Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Damen? What’s wrong?
What exactly do you think we are now, Mairi?
Are you worried about the labels? We don’t have to be girlfriend or boyfriend. We can just be...an item.
An item...that will eventually lead to marriage?
Eventually, yes.
But how can that be when I am still engaged to the Kokinos heiress?
Mairi squeezed her eyes shut, but more unwanted memories flooded her mind. She remembered, God how she remembered, the pain still raw, the time she had goddamn asked Damen when he wanted to throw her out of his house.
I won’t believe you until I hear it from—-
Get out of this house. Is that clear enough for you?
What?
Get out of my fucking house, you gold-digging bitch!
Damen, what are you—-
What I am is a fucking fool to think you loved me.
Mairi covered her face with her hands, needing the world to be dark so that no one would see her as she made the choice to be weak.
She had asked Damen.
So many goddamn times.
But this time, she couldn’t afford to ask him, knowing if she did, she might not be strong enough to stay strong for her baby.
Chapter 18
She said: To wed a Greek billionaire, one should be ready to live a life filled with poignant tenderness.
He said: Are you referring to the poignantly tender way I fucked you, matakia mou?
“WAKE UP, SWEETHEART. It’s time.” Damen’s low husky voice drew Mairi out of her slumber the next day, and she found a bare-chested Damen lying on his side, looking down at her with a seductively attractive smile playing on his lips. Add to that his sleep-mussed hair, and he looked so sexy and beautiful it literally made her heart twinge.
Damen bent close to cover her lips with his. “Good morning.” He inched down to place a kiss on Mairi’s silk-covered stomach. “And good morning to you, too, little one.”
The tender gesture brought a lump to her throat, and Mairi had to swallow several times before she could be sure her voice wouldn’t shake when she spoke. “Good morning.”
“You slept early last night...” Damen inched back up, and cupping Mairi’s chin to make her face him, he took careful note of her face, searching for any sign of illness or strain.
“I’m fine. I was just...tired. It’s the pregnancy, no doubt.”
“You slept the whole day yesterday?”
She lied, “Yes.”
Damen’s jaw clenched. “I see.” He knew for a fact that she had not. He had asked the guard deployed at his home and learned that Mairi had left with Morrison just before lunch. He wanted to demand where they had gone, but it was fear and not pride that held him back. He didn’t want to ever hear Mairi say she was happier with another man.
She strove for a casual tone when she asked, “How was your day yesterday? I called your office and you weren’t there.”
“I told you about the meeting, remember?”
“How did it go?”
Damen recalled Willow’s presentation. “It went very well.”
Mairi felt sick to her stomach at the look in Damen’s eyes. “Oh. That’s...great.”
Damen frowned at the catch in her voice. “Something is wrong.”
She shook her head.
“You can lie to me all you want, but I know you, matakia mou. I can feel something is troubling you.” A tear slowly trailed down one soft cheek, and with a silent curse, Damen wiped it away. The sight of it was like acid in his system. Was she crying because she could no longer bear being with him? Was her feelings for Morrison starting to overpower...her pity?
“Mairi...”
His ragged voice made more tears fall. Oh God, she wasn’t ready for this yet. Please God, please just give me a few more hours. Minutes. Let me just be with him until the end and then I’ll let him go.
When Damen started to speak again, she beat him to it by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. It was rare for her to kiss him first, and Mairi couldn’t blame Damen for stiffening in reaction. She kissed him more deeply, using every trick in the book that Damen himself had taught her.
“Please,” she whispered against his lips. “Please make love—-”
With a groan, Damen rolled Mairi on to her back as he settled his weight on top of her. He kissed her deeply, hungrily, Mairi’s surprising overture causing his chest to tighten and his cock to rise fully erect against her belly.
When Mairi sensed Damen trying to gentle his kiss, she felt herself become frantic. She didn’t want him to think, fearing that if he did, he would remember he was about to tell her he was no longer imprisoned by his guilt. She just wanted him to feel, and she did everything she could to keep it that way. She rubbed her body against Damen’s muscular form, her nipples brushing against his chest, her sleek folds nestling his cock.