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‘I’m not having sex with a virgin,’ he snapped.
She was shaking her head, the glossy spill of copper curls tumbling down over her shoulders, and he wondered if she had any idea how lovely she looked right then. No, he thought. One thing Mia could never be accused of was vanity. Hadn’t her narcissistic mother cruelly punctured her self-confidence once too often, leaving her with none? Wasn’t it time that he told her just how beautiful she really was?
‘I still don’t understand,’ she whispered. ‘You want sex with me and I definitely want sex with you. A piece of paper says we’re legally married—so what’s the problem? Please explain it to me.’
He chose his words carefully. ‘The fact that you haven’t been intimate with anyone else is significant.’
‘How?’
He shrugged. ‘It suggests you still care for me and will read too much into it,’ he continued repressively. ‘And I really don’t want that to happen.’
Mia stared back, her heart slamming hard against her ribcage as she took in what he’d just said. ‘Of all the arrogant things you’ve ever said to me, Theo Aeton—and there have been plenty of those,’ she breathed, ‘that one really tops the lot.’
‘Is it arrogant to articulate my reservations?’ he demanded. ‘I thought we were being honest with each other.’
He used words very cleverly, Mia thought with reluctant admiration. Was her innocence too heavy a burden for a man like him to take on and was he going to rethink this whole marriage-with-sex idea?
And if he did, what then? Would they be expected to flit around the place pretending to everyone they were man and wife, and all the while existing in the same kind of state of frustrated celibacy they’d endured before? Was she going to allow that to happen for a second time?
No, she was not.
It dawned on her that she was standing there in nothing but a pair of pants and a bra, and that although Theo was clipping out logical reasons about why theyshouldn’tbe having sex his eyes kept straying reluctantly to her cleavage. And didn’t that make her feel good about herself for the first time in years? Or should that be bad? She wasn’t sure.
She licked her lips and saw him watchingthattoo, like a dog sitting patiently underneath the dining table, knowing that, a few feet away, a juicy piece of meat was being consumed. In the garden she had thought about her sexual power—which had now joined the list of stuff which was important to her, like self-worth and making her own way in the world.
And she realised that if she allowed Theo to dictate what happened next she would find herself back at square one. She would change back into someone docile and accepting—a person who allowed herself to be moved around like an object, rather than reaching out and taking what she really wanted. Which was him. It had always been him.
Her heart was beating very fast as she began to walk across the room and any shyness she might have felt at being half-naked was quickly melted by the hungry burn of his eyes. He said nothing as she approached and still nothing as she hooked her arms around his neck, brushing her lips against his.
‘I won’t read anything into it,’ she said. ‘This won’t mean anything. I promise.’
He seemed to hold himself rigid and tense and for a moment she wondered if he was going to push her away, but then he gave a growl of what sounded like desire, underpinned with something she didn’t dare focus on, in case it was resignation—or regret.
Or could it be submission?
Because now there was no slow striptease, or lazy and provocative smile from the man she had married. All that tight self-control had left his face. His expression dark with intent, he picked her up as lightly as if she were a sack of feathers rather than a stocky little maid, and carried her over to the bed.
He laid her down, his eyes not leaving her face as he tore off the unbuttoned shirt and it drifted to the floor out of sight. Her gaze followed the movement of his hand to the zip of his trousers, but she was determined not to betray any trace of shyness as he carefully eased it down.
And wasn’t the truth that shedidn’tfeel shy? Not a bit. They had indulged in plenty of foreplay in the shadowed and secret corners of her grandfather’s estate, but they’d never got this far before. They’d never even entered any of the bedrooms—control freak Theo would never have allowed it.
But here they were.Here they were.And after so many stop-starts, Mia was determined to enjoy every second of it. As he kicked off his trousers and slid his shorts down to expose the massive shaft of his erection, she couldn’t help thinking howrightit all felt. Was it crazy of her to be happy she’d never done this with anyone else—and happy she had saved this part of herself for him? Of course it was. She wasn’t supposed to be reading anything into it. Certainly not sentimental stuff like that.
He was naked at last and, greedily, she ran her gaze over his incredible body. Honed muscle rippled beneath the olive-gold silk of his skin. The broad bank of his shoulders tapered down to a hard chest and narrow hips. His legs were long and athletic, his thighs powerful and strong. He was beautiful, she thought yearningly. There was no other way to describe him. And she had waited a long, long time for this moment.
The mattress dipped as he joined her on the bed and as she felt the hard brush of his leg against hers she felt the first faint shimmering of apprehension. She was scared of disappointing him. Scared of disappointing herself. Did he realise that? Was that why his black eyes became smoky and hooded as he bent his head towards her?
His kiss was everything she needed. Beneath his seeking lips Mia eagerly opened up as his mouth drugged her into an instant state of compliance. She ran her fingertips over his arms, his shoulders, and the tight silken curve of his buttocks—as if she needed to touch him all over to make sure he was for real.
And he was.
Soveryreal.
His hands were moving over her too and he clicked out a sound of rueful impatience as he encountered the lingerie she was still wearing. His fingers found the catch of her bra, which he released easily, so that her breasts came tumbling out into his hands and Mia gasped as he cupped them. His fingers were tracing circles over her nipples and every nerve-ending was firing into exquisite life. She squirmed with excitement beneath his questing touch and he drew his mouth away from hers.
‘Always so responsive,’ he murmured, looking down into her face. ‘Every. Single. Time.’
Mia opened her mouth to say something—though she wasn’t quite sure what her answer might be—but by then he had started sliding her pants down over her thighs and words became impossible. And suddenly she didn’t care that she’d always thought her legs a bit like a rugby player’s—because Theo was murmuring appreciatively as he kneaded his fingers over her skin, telling her she was beautiful. And right then, shefeltbeautiful as his fingers found her aching bud and began to stroke her with a delicacy of touch which was driving her crazy with equal amounts of pleasure and frustration. Could he tell how much she wanted him? Was that why he gave a low laugh as he delved deep into her honeyed heat, using the lubrication to slide slickly over her quivering flesh again, until she was writhing with unashamed need.
