The Not So Secret Baby Read online

  Everyone else had been nice. The household staff had been friendly and eager to please her. The home inside was as large and imposing as outside. It was furnished in elegant, no doubt expensive, furnishing that appeared to be of great age and value.

  “It must be a nightmare to clean,” Izzy murmured, thinking of her small two bedroom apartment in Cairns.

  “They love the house and they love you,” Sinyn replied as he caught her hand in his.

  “They don’t know me.”

  “They know I’m happy, and that’s all they need to know.”

  They did the rounds of the manor and finished at the stables. “Horses huh?” Izzy hadn’t been a horse loving teenage girl. They had always struck her as uncomfortable to ride and she couldn’t imagine any pleasure a horse got with someone perched on top of them.

  “Scared of them?”

  “No, I prefer cars.” They could be controlled. Horses had minds of their own.

  “On Inis Daire—”

  “Yes, yes, I’m sure even the leprechauns ride horses.” When Sinyn laughed at her words, Izzy smiled. It was a great sound. “Your cousin—”

  “Hates me.”

  “Yep, I got that, and I reckon I’m not going to be a favorite either.”

  “Let’s forget about Anthony and come meet my best friend.”

  A tall, dark-haired man appeared from inside the stable. “I thought I heard voices.”

  Wow, they make the men real fine on Inis Daire. Though this man wasn’t as hot as Sinyn, he was certainly a man Izzy would look more than twice at and wonder about.

  “Connor, meet my bride-to-be.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Izzy.”

  She could feel his eyes all over her. Once more she stepped back but for a different reason. There was a sexual tension in the room that crackled.

  Sinyn chuckled. “Connor and I like to share women.”

  Yes? No, really? Wow. What the hell do I say? I’m having enough trouble with one man. “I don’t share.” Izzy wasn’t morally opposed to ménages. It was more like she had never had the opportunity to.

  “Never wanted to?” Sinyn asked.

  “Ah no, never thought about it.” How did that work? What went where? And then another thought hit her. Sinyn’s bisexual. That was not what she expected. Izzy was all for people loving who and how they wanted to, but it didn’t appeal to her.

  “So how do you know you won’t share if you’ve never tried?” Connor asked.

  “I – er…”Crap, I don’t know. Just looking at him made her want to try.

  Sinyn smiled at her confusion. “Plenty of time to think about it.”

  Connor nodded. “I’m not going anywhere, and it would be an honor.”

  Whoa! Izzy managed to mumble something that sounded like thanks and headed off with Sinyn.

  “I’m neither gay nor bisexual, Izzy.”

  “Not for one second did I think you were.” Okay, she had. But he didn’t need to know that. “So, you like to buddy fuck?”

  Sinyn nodded. “It’s enjoyable to see a woman doubly pleased. If you want the opportunity to try it, then just ask. While you are my woman, I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy.”

  My woman. Walking into Inis Daire was like walking into a different world. “How would you feel about it, you know, hypothetically speaking if I did want to do it?”

  “Are you interested?”

  “Hypothetically, just curious.”

  “I would be fine with it,” Sinyn answered.

  “Huh…” Izzy wasn’t sure what to say so she changed the subject. “How come no one calls you Prince Sinyn?”

  “It’s just a title.”

  “But you told me who you were when we first met.”

  Sinyn winked at her. “I wanted to impress and then undress you.”

  “I’m an Aussie. Titles don’t do it for us.” In a culture where Jack was not only as good as his master but usually better, pretension just annoyed Australians.

  “So why did you have sex with me?”

  “I hadn’t planned to.” She had been horny and he had been gorgeous and there and world’s and bodies collided.

  “Fate intervened.” Sinyn wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. “Come let me show you a field of wildflowers.”

  Chapter Six

  “I swear you’re oversexed.” She was naked and astride Sinyn, his hard dick ensconced within her. They were in the promised field of wildflowers, Sinyn flat on his back with her on top of him. It had all started quite innocently. She had stumbled on a rock and Sinyn had caught her just as she fell. It had seemed natural to kiss him. But kissing led to clothes being removed, and it wasn’t until her mouth was on his dick, sucking hard, that Izzy began to wonder about her feelings. She had always enjoyed sex. She rarely ever had sex with the same man more than twice. Yet here she was in a foreign country jumping the bones of a prince. “Bizarro world.”

  “What is?” Sinyn’s hands cupped her ass.

  “You. Me. Sex.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, we barely know each other, yet here I am sitting on your cock contemplating our child and the future.”

  “I see nothing wrong with that.” Sinyn pulled her down against him and rolled them so she was underneath.

  She didn’t fight it when he pulled out from inside her and lifted her legs up against her breasts. Izzy wanted him inside her any way she could. There was no point pretending otherwise.

  “It all just happened so fast.” She moaned as once more he pushed inside her body, filling her up with his heat.

  “It’s meant to be.”

  “That seems to be the logic of Inis Daire.”

  Sinyn stopped mid-thrust. “Is it so bad?”

  “No.”

  “What are you scared of?”

  Falling in love with you. “Nothing.” Love wasn’t something she wanted to discuss. It was too soon and it complicated much. “Are you going to fuck me or talk?”

  Sinyn slapped her thigh. “Finally the woman understands me.”

  ****

  Anthony and Sharon Donnelly watched on as Sinyn rammed in and out of the woman in the field of flowers.

  “She has a fat ass,” she murmured in distaste.

  Anthony looked at the ass in question, his dick jerking up at the thought of filling it. He cleared his throat. “We have to get rid of her.”

  “I know a woman who deals with poisons that kill and are undetectable.”

  “Not kill her.” Anthony looked at his wife and once more wondered about the way her mind worked. There were many times he wondered if he hadn’t been drunk whether he would have married her. “We need to get her to have a miscarriage. It has to look like an accident.” Would Sinyn be so keen to marry the Australian then?

  “I can do that.”

  “Then you need to get pregnant.”

  Sharon arched a well plucked eyebrow at him. “Old Katie said I never would be.”

  Anthony snorted in derision. “Old Katie believes the wee people visit her.” His eyes went back once more to his cousin on the woman. Sinyn was always the lucky one.

  * * * *

  “You are in danger, Isadora,” pronounced Katie O’Toole.

  Neither danger nor her full name was what Izzy expected to hear when she sat down beside the woman known as Old Katie. That she was old was undoubted. Her face was a mass of wrinkles and her hands were claw-like. Based on her skin, she could have been anywhere between eighty to one hundred and ten. But her eyes? Ageless, deep blue and sparkling with knowledge.

  Izzy felt Sinyn’s hand close firmly around her as if to protect her. Izzy glanced at him. The concern she saw in his eyes made her jump. No one had cared for her in the longest time. That this man did after such a short time surprised her. As for your heart? I will have that in time.

  “What kind of danger, Katie?” Sinyn’s attention focused on the older woman.

  “Your kin and his ba
rren wife,” Katie declared, her gaze never wavering from Izzy. “He knows he will never inherit Inis Daire. That Isadora is with child has made his anger worse.”

  To Izzy, it was like walking into a living soap opera. “Please call me Izzy.” She had never liked the name Isadora. She suspected her mother had been indulging in illegal substances when she came up with it.

  “Isadora, your child will rise to grow into a good, strong man who will carry on the good his father has already done.”

  “A son?” Until this moment, other than acknowledging the medical fact she was pregnant, the realities hadn’t really hit home. How strange it is that I’m in a foreign country, with a real life prince, sitting in a quaint stone cottage discussing a future I could never have envisaged three months ago.

  Sinyn smiled. “Katie knows everything.”

  Whereas I have no idea what I know or think or am going to do. Sex with Sinyn? Fantastic. Could I build a life from lust and need? That is the question. Izzy knew she wasn’t the type of woman who would latch on to a man for convenience sake. “The thing is, Katie, I’m not staying. I have a life back in Australia.” But then, how can I go and not see Sinyn again? Am I being led by my heart or my libido?

  Katie shook her head. “No you don’t. You have a job you hate, more bills than money, and a life that is not living. Isadora, you are just existing.”

  That was her life in a nutshell. Izzy looked at Sinyn. “You had me investigated?”

  “No need,” Sinyn responded. “I have Katie. She’s better than the CIA, Interpol, and the MI5.”

  “Anthony seeks to hurt Isadora.”

  “I will kill him before that happens.” Sinyn’s voice was cold, hard, and factual.

  Izzy shivered at the tone. What the hell have I walked in to? Whatever it is, I appear to have been destined to be here. She surprised herself by squeezing Sinyn’s hand. She had never relied on anyone before. It was unnerving but nice.

  “Aye, you will shed blood, prince, but you will not kill,” Katie told him.

  Guilt rushed at Izzy. “This is why I should go home. I’m a disruption you don’t need to your home and family.”

  Old Katie reached over and took her other hand. “My child, we need you more than you can imagine. You and your babe will bring a happiness into Prince Sinyn’s life he has never known.”

  Izzy looked at Sinyn. “You’re not happy?” She had been so caught up in her own feelings Izzy hadn’t stopped long enough to consider his.

  “I’m fine, Izzy.”

  “The prince lies. He is lonely and needs you, Isadora.”

  “Damn seer,” Sinyn muttered in amused resignation.

  Old Katie chuckled.

  It hadn’t occurred to Izzy Sinyn could be lonely or that someone could need her. No one ever had before. That complicated things. She had strong feelings for him. But what Katie was indicating was love and a lifelong commitment. This is all happening too fast.

  “Love is not dependent on time. And yes, Isadora, you are the love of his life. You just need to believe in yourself and the fact you can love and be loved. This has nothing to do with sex.” Katie shifted in her chair. “Life happens as it’s supposed to. You cannot hold it back.”

  “What more on Anthony?” Sinyn asked.

  “He is weak. It is his harlot that will try to injure Isadora.”

  Chapter Seven

  Sinyn pushed opened the door and gazed upon the naked woman in the bath. Her eyes were closed and her hair caught up in a knot on top of her head. His gaze followed a couple of stray tendrils down to where they lay on her wet glistening breasts. Sinyn licked his lips remembering how sweet it was to suck her nipples and hear Izzy moan and clutch at his head. He smiled as he watched her twirl one foot in the air, soapy bubbles sliding down her skin. His dick jerked with need. It wasn’t just that Izzy was naked. Sinyn knew it was more than that. It was about everything the woman had brought in his life. Yes, the baby was a wonderful surprise, but the fact that this was a woman he could love and cherish was even more important than sex. Sinyn chuckled at the thought. Once upon a time bedding every available woman had been his passion.

  “I’m trying to have a bath here, prince.” Izzy didn’t even turn her head to look at him.

  That amused him more. This wasn’t a woman who was impressed by titles or outward grand appearances. Sinyn had heard that Australians rarely were and that they believed themselves the equal and sometimes the better of many. On Inis Daire, while many had evolved past bowing to any member of the Donnelly clan, there were still a few who enjoyed the idea of monarchy.

  “I know.” Sinyn shut the door behind him and pulled his shirt up over his head. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Izzy. While he didn’t love her, he knew he could quite easy fall in love with her. He had never said that of any other woman he had bedded. Sinyn moved to stand before her, his hands pulling at the snap of his trousers.

  “This bath is not big enough for both of us.” She swallowed hard when his pants hit the floor.

  Aye, the lady wants me. The idea that he wasn’t alone in what he felt made Sinyn’s heart pound with excitement. “Yes it is, Isadora. Scoot forward.” The look she gave him was one mixed with lust and indecision. Sinyn waited for Izzy to make up her mind. When she slid forward in the tub, he smiled and stepped in behind her, water splashing over the rim of the bathtub as he sat down.

  Sinyn reached forward and pulled Izzy back against him. When her soft, wet skin met his, he sighed with contentment. She felt so good. So right. He had the same feeling the first time he met her. While the baby was a gift, in his heart Sinyn knew this woman was what he needed in his life.

  “You’re beautiful.” When Izzy relaxed against him, he was pleased. Sinyn wanted her to always feel safe around him.

  She snorted with laughter. “And you’re horny. I can feel your little friend trying to get my attention.”

  Oh yeah, I want into that luscious body. “Little?”

  “Men and the size of their dicks.”

  Sinyn’s hands cupped her breasts. He felt the shiver of her need reverberate against his body. “You seem to like mine, Isadora.”

  “I admit, I do. And don’t call me Isadora.”

  “Why not?” He circled his fingers around her nipples.

  “It’s a name I’ve hated since I was a kid.”

  There was something about the tone in her voice that worried Sinyn. He knew her body and was learning her mind, but her past? What had that been like?

  “What sort of a kid were you?”

  ****

  Izzy didn’t want to talk about her lonely childhood with her substance abuse mother, the lack of money, or the needs she had as a child that were never fulfilled. That was the past and Izzy was a great believer in moving on and learning from bad experiences. They didn’t define a person’s future. Only an individual could do that.

  Izzy did know that her child would never be hungry or lonely or go without. She decided to turn the table on him. Old Katie’s words about him being lonely still stuck in her mind.

  “Are you lonely, Sinyn?”

  “Right now I feel anything but. I am completely at home with you.”

  At home with you. It had a nice ring to it. “Old Katie said you were lonely. Why is that? You have so many friends and people who adore you.” Her hands lifted up to hold his hands to her breasts. She wanted him to touch and taste. Izzy could have blamed the wild surge of hormones, but it was more than that. Some lovers had the power to make you feel so totally one with them.

  “I need more.”

  “What?” Didn’t princes have everything?

  “You.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. It was what she wanted to her. But also what Izzy feared hearing. What if I let him down? She had never been close to anyone on a non-sexual level. “What if I’m not enough?”

  “It sounds like you’re going to stay.”

  Izzy sighed. “I’m confused. I barely know you other than
having a one-night stand with you.”

  “We’ve had a lot of sex since then, sweetheart. I think we know more about each other that you want to admit.”

  Izzy shook her head. “I have no idea what I know or feel.”

  “But you like me?”

  The subtle tone of need in his voice made her like him even more. Few men, in her experience, showed deep emotion. “Yes.”

  “A lot?”

  She smiled. “Yes.”

  “Liking is more important than love.”

  Izzy agreed with that. It was the day in day out of life that had to be weathered together. That could only be done by kindred souls. “Do you like me?”

  “I’m fast falling in love with you.”

  Izzy jerked up straight in his arms. Water splashed over the sides of the tub as she turned to face him. She had so many feelings bubbling up insider her. She wasn’t sure what to call them. The strength of them was too powerful to dismiss as just plain lust.

  “Really? How can you? You know nothing of me.”

  Sinyn cupped her ass and pulled her onto his lap. “I know what I see. I’ve watched you talk to the people you’ve met. You look and listen to them as if they matter. I love your smile and the sound of your laughter. It warms my heart. And your body? I have a million lustful thoughts for it. I want to be on and in you and yet just to have your skin rest against mine is a gift that has become precious to me. That you have come into my life as Old Katie predicated has made me happy.”