The Greek's Innocent Virgin

by Lucy Monroe

  For the first time, she appreciated just how true that was. He really hadn't meant any of what he said that morning. If he had, even his mother's championship of Rachel would not have changed his mind.

  He nodded. “To my sorrow, yes. If it is any con­solation, I paid for my arrogance. I wanted you and I could not find you. I thought my heart had been shredded."

  His heart?

  "You looked for me?"

  "Yes. But Hawk could find no trace of Rachel Long."

  "Who is Hawk?"

  “A man who runs an international detective agency. He rarely fails, but you left no trace."

  "It's hard to find someone who does not exist."

  "You do exist."

  "But Rachel Long doesn't."

  "This is true. However, I am very grateful that Rachel Kouros now shares my bed, my life, and my future."

  "I love you." It was easier to say this time.

  His eyes closed as if on an intolerable pain, but when they opened they glowed with warmth that took the very breath from her body. "You are nothing like your mother."

  "I know." But she was glad he did too, finally.

  "I am very proud you will be the mother of my child."

  “Children." She smiled at him, feeling dreamy and full of hope for the future. "I want at least three. I've always wanted a real family."

  She'd never liked being an only child.

  He shook his head, his expression as grave as she had ever seen it. "Perhaps if we adopt, but you will not be pregnant again."

  “What? Why not?" Didn't he want her to have more of his babies? The bubble of happiness around her was starting to lose some of its air.

  "It is not safe. This time your pregnancy made your thyroid and heart go out of kilter, next time there is no telling what will happen. No, you must never again become pregnant. I have taken steps to ensure this."

  Her head was whirling. He really did have a pen­chant for drawing crazy conclusions.

  "What steps?"

  "I am scheduled for a vasectomy in a month's time."

  She sat up in total shock, causing their bodies to move in intimate harmony and he groaned. "You can't do that!"

  His hands settled on her hips and he arched up­ward, his semi-erect flesh making itself felt more fully inside her. "I can, agape mou. So can you."

  They weren't talking about the same thing, but it took her a few seconds of wallowing in the pleasure of his touch to get the breath to say so. "No, I mean, have a vasectomy. That's not necessary. The doctor said I would be fine once we do the procedure after the baby is born. Another pregnancy won't be a prob­lem."

  His eyes burned into hers. "I won't risk it."

  He'd called her his love and she was finally starting to see that was exactly what he had meant. "You mean you don't want to risk me."

  "Naturally not." Using his hold on her hips, he moved her in a rhythm that sent her thoughts scatter­ing. "What do you think I am saying here?"

  "You love me." Her eyes filled with tears and her heart expanded to fill with a joy she had never known.

  He stilled his movements, his hands reaching up to cup her face. "Can you doubt it?"

  "But that stuff you said..."

  "I told you. I went crazy." The skin across his cheekbones darkened. "You scared me. I felt for you things I felt with no other woman and I did not want these feelings. They were too powerful."

  "So, you rejected me." The memory still hurt, but not as much as before.

  Because she now realized he had been as devas­tated as she was by all that had transpired after they made love. The fact it had all been his own darn fault didn't mitigate the pain he'd suffered because of it.

  "I rejected my own idiotic image of you, not you." For the second time that night, she saw his eyes glis­ten with unexpected moisture. "I destroyed some­thing beautiful."

  She pressed her hand over his heart. "You damaged it but you didn't destroy it because we're back together."

  "And you still love me?" He sounded uncertain and that shocked her, but she didn't hesitate to reas­sure him.

  “I fell in love with you when I was seventeen and I haven't stopped loving you since. You are the only man I have ever wanted to share my body with, the only one I ever will."

  He brought her mouth down to his. "I do not de­serve you, but I will never let you go."

  "Just you see that you don't." She moved exper­imentally on him, feeling his body tense under her. "I never want to leave you."

  "S'agapo, Rachel. I love you more than life."

  Talking stopped as she learned a new and exciting way to make love to him. He allowed her to bring them both to the brink of rapture with her movements before taking over, thrusting up into her, causing an explosion of starbursts to go off in her head while her body contracted around him in love-filled pleasure.

  Later, they shared a bath in the en suite's spa tub. Sebastian arranged her in front of him, his hands gently stroking along her curves in a poor attempt at washing her.

  "I can't help but notice certain bits are getting very clean," she said with a laugh, feeling light-headed with happiness.

  The sense of belonging to someone and knowing they belonged to her was incredible and she laughed again with the sheer delight of it.

  His arms tightened around her in unexpected strength. "I would give all that I have to hear you laugh like that many times over the years to come."

  "All I want is your love."

  “That you will have, yineka mou. Every day of my life."

  But he gave her more, so much more.

  Sebastian showed his love for her in a hundred dif­ferent ways, not least of which was the difficulty with which she convinced him not to have a vasectomy. It was such a drastic step for the proud Greek man to take, proving to her in a way that could not be dis­puted just how precious she was to him.

  But she wanted more of his babies and it was only after speaking with three specialists, his mother and Rachel arguing until she was hoarse that he finally agreed to one more pregnancy. He did it with the caveat that if there were even minor complications, they would not try it again.

  She knew there wouldn't be. She planned to pop out lots of little Kouros babies to love.

  A month before their baby was due, Sebastian sur­prised her with a visit from an American. The hand­some, older man with sad brown eyes turned out to be her father and his gaze filled with both elation and warmth when he saw her.

  He'd spent the last eighteen years searching for her, but Andrea had changed their names and done a very good job of hiding from him. She'd taken Rachel out of spite when he had told her he wanted a divorce.

  He'd never remarried because he hadn't been able to forget the daughter he'd loved so much.

  That night, she lay in bed beside Sebastian, her mind at peace, her heart full. "He'll make a terrific grandfather. He's a wonderful man."

  "He has a wonderful daughter."

  "Can you believe he's been looking for me so long? He spent thousands and thousands of dollars to try to find me over the years."

  "I find that easy to believe. I would never have stopped looking either."

  She smiled and brought his hand to rest over her swollen tummy. "Our baby brought us back to­gether. ''

  A month later when the baby was born, their family circle was complete. Her father and Sebastian's mother discovered they had more in common than being the grandparents to a beautiful baby girl and were married the day Rachel discovered she was pregnant with her second child.

  Rachel marveled that a life which could be so de­void of love could now be filled with it and she never took for granted the gift she'd found in Sebastian Kouros. He said she was the gift and did everything in his power to make her know how valuable she was to him.

  The day she told him she was pregnant with their second child, they both acknowledged that love was the real gift and it kept on giving, filling their lives with the richness only it could bring.

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  Lucy Monroe, The Greek's Innocent Virgin