Page 11 of The Billionaire's Baby

"All the more reason that I am not the right person for this. I am no good with situations of the, uh, emotional kind. Why do you think I opted for artificial insemination?"

"Because you couldn’t find a man who wanted you enough to start a family with you?"

She pales; her breath hitches. "You know what? Forget it. This entire thing is a bad idea. It’s best we keep our distance from each other for the time that we are on this boat." She marches past me. Something glimmers on her cheek.

Aw, hell, is she crying? Something hot stabs at my chest. I swoop down and grip her arm, "Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that."

"Of course, you did." She stares down at where I’ve locked my fingers around her. "Let me go."

"No."

"You don’t want to fight me," she says in a low voice. "I run my own security agency. I have learned more than my share of self-defense skills, enough to take on men far more dangerous than you."

"Now, you’re daring me, and you know I can never back down from a challenge."

"Is that right?" She lifts her gaze to my face. "We’ll see, shall we?" She yanks on my grasp; I tighten my hold. She feints, locks her leg around mine in a seamless move and tugs. I throw my arms around her, press her close as she kicks my legs out from under me.

The world tilts and I hit the floor of the cabin with a resounding thud as the back of my head connects with the hardboard. The breath whooshes out of me; pain slices down my spine.

"Let go of me, you oaf." She struggles in my hold. The covers slip down to bare her luscious breasts.

I take in the pink areolae, the beaded nipples that seem to pebble further under my scrutiny.

"Avert your eyes, you mofo." She smacks my head.

"Ow," I gasp out a pained breath even as I squeeze my arms around her, and haul her to my chest.

"Dammit, unhand me." She pushes her knee into my groin and I groan.

"What the hell? If you keep that up, I won’t be able to father any children, Stowie."

"Aargh." She punches my shoulder. "I," she punches the side of my face, "hate," punch, "that," punch, "name."

"What the fuck?" I growl, then scissor my legs around her, flip her over so she’s once more on her back. The sheet she's draped around herself tightens further. She wriggles about, tries to free herself, and I lean more of my weight on her, imprisoning her under me.

"You big bully," she fumes, then lashes out with her arm. I duck, only to grab her arm and twist it above her head. She throws a punch with the other, and I catch her wrist and pull it up, then shackle both her wrists with my palm.

"Much better." I take in her flushed features. At least, the color has returned to her face. "Now where were we?"

"Nowhere," she growls. Her eyes flare; her dark hair falls across her forehead. She’s fucking gorgeous and beautiful and so vital. I want a piece of that; something… Someone so alive that she could fire up the dark corners of my life.

"Wrong answer," I retort. "Care to try again?"

"Oh, sod off." She blows the hair off of her face. "So easy for you to use your strength to overpower me, huh?"

"I use everything I have at my disposal." I hold her gaze, "Including you."

She makes that sound of anger deep in her throat that fucking cuts me off at the knees.

"Jesus," I growl. "Why the hell did you have to be so…so irresistible?"

"Speak for yourself," she mutters. "Let me off this boat."

"No."

"I need to get back," she insists

"There’s no need for that, considering everything is settled."