The Vows He Must Keep

‘This isn’t a game any more. In two days you are going to be my wife...’ He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the way her eyes darkened to deep burnished amber in the low glow of the setting sun. ‘But I’m going to find the people behind all this, and once I’m sure you’re safe—’

‘What, Valerio?’ She spoke quietly. ‘You’ll leave again? What a surprise.’

‘I’ll have our marriage annulled and you can get on with your life.’

‘What life? I’ve spent the past two years working myself to the bone.’ She ran a hand through her curls, taking a few steps away from him to compose herself. ‘At least with you I feel...’

‘What do you feel?’ he asked, feeling himself itching to move closer, to coax this fire between them until it burned them both.

‘I don’t know...’ Dani began, twisting the white towel in her hands, suddenly unable to look at him as she spoke.

Was she really going to be honest? She had kept her feelings for Valerio Marchesi under lock and key for so long it would be no effort at all to lie and agree to his sensible plans for their sensible marriage of convenience.

But she was tired of being sensible. She was tired of putting on a show of being strong and self-contained all the time.

‘I don’t think I have ever heard you speak in so many unfinished sentences,’ he said.

‘You said that I have no idea who you are any more,’ she said, standing up and looking down at him. ‘I think we’re both different people now. Changed people because of events that neither of us had any control over. We’ve both been alone and we’ve learned how to cope with the unknown in our own way. I don’t want to be alone any more, Valerio.’

He looked up at her. ‘You’re not alone. I’m here with you.’

‘You’re not,’ she said quietly, feeling her bravado falter slightly but pushing on. ‘Not really. And if I marry you, that means sharing a home with you, sharing my entire life with you... I can’t be around you all the time in these intimate situations and not be affected. I’m just not that good an actress.’

‘Are you saying you don’t want to be around me?’ He raised a brow.

‘I do,’ she said quickly, looking down at the ground and cursing herself for how badly she was getting her point across. ‘God, I really do... That’s the problem.’

Valerio stood up, closing the gap between them with a single step. ‘We’re not just talking about marriage any more, are we?’

‘Look...I understand that this has never been something you wanted.’ Dani spoke fast, praying she wouldn’t lose her nerve. ‘But I need to be honest. I’m really attracted to you. More than I’ve ever been to anyone else. It’s quite inconvenient, considering that we’re planning a marriage built on nothing more than business and friendship, but...I just wanted to have that out in the open.’

His fingers pressed against her lips, silencing her. ‘Are you proposing to amend the terms of our contract, Miss Avelar?’ He wrapped his hand around the towel, pulling her towards him until they stood chest to chest. ‘How much more do you want?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said breathlessly. ‘How much are you willing to give?’

He answered her with his lips on hers, his hands spanning her waist and pulling her against him—hard. ‘Dio, I thought I was already crazy with wanting to have you. But now...with this mixture of pretty blushing and the throwing around of business terms...’

His lips trailed down her neck, his hands sliding down to cup her bottom through the towel. Dani moaned low in her throat, the power of speech slowly leaving her.

‘Do you want me to make love to you, Daniela?’ he whispered next to her ear, his hands kneading her skin gently.

‘Yes... God, yes.’

He pulled back, an expression of awe on his face as he cupped her jaw and looked deep into her eyes. ‘This will complicate things.’

‘Only if we let it.’ Her voice shook as she spoke. ‘We’re both adults. We know what this is.’

‘I don’t have any protection.’ His brow furrowed, his hands tightening on her as though he feared his words might make her run away. ‘I haven’t been with anyone since before Brazil, and I don’t really go around carrying

condoms in my wallet. But I’ve had my yearly check-up since and I know I’m clean.’

‘Me too—and I’ve had an IUD for years.’ She pressed her hand to his cheek, hardly believing they were having this conversation. ‘I don’t want to think about this as a complication. I don’t want to think, Valerio. I just want to do what feels right.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

HIS EYES DARKENED, his hand moving to the front of the towel, spreading over it slightly. His fingers trailed over the bare skin of her stomach. ‘Tell me...does this feel right?’

She answered with a moan.