Page 53 of His Ring Is Not Enough

But because he craved the taste of her. The feel of her.

So deadly. So close to the edge. And yet, he couldn’t stop himself. He didn’t even want to. Leah had always had a way in. She had always mattered to him. And that foothold she’d made in his soul, early on, was now threatening to be the undoing of all of his efforts.

Was threatening to pull him back into darkness. A man who was a slave to his passions. A man who barely deserved life, much less the soft, sweet touch of Leah’s hands.

The man he feared most.

At least during the day he could put things back to normal. At least with her wrists bound he had some form of control. At least the safeguards were holding.

He thought about the bag of cherry candies in his pocket and wondered what he was thinking. Wondered why he’d bought them.

Then he pushed the thought to the side. He would worry about it later. Everything was fine. His barriers were firmly in place. It was the perfect arrangement, really. He had Leah, beautiful—how had he ever missed how beautiful?— exciting Leah, in his bed every night. He had a wife by his side, one who understood his devotion to his work and was just as devoted to her own. One who made it possible for him to acquire Holt. One to keep his competitor well and truly foiled. Yes, things were absolutely perfect.

“Ready to go?” he asked, already thinking of how he would tie her hands tonight. How he would bury his face between her thighs until he’d satisfied them both. He craved her, the taste of her on his tongue.

Oh, yes, he had plans tonight. Plans that were much more pleasurable than any he’d ever made before taking Leah as his wife.

“Uh, yeah, sure. If you don’t want anything.”

He lifted a shoulder, not sure why he didn’t want to tell her about the candy in his pocket. “No. I don’t need anything.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Not touching, they stepped out of the store and onto the sidewalk. And flashbulbs exploded in front of them. He was blinded by the harsh light, bright spots in the dark that marred his vision so it was all he saw everywhere he turned. He tried to look at Leah, to see her expression, but her face was obscured by spots dancing before his eyes.

“Where have you been for the past week?” One of the reporters shouted a question, and the others took it to mean it was a field day.

“Ajax! Ajax! How do you respond to allegations that your ex-fiancée left you for another man?”

“Ajax! Why the charade?”

“Leah! What’s it like to be the backup bride?”

Ajax gripped Leah’s arm and pulled her in tight to his body. “No questions,” he growled, dragging her toward the car.

He’d always commanded a fair bit of interest from the media, but nothing like this, not ever. It was Rachel, of course, his association with Holt and what had happened at the wedding. But mainly Rachel. She was the darling of the press. Of the society world in general.

And she had, no doubt, been indiscreet with her lover. And now suddenly, he and Leah were much more fascinating than they’d been when they’d simply made up the story about the amicable split of him and Rachel, and his discovery of feelings for Leah.

As he ushered Leah into the limo, he heard one last question rise up over the others. “How does it feel to have the swan get away while you get left with the ugly duckling?”

He slammed the door shut and shouted at his driver in Greek to drive. And then remembered his driver didn’t speak Greek. The man seemed to get the gist of it, though, even if he didn’t understand the exact words.

And in that spirit, Ajax let loose a string of profanity he doubted even Leah was familiar with.

His vision started to clear, slowly, and he could see Leah’s face, revealed by strips of light as the car passed buildings, still open, even though it was late. Each bar of light illuminated a glittering tear on her cheek. She didn’t make a sound, her face didn’t crumble, she sat, stoic, with moisture tracking down her face.

The car pulled up to his penthouse, and Leah was out before the vehicle had stopped all the way. Ajax followed.

“Leah,” he said.

“Don’t,” she said, walking on ahead of him, stopping when at the doors, waiting until he entered the building code, and then charging ahead of him again.

“What they said...”

“Was true. I am your backup, and we both know it. But it was my choice. I knew what I was getting into. But that doesn’t mean I have to like hearing crap like that shouted at me in public.”

“Damn right,” he growled, following her into a waiting elevator. “I won’t allow it to run, Leah. I won’t allow a headline like that to exist.”

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