Dark Demands 04: Bound to Him (5 page)

But you know that’s not
true none of
that
will happen
now,
and particularly not your marriage. 
W
ere all she had
in her head as she
lied to him
.

“So what
about
me?  What about the way I make
you feel when I fuck you?  What
about all the pleasure we share?
”
  His
eyes clouded with frustration
as he looked into her face and saw her resolve
.  “W
hat about us
, Gina
?”
Matthew
asked?

“There is no us, Matthew.  You
’re nothing but
a bad h
abit
– an addiction,
and one I’ve got to break,” she said forcing the words from her mouth.  “Y
ou don’t want me, you just want to prove some point or other,” she told him firmly.
  “I never know what to believe, you tell me things – accuse me of things and then I discover it’s all some elaborate ruse,” she fired at him recalling the debacle over the tablet computer.

“I never s
tole any of your secrets – did I?  You l
ied t
o me so that you could blackmail me into going away with you.”

“Lisa,” he
nodded sheepishly
.  “She told you, didn’t she?”

Gina nodded.  “Yes she did but I still don’t understand why you went to all that trouble.  Couldn’t you have just asked me to go to
Italy
with you?”

“If you hadn’t taken the damn thing then – yes – I would have done.  But that tablet was never intended for you to find.  It was planted deliberately for Lisa,” he explained.

“So you really wanted to take her away instead,” she replied dryly.

“No, of course not - I expected her to take it to Ben.  Then he was supposed to knock himself out trying to get to market before me.   It would have cost him time and money and after some of the stunts he’s pulled on me over the years - it would have served him right.”

He kissed her lightly and cupped one of her breasts before taking
it
into his mouth and sucking hard on its
aroused
peak.

“You were
just
a
delicious little sidetrack,” he admitted looking up at her with those sexy, dark eyes and, forgetting him
self for a moment, almost bit
down
hard
on the swelling flesh in his mouth
.

An electric shiver of need shot down Gina’s spine.  God –
she hadn’t realised
how
much she’d missed
this
side of him
–
or
how much she’d missed this
.  There was no getting away from it Hardcore Matthew was just the best, the best lover
she’d
ever
had or ever would have
now
, she realised regretfully
.

“I should go,” she decided looking at
her watch.  “Kyle will be worried
and no doubt Grace too.”

She stood up and looked back at him – he lay relaxed, naked and so utterly beautiful on the bed – and she knew then that she loved him – really loved him
and
no one else could ever lay claim to her heart like he had
.
  But somehow it just didn’t seem enough.  Matthew was
too
volatile.  Although she needed his other side –
Hardcore Matthew
– she didn’t know how far he would go or if he would need others as well as her.  Giving herself to Matthew fo
r keeps was too much of a gamble
and with the baby on the way not one she
was prepared to
take.

“Where have you been,” Grace hurled at her the minute her key opened the door.  “I
’ve been frantic - I
was on the point of calling the police.  We’ve been out of our minds and Kyle… have you
any
idea what
he’s been going through – what
you’ve done to him?”

“Sorry,” Gina mumbled. 
“I went for walk,” she lied. 
She was too tired – too confused to deal with this now.  “Call Kyle for me
please
– tell him I’m okay and I’ll speak to him tomorrow,” she
implored
her blue eyes wet with tears.

“
The state he’s in I doubt that’ll do,” Grace shrugged.  “I don’t think you realise how worried we’ve
both
been.”

Gina brushed the tears from her cheek
s
. 
She could well imagine but h
ow could she possibly explain this one away?  She’d cheated on him and in the worst possible way – with Matthew Dark.

“W
hatever is the matter?
”  Grace asked seeing the tears
flowing
freely down her face
.
  
“
Just te
ll me the truth - w
hat
really
happened to you
tonight
?”

“
What happened
,” she echoed
her voice tremulous with emotion
.  “
I’ve come to my senses, Grace – that’s what’s happened,” she sighed.  “Please don’t ask
, it’s far too complicated
and
I
just
want to
go to bed
. 
I have to think.”

“
No Gina,” Grace told her firmly
.  “I must insist you tell me.  I’ve been going out of my mind with worry.  Kyle rings me – tells me you’ve disappeared – one minute you’re going to the ladies – the next you’re gone.  What
on earth
were you thinking
–
how could you just leave him like that -
what
happened
to you
?”

Gi
na looked at the woman’s harassed
face and rubbed a comforting hand over her bump.  She had no choice –
not really. 
Grace
had stood by her – looked after her like a second mother – if anyone
deserved the truth
then she did
.

“Matthew Dark happened,” she said simply.  “I’ve been with him – and
I won’t lie to you,” she paused.  “We made love – so I’ve been
in his bed too.
” 

She went quiet watching the look of horror cross Grace’s face.  “So you see when it comes right down to it
I’m
really
not worth
all
the
worry or the
bother
.”

“Dark!”  Grace exclaimed scornfully.  “
How could you, Gina. 
Did he kidnap you again – sure
ly not – he wouldn’t dare.”

“No – I went to his penthouse with him and willingly.  We made love and that’s when I came to my senses,” she l
ooked at her step mum
.  “I
don’t deserve you
, Grace,
or Kyle
for that matter
.
  I’m selfish and scheming and now I’ve
finally
realised
that fact I know
what I’ve got to do about it.”

“Dark’s poisoned your mind. 
He did it before and now he’s done it again. 
I’ll ring Kyle – he’ll
know what to do – he’ll
settle your mind.”

“No!”  Gina screamed.  “Not yet – I can’t cope with Kyle tonight,” she pleaded.  “For now just tell him that I’m fine – I’ll speak to him tomorrow.”  She
tried a glimmer of a
smile and shook her head.  “
But y
ou should know that
I’m not going to marry him
now
, Grace,” she confided
firmly
.  “I can’t – I just don’t love him – well, not like I should
and, yes, being with Matthew Dark tonight taught me that much
as well
,” she confirmed.  “I care for Kyle
, I’m grateful for what he’s
done
for me
– I think of him
fondly -
with affection,” she watched the older woman’s puzzled face.  “But it’s just not enough.  There’s no excitement, no heat between us and I can’t live like that – not now,” she told Grace sadly.

“
But y
ou can’t just let him go, not
after everything he’s done – after everything you’ve been to each other
,”
Grace
floundered wondering how to persuade the girl to change her mind.  “
And there’s the baby. 
What
do you intend to do about that
–
you’re carrying
his child?  Do you imagine that Kyle is just going to relinquish
his chance of fatherhood because you
have some fanciful idea about Matthew Dark
?”

“
He’ll have to – he’s got no choice
,” she paused,
she
should she tell her?  But the
n there would be the questions – the guilt about what she’d done.  But the look on
Grace’s face
clearly said
she had no choice
.  She’d have to come clean and tell her the truth.

“He has rights and he’ll enforce them too,” Grace reminded her.  “So he’ll always be in
your life whether you want it
or not.”

“No he won’t,” Gina
told her with certainty.  “Once he knows the truth he won’t want to see me or the baby ever again.”

“He won’t desert his child, Gina – he’s not that sort of man,” Grace assured her.

“
That’s just the point - i
t isn’t his child Grace,” Gina
held her breathe and
look
ing
up caught Grace’s eyes and nodded.  “Yes, that’s right,” she confirmed seeing the woman’s incredulous expression.  “Kyle Hastings didn’t father this child
.  Matthew Dark did.”

Grace looked as if she’d been hit by a truck.  She stumbled back and flopped
down
onto an armchair.

“I don’t understand, you didn’t get pregnant until after you met Kyle – I mean, how can you be so sure?”

“Oh I’m sure, Grace.  I’m a month further on than I’ve been telling everyone.  I didn’t know it
at the time
but I was pregnant when I left
Portofino
.”

“This is dreadful,” Grace said re-examining Gina’s belly as if she was seeing it for the first time.  “Kyle will be devastated.  It’ll break him.”

“Kyle Hastings is made of stronger stuff than that, Grace.  He’ll get over me and he’ll be a father to his own children one day
with a woman who can love him properly
.”  She rubbed her belly.  “This one isn’t his and nothing I can say or do will make that right. 
All these months
I’ve
just
been deluding myself
. 
You see
I’m an addict – addicted to Matthew Dark and there’s nothing I can do about it.  But one thing I do know – I don’t want to tie myself to anyone else.”

“Have you told him – Matthew
-
does he know he’s the father of your child?”

“No and I don’t want him to know.  I’m still working out what I should do.  Matthew is complicated – our relationship is complicated and even with
out
Kyle on the scene things might not work out
right
between us.”

“Just be very sure about what you are doing, Gina.  Once you’ve told Kyle the truth there is no going back.  You’ll be on your own.”

Of course she knew that.  If that was the way it had to be then it was better than living in a sham marriage.  Gina knew now that she’d been living in some strange fantasy for all these months.  Kyle Hastings wasn’t the love of her life.  He might deserve to be but he wasn’t and until she’d worked out what to do about Matthew it would
have to be
just her and her son.

It was weird but even with the
awful
prospect of
devastating
Kyle
’s world with
the truth the next day Gina still managed to sleep and wake late.  When she finally roused herself she could voices downstairs – Grace and Kyle.

She pulled a robe around her body and padded d
own to face them.  As she approached Kyle turned then stood stock still staring at her.  There was
a nerve twitching high on his cheekb
one
and his face was flushed
– a sure sign he was agitated
or angry
. 
Grace
must have
already told him?