The Texan's Contract Marriage - By Sara Orwig Page 0,67

“You haven’t seemed as happy lately. I didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. I wanted to wait until we were together.”

“I couldn’t be happier now that you’re in my arms,” he whispered, kissing her throat.

“Marek, listen a minute.” He raised his head to focus on her.

“You asked me some time ago to scale back my career, and I told you I couldn’t. Things haven’t been quite the same between us since.”

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about that. You were meant to share your talent. I love you and I’ll settle for the time I can have with you.”

“You mean that?” she asked, her eyes growing huge.

“I mean it. Even if it’s just a little of your time. I love you. I need you in my life. I need to know that I have your love.”

Smiling, with a sparkle coming to her blue eyes, she kissed him passionately again. His hands wound in her hair as he kissed her in return, and then his arm circled her waist to hold her tightly.

She finally leaned away. “That thrills me, that you are willing to make such a sacrifice for me.”

“You don’t know how much I love you,” he said, desire a smoldering fire in him.

“Marek, while we were apart, I gave thought to what I want to do. You think my life should be opera. I’m not the only singer—not even remotely. As your wife, my earnings no longer are part of this.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“Not when my family needed my help and I had to count on my voice. I still want success in opera. Specifically, I want the lead in an opera at the Metropolitan. I want the lead at La Scala.”

“You should be the lead both places,” he said, his voice thickening. He could inhale the scent of her perfume, feel her narrow waist beneath his hands. They stood with only inches separating them. “I also want the love of the man I love,” she said in a throaty voice as tears filled her eyes. “I want Noah to have a family. I want him to have two siblings. I want a family.”

“I want you to have both,” Marek whispered. “I want you to have it all. Everything possible to make you happy.”

“I love you,” she said, gazing solemnly at him. “Listen a moment. Here’s my plan.” Her voice strengthened, and she poked his chest with her forefinger as if she needed to get his attention. “Give me three years. I’m only twenty-five. For the next three years put up with the separations and the inconveniences and let me pursue my career totally. In three years, I will retire. Noah will still be in preschool, a little boy, not too old for siblings.”

“In three—”

“Do not interrupt until I’m through,” she said, startling him. “I will want to give it up in three years. I’ve thought this through carefully. I know you thought you had our marriage all mapped out and it would work and then it didn’t. I’m sure that I don’t want to pursue my career for years. I want my family. I want your love. I love you and I’m not giving you up just because you’re shocked by my talent and think I should give up everything for my career. Occasionally in your life, you’re wrong. Can you give me three years if I give you the rest?”

Stunned, he stared at her while he thought about what she proposed.

“Marek, for heaven’s sake. I love you,” she cried, standing on tiptoe to kiss him.

Marek’s resistance to her kiss disappeared. His arms locked tightly around her and he kissed her, letting go all the longing he had bottled up since hearing her perform. As if a dam had burst, desire poured over him, making him shake with urgency. He wanted her desperately and everything else vanished.

Oblivious of her hands moving over him, he unzipped her dress. She fumbled with his shirt and he yanked it off, popping buttons and sending them flying while she shook out of her dress and let it fall.

In minutes he picked her up to love her while they kissed and her long legs were locked around him. She was soft, a flame burning away all hurt. He loved her wildly, wanting to hold her forever in his arms.

When she finally clung to him, relaxing against him, he let her slide to put her feet on the floor. She glanced up.

“I think you’ve already given me your answer.