The First Taste

Chapter 17 #2

“Burn!” She stops kissing me back and begins to struggle, her face scrunching up.

I growl at her, my lips leaving hers and my lips trailing down her neck, leaving little marks in my wake.

She grimaces, her face contorting. She drives her foot down hard on top of mine, causing a jolt of pain to radiate out from it. I freeze, uncertain how to deal with the pain. She takes advantage of my momentary lapse to wriggle out of my arms.

"I didn’t come here for that, Burn."

I look at her, her chest heaving, her face flushed. She has this wary look in her eyes, like I am a known murderer, and she is just trying to stay alive.

I don’t know why, but I like it when she looks at me that way.

Wiping at my mouth I smirk at her. "No? What did you come for then? Because if it is money, I have nothing left in my charity fund for you, little girl."

She looks at me and walks across the room and back, pacing, her hands shaping into fists. "You got me pregnant, Burn." She stops, pinning me in place with a hard gaze. "That’s why I am here. I wanted you to know."

Letting my head rock back, I stare at her, trying to ascertain whether or not she is telling the truth. A grandfather clock in the corner begins to chime the hour as the silence stretches between us. I don’t say anything. Or maybe it’s that I can’t. I am too busy thinking of what this might mean.

This changes everything. I tilt my head to one side and try to gauge whether she is serious. But it seems like she is.

"Is this a shakedown?" Sure, Talia seems too honest and too proud to do something like lie about being pregnant. But I don’t really know her. Not well enough to guess.

She starts pacing again, wrapping her arms around herself.

She shakes her head vehemently. "I wish it was. When I first found out that I was pregnant, I wasn’t sure that I was going to keep it.

But now, I think…" She trails off, turning away from me and walking slowly toward the other end of the room. "Now I think that I will keep it."

I run my tongue over my teeth. "How do you know? Have you been to see a doctor?"

She shakes her head. "No. But I have taken three different brands of pregnancy tests."

I stroke my chin, pondering. "And how do you know that it is mine?"

The question makes Talia turn around, her eyes crackling and snapping. She seems to be on the brink of screaming. "I think you know it’s yours."

I shrug my shoulders. "Maybe. Maybe not. That isn’t really the point."

Her face reddens. "My baby can only be yours. Do you understand what I’m saying? I’ve only ever slept with one person, once. And all roads lead to your door."

I snort. "You can’t be serious. Are you telling me that you expect me to believe that you are a virgin?"

Talia crosses her arms, stalks up to me, and points a finger right in the center of my chest. “Was. I was a virgin. Now I’m carrying your child."

Her words ring out in the quiet of the library. I take a deep breath and look at her serious face. I’m going to have to come clean with her about my identity sooner or later. I might as well do it now.

I hold my hands up in a placating gesture. "All right, so let’s say that you are pregnant and that it is Burn’s child.”

I see a note of puzzlement on her face before it is soon replaced with a look of understanding. "Are you fucking serious? You were lying about who you are again?"

"Lying is an awfully accusatory word."

Her nose flares, and she leans forward, giving my shoulder a hard push. "I can’t believe you did that again, Dare! Who do you think you are?"

"Obviously that depends on what information I can get by acting as if I am my brother."

She makes a sound of disgust and starts to walk out of the library. But before she gets to the door, I grab her by the wrist and pull her back. She resists for only a moment before turning to look at me. "Let me go. I have to find Burn."

I raise my hand, attempting to calm her. "Just hear me out. Okay?"

She rips her wrist from my grip and crosses her arms, her expression humorless. "Hear you out about what? I’m not here to make any more deals with you, Dare. I’m here to inform your brother that I’m carrying his child."

Licking my lips, I motion toward the couch. "Sit down with me. In ten minutes, if I haven’t said anything that’s worth your time, I will pay you one thousand dollars."

Her brows wrinkle with confusion. "For what? I swear, you Morgans have too much damned money."

Grabbing her by the shoulders, I struggle to get her over to the couch and sit her down. I take a seat just inches away. She is looking at me with distrust. I don’t blame her, honestly. I’m not usually the most trustworthy person.

"Okay." I lean in, adopting a very serious expression. "You know that my brother is already engaged."

Her lips curl. "Yes. I didn’t know that at the time, though."

"You met Daisy. Remember?"

"I do." She gives me a look. "Where is this going?"

"If you go to my brother and tell him that you are carrying his child, he might offer you money to ‘take care of it’. Or he might break up with Daisy in order to take you on as his fiancée."

She wrinkles her face up. "That’s not… No. I have no interest in becoming engaged to Burn. Actually, I think that he’s pretty despicable, now that the whole cheating scandal is out in the open."

"That doesn’t really matter; my point is that Daisy is not the sort of person that you want rooting against your team.

She is pretty nasty when something or someone gets in the way of her goal, and you and your baby would be in her way.

She wants to marry my brother. She has worked for a long time, casing our family.

You'd show up at the last minute and derail all her carefully laid plans. "

Talia’s brows furrow. "I don’t want that. But there’s nothing I can do about that. I have to tell Burn because he deserves to know."

I peer at her. "This kind of scandal could tear the whole family apart. It could cause a lot of problems."

"Again, what am I supposed to do? I’m just following the natural conclusion of events."

My heart thumps in my chest, and my mouth feels dry. I have a wild, reckless idea that is rattling around in my head.

Looking down into Talia’s eyes, I grab her hand, taking it between both of mine. She looks at me, her eyebrows raising. But before she can say anything, I shake my head.

"You shouldn’t tell Burn anything. You already know that he is a fucking liar. He cheated on Daisy and got you pregnant. Is that really the kind of person you want to spend your life with, or at least raise a child with?"

Her expression is skeptical. She exhales. "Maybe. I don’t really know. As I've been saying all along, I don't know much about either of you other than the fact that you're both rich assholes."

"That’s what I’m saying, though. I have a clean slate when it comes to cheating and jerking you around."

She puts her hands on her hips, leaning away from me and fixing me with a hard look. "You’re just as deceptive as Burn."

"Yes, but that is all I’ve done, and that was out of desperation.”

She opens her mouth and I silence her with a finger to her lips. Looking down at her, I say the words that seem so farfetched to me.

“What I’m trying to say is that you should marry me. Be my wife. Tell everybody that the child is mine."

Her eyes widen and her pupils contract. For several seconds, a shocked silence reigns between us. She blinks, and her throat works gently.

Finally, she pulls her hand from my grip and shakes it, as if trying to remove the traces of my touch. "Why would I do that?"

I grab her hand again, gripping it and looking at her intently. "My grandfather challenged us both to marry a woman and produce an heir. The first one of us that does it will win the company and billions of dollars."

"So?"

"So, Daisy will not look kindly upon losing out on being married to that kind of wealth. She doesn’t let things go easily.

When we were in college, her freshman-year roommate didn’t like Daisy’s controlling ways.

Daisy eventually wore her down and humiliated her enough that she dropped out of college and disappeared.

Daisy does not let things go. I think she would actually have zero problem doing bodily harm to you and your baby if it suited her needs. "

“What?” Her word comes out as a shout as much as a question. She breathes in and out slowly. Then she looks at me and shakes her head. "No. I’m sorry, Dare. It’s not the worst idea. But it’s easier if I try to go it alone. Less complicated, for sure."

"What do you mean go it alone? You’re willing to be a single mother and deal with all the hassle that it entails rather than marry me?"

Her face softens, and she reaches out, putting her hand on my knee. It’s intimate, and it makes me want to flick her hand off or say something sarcastic in response. But she gives me a tiny smile, and my bitter words are washed away.

I swallow and decide that this is not the time or the place for my sardonic sense of humor.

"You’re presenting me with a great offer. There is no doubting that. But agreeing to that would be like agreeing to lie to everyone from here on out. I don’t want a child who is born into a house of deception. I’m sure you can understand."

I give her a cold smile. I know exactly the words to say to make her agree. After all, she’s only a human, and humans have a weakness for money. "I didn’t even mention the best part of the deal."

She looks a little confused, scooting to the edge of the couch and looking as though she is about to get up. I put my hand on her knee this time, my fingers digging into her flesh as I give her the most intense look possible.

"I’m not sure what you mean," Talia says. She studies me, perhaps looking for flaws that she can pick apart.

"Agreeing to marry me comes with a cash reward.

Being my wife earns you five hundred thousand dollars that you can use any way that you see fit.

Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be deposited into an account of your choosing as soon as we are officially married.

And another two hundred fifty thousand when the baby arrives.

Plus," I raise a brow. "I will pay for anything and everything that you and the baby need for the next eighteen years.

Surely that will sway you to agree to my plan. "

I sit back, a satisfied smirk on my lips. But Talia just looks confused.

"Do you really want the Morgan family business that badly? Eighteen years is a long time to tie yourself to another person just for a business deal."

I squeeze her knee and cock my head to the right. "There would be other benefits to being married. For instance, we could fuck like bunnies. I am game for it if you are."

She pries my hands from her body, getting up and walking away. "That sounds horrible," she says over her shoulder. "You make it sound like I would be in for a lifetime of tawdry sex just because I accepted a one-time cash infusion from you."

"And because you would theoretically be my wife. Don’t forget that," I tease.

Talia turns, shooting me a glare. "No. How could I ever forget that?"

I sit back on the couch, putting my arms behind my back and stretching out. "The real question is, why should you have a cheater's baby when his identical twin brother is sitting right here, asking to raise the child?"

For just a fleeting second, I catch the conflicted look on her face.

I hold my hands up, trying to stall her protests in their tracks.

"You know what? You should think about it. You definitely shouldn’t go tell my brother before you’ve had time to weigh all of your options.

I’m only asking for a little time to let the genius of my plan soak into your system. "

I rise from the couch, stepping closer and reaching out a hand. I take her hand and turn her palm upward, kissing the smooth skin. She looks at me again, that same look of conflict in her eyes. Then she pulls away, flushes, and makes up an excuse.

"I really have to go."

I grab her hand again, squeezing her flesh hard. "Tell me that you are not going to find Burn tonight. Tell me that you won’t run to my brother and tell him about what I offered you."

She struggles, trying to pull her hand from my grip. "I am not going to talk to him tonight," she insists. "I’m going to think about it, like you told me to. Is that what you want to hear?"

I release her hand and give her a cool smile. "No. What I want to hear is that you will accept my proposal. But for right now? I’ll take what I can get."

She steps back, ripping her hand from mine and I let her go.

She opens the door and looks out into the hall.

I suppose she is checking to see that my family has gone.

I motion to her to get back from the door and then head outside, looking both ways.

I fish my cell phone out of my pocket and send Clive a text.

I hear movement in the service corridor just to the right of the library, and then Clive steps out.

I swing open the door to the library and beckon to Talia.

"Come on. Clive can guide you off the property without anyone else knowing that you were ever here."

Her eyebrows go up, but she flushes and hurries through the doorway, only looking back at me for one moment before dashing through the servants' passage that Clive holds open. Clive bows to me ever so briefly, and then I watch him pull the passageway door closed once again.

Pursing my lips, I pull out my cell phone. I feel like I have her in the palm of my hand. But corporate life has taught me to always have a backup plan. In case anything happens, I need to be absolutely sure that Talia will say yes to my offer.

I thumb through my contacts and then make a call. "Yeah, it’s me. I need a huge favor."