add up to intimacy, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, because you don’t want intimacy. You told me that yourself and at the time I thought I could live with it, or maybe even change it—but now I know I can’t. Because you don’t care about me, Ariston—all you really care about is your baby. Sometimes you make me feel like a character in a science-fiction film, someone who is growing your child so that you can take him away from me just as soon as he’s born! As if I’m nothing but a damned incubator!’

      ‘Keeley—’

      ‘Will you stop trying to interrupt me?’ she yelled. ‘When I mentioned that we were completely outnumbered by staff and spoke of my desire to help with a little housework, you looked at me as if I was some kind of freak. So what am I supposed to do all day? Haunt the shops like some well-dressed mannequin while I blitz your credit card?’

      ‘Lots of women do.’

      ‘Well, not me. If you must know, it bores the hell out of me. I had a brief love affair with excessive spending before we got married, but I’m over it now. It’s an empty, meaningless existence. I’d rather give the money to charity than keep buying more overpriced handbags!’

      ‘Keeley—’

      ‘I haven’t finished,’ she continued icily. ‘You speak Greek and I can’t, which means I would always be the outsider—and when I do use my initiative to take lessons, I get accused of having the hots for my teacher’s brother!’

      ‘I