Michaela ran her soft hand over his abs, and Maxim’s stomach tightened, his whole body aching, ready for her again. If it was only his body that was affected it wouldn’t be so dangerous, but his chest felt too full when he looked at her when he touched her. It was too much. It wasn’t what this was supposed to be about.
Maxim thought about what his father had said. About the paternity test. Michaela had even commented that if they’d made a mix-up at the lab in the first place, it was possible they had made a mistake and that he wasn’t the father.
If that were true, Michaela would be free to go back home. They wouldn’t even have to get married. He’d imagined that thought might make him feel free, that the prospect of escaping marriage might make the tightness in his chest lessen. Instead, it sent an intense
Michaela was more than thankful for having an opportunity to get out of the palace later that day. The meeting with the men and women she was working with to organize the Carpathian branch of the MD Foundation had gone well. It had provided some much-needed distraction from the anxiety of waiting for the test results, from the stifling solitude that came from being in a huge building surrounded by people who basically never talked to her. But most of all, she needed a distraction from her earlier revelation. She didn’t want to be in love with Maxim. She was saving all her love for their child. She didn’t want to have her emotions tangled up in loving him, not when he was only going to hurt her. She didn’t want to be like her parents. Didn’t wa
He backed her across the room and turned her so that she was facing away from him before bending her gently over the surface of the dresser that was positioned up against the wall. “Maxim…” Michaela asked tremulously. “Trust me again, Misha,” he grated. Maxim moved his hands up her still-slender waist, around to her stomach, and over the little bump that housed their baby. His heart jumped and he curled his hands into fists before opening them again and palming her breasts, releasing the front clasp on her bra and letting it fall open. He covered them, squeezed her sensitized nipples, drawing a low, desperate moan from her lips. Maxim abandoned her breasts to push her skirt down her hips, taking her tiny pair of panties with it. He pressed his hand against her mound, pushing one finger thr
The desire hadn’t gone away. Not even for a moment. She could see from the molten heat in his eyes that he felt the same. “I’ve never been playing with you,” Maxim replied, his voice intense. “Please know that. I’ve handled things badly, but hurting you was the last thing I wanted.” “Still, you did hurt me,” Michaela concluded. “We promised we were going to talk about things, but we didn’t. You just shut me out, and I have no idea what happened to cause it.” He raised his eyes and met hers… the stark, raw emotion in them shocked her. “I know,” he said roughly. “You can’t imagine how sorry I am. Please come with me, Michaela.” She nodded slowly and let him lead her from the villa. When she realized where they were headed, Michaela stopped. “Maxim... No… I can’t…” “Tr
“Oh, please, don’t do this to me now. We really have to do this, so be a little patient, sweetheart.” Michaela Roberts put her hand over her belly and tried to suppress the sense of rising nausea that was threatening her with immediate action if she didn’t get a hold of some saltine crackers or a bottle of cranberry juice. Lately, morning sickness was draining all her energies, and it was even worse when it lasted the entire day. Worse still now when she was about to tell a man she didn’t know he was going to be a father of her baby… She parked her car and took a deep breath, almost relieved to discover a roadblock in her path. The wrought-iron gates that divided the massive mansion from the rest of the world looked impenetrable.&nb
Her face heated. This arrogant prick just called her a promiscuous woman? For the first time since she was there, in his mansion, in front of him, Michaela felt the strong desire to slap him hard. But she knew she had to go all the way with this reveal. She swallowed hard, breathed deep, and gave him a wry smile. “Mr. di Montbéliard, for your information, the field of medicine is a lot more advanced and there are other ways to conceive a child than sexual intercourse, a method you know pretty well. When Johanna from ‘Genesis Labs’ called, she implied that I worked there but I’m a…” Michaela stopped for a second. ‘It’s now or never,’ she toughed. “I am a client of the clinic.” He froze his expressio
She was taking her time to reply and Maxim decided to wait patiently. His gaze stopped on her hands. They were delicate, feminine hands, void of jewelry and flashy nail polish. It was far too easy to imagine how soft those hands would feel on his body, how pale they would look against the dark skin of his chest. A pang of lust hit Maxim low in the gut. Michaela Roberts was a beautiful woman, there was no denying that. Much less adorned than the type of woman he was accustomed to. Her face had only the bare minimum of makeup, showing flawless ivory skin, her copper eyes slightly emphasized by colored eyeshadow. Her full lips had just a bit of pale pink gloss on them that wouldn’t take long to kiss right off. Her long, light-brown hair was st
Suddenly, it was horrifyingly clear why he’d looked familiar when she’d first seen him. He wasn’t just Maxim de Montbéliard. She had seen him before. On the news, in the tabloids. He and his wife had been paparazzi favorites. They were royal and beautiful, and, by all accounts, extremely happy. Every single magazine was paved with their photos… Hollywood, White House, vacations in Europe in all the luxurious places… Then, two years ago, he’d been in the news for his personal tragedy. The loss of his wife. Michaela was thankful she was sitting or she would’ve collapsed. His dark eyebrows snapped together and she registered concern in his eyes before her vision blurred slightly.“Are you all right, Michaela?”
Again, her sweet voice broke his train of thoughts. This time this bothered him a lot. Thinking about her in a certain way was… amazing. “I’m thinking of taking legal action against the clinic,” Michaela said softly. “I’m a lawyer and I’m certain we would have an extremely strong case.” “I’m certain we would, too, despite the fact that I don’t have a law degree,” Maxim replied wryly. “But that would mean a lot of press.” The media circus would be out of control. Sensational headlines for a world that loved nothing more than scandal. And his wife’s fertility issues, his marriage, all of it would be thrust into the spotlight. It was the last thing he wanted, both for Antonia’s sake and his own. There was no point in tearing down her memory… not now that she was gone. Some things were best left buried, and the f