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CHAPTER 4
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Suddenly, it was horrifyingly clear why he’d looked familiar when she’d first seen him. He wasn’t just Maxim de Montbéliard. She had seen him before. On the news, in the tabloids. He and his wife had been paparazzi favorites.
They were royal and beautiful, and, by all accounts, extremely happy. Every single magazine was paved with their photos… Hollywood, White House, vacations in Europe in all the luxurious places… Then, two years ago, he’d been in the news for his personal tragedy. The loss of his wife.
Michaela was thankful she was sitting or she would’ve collapsed. His dark eyebrows snapped together and she registered concern in his eyes before her vision blurred slightly.
“Are you all right, Michaela?”
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Again, her sweet voice broke his train of thoughts. This time this bothered him a lot. Thinking about her in a certain way was… amazing. “I’m thinking of taking legal action against the clinic,” Michaela said softly. “I’m a lawyer and I’m certain we would have an extremely strong case.” “I’m certain we would, too, despite the fact that I don’t have a law degree,” Maxim replied wryly. “But that would mean a lot of press.” The media circus would be out of control. Sensational headlines for a world that loved nothing more than scandal. And his wife’s fertility issues, his marriage, all of it would be thrust into the spotlight. It was the last thing he wanted, both for Antonia’s sake and his own. There was no point in tearing down her memory… not now that she was gone. Some things were best left buried, and the f
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Embarrassed by her uncharacteristic behavior, Michaela lowered her eyes. She honestly couldn’t remember ever looking at a man there before. Not on purpose, anyway. She tried to tell herself it was nerves making her heart pound and her pulse flutter. She couldn’t quite convince herself. Michaela knew that it was all because of the powerful presence of the man coming towards her. Maxim approached her and took his sunglasses off, tucking them in the neck of his shirt. Again, totally without permission, her eyes followed the motion and she was transfixed by the slight dusting of dark hair she could see on the tanned slice of chest that was revealed by the open collar of his shirt.“Glad to see you made it,” he said. He seemed totally unmoved by the fact that he’d just had a
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She should’ve been extremely content with him as her baby’s father. First and foremost, he was royal and extremely wealthy. He was to be the next king of Carpathia and along with that would receive an inheritance worth billion, coupled with the personal fortune he’d amassed with his hugely successful corporation. His chain of luxury hotels and casinos was popular with the rich and famous, both on the island of Carpathia, and in almost every other major tourist spot in the world. In the eyes of most women, he would be the golden chalice. A ticket to status and riches beyond most people’s imaginations. And yet Miss Michaela Roberts had acted as though carrying his baby was equivalent to being sentenced to the royal dungeon, which they didn’t have at the palace, regardless of what
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Her first glimpse of Carpathia stole her breath. The island was a jewel set in the bright Mediterranean Sea. Gleaming white rock faces houses dotted the pale sanded coastline. The beach faded into lush greenery, and set into the tallest visible mountainside was a stone castle with masculine angles that gleamed gold in the late-afternoon light.“Oh, God… This place is absolutely magnificent.” Magnificent, and yet untamed. Sort of like its master. For all of Maxim’s urbane sophistication, there was something about him that was raw and almost primitive. It appealed to her on a basic level she’d hardly been aware of before she’d seen him descending the stairs of his elegant mansion. The entire flight had been thick with tension, at least on her end. Maxim seemed total
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She ignored Maxim, thrusting her chin up and trying to look unaffected by him, his presence, and his insinuations. Maxim gripped her hand and stopped her from walking, drawing her close to him. Her heart began to pound so hard she was certain he must be able to hear it. Standing this close to him, Michaela could feel the heat coming from his body, smell the intoxicating, masculine scent that was one hundred percent raw, sexual man. One hundred percent Maxim, the man, not Maxim, the prince. Michaela slightly shook her head. Since when had she noticed how a man smelled? Unless she was at the gym and it was in a negative connotation, she didn’t think she ever had. So why did Maxim’s smell appeal to her like this? Why did it make her puls
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“I don’t need you to put me up. I’m perfectly capable of getting my own accommodations.” There you have it, mister! Michaela smiled slightly. He was so arrogant… Being supremely confident and used to hear only yes, Maxim thought he could convince Michaela to change her mind.“I have no doubt, Michaela” he replied, flashing her a wry smile. “I imagine your extensive education has left you more than capable of booking your own room. But you’re pregnant with my child and I don’t want you staying at some hotel by yourself.”“I was under the impression that are no shabby hotels in Carpathia…” she continued in a sarcastic tone.“There are not,” Maxim established, dismissing her statement with a wave of his hand. “But that doesn’t mean I will allow you to…”
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“Your what?” Her head was still fuzzy from the kiss, her limbs heavy with arousal, and she was certain she must have heard him wrong.“My wife. I have thought it through and it’s the only thing to be done.” Maxim had said it so pragmatically, as though anyone should be able to see his point.“I’m not going to marry you,” Michaela concluded, trying to match his tone. If he wanted to try to have an insane discussion as calmly as if they were talking about the weather then she was more than up to the challenge. She certainly wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of rattling her self-control more than once in a five-minute time span.“Michaela, you’re a very intelligent woman. And given your career choice, it&rsquo
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Maxim tried to maintain control over his body, but the vision sleeping in the bed was making it very difficult.“Michaela... tesoro…” He reached out and touched her bare arm and desire raced through him like a shot of pure liquor into his system. She was so beautiful. So different from any other woman he’d been with or even wanted to be with. She was slender, her waist small, but she had a woman’s curves. Her hips were rounded, her breasts enticingly full. Unlike the extremely fashionable women he’d preferred in the past, Michaela seemed to dress simply to stay warm, or to avoid indecent exposure. There was nothing unflattering about her wardrobe, but there was nothing especially flattering about it, either.&nbs
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The desire hadn’t gone away. Not even for a moment. She could see from the molten heat in his eyes that he felt the same. “I’ve never been playing with you,” Maxim replied, his voice intense. “Please know that. I’ve handled things badly, but hurting you was the last thing I wanted.” “Still, you did hurt me,” Michaela concluded. “We promised we were going to talk about things, but we didn’t. You just shut me out, and I have no idea what happened to cause it.” He raised his eyes and met hers… the stark, raw emotion in them shocked her. “I know,” he said roughly. “You can’t imagine how sorry I am. Please come with me, Michaela.” She nodded slowly and let him lead her from the villa. When she realized where they were headed, Michaela stopped. “Maxim... No… I can’t…” “Tr
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He backed her across the room and turned her so that she was facing away from him before bending her gently over the surface of the dresser that was positioned up against the wall. “Maxim…” Michaela asked tremulously. “Trust me again, Misha,” he grated. Maxim moved his hands up her still-slender waist, around to her stomach, and over the little bump that housed their baby. His heart jumped and he curled his hands into fists before opening them again and palming her breasts, releasing the front clasp on her bra and letting it fall open. He covered them, squeezed her sensitized nipples, drawing a low, desperate moan from her lips. Maxim abandoned her breasts to push her skirt down her hips, taking her tiny pair of panties with it. He pressed his hand against her mound, pushing one finger thr
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Michaela was more than thankful for having an opportunity to get out of the palace later that day. The meeting with the men and women she was working with to organize the Carpathian branch of the MD Foundation had gone well. It had provided some much-needed distraction from the anxiety of waiting for the test results, from the stifling solitude that came from being in a huge building surrounded by people who basically never talked to her. But most of all, she needed a distraction from her earlier revelation. She didn’t want to be in love with Maxim. She was saving all her love for their child. She didn’t want to have her emotions tangled up in loving him, not when he was only going to hurt her. She didn’t want to be like her parents. Didn’t wa
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Michaela ran her soft hand over his abs, and Maxim’s stomach tightened, his whole body aching, ready for her again. If it was only his body that was affected it wouldn’t be so dangerous, but his chest felt too full when he looked at her when he touched her. It was too much. It wasn’t what this was supposed to be about. Maxim thought about what his father had said. About the paternity test. Michaela had even commented that if they’d made a mix-up at the lab in the first place, it was possible they had made a mistake and that he wasn’t the father. If that were true, Michaela would be free to go back home. They wouldn’t even have to get married. He’d imagined that thought might make him feel free, that the prospect of escaping marriage might make the tightness in his chest lessen. Instead, it sent an intense
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Looking at his expression, Michaela realized this was more intimate for him than making love. Maxim was sharing something with her that he had not shared with any other woman, any other person, period. Not even with Antonia, his wife of seven years. That did something to her. It made the most bittersweet pain twist her heart, made her stomach tighten with longing. “I would like that…” Maxim put an arm around her and took Michaela’s chin in his hand, tilting her face up so that their eyes met. “Misha… I want to paint ALL of you. No clothes, no barriers… I want to capture only you and our child.” Realization of what that meant dawned slowly. “Oh… I can’t do that, Maxim!” she protested, her cheeks heating at the idea of getting naked in such
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“Your belly is starting to show, Misha.” Maxim put his arms around Michaela from behind and caressed her bare midsection. She had been examining herself in the mirror in the master suite, sucking in her expanding stomach. She gently smacked his hand. “Thank you, Maxim… Just what every woman wants to hear from her man!” “It’s sexy… You’re so sexy…” He nuzzled her neck and kissed the hollow just beneath her ear. “You must know how incredibly sexy I think you are.” Michaela knew. Maxim had spent all night showing her just how sexy he thought she was. It had been such a wonderful revelation. She’d discovered a whole, huge part of herself she hadn’t even known existed. A part of herself she’d spent far too long suppressing.
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Michaela fought to regain some control, some kind of command over her senses. Impossible when she felt as if all of the feelings inside her were too big to be contained by her skin. So difficult when she was certain she might shatter into a million pieces. A needy moan escaped her lips and her body trembled as he moved closer to the place where she was wet and aching for him. She didn’t have control anymore… she felt as if she might fall from the earth and float away as if there was nothing holding her to the bed. She gripped the sheets, tried to focus, tried to find some shred of sanity, because this, what he was doing to her, making her feel, was terrifying. Michaela couldn’t temper it, couldn’t lead it, or plan it. But she felt her hold slipping, felt herself ready to plunge over the edge, and if that
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For a second, his dark eyes focused on the blank space in front of him, trying to remember his life before Michaela, before this whole baby situation, before the unhappiness of the last years. He was trying to remember Antonia… not because he was so attached to her memory, but because nothing about it had been worth the pain he’d endured. Maxim had lost Antonia several times over. In the end, an impenetrable wall had gone up between them, and he hadn’t been able to reach her anymore. He hadn’t been able to protect her, from her grief, from death. At this point, all Maxim knew was that he had no desire to ever go through that kind of hell again. “So, you’re absolutely sure you’re going to meet someone else?” Michaela asked, her copper eyes deadly serious. “I’m marrying you, Michaela… You’re the only
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Maxim got off the phone with the casino manager and cursed. Not because the problem at the casino hadn’t been easy to solve - that issue had been handled in only a few minutes - but because of the unsatisfied desire that was still raging through him. He couldn’t believe he’d almost had sex with Michaela outside by his pool, with all of the speed and finesse of a very horny schoolboy. Maxim had never, EVER lost control with a woman like that before. He had always taken the time when romancing a woman. Antonia had never wanted it any other way. She had always needed candles, a dimly lit room. He had always spent at least an hour arousing her body before he’d even considered taking things to their natural conclusion. But with Michaela, there had
