His Marriage Trap

CHAPTER NINE

Nik looked confused at her declaration.

"Impossible. The only way you could have caught me was if I was really cheating on you and I haven't touched another woman since we married," he growled.

"Just give it up," she urged and he narrowed his eyes on her.

"Explain what you think you saw or heard," he demanded and she sighed but at his glare she finally explained. She told him all about Callie and the more she told him the darker his expression got.

"You obviously prefer her," Gabby said when only silence met her. Nik lifted his gaze to her and anger leaked out from every inch of his body.

"There is nothing going on between Callie and me," he said. Gabby wanted to believe him but she had gone too long believing the other woman that she wasn't sure what was real and what was a lie anymore.

"I want to believe you," she confessed.

"But she has you believing that up is down and down is up? I swear to you that nothing has ever gone on between Callie and me. I thought that you were just being insecure but now I see that she was really trying to turn you against me," he said which made Gabby suddenly uncertain about who to trust.

"I don't understand why she would say those things if they weren't true."

"Because she's obviously a messed up person but she won't have the chance to make you doubt me again," he promised.

Gabby found that she really did want to believe him and she didn't hesitate when he pulled her in to his arms and captured her lips with his own. He had a way of making her feel special and as though she was the only person who mattered to him. For once she actually believed that it could be true. She allowed herself to believe that she really was that important to him that he had travelled all over just because he couldn't live without her.

"Wait," she said as she pulled away.

"You okay?" Nik asked in concern and she offered a smile.

"I'm fine. I just need to know that this isn't a quick fix."

"A quick fix?" Nik questioned and Gabby blushed under his scrutiny.

"I don't want one night together to be the band aid on our relationship. I want us to actually work things out and have a real marriage," she explained and he relaxed slightly.

"Honey, I don't want a quick solution. I'm all in where you're concerned. You want a long discussion? I want that too. I don't want us to go back to being distant with each other. I want us to share everything and to make a go of having a real marriage," he assured her. Gabby couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at his assurance. She wanted to be his wife in all senses of the word and she wanted him to want her for the person she was and not because a will forced him in to it.

"I'm all in too," she promised and completed that statement by removing her dress and baring herself to his eyes. All she had worn underneath was a pair of skimpy knickers and she smiled when she realised that Nik couldn't take his eyes off her. She would never have been so daring before but now she felt like she could actually trust him and she wanted to be closer to him.

"You are just so beautiful," Nik breathed and she couldn't help the blush that caused. She had never seen herself as desirable before until she had seen the look in Nik's eyes when he gazed upon her.

"You are the only person that I have ever trusted with my heart so be gentle," she said and he smiled down at her.

"I will treasure your heart forever. And I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me," he promised as he gathered her in to his arms and carried her back towards the bedroom.