Free A Baby of Convenience by Lena Skye Page A

Everything I do, well, when I do it, I know I’m being compared to her, and I know I shouldn’t care what they think… but they’re my parents. I want their approval, no matter how much I say I don’t care about their opinions.”
     
    “Maybe one day they’ll realize what you're really worth,” Neal said comfortingly.
     
    Elena gave him a sad smile. “I don’t think they’re the type to realize anything.”
     
    “Well, maybe one day… you’ll have someone in your life who's important enough to you that their opinions will become irrelevant.”
     
    Elena smiled.  “Fingers crossed.”
     
    They were sitting close together, their hands still linked. Neal was suddenly aware of their intertwined fingers. Without over-thinking, he acted on instinct and a suddenly strong desire, and leaned towards Elena. His lips caught hers as he made the decision. She didn’t pull away. Neal tilted his head to the side, drawing her in for a more intimate kiss. She came to him willingly; her body was soft and pliant against his own.
     
    Elena felt none of the discomfort she had felt earlier in the day, in his room. Now, all she felt was the unexpected closeness that came from sharing thoughts that you had never said aloud before. His body was hard against her own, his hands were calloused and sure, as they moved up and down the curve of her back.
     
    As the kiss deepened, Elena felt desire slowly build up inside her. She moved her hands beneath his t-shirt and felt the hard wall of his stomach. Her hands on his skin seemed to act as a trigger. He pulled at her blouse, and at the same time, they stumbled away from the kitchen, towards the large sofa.
     
    They fell together onto the sofa, Elena first, and then Neal on top of her. She wasn’t sure if her shortness of breath had to do with the fall or the feel of Neal’s lips on her neck and shoulders. Slowly, deliberately, Neal removed her clothes, one by one, until she lay naked beneath him. He got off her for a moment, and rid himself of his own clothes.
     
    When he settled on top of her again, he was as naked as she was. He started kissing her again, moving his lips from her neck to her breasts, and then to her stomach.
     
    Clutching at his hair, Elena tried not to wonder how he had come to be so sure and confident as a lover. She tried not to think about all the women he must have been with to have perfected his style so well. Elena reminded herself that she had no right to have such thoughts at all. This was not a relationship, it was a business deal.
     
    She closed her eyes and reminded herself of the reasons why she was even doing this at all. She wanted to be free, and the only way to achieve freedom in this world was financial stability. She couldn’t stomach moving back in with her parents, she couldn't stand admitting to them that they had been right all along. She was a failure.
     
    She wondered if accepting Neal’s deal was a failure in its own right. She questioned her own sanity in agreeing to it at all, then he entered her, pushing his erection deep inside her, his breath mixing in with her own, his lips on her mouth, on her neck, on her breasts, and she wondered if she were doing the right thing.
     
    It was hard to remember anything at all, the way they were entwined together, skin to skin, no distance between them. Even as her breath quickened and small uncontrollable gasps escaped her, and an orgasm consumed her, Elena lay there, praying that this wasn’t simply the desperate act of a lost woman. 
     
     

Chapter8
     
    They had fallen asleep on the couch. Neal woke up in the middle of the night, with the the moonlight streaming in through his French doors. Elena had been asleep, but she moved around a lot, mumbling inaudibly in her sleep from time to time. She seemed to be dreaming. Neal had picked her up as gently as he was able to and carried her to his bedroom. After settling her into bed, he threw a blanket over her and walked back into the