Free Awaken to Pleasure by Nalini Singh

all this way for us.”
    “He knows I’ll remember that when we need a wedding dress for one of the new movies in the works. Don’t worry, cara, he will get his payment.”
    Bolstered by his confidence, she started to look through the many beautiful creations brought out for her inspection. Jackson spent a lot of time on his mobile phone, checking on security details for their wedding. It was while he was standing by the window, phone to his ear, that she found the dress she wanted.
    “How very lovely.” She picked up the smooth satin-silk fabric, which looked like it had been embedded with pearls crushed to the consistency of the finest white sand. The dress had a cowl neck which would drape softly over her breasts,before the sleek material swept gracefully down her body. The bias cut ensured it would hug her curves and swish gently around her ankles.
    “I’d like to try this on.” She glanced over her shoulder to ensure Jackson wasn’t looking her way. “I don’t want him to see it before the wedding.”
    The little man was delighted to help in her conspiracy. “Use the back fitting room and if you like it, I’ll box it up out of his sight.”
    It was a perfect fit, as if it had been made with her in mind. The couturier gave her a shimmering gossamer veil to go with the dress, and even found a pair of shoes. Jackson simply raised a brow at her secretiveness but paid for the purchase with a gold card.
    “It’s costing you a lot,” she said, in the car.
    “It’s my choice, Taylor. It’s my wedding, too.”
    That didn’t make her feel much better. “I don’t understand,” she burst out, raw from the evidence of his wealth and her lack of it. “What do you get out of this? There are so many women out there who wouldn’t hesitate to bear you a child.” Women who weren’t flawed, she thought. Women he wouldn’t have to rid himself of after a year.
    “I get you and I get Nick, two people whose loyalty will be mine without question. In this business, loyalty like that is priceless.” His tone was forceful. “And, I may get to father a baby, who I know will have a good mother—there aren’t many women whom I’d trust with that responsibility.”
     
    Jackson could see that Taylor wasn’t convinced, but he knew that she wouldn’t protest. Not when Nick’s future was at stake. He barely understood his own need, need which had been hidden for so long that it was starving for a taste of her. He just knew that he had a chance to make Taylor his and he was taking it.
    She saw herself as without passion, damaged. He saw in her the promise of a magnificent woman. He wasn’t a saint and he wanted her. But neither was he a brutal man who would force compliance. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to find the sensual woman in Taylor, the one who made him feel things he hadn’t felt for so long he’d thought them dead.
    It had pained him to admit that the ache to father a child was so great he would give her up if she couldn’t bring herself to bear his touch. Yet, it was the truth. He’d never wanted much in his life, but he wanted to hold his child in his arms. How could someone as innocent as Taylor understand his need to find redemption by creating a life where Bonnie had destroyed it?
     
    Taylor spent that night at home. She rose at seven the next day and was ready an hour later to go and pick up Nick, who would be dropped off at the school with the other children. Jackson was on her doorstep just after eight.
    The sight of him rattled her. She’d just spent hours dreaming of him and none of the dreams had been comfortable. It was as if her own mind was taunting her with what could be. “I don’t know if you should come,” she finally said. “I know I invited you but it might be too sudden.” Her worry was genuine but she also needed time alone to sort out her tumultuous feelings.
    “He has to know. And we have to see how he reacts to me.” Taking the bag she’d packed in anticipation of