The Baby Claim

‘Yes, you could say that.’ He took the grocery bag from her. ‘I’ll put this in the kitchen. Would you like some tea?’

Joss stood tense with foreboding, watching as Peter filled a kettle and put teabags in a pot. ‘So what is the problem? And why the suitcases? Are you going somewhere for the firm?’

‘No.’ He turned to look at her, a truculent look on his fair, good-looking face. ‘I’ve resigned.’

She stared incredulously. ‘Resigned? Why?’

‘I got in first, before they could fire me.’

Joss shook her head in disbelief. ‘This is terribly sudden, Peter! If you were that worried they’d fire you why didn’t you talk to me about it?’

‘When?’ he threw at her in sudden anger. ‘You’re never here.’

‘That’s an exaggeration,’ she snapped. ‘We share a bed, remember? You could have given me a hint on one of the rare occasions you stayed awake long enough to say goodnight.’

‘You know I need my sleep,’ he said sullenly. ‘And lately there’s been precious little to stay awake for. We haven’t made love for weeks. You lust for your job more than you ever did for me.’

Joss felt as though her entire world was disintegrating. ‘You’ve obviously been building up to this for a long time. I’ve been blind.’ She thrust an unsteady hand through her hair. ‘I know you’ve been very quiet lately, but I thought that was for a different reason.’

‘What other reason?’ he said blankly, adding salt to the wound. ‘All I could think of lately were my plans for the new riverside complex.’ His mouth twisted. ‘In case you’re interested, Athena turned them down.’

Joss stared at him in horrified sympathy. ‘Peter—I’m so sorry! I know how hard you worked.’ She frowned. ‘But it isn’t the end of the world, surely?’

‘Of mine, with this particular firm of architects, it most definitely is.’ Peter shrugged his shoulders moodily. ‘Not that it matters. I was never cut out for corporate cut and thrust, Joss. I only took the job in the first place because you pushed me into it. I’m going back to the family firm. Where I belong,’ he added as the crowning touch. He glanced at his watch, then caught her eye and flushed. ‘I’m in no rush, Joss,’ he said quickly. ‘I can catch a later train.’

‘Don’t alter your arrangements on my account!’ She stood with arms folded. ‘I assume this means it’s all over between us?’

Peter swallowed convulsively. ‘I suppose it does.’

‘You suppose?’

‘I left you a letter, Joss,’ he said hurriedly. ‘It explains everything.’

‘How thoughtful.’ She eyed him with scorn. ‘So if I’d come home at the usual time I would have found the bird flown?’

‘I thought it would be easier that way,’ he muttered, and handed her a cup of tea.

Joss slammed it down on a shelf. ‘Easier for you, certainly, Peter.’

He shrugged sulkily. ‘All right. Easier for me. Look, Joss, things haven’t been right between us for a long time.’ He squared his slim shoulders and looked her in the eye. ‘If you want the truth, I’m just not happy with you anymore. You’re older than me, more ambitious, you earn more money—hell, you’re even taller than me. You—you diminish me, Joss. I can’t take it any longer.’

‘I see.’ Joss’s eyes burned angrily in her pale face. ‘So that’s it? The past year means nothing at all to you?’

‘Is it only a year?’ he said with unconscious cruelty. ‘I thought it was longer than that. Anyway, I’m sorry it had to end like this. A pity you came home before I could—’

‘Sneak away?’ she said scathingly.

‘Don’t Joss! Let’s part friends—please,’ he pleaded, and put his hand on her arm.

She flung it away, suddenly unable to bear his touch. ‘Just take your things and go, Peter. A pity my timing was wrong. You could have got away scot-free.’

He stepped back in quick offence. ‘So why were you early?’

Joss clenched her teeth. ‘I just felt like it. Goodbye, Peter.’

He moved towards her, arms outstretched, but backed away in a hurry as he met the look in her eyes. ‘Goodbye, then, Joss. I—I wish things could have been different. If I’d won the Athena job—’

‘I would still be older than you—and taller.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘I never dreamed it mattered so much.’

‘In the beginning it didn’t,’ he muttered.

Joss locked militant eyes with his. ‘Peter, tell me the truth. You owe me that much.’

He frowned. ‘I have told the truth. Hell, I thought I’d even been a bit over the top with it. I never meant to come out with all that stuff about your age—and the height and so on.’

She shrugged impatiently. ‘Never mind all that. Just tell me if there’s someone else.’

‘Another woman? Lord, no,’ said Peter, with unmistakable candour. ‘You’ve always been more woman than I can really handle, Joss. Never had any time—or energy—for anyone else.’

Joss looked across at Adam, taking comfort from the fierce look of distaste in his eyes. ‘Oddly enough, that was the last straw. I lost it completely, made a terrible scene, threw my ring at him and sent him packing. Then I rang a removal firm and arranged to ship most of his belongings to his parents.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘Which is why I’m a bit lacking in home comforts. All the furniture was Peter’s, but I’ve kept the sofa and the bed until—until I buy replacements.’

Adam gave her a probing look. ‘You’ve kept all this secret?’

‘Yes. No one knows yet, other than you.’

‘Not even your parents?’

‘I don’t have any now. And I just couldn’t spoil things for Anna before the party. I told her Peter was away on a course and couldn’t come. She lives in Warwickshire, so it was easy to keep it from her for a while.’

‘No wonder you weren’t in party mood,’ he said dryly.

She pulled a face. ‘One way and another the party was a bit hard to take. Eventually the effort to sparkle was too much, so I spotted that deserted little balcony and vanished for a bit.’

Adam smiled a little. ‘In the circumstances I’m surprised you were so polite when I joined you.’

Joss smiled back guiltily. ‘My first reaction was to snarl and tell you to get lost. But after a while I was glad of your company. It kept me from wallowing in self-pity. It was gallant of you to come to my rescue.’

Adam shook his head. ‘I’m no knight in shining armour, Eve. If the damsel in distress had been less pleasing to the eye I might have felt the same sympathy, but I doubt I’d have done anything about it.’

‘An honest man!’

‘I try to be. I watched your every move from the moment I first saw you. When you did your vanishing trick I seized the moment, grabbed two glasses of champagne and followed you outside.’

Her eyes danced. ‘What would you have done if a vengeful husband had come after you?’

‘Beaten a hasty retreat.’ He grinned. ‘I steer clear of husbands, vengeful or otherwise. I prefer my women unattached.’

‘Your women?’ Joss repeated.

‘A figure of speech.’

Her eyes narrowed suddenly. ‘Are you unattached, by the way?’

‘Yes,’ he said with emphasis. ‘Otherwise this wouldn’t be happening.’

‘Would you like some coffee?’ she said unevenly, very much aware that something was happening.

‘Is that a polite way of asking me to go?’

Joss gave him a long, considering look. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘Not if you’d like to stay awhile.’

‘You know I would. And I don’t want any more coffee,’ he said deliberately. ‘Shall I tell you what I do want?’

‘No—please,’ said Joss swiftly. ‘Before Peter and I began to live together we’d been exclusive to each other for a fair time. I’m out of practice at this sort of thing.’

‘What “sort of thing” do you think this is?’ he asked, amused.

‘More to the point, what do you think it is?’

‘A simple desire to get to know you. How about you?’

Joss thought about it, fairly sure that ‘simple’ was the last word to describe her guest. ‘I asked you here for a meal because I was depressed and angry, and you were kind and—’

‘A lot taller than you,’ he finished for her, and Joss laughed, suddenly more at ease.

‘You’re taller than most people!’

‘I’ve never had more cause to be thankful for it than right now,’ he assured her. ‘So, mysterious Eve, come and sit beside me and hold my hand.’

‘Ah, but if I give you my hand will you want more than that?’

‘Yes,’ he said bluntly. ‘I’m male, and normal. But where women are concerned I don’t take, Eve, only accept.’

‘In that case…’ Joss moved from her cushion to sit beside him on the sofa, discovering that the space left by his large frame was only just enough to accommodate her. ‘A tight fit,’ she said breathlessly.

Adam shifted slightly to give her more room, and took her hand in his. ‘You were right,’ he said after a moment. ‘Just holding your hand isn’t enough. Go back to your cushion.’

‘Just how much else did you have in mind?’ Joss asked very bluntly.

For answer Adam slid his arm round her. ‘Only this.’

Joss laid her head against his shoulder, reassured, and the hard arm pulled her closer. It was new, and morale-boosting, to feel small and fragile in a man’s embrace. She leaned against him, feeling safe and protected, his warmth soothing the anger and hurt of Peter’s abrupt departure from her life.

‘Why the sigh?’ he asked.

‘I was thinking how strange it was to be here like this with a man I’d never met until a few hours ago.’

‘But you’re no longer afraid of me,’ he commented.

‘I wasn’t afraid of you,’ she said indignantly, turning her face up to his.

He smiled down into her eyes. ‘Nervous, then?’

‘Yes.’ She smiled back.

‘Are you nervous now?’

‘No.’

‘So how do you feel?’

‘Comfortable.’

His crack of laughter disarmed her completely. ‘Not very flattering.’

‘For me, tonight, it’s the most flattering compliment I could pay you,’ she said with feeling.

He raised the hand he was holding to his lips, and kissed it. ‘If it’s any consolation, I think the absconding fiancé’s a complete idiot. But I’m grateful to him.’

‘Why?’

‘If he hadn’t left I wouldn’t be here.’

‘True.’ Joss yawned suddenly. ‘Sorry,’ she said with contrition. ‘I haven’t slept much lately.’

Adam smoothed her head down against his shoulder again. ‘Relax,’ he whispered in her ear, and Joss closed her eyes, melting against him pliantly.

She woke from a doze to find herself in Adam’s arms en route to her bedroom. He bent slightly to open the door, then laid her on the bed and stood looking down at her.

‘Goodnight, Eve,’ he whispered, and bent to kiss her cheek.

Joss deliberately tilted her head so that the kiss landed squarely on her mouth, and suddenly the overwhelming need to feel whole and normal and desirable again obliterated caution. ‘Don’t go,’ she said unsteadily. ‘Don’t leave me. Just for tonight. Please?’

Joss stared up in entreaty into the taut face, saw him close his eyes and clench his fists for an instant. Then he let out an unsteady breath, sat down on the bed and lifted her onto his lap, his forehead against hers.

‘This wasn’t meant to happen, Eve.’

‘Don’t you want me?’ she said desolately.

‘You know damn well I do!’ he growled.

‘Then show me.’

He locked his arms round her, pressing light, tantalising kisses at the corners of her mouth, but the contact ignited heat which rose in them both so quickly he was soon kissing her with a hunger which showed beyond all doubt how much he wanted her. She kissed him back, exulting in the desire she could feel vibrating through his body as he pulled her hard against him. Their kisses grew wilder, open-mouthed, tongues caressing as his hands sought breasts which rose taut with invitation in response. His breath rasped in his broad chest as he pulled away slightly to shrug off his jacket and tear his tie loose. Joss burrowed her face against him, her seeking hands undoing shirt buttons to find smooth skin hot to the touch. Darts of fire shot through her as she felt him hard and ready beneath her thighs, then he stood her on her feet and Joss backed away from him, her eyes locked with his in the semi-darkness. Slowly she slid the dress down her body, deliberate in her intention to inflame. She stepped out of the pooled silk and lace, then bent slowly to detach black silk suspenders from sheer dark stockings, and in triumph heard the hiss of his breath before he seized her, his mouth hard on hers as he dispensed with their remaining garments. At last he lifted her high in his arms, his eyes blazing with such need she shivered in excitement, and hid her hot face against his throat as he laid her on the bed.

‘Are you sure?’ he said harshly, in the moment before the question was too late. Joss nodded vehemently and stretched up her arms, pulling him down to her, and he stretched his long body beside her and slid his hands down her back to smooth her against him, their hearts thudding in perfect unison at the contact. Joss made a small, choked sound of protest as he put her away a little, then gasped in delight as he began to kiss every curve and hollow of her tall, slender body. The relentless, controlled caresses kindled slow fire along every nerve until Joss was in such an unashamed state of arousal that he abandoned the control, his hands and mouth so demanding they took her to dizzying heights of response. She surged against him, her fingers digging into the taut muscles of his broad shoulders, and he raised himself on his hands, his arms throbbing with the desire surging through his body. He asked a brief, urgent question and she shook her head wildly, and at last his body took possession of hers with a thrust of pure sensation, and she gasped, overwhelmed by fiery, rhythmic pleasure which mounted in increasing levels of intensity until white-hot culmination engulfed them both.

‘What does one say in these circumstances?’ she panted afterwards, when his arms had slackened slightly.

‘What do you usually say?’ Adam said hoarsely.

‘Goodnight, I suppose.’

He raised his head to peer down into her face. ‘Is that what you want me to say?’

‘No.’ Her eyes fell. ‘Unless you want to go now.’

He kissed her hard. ‘No, I don’t want to go. I want to stay here, holding you in my arms all night, and maybe pinching myself from time to time to make sure this is real.’

‘I feel like that,’ she confessed. ‘Shocked, too.’

‘Shocked at what we did?’

‘No,’ she said dryly. ‘I know about the birds and the bees.’

He laughed and kissed her again more gently, running the tip of his tongue over her lips. ‘So what are you shocked about?’

‘That I could have actually begged you to make love to me.’ Joss bit her lip. ‘I’ve never done that before.’

‘I’m sure you haven’t,’ he said, his broad chest vibrating with laughter.

‘I’m glad you find it so amusing!’

‘Extraordinary, not amusing,’ he assured her huskily. ‘If you hadn’t asked me to make love to you it’s possible I might have found the strength to kiss you goodnight and leave, but I seriously doubt it. I wanted you from the moment I first saw your reflection in the mirror tonight.’

‘Are you saying that to make me feel better?’

Adam smiled down into her eyes. ‘No. It’s the simple truth.’

Joss sighed with satisfaction, her mouth curving in a smile he bent to kiss, taking his time over it. When she could speak she put a finger on his lips. ‘You’ve achieved something rather wonderful tonight.’

‘Don’t I know it!’

‘Not that,’ she said impatiently, then smiled. ‘Well, yes, that too, because it was wonderful. But the way you made love to me healed my poor, battered ego.’

‘What way?’ he asked, frowning.

‘As though you were starving and I was food.’ Joss blushed in the semi-darkness as he chuckled and ran his hands down the curve of her hips.

‘That’s it exactly,’ he assured her. ‘For me the entire evening was one long build-up of foreplay. Before I’d kissed this mouth, or caressed these exquisite breasts, all I could think of was this—and this—’

Adam matched caresses to his words with such skill desire swiftly engulfed them again, sending them in another breathtaking, headlong rush towards ecstasy.

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