The Pregnancy Contract (11 page)

Wade collapsed against her, his back slick with perspiration, his buttocks and thighs still clenched beneath her touch. She could feel him pulsing rhythmically within her, feel the heat of his climax against her womb.

She'd never before felt this level of synchronicity, of bliss—not even with Wade eight years ago. What had just happened between them fell on the scale of cataclysmic. Even through her pleasure-hazed stupor, she was aware of her heart beating erratically in her chest and her pulse skipping through her veins with the speed of a madly galloping stallion. And he was no different. His breathing was ragged, and she could feel his body throb with the velocity of his own pulse.

“I didn't hurt you, did I?” he asked, his voice muffled against her neck.

Piper laughed softly. “Hurt me? You have to be kidding.”

He went to lift himself off her but she wrapped her legs around his and her arms about his waist and held him close, keeping him trapped inside her at the same time.

“I'm too heavy for you,” he protested.

“No, you're not. Stay, I don't want to lose this feeling just yet.”

Wade sighed in response, his breath warm and moist against her sensitized skin. Her inner muscles tensed, pulling against him one more time as an aftershock of pleasure fluttered to her very core.

She hadn't felt this good, this satisfied, in her living memory. She wasn't about to do a single thing to change that right now. Her eyes slid shut and she continued to hold Wade to her, reveling in his heaviness and warmth, and hoping against hope that they'd conceived their baby with all their barriers down—with nothing between them but perhaps the hope that things might just work out after all.

 

Piper woke much later to the sound of rain once more hammering against the windows. The candles on the mantelpiece had long since gutted in their containers, the last of the embers in the fireplace now casting the only light in the room.

Wade's weight kept her pinned to the cushions and rug beneath her. Not the most comfortable position she'd ever slept in, she thought, but far from the worst, either. She trailed a hand down his back. Oh, how she loved the feel of his skin, especially where it touched hers. He was strength and hardness combined with an intrinsic thread of gentleness woven through at the same time. A man of contrasts.

He'd make a great father.

The thought shocked her. She'd never thought of Wade in terms of being a dad. She'd heard him talk about it, allowed herself to be locked into this agreement between them. Allowed? She wrinkled her forehead as she considered the concept, and forced herself to acknowledge that which she'd been trying to avoid all along. She could have just said no to him. Left him to see what the worst was that he could have done to her. She had no money. She had no home. No court in the land could have made her pay what she didn't have.

So why had she allowed him to bully her into signing?

Could it be that she still loved him? As the thought blossomed, she forced herself to acknowledge the real truth. The truth that resounded through her mind with a single word.

Yes.

S
he must have made a sound or a movement that disturbed Wade.

“Are you okay? I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that.”

“It's all right,” she answered, still reeling from the certainty she'd only just acknowledged.

Wade shifted his weight off her and traced the bone structure of her face with one hand as he lay on his side next to her.

“I'd better get to my bed,” Piper said, moving away from him.

“Why?” he asked.

“Well, we've…you know.” She waved her hand futilely.

He laughed. She seemed to have that effect on him a lot lately.

“What's so funny?” she said, prickling at his response.

“That you think I'm going to let you go.”

He got to his feet in a single movement and reached out a
hand to help her up. Keeping her hand captive within his, he guided her to a door that led off the sitting room. He swung it open and drew her toward a massive four-poster bed. Swags of heavy fabric, pointed with gold tassels, hung from the four points.

“Very Lord of the Manor,” Piper commented as Wade pulled back the covers and ushered her within the sheets.

“Very.” He smiled in return and followed her into the bed.

The contrast of his warm body and the cool sheets against her skin sent a tingle through her nerves. A tingle that intensified as Wade's arm curled around her and one hand began to play with the short thatch of hair at her groin, every now and then slipping a little lower to graze against the taut bud hidden there.

“Hey, that's not fair,” she said when she could catch a breath.

“Indulge me,” came the command from behind her.

His erection slid between her legs and she hitched herself up a little letting him enter her fully.

“Since you're so persuasive, I think I will.”

His penetration hit just the right spot and she could feel the rising pleasure begin to radiate with every drive of his hips. She moved with him, wanting more with every stroke. His fingers didn't let up their offensive either and it was only a few minutes before she began to feel her body coil tightly as her orgasm built and built.

“Too much,” she cried into the pillow.

“Never too much,” he replied, his hips now picking up the pace and driving her over the edge until her body spasmed in paroxysms of satisfaction.

 

Wade held on as long as he could, but his body had other ideas. The force and strength of Piper's orgasm was his complete undoing and he gave over to the gratification his body demanded.

He continued to hold Piper long after she'd fallen back into an exhausted sleep, his fingers tracing tiny circles on the smooth, soft skin of her belly. Who knew? Maybe they'd already started a new life tonight. The mere thought was enough to make something in his chest clench in anticipation.

One thing was certain, though, he would do everything to ensure this baby made it. He would be there through every single step of this pregnancy and thereafter. A virtual slide show ran through his head of his child's life, with him there for him or her at every pass.

He chose to ignore the quirk of his mind that placed a smiling image of Piper right at his side.

Wade woke late that morning, surprised to find his arms and his bed bereft of Piper's warmth. He flicked a glance at his bedside clock and was amazed to see it was already nine o'clock. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept that late, not even with an unhealthy dose of jet lag.

He hurried through his shower and getting dressed and went downstairs. Piper was seated at the kitchen table, the remnants of her breakfast on the plate pushed to one side, her attention focused on the bundles of paper scattered on the surface in front of her.

“Good morning,” he said as he came in.

“Morning,” she replied, not even lifting her head from her perusal of what looked like a prospectus of some kind. “I put your breakfast in the oven to keep warm.”

“Ah yes, the Dexters are away this whole weekend, aren't they?”

Piper nodded. Obviously not up for a huge amount of morning-after conversation, he observed wryly as he lifted his plate from the oven.

“Hot!” he yelped as he rapidly transferred the plate from his hand to the placemat opposite where Piper sat.

“I did say I'd put your breakfast in the oven to keep warm,” she said, finally looking up to meet his eyes.

“So you did.” He lifted the foil off the top of his plate and grinned appreciatively. “I see you haven't lost your touch with a good old-fashioned breakfast.”

“I was hungry this morning,” she admitted, a flush of color lighting her cheeks.

“So am I,” he answered, but kept his gaze very firmly upon her.

To his delight her blush deepened and spread and she quickly averted her eyes, transferring her attention back to the booklet in her hand.

“What's that you have there?” he asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down opposite her.

“Nothing much,” she hedged.

He reached across the table and with one finger pushed the booklet up in her hands until he could see the front cover clearly. A university prospectus?

“Looks like a bit more than
nothing much
to me. Are you thinking about going back to Uni?” Wade fought to hide his surprise.

She nodded. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not if it doesn't interfere with your current commitments.”

“My work at Mitchell Exports? I don't think you need to worry about that. It's hardly taxing what I'm doing there.”

“True, but I was talking about your commitment to me.” More particularly, her commitment to their possibly already conceived child. He didn't want her to overtire herself or to put herself or their baby at risk.

She gave him a hard look and pushed her chair back from the table. “Trust me, you won't have anything to worry about.”

Wouldn't he? He certainly hoped she was right. He didn't want to stand in the way of her bettering herself, if that was what she really wanted. “Perhaps you should let me be the judge of what I worry about.” He forced a smile.

“What are you looking at enrolling for?”

“I thought I'd find out how I can supplement what I did
before I went overseas. I would like to finish my business degree, if possible.”

Finish her degree? “But you only completed a couple papers before and that was eight years ago. What makes you think you can just pick up where you left off?”

“I don't know if I can, that's why I'm looking into the courses and pre-enrollment information now.”

“Piper, you were hardly an A-grade student. This is really going to take time and perseverance. Don't you think you're biting off more than you can chew?”

“Well, thanks. It's nice to know where you stand. I would have thought you'd be happy to see me doing something so that I can eventually support myself.”

“Is that what this is about? I already told you that, as long as you're under my roof, I will cover your expenses.”

“Good, then you can pay for my tuition.”

Piper rose from her chair and gathered her papers.

“That wasn't what I meant,” Wade said firmly.

“Fine, so I'll apply for a student loan.”

Before he could reply she'd left the kitchen with her nose very firmly in the air. Wade watched her go with narrowed eyes. Piper? Back at Uni? She looked, and sounded, as if she was serious about this. If she was, then of course he'd make sure she had the financial support she needed to make it happen. But he still struggled to reconcile the girl he'd once thought he knew so well with the determined young woman of today.

 

Piper fought back the tears that smarted in her eyes. She felt so stupid. She'd have thought that maybe Wade would understand why it would be a good thing for her to complete her degree but he was no different from her father. It seemed they were cut from the same cloth after all. Both determined to pigeonhole her. And no matter what she did to try and prove her worth—to garner their love and respect for her as
a person—they wouldn't see it. No wonder the two men had gotten on so well. Perhaps leaving them both had been the best decision she'd ever made. Certainly better than the one she'd made to come home.

It had been nothing but heartache, and challenge after challenge since her return. Drawing water by hand from a well or clearing away a mudslide so a medical team could pass a road suddenly looked like easier options.

She let herself into the morning room, the room that had been her mother's, and threw herself onto the chaise. Why did everything have to be so hard?

In a perfect world she'd be able to declare her feelings for Wade, and of course he'd reciprocate and they'd both live happily ever after. A cynical laugh bubbled in her chest. As if. No, there was one thing and one thing only that Wade wanted from her and it was definitely not her lifelong devotion.

She rubbed one hand absently over her lower stomach. She'd felt him do the same last night. Had he been wondering, as she did now, whether they'd conceived the child he so desperately wanted?

A sound at the door drove her to her feet. Wade came inside the morning room and stopped just one step from the door.

“Are you absolutely serious about finishing your degree?” he asked, an inscrutable expression on his face.

“Of course I am, why else would I have gone to the bother of getting all this?” She waved the clutch of papers she held in her hand at him. “I need this, Wade. I need it for me. I know I bummed around the last time. I was in a different head space then. I didn't appreciate any of what I had, I just knew I wanted it all.” She shot him a glance that she hoped reiterated that he had been among those things she'd wanted so very much. “When I couldn't have what I wanted, I behaved like an idiot. I know that. I just think I deserve a second chance. I really want to get it right this time.”

She'd said more than she'd wanted to, far, far more than
she'd wanted to. Right now she wouldn't blame him if he outright laughed in her face and walked away but to her surprise he held out his hand.

“May I see the courses you're looking at taking?”

Silently she handed over the information and watched as he settled into a chair and flicked through it all. Finally he looked up again.

“You
really
want to do this?”

“I really do.”

He leaned back in his chair and looked up at her. Despite her having the physical advantage, it certainly didn't feel that way. For a long moment he said nothing and the silence stretched out painfully between them. He cleared his throat before speaking. “If you're absolutely serious about this—”

“Oh, yes. I am,” she interrupted.

“If you'll let me finish,” he said with a small but genuine smile.

“Sure, go on. I'm sorry.”

“As I was saying, if you're absolutely serious about this then you may be eligible to do these papers through Mitchell Exports. We run cadetships, much like your father used to do unpaid internships, but this way you get to earn as you learn. We have strict entry criteria and a panel made up of management personnel at Mitchell Exports has the final decision. Are you prepared to be scrutinized and assessed to see if you're deemed worthy?”

Scrutinized? Assessed? It sounded daunting. The old Piper would have laughed in his face then run a mile in the opposite direction. But she'd had to change and she really needed to prove to herself that she could do this.

“Yes,” she answered simply. “I'll do whatever it takes.”

“It's not going to be a walk in the park, Piper. You will have to apply yourself at work and here at home in the evenings. The study load is huge. Are you sure you will be able to cope with that?”

“Don't underestimate how much this means to me, Wade. I am determined to do this.”

“And when you fall pregnant?”

“I don't see why I can't continue to study. I remember pregnant women and young mothers at Uni when I was there. I'll find a balance. Look, I don't expect to achieve this overnight. I'm being realistic. I know it won't be easy for me to get back into a learning mind-set, let alone a lecture environment. But I will do it.”

Her earnestness must have convinced him.

“I'll discuss it with the team on Monday and we'll go from there, okay?”

“Thank you,” she said.

It was far more than she'd expected of him. Far more than she deserved given her track record.

“Just don't let me down on this.”

“I won't.”

 

As autumn slid wetly into winter, Wade found himself having to reassess his opinion of Piper on a regular basis, both in the office and at home. Her application to her work had seen her become immensely popular with the staff and her intervention when she'd seen a mistake in a proposal written in Spanish, targeting a sought-after South American client, had saved them both embarrassment and thousands of dollars.

When had she learned Spanish? he wondered as he signed off on the new deal with a flourish of his pen. And what else had she learned in the years they'd been apart?

By day she was a diligent employee. Outside of business hours, she was an equally diligent student as she worked through a six-month-long pre-entry course to get up to speed for attending university again for the semester beginning in the new year. And by night—he felt that all too familiar
tightening in his groin—by night she was an exceptional lover.

He looked forward to their evenings together with an enthusiasm he'd underestimated. Sex with Piper had always been good, but what they shared now surpassed anything they'd experienced before. There was a synchronicity in their movements, their desire to give one another pleasure and receive it in return. Aside from when she'd had her period some weeks ago, they'd spent every night making love. Even then he hadn't allowed her to return to her room and had instead enjoyed the closeness of simply holding her in his arms at night.