Free Dante's Marriage Pact by Day Leclaire Page B

filling it with a joyful welcome.
    She felt good in his arms. Right. Her scent swirled around him, a uniquely familiar one that he connected with on some deep, primal level. And her taste… Her sweet taste and fervent touch caused The Inferno to burn with a blistering intensity. She was his. Had been his from the moment they touched.
    A soft kick impacted against his abdomen, coming from the tight mound of Shayla’s belly. He broke off the embrace and took a swift step back, staring in shock. “Are you all right? The baby? I think I hurt it.”
    â€œNot at all.” She smiled, a soft, radiant smile that knocked first at his heart, then at his legs, threatening to send him straight to his knees. “He or she must have felt left out and given you a little kick to say hello.”
    Draco closed his eyes in relief. Great. Great way to start, Dante. He hesitated, not quite certain how to go from there.He wasn’t accustomed to being indecisive and it irritated him. Okay, fine. The hell with starting out by getting his feet wet. He’d just dive right in.
    Dragging in a deep breath, he pinned Shayla with his gaze. “Is the baby mine?”
    â€œAre you married?” she countered. “You never actually said. Earlier, I mean.”
    â€œNo. I’m not married.”
    â€œEngaged?” she persisted.
    He ran a hand through his hair, reaching deep for the patience he’d lost eight-plus endless months ago. “I’m not married. Not engaged. Not seeing anyone. Not interested in seeing anyone,” he asserted. “With one exception. You.”
    An emotion swept across her elegant features, so fast he couldn’t quite identify it. Hurt, maybe? “Then why have you waited so long to come and see me?”
    Okay, definitely hurt. He approached, deliberately stepping into a bright patch of sunlight. It cut hot and sharp across his face, giving her a clear view of both his expression and his eyes. “Let me make this crystal clear. I have been searching for you since the moment you disappeared. When you didn’t show up for dinner, I stopped by the Mark—who, incidentally had never heard of you. Next, I called your grandmother—who professed ignorance. I won’t bother to comment on that.”
    This time Shayla allowed the smallest of smiles to curve her mouth before bringing it under swift control. “Since I was on a plane, technically she didn’t know my precise location.”
    â€œIf you say so.” They’d discuss her departure from San Francisco soon enough. Guaranteed, it would be long and unpleasant. But it would happen. “My third call was to Juice.”
    Her brow wrinkled in bewilderment. “Who’s Juice?”
    â€œHe worked for my brother’s security firm years ago and after the business closed down, he went independent. Let’s just say he’s an expert at finding what’s lost and recovering it.”
    Shayla stilled. “You asked him to recover me?” she asked.
    â€œHell, yes, I asked him to recover you.”
    She crossed to a window seat overlooking the expansive grounds at the rear of the mansion. Taking a seat, her restless hands folded and refolded the blankets she held. They were handmade baby blankets Draco now realized. “He must not be very good at his job if it took him all this time to find me.”
    Not quite knowing what to do with himself, Draco paced in front of her. “Maybe if you hadn’t spent most of that time trying to dodge me, he’d have had an easier time of it.”
    â€œI wasn’t dodging you,” she corrected. “I had a job that involved extensive travel.”
    â€œYeah, right.” He didn’t bother to conceal his skepticism. “Regardless, Juice tracked you all over Europe. Maybe if your employer, Algier, weren’t such a recluse who keeps his schedule top secret, I would have managed to catch you. I almost pulled it off in