Chapter 16.1

Well, at least it transmitted a message that Lara had nothing to talk about yet. Being the soul of discretion, Mrs. Keith would follow instructions and discreetly withdraw. Any moment now. Then it was up to Lara to face what had to be faced. No more hiding from it.

'You still don't know.'

The deep timbre of that voice—Ric's voice!—vibrated through every cell in Lara's body. Ric…here…! Dear God, did that mean…?

Her heart leapt with joy. A cocktail of hope fizzed through her mind. She swung around, giddy with the prospect of having Ric in her life on a continuing basis. He had to be the father of her baby. He wouldn't have come otherwise.

But his grim face made her check the burst of pleasure at seeing him. The dark velvet eyes burned like hard coals, and she felt their fire searing her soul, no quarter given in the search for a truth he was determined on having.

'I don't know, either,' he said, reaching inside his jacket and withdrawing the envelope that matched hers. He tossed it onto the table. It hadn't been opened.

Lara stared at it in shocked confusion. She didn't understand this. He'd wanted the proof of paternity, either way. Demanded it of her. It made no sense that he'd come here without first checking the results of the test. She wrenched her stunned gaze from the incontrovertible evidence that he hadn't, and forced it up to meet the blaze of purpose in his.

'Why, Ric?' she asked simply.

'Because you matter more, Lara,' came the heart-jolting reply. 'I would accept…and love…any child of yours…because it's part of you.'

Love…her reeling mind clung to that one word. She couldn't quite take in the rest but she thought it meant he still cared about her, that she was special to him.

'The question is…' he went on slowly, searchingly '…am I deluding myself about what you feel for me?'

She couldn't speak. There was a massive lump of emotion blocking her throat. He moved toward her. It didn't occur to her to move toward him.

Every atom of her energy was focused on watching him, trying to feel what he was feeling. The yearning inside her was so huge, she wasn't sure if she was misreading the same need in him…the need to have and to hold because despite all the differences between them—in the past and right now —they touched something in each other that blotted out the rest of the world.

Her hands were linked in front of her, instinctively protective of the baby in her womb. He gently drew them apart and lifted them to his shoulders. Her heart fluttered in wild hope. Everything inside her quivered at the sheer force of the desire he stirred.

'When we made love…' he murmured, his eyes softer now, molten liquid flowing into her, warming the blood in her veins, making it race to a chaotic beat. '…it was me, you wanted, wasn't it, Lara? Not just because I was there…and I could answer your need?'

Somehow she forced her voice to work. 'Only you could have done that, Ric,' she answered, and the truth of that night, which she'd kept dammed up inside her, burst its banks and came pouring out. 'And the need…the need was to have you. At least once in my life. Because I might lose you again. And I couldn't bear…not to have known you like that while I still could.'

He drew in a deep breath, his chest expanding with it. She could feel his tension in the rigid shoulder muscles, knew that what she'd said had hit him hard. But it was the truth and she fiercely willed him to believe her.

'It wasn't about…wiping out what Gary had done?'

'That, too,' she admitted. 'But I would have said anything to make you give me…what you did, Ric. I'm sorry it got so complicated…with the pregnancy.'

'It doesn't matter,' he said gruffly. 'It wasn't fair…'

He placed a silencing finger on her lips. 'There's nothing fair in love and war, Lara. We just have to survive the hard patches. And believe in what we're doing.'

The finger moved, trailing across her cheek, tracing its contours before shifting the fall of her hair back behind her ear. Lara stood mesmerised by its touch, feeling her skin come alive under the brush of his. It had always been this way with Ric—holding hands when they were teenagers…sharing that one kiss…the total experience of intimacy with him…

'I couldn't bear for you to be a battered wife,' he said softly. 'Not my Lara…'

His? Did he still think of her as his?

'You remained an unattainable dream to me until the day I saw that photo,' he went on, his voice furred with deep emotion. 'But what I feel for you now is very real. And if what you feel for me is real…'

The need in his eyes swelled the tidal wave of need rampaging through her. His hands cradled her face as his own came nearer and nearer. When his lips touched hers…covered them…moved them…the sweet bliss of connecting with him again triggered an overwhelming response. She kissed him back with all her heart, her soul, and her mind danced with the sheer joy of it…Ric wanting her, no matter what.

She loved this man. Loved all that he was. Her hands hugged his head, holding him to her. Her mouth expressed all the passion she felt for him.

Her body strained against his, revelling in the closeness that was not going to be taken away. He was going to stay with her…love her…love her baby.

And in between the kisses his eyes shone down at hers, seeing, believing. It was real…this feeling they had together. He held her, his hands moving over her possessively, tenderly, lovingly, passionately, and the sunshine of his touch seeped into her bones, a brilliant heat that chased winter away.

'Come home with me, Lara,' he murmured. 'I need you to be with me.'

Not here with the shadows of her marriage. In a space they could own together. 'Yes,' she happily agreed, wanting what he wanted, yearning for it.

He smiled, drew back, took her hand. She looked down at this simplest form of being joined to him, remembering, feeling it again…the bond that seemed to link their lives to a magical place that belonged only to them.

'We used to walk like this,' she said, smiling back at him. 'I remember.'

'It's not a fantasy, Ric.'

'No. It's not.' He rubbed his thumb over her bare third finger. 'Will you wear my wedding ring, Lara?'

The breath caught in her throat momentarily. A kind of ecstatic incredulity billowed through her mind. So much…so soon? Yet the determined purpose that had brought him here still burned in his eyes, a simmering glow now, but telling her unequivocally the words were meant.

'I'd feel very honoured to wear it, Ric,' she said soberly.

'Then I think we should get married as soon as possible. Before the baby is born.'

'The baby…' Her gaze swung to the envelopes, still lying on the table. Her hand convulsively squeezed his as anxiety flooded through her. 'Ric, you have to know…'

'No. Leave it. I promise you it won't make any difference.'

'But it does. I haven't told Victor Chappel about my pregnancy, but if I have a baby who looks like Gary, or anyone in his family…' She shook her head worriedly. 'He won't let it go, Ric. And if you marry me, you'll be caught up in the fight, too.'

'Lara…your fight is my fight. I won't let you stand alone against Victor Chappel,' he said calmly.

'He won't give up. It will be ongoing…' The fear seized her brilliant bubble of happiness and started tearing it to shreds. 'He'll get some legal order preventing me from leaving the country with the child. Which wouldn't matter if I was on my own. But your business takes you overseas, Ric, and I wouldn't be able to accompany you. I won't go and leave…'

'The business can be run by others,' he argued. 'I can start something else.'

His confidence in resolving any and every problem soothed some of her agitation. But she couldn't help feeling it was asking too much of him. He hadn't lived with the Chappels as she had. Her gaze shifted to the envelopes again, drawn by a dreadful sense of inevitability that she'd bring trouble to Ric.

'Victor will insist on a DNA test, anyway,' she muttered. 'I have to know what I'm getting you into. I won't hide from this. I won't.' She lifted pleading eyes to his. 'If you want me to go forward with you, Ric, it has to be with the truth, both of us knowing what we'll be dealing with. That's fair, isn't it?'

He weighed her argument then slowly answered, 'As long as you understand I won't let you back out of marrying me, Lara. Whatever it takes for us to be together…I'm your man.'

Her man.

Yes, he was.

In every sense.

Whatever the future held, she would never under-value his feeling for her, or hers for him.

'Thank you,' she said, acknowledging the extraordinary gift of his love. 'Thank you for coming back into my life. Thank you for rescuing me and making me feel like a worthwhile person. Thank you for letting me be one with you. I promise you I'll never turn away from that, Ric. No matter what.'

He drew a deep breath and gestured to the table. 'Then let's deal with the truth.'

She looked at the sealed envelopes. They held no power to hurt, she told herself. She and Ric had moved past that place. Determined to prove it, she stepped over to the table, picked up the closest envelope, tore it open, extracted the contents and read the results of the testing.

And it felt as though the world shifted.

All the conflicts she'd feared just…winked out of any possible existence. She looked at Ric—seeing him as the driving force behind everything that was now right for her. Even this. Especially this.

'It's you. You're the father of my baby.' 'Our baby,' he corrected her.

She laughed. And then she was crying. But they were happy tears, not tears to be hidden. Ric kissed them away and they smiled at each other.

'Come home with me now?' he asked.

'I am home with you, Ric. That's how it feels.' 'Yes. That's how it feels for me, too.'