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CHAPTER SEVEN
AT FIVE-THIRTY THE next morning Stella rose and laced up her trainers. Despite almost zero sleep, she was so full of energy she needed to burn it off—hard and fast. She saw no one as she ran the gravel track looping the small island, but she knew her action wasn’t unseen.
Sure enough, when she got back Eduardo was waiting at the top of the stone stairs, looking annoyingly cool in black trousers and a white shirt.
‘Isn’t it bad luck to see me before the ceremony?’ she asked, as breathless as if she’d run round the track ten times, not two.
‘The new day has scarcely started. I do not think this counts.’ He looked down at her, his expression unreadable. ‘What are you doing?’
‘What does it look like I’m doing?’ she mocked. ‘Did you think I was trying to run away? I have many talents, but walking on water isn’t one of them.’
‘After your reckless rock-climbing escape that day at Cala de Piratas, I wouldn’t put it past you to try and swim to the mainland.’
‘I know about the rip between those two islands.’
‘But you like to take risks more than you’re willing to admit?’ he countered, his expression amused.
‘Not stupid ones. I know my own strength.’
‘And you must also know that my security detail is watching every centimetre of this island’s perimeter. No one arrives. Or leaves.’
‘That’s a threat?’
‘No, that’s just the way it is.’ He shrugged.
‘Always?’ Were his moments always so closely monitored? Even when he was on ‘holiday’?
‘Yes.’ His frown deepened as he watched her struggle to regulate her breathing. ‘It can’t be healthy for the baby for you to be working out to such an extreme level.’
‘This isn’t extreme.’ She stiffened defensively. ‘Get your doctor back if you don’t believe me.’ She needed to see that doctor again, to talk through her history properly. Privately.
‘I will. You might not obey orders from me, but you will listen to him. Agreed?’
‘Of course.’ She climbed to the top of the stairs and stood directly in front of him, but he didn’t move to let her pass.
He brushed the side of her face with the back of his fingers. ‘Did you sleep at all?’
The bed had been enormous, clad in luxury linen, soft and decadent—nothing like the narrow, hard beds at the barracks. It hadn’t been built for one person to sleep in.
‘I can’t think why I didn’t,’ she answered acerbically, fighting the way she was drawn to him. ‘Maybe it was the life-changing revelations of yesterday that had me all antsy.’
‘Maybe,’ he murmured. ‘But maybe it was something else altogether.’
She glared up at him, provoked. ‘You think you’re irresistible?’
‘Past form would indicate that you like what I do to you.’ He was charming again. Impulsive. Teasing. But he didn’t touch her again. Instead he glanced at the platinum watch on his wrist. ‘You had better run now—so you can get ready for our wedding.’
‘I’m not the kind of woman who takes two hours to get dressed.’ She folded her arms and sent him a surly look. ‘Why is the ceremony so early?’
‘So our wedding night can last as long as possible.’ He laughed wickedly. ‘Why did you think?’
‘You’re impossible.’ And alarmingly irresistible.
‘Actually, I think you’ll find I’m very easy to please.’ He nodded over her shoulder and she turned to see that the sea and sky were painted rose-gold as the sun started its slow ascent. ‘It’s a beautiful day to get married,’ he said softly.
It was a beautiful day. Yet suddenly she was terrified. She was out of her depth.
‘Say yes.’ That brightness in his eyes hardened.
He knew. He’d said it last night...more than he’d bargained for. Not the baby, but the maelstrom of emotion he aroused in her. Even now lust curled through her unruly body, tightening her muscles with anticipation.
‘I won’t obey your every dictate.’ Somehow she needed to keep this desire within her control.
His smile lit up.
‘That wasn’t a challenge,’ she added, far too late. Flames of anticipation licked.
‘We both know it was.’ But he stepped back and turned towards the palace. ‘I’ll see you when the sun has fully risen.’
