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‘I had a normal sex life in which I took every possible precaution to ensure that there were no accidental conceptions,’ Ari slotted in, his lean, darkly handsome face grave. ‘No male can do more than that. Yet I feel that you areblamingme—’
‘That’s...that’s just human nature in a tight and unpleasant corner,’ Cleo protested uncomfortably, taking his point but not admitting the fact. ‘And our wedding did make it rather obvious that your...er...past is rather extensive in comparison to mine.’
‘Unfortunately for me, I didn’t appreciate that I would end up married to a woman who would find my past so distasteful,’ Ari breathed harshly.
‘That’s not fair. I’m not judging you. In fact, I would never have thought about your past sex life at all had it not been for all those women at our wedding,’ Cleo pointed out truthfully, standing her ground. ‘You’re the one who put a spotlight on your past for my benefit.’
Ari felt rather less certain of his position than he had once been. A married friend had remarked after the wedding onhiswife’s comments concerning that inconsiderate guest list. He had shot himself in the foot, Ari recognised, owning his mistake but typically reluctant to acknowledge it.
‘I’m not remotely concerned about your past history with other women unless it impinges on our marriage,’ Cleo declared steadily, meeting his gorgeous eyes calmly. ‘And sadly, this baby does, and it threw me for a loop, I’m afraid. You need to try and view this development from my point of view—’
‘I have—’
‘No, you haven’t,’ Cleo responded, with bitter certainty in that accusation. ‘This isn’t arealmarriage, not the way others are. You married me for Lucy’s sake. I don’t have the security of knowing that you love me, so I felt more threatened than many women would by the idea of a former lover having your child and the constant contact between you that will obviously follow on from that continuing relationship.’
‘I’m possibly not the most emotionally intelligent guy you will ever meet,’ Ari breathed tautly. ‘Well, we already know that from the wedding guest list...but I’m not totally stupid. When I wake up in the morning and you’re not there and I miss you. Well, that’s never happened to me before with a woman—’
‘You missed me?’ Cleo slotted in brightly.
‘And I’m not used either to thinking about a woman all day, because thatseriouslyinterferes with my concentration, but I can’t get you out of my head,’ Ari complained. ‘I look at you, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re the most beautiful and sexy woman in the world, which means that I truly don’t see anyone but you now...’
By that stage, Cleo was simply staring back at him in shock at that unexpected rambling speech.
Ari sent her a wolfish smile of achievement. ‘I believe it’s called love. So, yes, you do have the security of knowing that I love you and that, as far as I’m concerned, this is averyreal marriage.’
Not quite able to jump that fast from her assumptions to what appeared to be her new reality, Cleo trembled and frowned. ‘Do you mean that?’
‘Hey, I’m the guy who couldn’t wait until tonight to see you,’ Ari pointed out without hesitation. ‘And no, I don’t know when exactly I fell in love with you or how it happened in the first place. I only know that we forged bonds at the very beginning that first night, and the minute I had you in my bed, I wanted you back there again in the worst way. And absolutely nobody else would do as a substitute.’
‘Is that so?’ Cleo queried as she finally shook free of her paralysis with the craziest, fiercest happiness circulating through her in an enervating surge. Nothing at all mattered at that moment but that he loved her. Everything else, she thought warmly, would just fall naturally into place. She was no longer second-best, no longer the practical choice of wife. In fact, she found herself suspecting that Ari would have married her anyway once he understood how he felt about her.
‘That is so,’ Ari confirmed, resting both hands on her slight shoulders, flexing possessive fingers over her fine bones, dark golden eyes aglow with more emotion than she had ever hoped to see there.
‘Well, you were way behind me,’ Cleo informed him teasingly. ‘The first time I laid eyes on you, I wanted you. That’s how I ended up in bed with you that first time. You were my fantasy.’
‘I like being your fantasy,kardia mou. But I did notice you from the start. I thought it was because your clothes were too colourful for me,’ he admitted. ‘Only I think it was because you were so different from my usual type...and now I only have one type and it’s you.’
‘I like that,’ Cleo confided sunnily. ‘You do realise that I fell for you on our honeymoon?’
‘I was ahead of you there,’ Ari asserted with pride. ‘I knew when you walked down the aisle towards me in the church. You looked magical and I was so excited that you were mine.’
Cleo frowned. ‘But you never said that you loved me!’ she censured.
‘I’d made all those speeches about Lucy, and changing tack that fast made me feel a little lame,’ he explained. ‘But the way I was behaving, I think you should have guessed how I felt about you. I was jealous of every man that looked at you, possessive beyond reason, and I couldn’t get enough of you in bed or out of it. If that’s not love, what is?’
Cleo rested tender fingers against his hard jawline. ‘I do love you very much and I’m so sorry I ran away. I always knew I was coming back, though—I should get points for that, shouldn’t I?’
‘I was worried you wouldn’t come back,’ Ari confessed in a driven undertone as he closed both strong arms round her and literally lifted her into close contact with his lean, powerful body. ‘Do you think I didn’t appreciate that that news from Galina Ivanova was a body blow?’
‘I don’t have much to say about that yet,’ Cleo admitted honestly. ‘I’ll get used to the idea, though. Time will help—’
Ari froze and looked down at her with a sudden grimace. ‘It’snotmy baby she’s carrying,’ he told her bluntly.
‘Notyour baby?’ Cleo whispered in shock.
‘No. The DNA test proved that the child isn’t mine. I think I was the richest bet Galina had and she just hoped that I would turn out to be the father, but obviously I wasn’t her only lover at the time—’
‘You should’ve told me it wasn’t your childfirst!’ Cleo exclaimed in rampant disbelief at that oversight.
