A Night With Consequences (16 page)

Blake groaned, and his hands came behind her head so that he could take control. His kisses were fierce
and deadly, filling her with an emotion that was almost too painful to bear. She needed to remember that this was pure sex. Nothing more. It did not mean that their relationship was back on.

‘Kara!’ He breathed her name. ‘Tell me I have been a fool to ever suspect you.’

Hope filled her. ‘You are a fool!’ she replied immediately.

‘I want to make love to you, Kara, but my ribs—they hurt too much.’

‘Then
I
will make love to you,’ she said.

Her heart beat fast as she slid to her knees and slowly unzipped him, releasing the fastening on his waistband and tugging his trousers down over his hips. His boxers followed, and she almost got up and ran when she saw how hard and ready he was for her.

But she couldn’t change her mind now. She had gone too far. And when she began to drop tiny kisses along his thighs, heading towards her target, his hands came down to touch her head, his fingers threading through her hair, holding her so tightly that she could not move even if she wanted to.

She chanced a glance at him and saw that his head had fallen back and his eyes were closed. He looked as though he was already in heaven. Sensing her looking at him, he lifted his lids and met her gaze head-on. ‘Don’t stop,’ he groaned, his eyes glazed with pure emotion.

He had taught her how to pleasure him like this and Kara took her time, exulting in the noises he made, in his involuntary movements. She felt herself growing closer to her own orgasm, and was afraid it might happen before Blake reached his. But it didn’t, and when
he finally let go it was as though the earth had shifted beneath her feet too.

She stayed where she was, silent and fulfilled, while Blake’s hands held her head. It was a deep moment of togetherness.

Blake was not used to admitting that he was ever wrong. But he had been wrong even suspecting for one second that Kara would look at another man. If there was someone else she would not have been able to do what she had just done. She would not even have come here. She cared. It had been a gesture of love.

Love! The forbidden word.

Even before today, before she had arrived and selflessly put his needs before her own, he had berated himself. He had been judge and jury without all the facts, without any real evidence. It would be ungentlemanly of him now not to give her the benefit of the doubt.

‘I am sorry I misjudged you. I should have known that—’

Kara closed his lips with her finger. ‘Please, say no more. Don’t spoil the moment.’

In response he took the tips of her fingers into his mouth. ‘I’ve been a complete swine. Do you forgive me?’

‘Of course.’

‘Then will you stay a while and keep me company?’

Kara nodded.

‘I do not deserve you, Kara,’ Blake said, before capturing her head and kissing her.

In the days that followed Blake surprised himself by feeling more content than he ever had in his life. He was
even beginning to think that against his better judgement he had fallen in love again—with Kara. His initial reservations about becoming a father were fading into the background.

And when he went with her to the obstetrician there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to be a permanent part of their child’s life. He wanted to watch him grow every step of the way. He would play with him in a way his father never had.

And he wanted Kara beside him.

He was going to ask her to marry him.

K
ARA
could not wait to get home and tell her mother how her appointment with the obstetrician had gone—how excited Blake had seemed. But the instant she walked into the house and saw her mother’s pale, worried face, the way that she was shaking uncontrollably, everything else went out of her head.

She crossed the room in seconds, her heart pounding. ‘What’s the matter?’ Her mother’s skin looked almost grey, and Kara feared that she was about to suffer a heart attack. ‘I’ll call the doctor.’

Her hand went towards the phone but her mother stopped her. ‘He’s been here.’

‘Again?’ She knew very well who her mother meant, and her already fast heartbeat increased. ‘Why? What does he want now?’ His visits were becoming far too frequent for Kara’s peace of mind, and she was afraid that all the worry would affect her baby.

Lynne pulled a face. ‘He’s seen Blake coming and going more often lately. He knows he’s rich. He’s upping the payments again.’

When her mother mentioned by how much Kara gasped. ‘But that’s more than I earn. He can’t do that.

What did you tell him?’ She feared that their nightmare was never going to end.

‘That our circumstances haven’t changed. Not that he believed me.’

‘You shouldn’t have opened the door to him.’

‘I didn’t know it was him,’ said Lynne, her eyes pained. ‘I thought it was you and that you’d forgotten your keys. He shouldered his way in, Kara. I was terrified!’

‘We need to call the police,’ said Kara at once. ‘He can’t do this. It’s gone too far.’

‘The police can’t do anything, Kara,’ her mother said, fear evident in her voice. ‘The contract he has is legal, remember? He’ll deny using threats against us and it will be our word against his. But there might be a solution,’ she added, lifting her brows and looking at her hopefully. ‘You could ask Blake to lend us the money so we can be rid of him once and for all.’

‘Ask Blake?’ Kara closed her eyes and shook her head. Getting pregnant by him was embarrassing enough. To ask for money to solve their personal problems would be a step too far.

‘I feel so foolish for having let it get this far. And I hate that I have involved you. But I do not think my heart can stand much more.’

Tears filled Lynne’s eyes now, and Kara held her mother close. To ask Blake would be painful and humiliating in the extreme. And yet her mother was right. He was in a position to help. And then the loan shark wouldn’t be on their backs all the time, demanding payment. It would be a fair deal. They would know exactly
where they stood. But it was still an awful lot to ask of him. He’d only just got over the shock of the baby.

‘You could tell him that it’s to buy stuff for the baby,’ said her parent. ‘Men have no idea how much these things cost, so I’m sure he won’t ask questions.’

The amount she needed to borrow would buy an awful lot of baby things, thought Kara. But because her parent still looked pale and fragile, her breathing difficult, as though she was indeed on the verge of a heart attack, Kara finally reluctantly nodded. ‘Very well. I’ll ask him.’

Her mother’s relief was instant and some of the colour returned to her face. ‘You’re a good girl, Kara, and I’m sorry to have to burden you with this.’

It was going to be the hardest thing she had ever had to do. Telling Blake that she was pregnant would be nothing compared to this.

When she went to work the next morning she went straight into Blake’s office. It was no good sitting thinking about it. She had to ask him immediately.

‘What’s wrong?’ His grey eyes scanned her face. ‘You look pale. Are you not feeling well? If that’s the case you shouldn’t have come to work.’

He looked so concerned, so very concerned, that Kara almost backed out. How could she do this? But seeing her mother’s pale and anxious face in her mind’s eye was a warning that she
had
to go through with it.

‘I’m all right,’ she insisted. ‘It’s just that I need to ask you a favour—a very big one.’ Her heart raced, thumping so hard that it felt as if it was trying to burst out of her chest. Perspiration gathered under her arms, and her whole body was pulsing with anxiety.

‘Ask away,’ he said. ‘Is it something to do with your mother? I thought she didn’t look very well the last time I saw her.’

‘I—I need some money, Blake,’ she said, not answering his question. ‘I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary.’ She swallowed the lump that had gathered in her throat and forced herself to look at him. She didn’t want Blake guessing how hard this was for her. She had lain awake all night worrying. But her mother’s health was at stake here. She was left with no choice. It was either asking Blake to help or ending up losing her home or her mother—possibly both.

‘But of course. What was I thinking? You need to buy things for the baby.’

Relief flooded her that she did not have to actually lie. ‘You’ve no idea how much they cost these days.’ How could she sound so normal when every nerve tingled with fear? When the blood pumped hotly and uncontrollably around her body? Never in her life had she done anything like this, and she hoped she never had to do so again. Fear froze her limbs and dried her mouth, and she was sure he must see how uneasy she was.

‘I will open a bank account for you at once. Shall we say five thousand pounds?’

Kara closed her eyes. How could she tell him that that was not enough? That she wanted five times that amount? It was difficult to comprehend how the sum her father had initially borrowed in her mother’s name had grown to that amount. But it had. Interest had piled on top of interest, and now they were facing dire consequences if it was not repaid. There was no one else she could turn to except
Blake.

When his finger lifted her chin she shuddered, opening her eyes, feeling her throat close up as she stared into the darkness of his gaze. His brow was furrowed but he spoke softly. ‘What is wrong, my beautiful Kara?’

‘It’s not enough,’ she whispered.

She felt the way his body grew tense, even though his expression did not change. ‘Not enough? Pray tell me what you are going to buy for this baby of ours?’

The inflection in his voice worried her. ‘There are lots of things,’ she said hesitantly. ‘A pram, a cot, a pushchair, clothes—all sorts. I need to turn a room into a nursery, so there’ll have to be new furniture. I’ll need about twenty-five thousand pounds.’ Her heart was thumping so loud she feared it would jump out of her chest.

He looked long and hard into her eyes, making Kara wish herself a thousand miles away. Never in her life had she felt as embarrassed and as uncomfortable as she did at this moment. She had promised her mother, though, and she had to go through with it.

‘And do you really think I believe that’s how much things for a baby costs?’ he asked, his voice taking on an even harder edge. ‘I would suggest—’ his fingers dug deeply into her forearms, bruising, hurting, but she did not flinch ‘—that this is for your own personal gain. Am I right?’

His eyes burned into her, and Kara felt her insides begin to shrivel, but she could not let her parent down. ‘You may think what you like, Blake, but I am not in the habit of begging for money without just cause.’

Blake hated the way he was thinking, but it very much looked as though Kara had had a taste of the high
life and found that she liked it—that she preferred it to the simple life she led with her mother, and was now trying to cash in on it. He did not know how much it cost to prepare for a baby, but he was damn sure it wasn’t nearly as much as Kara was asking. It was not that he minded giving her money for his unborn child, but he did not like being taken for a fool.

Unbidden memories of Melanie flashed into his mind. Melanie trying to pass off another man’s child as his. Melanie wanting a share of his wealth. And once the idea was implanted he could not get rid of it. He could not ignore the fact that he had seen Kara on her doorstep in the arms of another man.

He had found it difficult to accept her story that he was a friend of her mother’s—the woman lived a solitary lifestyle. He had been deeply suspicious at the time, but had nevertheless given her the benefit of the doubt. Even apologising for questioning her.

It hurt to think that he had been so wrong. He truly had thought Kara was different. Damn it, he had been going to ask her to marry him. She had got beneath his skin in a way he had never expected—or even wanted.

And now this! What was it about him that made women think he was an easy target? The Melanie incident had made him wary, and he had stuck to his guns all these years. So why had he let his guard down now? Why had he let Kara creep into his life and into his heart?

She was looking at him now as though she wished that she had never asked. As well she might! Every vestige of colour had left her face. He wanted to tell her
to go, to get out of his life. His disappointment was a hard and bitter pill to swallow.

‘And that cause would be …?’ he asked grimly, hoping against hope that he had once again jumped to the wrong conclusion.

‘I can’t tell you Blake.’ Kara hung her head, her devastating shame complete.

‘You cannot? Or you do not want to?’ He let his eyes rest on her face for several long seconds, and when there was no answer, when she refused to look him in the eye, when she looked miserably down at her feet instead, he said grimly, ‘Let me tell you what
I
think, Kara. I think you are trying to play me for a fool. I think you are using the baby you are carrying for financial gain. I think you are trying to trick me as Melanie once tried, and—’

‘How dare you?’ Fire immediately lit Kara’s eyes, and she flashed them into his face. ‘I would
never
do a thing like that. This
is
your baby and you’d better believe it. Forget about the money, Blake. I can see that it was a mistake asking for your help.’

He looked into her face, seeing a mixture of both anger and despair, and for some reason it created deep unease inside him. What he should be doing was kicking her out of his life. Instead he found himself making a proposition.

‘I
will
give you the money—but on one condition. You move in with me permanently.’ He might be crazy suggesting it, but he could not easily dismiss her. Despite his disappointment that she had tried to make money out of this situation, she had got beneath his skin in a way none of the others had. Blake was convinced there was something else going on here, and he was determined
to get to the bottom of it. Why did she want so much money? There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep her as close to him as possible.