She smiled, curling closer to him. “I’m an intelligent woman, Nasir. I am fully aware of the consequences of unprotected sex. I was just as responsible.”
His hand moved from her back to her hair, tugging gently until she looked up at him. “You were inexperienced that first time, my dear. It was my responsibility.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t pretend to be upset about this though. I’m thrilled.” He hugged her again. “We will be married quickly.”
Cassy stiffened in his arms. “No, we won’t!” she argued, pulling out of his arms. She looked around, almost laughing because they were still standing in the bathroom! “I can’t have this discussion right now.” Moving towards the doorway, she pulled it open and…stopped as a wave of dizziness hit her. Once again, Nasir’s strong arms held her steady until the world stopped spinning.
“Thank you,” she whispered, tilting her head slightly. But she didn’t turn all the way and look at him. Instead, as soon as the dizziness eased, she continued moving out of the bathroom, but much slower this time.
Nasir measured his steps so that he walked beside her, watching her face. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
Cassy sighed. “Um…well, besides the morning sickness, the dizziness, the abhorrence at the smell of…” she stopped, seeing the servant standing beside the table with that silver coffee pot. “Coffee.”
Nasir followed her gaze and realized what was going on. “I’ll have coffee later,” he told the woman. Immediately, she nodded and left, taking the coffee with her.
He sensed her relief as she slowly stepped closer to the breakfast table. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Her lips were pale as she slipped into the chair Nasir held out for her. “You need to eat,” he announced firmly, irritated that his woman wasn’t feeling well. “And then I’ll have a doctor check on you. I want…”
She lifted a hand, stopping his words.
“I’ve seen a doctor twice already and I’m fine. I need to eat more, but the baby is fine and…” she stopped, her heartwarming at his words. “The baby’s heartbeat is strong,” she finished in a whisper.
“You’ve heard our son’s heartbeat?” he demanded, a surge of emotion hitting him unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
Cassy smiled slightly and he watched as her hand stroked her stomach. “It’s going to be a girl,” she told him.
His eyes watched her hand, unable to pull his gaze away. “You know this already?” he asked.
She laughed. “No. I don’t know.” She patted her tummy and he looked down again. “I’m not sure that she even knows it yet. I’m only eight weeks pregnant, Nasir. She’s only about an inch long.”
He sat down in the chair beside Cassy, stunned and…in awe. “A girl!” he murmured, still looking stunned. But he revived quickly. “Cassandra, you will become my wife,” he ordered.
She laughed, suddenly feeling wonderful. “No, I won’t,” she replied softly. “Having a child is not a good enough reason to be married.”
“And yet, you were willing to pretend to marry another man simply because you are pregnant.”
“That’s different, and you know exactly why.”
“The issue is the same for me, Cassandra. We must be married before our child is born. You were willing to create an image for your employer of a happily married woman because you know that’s what they consider to be right and good. The same is true for my people. They want their future ruler to be born to my wife. We must be married, Cassandra.” He knew that she was going to reject his proposal and he laid a hand over hers. “If not for me, then do it for our child. This child needs the protection of my name more than you know.”
Cassy heard his words and a fear hit her. “Is our baby in danger?” she asked.
He looked at her carefully and she swallowed. “Yes. Not just our child, but you are in danger too, Cassandra. As the mother of my child, my enemies would try to hurt you in order to hurt me. We must get married so that I can protect you with my name and the resources of my country.”
And that was that, she thought as her face fell. A marriage of convenience.
“No!” he growled.
Her eyebrows shot up. “No?”
He stood up and started pacing. He looked so ferocious, that the servant carrying two plates froze and turned around, skittering back into the kitchen. Cassy watched, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her amusement.
“No, our relationship will not be like that! We will have a good marriage, Cassandra!” He paced a bit more, the urgency in his expression becoming harder. “You will love me. I will make it so.”
Her heart skipped several beats with that statement. “You will?”
“Yes!” He paced some more, rubbing a hand along his neck. “I will…I will become the man you can love. I will do whatever it takes!”
Her heart melted. He’d never shown any vulnerability or weakness around her. And yet, here he was, trying to figure out how to make her fall in love with him.
“Yes, you’ve already done that. But…”
He stopped, his eyes lighting onto her. “What do you mean? What have I done?”
Cassy pulled back, startled by the heat in his eyes. “Well, you’ve…I’m in love with you right now, Nasir. But…”
Once again, she stopped speaking when he moved quickly around the table, getting down on one knee as he took her hands in his. “Say it again.”
Cassy didn’t want to say it again. Not this way. “Nasir, we can’t…”
His fingers tightened on hers. “Say the words, Cassandra. I’ve been through hell over the past several weeks, trying to figure out how to win your heart. Are you telling me that you…love me already?”
She saw the question in his eyes, and the hope. Something she’d never thought she’d ever see! “Yes, I love you, Nasir.”
“But…You left me in Zurich! You wouldn’t speak to me!”
She sighed, bowing her head. “Nasir, I thought you’d dismissed me in Zurich and I was…hurt. Crushed, actually.”
“But…you didn’t call me? You didn’t tell me anything.”
Cassy nodded, feeling his pain in her chest. After the past several hours, hearing his words and the assurance that he hadn’t left her in Zurich, she felt a deep guilt over her assumptions. “Yes. I didn’t…I didn’t read your note. I still haven’t. But with my past, with what happened to me all those years ago, I didn’t really think, Nasir. I just reacted. And, obviously, I reacted poorly. But yes, I’m in love with you. I didn’t want to be in love with you. I still don’t.”
“Why not?” he demanded harshly.
“Because you don’t love me, Nasir. You have all the power in this relationship. You have from the very beginning. I’m completely vulnerable to you now that you know. You could crush me harder than any of those boys could have. I’m older and, hopefully wiser, but still, you have the power to really hurt me.”
He moved closer, his palm reaching out to cup her jaw and cheek. “Never!” he vowed. “You have given me your heart and I will protect that gift just as ferociously as I will protect our child,” he told her, his other hand coming to rest on her stomach. “I love you too, Cassandra. From the moment I saw you, I wanted you as my own.”
With his words, her heart melted even further! “You love me?” she asked, her voice cracking with the emotions that were swelling up inside of her.
“From the moment I stepped into the conference room that first day,” he promised.
“From the first moment?” she teased, feeling light headed, but from happiness this time.
“Don’t,” he cautioned. “Don’t even try to tell me that you didn’t feel the same way. From that first moment, we both knew. We could both feel what was happening between us.”
He was right and Cassy felt shame for a moment. Then happiness hit her again. “Yes. I felt it as well. I didn’t understand it. And, for so long, I’ve been on the wrong side of male…attention. But the way you looked at me,”
she lifted her lashes and looked into his eyes, “It was never about my breasts. It was about me, wasn’t it?”
He nodded, squeezing her fingers. “Always about you, Cassandra. Your breasts are beautiful and I love them. But they don’t define you. They have shaped your perception of men in general, but you are a beautiful person inside and out. You are strong and intelligent, funny and fascinating.” His eyes dropped to her breasts as a smile crept over his face. “And I love your figure, especially when you aren’t wearing one of those horrible sports bras,” he teased.
Cassandra couldn’t believe his words. She was so happy that she dove into his arms, laughing at his grunt of surprise when he caught her, lifting her up. “I love you,” she whispered against his neck.
He lowered his head as well, holding her close. “I love you, Cassandra. Will you please marry me?” he said, this time there was a hint of teasing sarcasm in his voice.
Cassy laughed. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Epilogue
“You can’t do this,” Cassy protested as she stepped into Nasir’s office.
Nasir leaned back in his leather chair, watching as Cassandra waddled over to his desk. He ignored the document she dropped onto his desk, focusing instead on the beautiful swell of her stomach. “How is our son doing today?” he asked, reaching out to pet her stomach, kissing her belly.
“She was annoyed last night,” she grumbled, emphasizing the female pronoun.
“I noticed. You tossed and turned all night,” he said, standing and kissing her gently. “How is your back?”
Cassy sighed, putting a hand on either side of her bulging tummy. “My back hurts. My boobs hurt. My legs hurt. I’m tired and hungry, but I can’t eat anything because of the heartburn that comes after.”
Nasir laughed softly as she glared at him. “From past experience, I guess that means that we are about to meet our son?” Their three other boys were wild and rambunctious, and he loved every one of them!
She huffed a bit. “I hope so,” she replied, leaning against his hard chest as much as she could. “I’m sick of being pregnant. Next time, you get to be pregnant.”
He sat back down in his chair, pulling her close. “You’ve already told me that this is our last child.”
Cassy pulled back, shaking her head. “I can’t sit on your lap, Nasir. I’m too big. I’ll hurt…oomph!” She blinked up at him as he leaned back, steadying her on his thighs. “Well, okay then.”
He chuckled at her grumpiness. “You are not too heavy. You are beautiful and we won’t have any more children.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “You said that the last three times,” she groused.
“True,” he replied, his hand smoothing down over her very pregnant tummy. “But I’d like to point out that I don’t believe that I’ve been the one to suggest that we have more children.”
That was true enough, she thought, glaring at him. “Fine! I’m the one that wanted more! But seriously! Pregnancy sucks!”
“You liked it a few months ago,” he teased, nuzzling her neck.
She tilted her head, giving him more room because she liked it when he did that. “Yeah, but that was during the fifth month of this pregnancy. That was when I could still walk and,” she gasped when he nipped at her earlobe. “Enjoy sex!” he bit her lobe again, his hands moving higher, cupping her large breasts through the material of her stretchy dress.
“You enjoyed sex last night.”
Cassy thought about it and shook her head. “No. I’m too big. It wasn’t enjoyable.”
“You screamed my name,” he reminded her.
She swatted his shoulder and stood up. “A gentleman wouldn’t remind me of that,” and she walked around to the other side of his desk.
Nasir laughed, his gaze drinking in her pregnant body with appreciation. “Yes, I know. And you know very well that I’m not a gentleman.”
Her body warmed and he watched as the blush stole up her cheeks. “I know that too well.” She tried to grumble, but her lips curled up into a smile. “Anyway, I should…” Cassy froze, her eyes widening as she looked at Nasir.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, standing up as she gripped her stomach. “Is it the baby?”
Cassy nodded, and looked down at the floor. “My water just broke.”
Nasir raced around the desk, pressing a button that alerted the guards stationed outside of his office. He lifted her into his arms as he shouted to the guards, “Get the doctor ready. My wife is in labor!”
There was a great deal of movement and a wheelchair was brought into the office. He put her gently into the chair, then pushed the aide out of the way, determined to get his wife to the delivery room himself.
“Hold on, my love. The doctor has been standing by. You will be…”
“Hurry,” Cassy urged, clutching her stomach. “This little girl is ready to join us!” and then she screamed as her first contraction ripped across her abdomen. He pushed her through to the palace delivery ward and Cassy panted through the pain as several nurses helped her onto the delivery room table.
“Tell the kids,” Cassy said to Nasir as he stepped out of the way so the nurses could strap on the fetal heart rate monitor over her belly.
“I’m not leaving you,” he snapped. But he turned to one of the guards. “Tell my sons that their mother is about to give birth to their brother and we will see them later.”
The guard nodded, then turned and hurried out of the delivery room.
“Nasir, it hurts!” she yelled, arching her back as another contraction hit her.
The obstetrician came through the doorway, smiling gently as one of the nurses pulled latex gloves over his hands. “Good morning, Your Highness. Apparently, it is time to give this country another heir!” he laughed at his own joke, then moved between Cassandra’s legs, feeling for her cervix. “Good grief, you are already fully dilated!”
“I know!” she yelled, fighting to keep from pushing.
The man looked astounded for a moment, then he nodded sharply. “You’ve delivered three healthy boys. There is nothing to fear.”
Cassy gasped for breath as the contraction eased. “Right! Says the man who hasn’t ever experienced labor.”
Nasir pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Honey, you can do this. Our son will join us soon and you will no longer have this…”
She writhed, screaming as another contraction hit. “No! No, no, no!”
Nasir wasn’t sure what she was objecting to, but figured it was better to be silent.
Five hours later, his fingers were probably broken but he could finally see the head of his son. “Almost there!” the doctor called out over Cassandra’s screams. “Just one more big push!”
Cassy shook her head, sweat drenching her hair. “I can’t!” she whimpered. But her body took over and she bent at the waist, pushing with all her might.
“There it is!” the doctor called out. “Keep pushing! Keep pushing!”
Cassy screamed, wanting to punch Nasir but the pain and the intense need to push won out. She couldn’t seem to do anything other than scream as the pain ripped through her. Moments later, the doctor smiled as her baby gave a soft cry.
“It’s a girl!” the doctor announced, grinning from ear to ear.
In the ensuing silence, the nurses, doctor, not to mention Cassy and Nasir, stared at the new arrival.
“A girl!” Cassy whispered, awed and unaware of the tears sliding down her cheeks. “A girl!”
Unfortunately, Cassy was too weak to hold herself up and flopped back against the delivery table. Nasir moved to cut the umbilical cord, then held out his arms to take the tiny girl-child into his arms. A nurse wrapped a cotton blanket around her, and transferred their daughter into dad’s arms.
“A girl!’ he whispered, moving the cotton blanket out of the way to peer into the wrinkled, furious, red face of his baby girl.
Moving to Cassandra, he lowered his arms so that she could look.
“She’s beautiful,” Cassy murmured, still trying to recover.
Nasir nodded his agreement. “I love you,” and he bent his head to kiss Cassy’s forehead.
“I love you, too,” she whispered back. “Especially since testosterone didn’t win this time!”
He laughed, shaking his head even as he cradled his daughter in his arms. “Our sons are going to…” They both cringed. “I’ll hold off on telling them.”
Cassy laughed, since their three boys had already been building a fort in which their next brother would live. Yeah, she thought as she watched Nasir cradling their baby girl. Life was pretty darn amazing!
Continue reading for a sneak peek at the final book in The Ladies of The Burling School series
Excerpt to The Secrets of Seduction
Coming July 17, 2020
Get Ella’s Story HERE!
“Figures,” Ella grumbled, staring up at the imposing building that housed the headquarters of Reynolds Industries. Over the past few days, she’d done her research and, although the Duke of Theeds, Edward Reynolds, was still alive, he wasn’t active in the social world anymore. But he hadn’t passed his title or wealth on to his son, Malcolm Reynolds. In a way, Ella respected Malcolm more because he’d created so much from nothing. He hadn’t inherited his wealth, like so many rich aristocrats in the world. He’d created a massive empire through grit and determination. He was thirty-six years old and a billionaire many times over. He bought ailing companies, fixed them up, and sold them off. So he didn’t really own anything, other than a huge amount of land and real estate, all of which was separate from his investment company.
And yet, she remembered that shiver of awareness a couple of days ago at the restaurant. The man was tall and arrogant, she thought. But if there was one thing that had never impressed her, it was wealth. In fact, because of the way Edward Reynolds had treated Ella’s mother, the way the arrogant jerk had simply tossed her out of his house because he could, his disdain for decades of loyalty and service had caused Ella to despise people with a disproportionate amount of wealth. They had too much power and, in most cases, wielded that power with contemptuous disregard for anyone outside of their social circle.
Unexpectedly Expecting the Sheik's Baby (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 6) Page 16
