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She would’ve snapped that he could’ve told her that earlier, to save her going out of her mind, but the weight of his words snatched her breath and deadened her vocal cords.
She was pregnant. With Ares’s child.
The child he intended to gain full control of the moment she stumbled.
Joy, panic and determination swirled like a vicious cyclone inside her as her gaze shifted to find Ares watching her with a ferocity that made every nerve in her body scream in confused, absurd exhilaration.
If she’d thought him possessive before, it was nothing compared to his expression now. It was almost as if he wanted to consume her.
She barely heard the doctor excuse himself. Her entire focus remained on Ares as he slowly prowled towards her, then stood examining her face for a moment before he slowly, inexorably, speared his fingers into her hair.
One hand cupped her jaw, angled her face up to his, while the other drifted down between her breasts, past her midriff to settle low on her belly, over the womb now cradling his seed.
‘Mine,’ he breathed.
She wanted to tell him he’d said that before, but it sounded flippant in the face of the seismic, life-altering reality unfolding between them.
‘Ours,’ she insisted, feeling that feral need to stake an equal claim on her child.
His nostrils flared and the possessive blaze in his eyes intensified. Odessa didn’t back down. This was the most important battle of her life. And even as the warmth from his hand seeped into her belly, triggering a wild need to lean into his hold, their gazes continued to clash.
When he drew away she bit back a whimper, the loss of warmth so acute she shivered.
He saw the reaction, his eyes speculative.
Before he could probe that telling weakness, she turned away and snatched up the bag. ‘Are we going back to Ismene?’
‘Didn’t you hear the doctor? He’d like us to stick around for a day or two, to make sure the spotting doesn’t return. I also have some business to take care of in Athens.’
She shrugged. ‘I was too busy watching your Neanderthal instincts attempting to consume you.’
For whatever reason, that produced a glimmer of amusement. ‘And? Did they succeed?’
‘That remains to be seen.’ She glanced outside, to the sun-dazzled vista of Athens in the autumn sunshine. ‘Are you going to growl at me if I say I want to take a walk out in the sunshine? Enjoy some of this hard-won freedom I’ve earned for myself?’ she challenged.
Something stirred in his eyes. Want? A quiet clamour?
‘I was going to suggest lunch. With me.’
The need to say yes was shockingly visceral. As was the caution not to give in to the insane urge to inhabit his orbit.
‘I don’t think I could eat anything just yet.’
Not until she’d digested the news that she was carrying a child.
Dio mio, she was going to be a mother.
She gasped when his hand’s warmth returned to her belly, and he didn’t try to hide the peculiar expression moving over his face.
‘I don’t want you getting heatstroke, so just one hour outside. Then the driver will take you home, and you will eat something, then rest. Ne?’ he offered gruffly.
Odessa swallowed the emotions clogging her throat. ‘Ne.’
His eyes darkened dramatically, his gaze dropping to the mouth she’d used to answer in his own language. But perhaps she imagined the rough sound he made under his breath, because in the next moment he was grasping her hand, leading her out of the private clinic and into the back of the luxury SUV. Crisp instructions were issued to the driver, who nodded.
Fifteen minutes later they pulled to a stop outside a sleek six-storey building with a discreet Cyrillic ‘Z’ sign in silver at the top.
Ares’s headquarters.
