Page 28 of His Forgotten Wife

“God, I wish I had punched the daylights out of at least one of them at the pool that evening.”

His laughter reverberated against her flesh. “That would have been something to see.”

Now she glided her fingers from his hair to his forehead and he looked up.

“As clichéd as it sounds, I didn’t know what it was to be loved or how to do it in return, Dahlia.

You, your friendship, even if we didn’t call it that back then, was the only constant in my life.

And when you confessed your feelings to me, I think my entire world was hit by an earthquake.

My own family, who was supposed to love me, had mocked me, ignored me, abandoned me.

I didn’t trust that love wouldn’t take you away from me. ”

His gaze cut to hers then. “I hate the idea of hurting you again by bringing up that moment.”

She nodded. And then made up her mind. “I think I trust you and myself enough this time to know that you’re only doing it because it’s necessary. Because we can put it behind us, then.”

“I don’t want to put it behind me. Because I never want to hurt you like that again.”

“You won’t, Ares,” she said, that hope gaining force inside her.

“The anger as I was driving to Corfu, the distraction, it wasn’t at you.

It was at myself. I think the moment I left you and got on the plane, I realized how badly I had erred.

How I ruined any chance I had with the person I truly adored.

Your stricken face… I kept seeing it when I tried to sleep.

You were right that I crushed you. I was driving so recklessly because I wanted to come right back to you, Dahlia.

I wanted to tell you I was sorry and I hated myself with an intensity I’ve never known before. ”

“Shh,” Dolly said as his voice quivered. “Please, Ares, I don’t want to think of the accident. I felt so guilty that I drove you to it.”

“You didn’t, matia mou ,” he said, now pressing kisses to her upper belly. His tears drenched her skin, washing hers away. “And when I woke up from the coma and I saw your face, it was all crystal clear. The thought before I crashed…that I couldn’t lose you, no matter what.”

“You promise?” Dolly asked, like a little child demanding forever.

Ares kissed the corner of her mouth. As if he understood exactly why she was asking.

“I do, sweetheart. I was angry and hurt that you didn’t tell me about the contract.

Coming on top of what my father did, and refused to do, it felt like another betrayal.

It felt like nothing in my life was worth caring about.

That I wasn’t worth caring about. Processing emotions healthily is obviously not one of my brilliant qualities,” he quipped.

Dolly knew what he was doing and she hated everyone who had taught him to minimize his pain.

“No,” Dolly said, pushing up and planting her own kisses all over his face.

“Don’t you dare say that, Ares Demetrius.

You’re mine and you’re the most wonderful, arrogant, wickedly charming man in the entire world, and you’re worth more than a hundred men together because you’re also the kindest. I love you, Ares.

I’ve loved you since you sat by my bed those nights in college, because you made me feel less alone in this world. I will always love you.”

And as if the moment had been orchestrated, their mouths found each other, and communicated deeper than any words could.

It was a long while later and they were both panting, their clothes strewn about the bed, when Dolly remembered that his sister was visiting. Still, she was loath to disturb the moment by bringing up painful stuff for him.

She placed her palm on his bare chest. Under her touch, the steady beat of his heart felt intimate. As if the beat belonged to her.

Not as if. It was hers. He was hers. Although it would take a while to fully comprehend it.

Five weeks hadn’t dimmed their physical connection one bit. If anything, they had gone at each other with a voracious need, eager to cement the tenuous emotional connection.

Every inch of her felt deliciously sore. And yet, inside her chest, her heart glittered as if it had been imbued with magic.

Pushing herself up on her elbow, she studied Ares’s face.

Eyes closed, hair thoroughly mussed by her fingers, he looked peaceful.

“I can hear the gears in your head turning,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting more.

Leaning down, Dolly pressed a kiss to that tiny imperfection. “I’m happy. Bursting with it. And a little scared that this might be a dream.”

Taking her hand in his, he placed a kiss to the center of her palm. “It is real. You’re never leaving my side, Dahlia, ever.”

“Ares…”

His gray eyes popped open and held hers. “Yeah?”

She licked her lips. “I was really happy to learn that you brought Arabella here. She must be devastated by everything that happened. She’s not angry with you?”

“Not at all. Mama’s here too.”

“What?”

“She left my father. At least temporarily, I think. And she asked me if she and Arabella could stay here with me for a few months. Until she figures out what she wants to do.”

“She did?” Disbelief pulsed through Dolly’s tone. “I don’t mean to doubt her but—”

“Don’t apologize, agapi mou . It was a shock to me too.

Turns out my mother’s biggest sin was being completely unaware of how badly Stefano and Sergio had treated me back then.

She had a really difficult birth with Arabella and went into a depression, she told me finally.

And by the time I left home, she was just getting better.

She promised me that she would spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to me. ”

“Oh, Ares. I’m so glad. Aren’t you?”

Instead of answering her immediately, he searched her eyes, his grip tightening over her wrist. “You don’t mind?”

“Don’t mind what?”

“If they live here for a few months?”

Dolly laughed. “This is your home and I’m just so glad—”

Pulling her down to him, Ares took her mouth in a possessive kiss that left her panting.

“Our home, Dahlia. You aren’t going back to that studio apartment.

And as soon as your grandfather is able to stand without being in pain for more than five minutes, I want to marry you again in a proper celebration. ”

“We’re already married,” she said, sniffling.

“Not the contract stuff. This will be a grand, traditional wedding wherever you want to have it. This time, I want it done right.”

Dolly made a pout of her tingling lips. “Maybe you should start it right by asking me properly instead of commanding me.”

Pushing her onto her back, he pressed his lean body down into hers. Her breath shivered out on a pleasurable sigh. “Dahlia Singh, will you please be my wife forever this time? Because you’re my entire world, yineka mou . Without you, I’m lost and lonely and nothing and I—”

Dolly didn’t let him finish. She kissed him, her very heart in the touch. “Yes, Ares. I will marry you forever and ever, because I adore you too.”

“You still want those noisy, crying babies?” he asked, his eyes shining with pure adoration.

Dolly laughed and nodded. “I want a big family.”

“Then let’s get started on them right now,” he said, pinning his hips into hers and kissing her with that intense devotion that only he could show.

She laughed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Maybe after I finish my degree? You know, the nonprofit charity project we spoke of starting years ago? I was thinking of something like that.”

“Right. Humanizing me a little more, Dahlia?”

“Not to prove anything to the world but for ourselves, Ares.”

“That sounds perfect.”

And Dolly knew that she would never doubt her place in the world again. She would be Ares Demetrius’s wife and she would be needed and wanted and loved for the rest of her life.

* * * * *

Read on for an extract from KING’S EMERGENCY WIFE by Lucy King