Bound By His Vow: His Final Bargain / The Rings That Bind / Marriage Made of Secrets. Майя Блейк
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she was still sitting amongst the pillows, a rueful look on his face as he brushed a flyaway strand of her hair off her face. ‘I know you’re only trying to help but this is a lot for me to handle right now.’
She lowered her gaze again and bit at her lip. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything…’
He stroked the pad of his thumb over her savaged lip. ‘Of course you should. You’re an expert on handling children. I appreciate your opinion although I might not always agree with it.’
‘I just thought it would be good for Alessandra to stretch her wings a bit.’ She met his gaze again. ‘But the press thing is difficult. I can see why you want to protect her from all of that. But sooner or later she’ll have to deal with it. She can’t stay here at the villa for the rest of her life. She needs to mix with other children, to make friends and do normal kid stuff like go to birthday parties and on picnics and play dates.’
He studied her features for a measured pause. ‘I might have to go back to London some time next week. If you think Alessandra would cope with it then maybe we could make a little holiday out of it. Maybe take her to Kew Gardens or something. Smell a few roses. That sort of thing.’
Eliza gave him a soft smile and touched his hand where it was resting on the bed beside her. ‘She’s a very lucky little girl to have such a wonderful father like you. There are a lot of little girls out there who would give anything to be loved by their fathers the way you love her.’
His fingers ensnared hers, holding them in the warmth of his hand. ‘You’ve never told me anything about your father. I remember you told me when we first met that your mother died when you were young. Is he still alive?’
She shifted her gaze to their joined hands. ‘Yes, but I’ve only met him the once.’
‘You don’t get on?’
‘We haven’t got anything in common.’ She traced a fingertip over the backs of his knuckles rather than meet his gaze. ‘We live in different worlds, so to speak.’
He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her bent fingers, his eyes holding hers in a sensual tether that sent a wave of longing through her body. ‘Your tea and toast are cold. Do you want me to get you some more?’
‘You don’t have to. I’m not used to being served breakfast in bed.’
He took her currently bare ring finger between his thumb and index finger, his eyes still meshed with hers. ‘Doesn’t your fiancé treat you like a princess?’
Eliza couldn’t hold his gaze. ‘Not any more.’
A silence dragged on for several moments.
‘Why do you stay with him?’
‘I’d rather not talk about it.’
He pushed up her chin to lock her gaze with his. ‘Has he got some sort of hold over you? Are you frightened of him?’
‘No, I’m not frightened of him. He’s not that sort of person.’
‘What sort of person is he?’
She flashed him an irritated look. ‘Can we just drop this conversation? I’m not comfortable about talking about him while I’m being paid to be in your bed.’
‘Then maybe I should make sure I get my money’s worth while you’re here, sì?’ He pinned her wrists either side of her head, his eyes hot and smouldering as his hard aroused body pressed her down on the mattress.
Even if her hands were free, Eliza knew she wouldn’t have had the strength of will to push him away. Her lower body was on fire, aching with the need to feel him inside her. He released one of her hands so he could rip away the sheet that was covering her, his hungry gaze moving over her like a burning flame.
His mouth swooped down and covered hers in a searing kiss, his tongue driving through to meet hers in a crazy, lustful, frenzied dance. Her breasts swelled beneath the solid press of his chest, her nipples going to hard little peaks as they rubbed against him.
He reached across her to find a condom in the bedside cabinet drawer but he didn’t take his mouth off hers to do it. He kissed her relentlessly, passionately, drawing from her the sort of shamelessly wanton response she’d only ever experienced with him. She used her teeth like a female tiger in heat, biting and nipping and tugging at his lower lip, teasing him with little flicks of her tongue against his, shivering in delight when he did the same back to her.
Once the condom was on he entered her with a thick, surging thrust that made her gasp out loud. There was nothing slow and languid about his lovemaking. It was a breathtakingly fast and furious ride to the summit of pleasure. She felt the pressure building so quickly it was like a pressure cooker about to explode. Her body needed only the slightest bit of extra encouragement from his fingers to send her over the edge into a tumultuous release that made her head spin along with her senses.
But he wasn’t stopping things there.
Before she had even caught her breath he flipped her over on her stomach, straddling her from behind, those strong hands of his on her hips as he thrust deep and hard, again and again until she was shivering with pleasure both inside and out.
There was something so wickedly primal and earthy about this dominant position. She felt as if he was taming her, subduing her even as he pleasured her. She heard his breathing rate increase as he fought for control, the grip on her hips almost painful as he thrust above her.
She raised her bottom just a fraction and the change of friction set off an explosion of feeling that shuddered through her like an earthquake: tremor after tremor, aftershock after aftershock, until finally she came out the other side, totally spent and limbless.
His hands tightened on her hips to hold her steady as he came. She felt every spasm of his body. She heard those harsh, utterly male groans of ecstasy that delighted her so much.
Did he experience the same rush of pleasure with the other women he slept with? Was it foolish of her to think she was somehow special? That what he experienced with her was completely different than with anyone else? That the sensational heat of their physical connection was the real reason he had brought her back into his life, not just as a fill-in nanny for his daughter?
Leo turned her back over and looked at her for a long moment. It wasn’t easy to read his expression. Was he, like her, trying to disguise how deeply affected he was by what they had both shared? ‘I want you to promise me something.’
Eliza moistened her kiss-swollen lips. ‘What?’
‘If we go to London next week, there is to be no physical contact with your fiancé.’
His sudden change in mood was jarring to say the least. But then, what had she been expecting him to say?
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked. ‘Keep me under lock and key?’
A flinty element entered his gaze as it held hers. ‘I am not having you go from my bed to his and back again. Do I make myself clear?’
She resented him thinking she would do such a thing, even though she knew it was perverse of her to blame him given she hadn’t told him the truth about her situation. She wondered if she should just tell him. Maybe he would understand her painful dilemma much more than she gave him credit for. Sure, she’d left it a bit late, but she might be able to make him understand how terribly conflicted she felt.
‘Leo…there’s something you need to know about Ewan—’
‘I don’t even want you to speak his name in my presence,’ he said. ‘I will not share you with him or anyone. I’ve paid for your time and I will not be short-changed or cuckolded.’ He got off the bed and picked up his track pants and roughly pulled them back up over his hips.
Her pride finally came to her rescue. She swung her legs off the bed and, with scant regard for her nakedness, stalked over to where he was standing and poked her index finger into the middle of