AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Not here,’ he said softly.
‘Wh-why not?’
‘I would prefer to wait until we are in the bedroom.’
Mia stared at him in confusion. ‘So is this about you losing control, or taking it?’
He looked at her consideringly. ‘Does it really matter?’
Mia tensed, reminding herself that this was only supposed to be a temporary relationship so, no, it shouldn’t matter. Yet somehow it did. It reminded her that Theo was calling all the shots, just as he’d always done.
She realised she was in danger. Of thinking and behaving like arealwife and she needed to stop all that right now. The most sensible and dignified reaction would be to tell him to go to hell when they got back to his estate and take herself off somewhere on her own. But her gnawing sexual hunger overrode every other consideration. To hell with dignity, she thought distractedly as the blood pounded hotly in her veins. To hell with everything. Her heart was racing as they mounted the stairs towards his suite, but neither of them said a word. The door sounded loud as he kicked it shut behind them, but once they were enclosed in the private world of his bedroom, Theo didn’t move from the spot. His black gaze was flickering over her like dark fire, making her tremble wherever it lingered and burned.
‘Take off your clothes,’ he instructed softly.
This was nothing to do with control and everything to do with power, she recognised. His, versus hers. Was that because he had allowed her to see a glimpse of unfamiliar vulnerability when he’d talked about family earlier? Was it that which had resulted in this heartless but very sexy battle of mental domination?
She wondered what he would say if she refused—if she told him she’d changed her mind—but deep down she suspected he would simply shrug. Maybe tell her he really didn’t have time for lunchtime sex anyway, and he’d see her later. And Mia thought she would die if that happened. She was so hot—soeagerfor him to touch her—that she did exactly as he asked.
She thought how much things had changed since yesterday, when he had taken her virginity with one delicious thrust and she’d been stricken with nerves. Yet today she no longer felt like a novice in his presence and today, she didn’t struggle with her zip. It slid down with fluid ease and her dress fell to the floor with a whisper. She heard his ragged breath, as if finding himself suddenly short of oxygen, and as she glanced up to see the frustration on his face she assumed an expression of mock innocence.
‘Oh. Didn’t you realise I was buying new lingerie as well?’ she questioned, cupping her breasts with her palms, the movement pushing them forward to emphasise the deep plunge of her cleavage against soft apricot lace. ‘The shopper insisted the new clothes would look much better with the correct foundations underneath and I think she was right, don’t you? Although I don’t know whether these panties actually qualify asfoundation, do you?’ She did a little twirl, anxious for him to see her matching thong. ‘Theo? Theo! What do you think you’re doing?’
‘You know damned well what I’m doing,’ he roared as he picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, before laying her down in the centre of it with hands which were distinctly unsteady.
And things seemed to have changed for him too, Mia realised. Maybe it was because shewasno longer his virginal wife. Did he consider her his sexual equal now? Was it that which was making him treat her with such...? Mia gasped. Was there such a thing as tender roughness? Oh, God. There must be. She sucked in a breath as he squeezed her breast. How else would you describe it? She fell back against the soft pillows and, when she saw him undoing his belt, instinctively closed her eyes to increase the sensory experience and block out the tumult of her thoughts.
She heard the rasp of his zip and the tearing of foil as he pushed his trousers down to his ankles. Somehow she knew this was going to be quick and urgent, and she was right. He didn’t even bother to remove her panties, her exultant little shout encouraging him to shove aside the moist panel and plunge straight into her waiting heat.
She moaned with pleasure at the sheerintensityof it. ‘Oh, Theo,’ she breathed and then, more brokenly as he moved inside her, ‘Th-Theo.’
His eyes were dark, almost...wounded, she thought distractedly as he stared into her eyes before bending his face to hers, and his kiss seemed unbearably sweet and unbearably sad, all at the same time. He pushed deeper and filled her. His hands were in her hair, he was groaning and so was she. She felt the building of expectation. Of layer upon layer of pleasure, taking her higher and higher—until it was too much to bear any longer, and as she felt herself contracting around his rocky and pulsating shaft she called out his name.
At last, their bodies spent, he pulled her against him and she nestled into his hard warmth, her finger sliding over his silk shirt as she breathed in his heady masculine scent. She thought he must be sleeping, when suddenly he spoke, his words muffled by the thickness of her curls.
‘Do you want to come to Nice with me next week?’
Fractionally, she pulled away to meet the dark gleam of his eyes. ‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘Because you’re my wife and that’s the kind of thing wives do?’
‘Isn’t that taking method acting a bit too far?’
The trace of a smile played at the edges of his lips. ‘How about me wanting to see you lying in a tiny bikini by the edge of an extravagant swimming pool?’
‘I don’t wear tiny bikinis,’ she said repressively.
‘You should, especially since you look so good in a tiny thong.’ His finger slid over the curve of her hip. ‘I’m speaking at a conference and it’s a great city. Ever been there?’
His question punctured her bubble. Would his lip curve with scorn if she told him the only time she’d ever been to France had been on a day-trip to Calais, organised by boss of the Granchester, who paid for his employees to have a fun day out every Christmas?
But Mia wasn’t trying to score points, or to contrast their very different lifestyles. She was masquerading as his wife to please her grandfather. The tricky part was discovering how much she liked being with the man she had married, despite his mercurial nature.
‘Sure, why not?’ she agreed coolly, as if her heart weren’t thumping with dread at the thought of how much she was going to miss him and she wondered why, of all the men she could have fallen for, it had to be him.
It had only ever been him.
She swallowed. Sometimes powerful emotions and feelings came out of nowhere but you didn’t have to let them take you prisoner, did you? Because she was strong.Remember that, she told herself fiercely.You’ve changed.
