Bound As His Business-Deal Bride

‘You must find the farm hard to leave.’

Eve raised her eyebrows and took another sip of her drink. He might have taken some of his too but he didn’t want to go to sleep and he didn’t need to be intoxicated. He was man enough to admit she did that to him already. She smiled, something soft and mysterious that lit her up from inside.

‘It is. I try to stay here whenever it’s not rented out, which isn’t often enough.’

‘Why rent it out at all?’

She shrugged. ‘I have a loan I want to pay off faster and tourists are happy to pay a premium to stay here. I do what I have to do.’

‘And when you don’t need to anymore?’

‘I’ll come here and stand on the back terrace, overlooking my fields, smelling the roses and lavender on the breeze. And I’ll never leave.’ A blush rose on her face, as beautiful as the sun breaking over the horizon at dawn. ‘It’s silly, really. Following the seasons. Sitting back and watching things grow.’

He drank some of the bourbon mixture, grimaced. Turned out this was not one of the things he enjoyed.

‘There’s nothing silly about it. It’s always been your dream.’ Gage noticed there was no talk of relationships or family. He didn’t know why that left him with a pang of something like sadness.

The simple things he’d once loved were all tied up with memories of Eve. Sneaking off and meeting through that hole in the wall. Threading flowers into her hair so she looked like some ethereal fairy princess, all golden and beautiful. When she’d rejected him, he’d stopped dreaming of simple, even frivolous things and had driven himself in a never-ending quest to redeem his name. It had been exhausting. What a pleasure it would have been to merely sit somewhere and look at a landscape. To...stop.

‘It wasn’t my only dream once,’ Eve said. Her gaze met his. There was so much unsaid, and he couldn’t seem to find the words to pick a way through the maze of the past that stood between them. ‘What’s yours?’

He should have said the deal with Greta Bonitz. That’s what he’d wanted more than anything only weeks before, but he couldn’t say that because it would be a lie now. His dreams were shifting things, dredging up fantasies held so long ago they’d been forgotten. Of marriage, children. Old desires he’d tried to cast aside, along with the painful memories.

The sad truth was his dreams were still tied up in her.

‘You,’ he said with no plan or forethought, leaving himself open to attack. He didn’t care if what came next left his blood on the floor. He needed to get to the bottom of what was going on here.

Eve grabbed her cup and clutched it on her lap in both hands. Not looking at him now but into her drink. Her lower lip trembled till she sank her teeth into it. For a few moments he worried she might draw blood.

‘No. I can’t be your dream. I’m your nightmare.’

‘My dreams are my own. Sure, they’ve become nightmares because I shouldn’t touch you. But in my fantasies... I can do anything.’ He moved around the counter to where she sat, still resolutely avoiding his gaze. ‘Do you fantasise too? Maybe about me untying that distracting bow at your hip? Teasing those tight nipples I can see right now through your dress. Undoing you. Is that what you’re fantasising about?’

He ached for her, but this was a long game he played now. Gage reached out and brushed the tangle of her golden locks over Eve’s shoulder. The drink in her cup quivered. She gave an imperceptible shake of her head. ‘I’m tired.’

If he had his way, there’d be no sleep in this house tonight. A heavy pulse beat low and insistently in him. ‘I can think of better ways of getting to sleep than milk and bourbon. Let me show you.’

Her lips parted, the death-like grip on her cup loosening a fraction. He grabbed the rim and eased it out of her hands.

‘What are you doing?’

Her voice was low and husky. A flush ran up her throat. She knew exactly what he was doing. He cupped her cheek, stroked his thumb against her smooth, soft skin. Eve finally looked at him, her eyes bottomless pools, almost all pupil surrounded by a sliver of pale blue.

‘I’m going to kiss you,’ he said, the anticipatory pleasure surging through him making him hard, desperate, when he needed infinite patience tonight. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, ‘Then I’m going to carry you to my room. Peel that tempting dress from your glorious body.’ The panting of her breath teased at his neck. ‘I’m going to caress, kiss, explore every part of you.’ He skimmed his lips feather-light along her throat. ‘And only when you’re trembling, wet and mad with desire will I make love to you. For hours. I want to hear you scream my name. Over and over.’

He skimmed his lips over the side of her neck, past the base of her ear. His eyes drifted shut as his nose brushed her cheek. ‘Say yes, cher, and I’m yours for tonight.’

He wanted more than a night, but Eve was afraid of something and if she thought their time was limited she might just let go of that tight control...enough. She twined her arm around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Her lips parting. Their tongues touching.

There was nothing bold about her, just uncertainty. Something about that, how tentative they were at this moment, made him feel young again. Like the world had possibility rather than being full of disappointment. He wanted her here. Now. On this cold marble counter. The drive to tear off the dress and lay her out rode him hard. But he’d told her his plans and wouldn’t deviate from the promises he’d made her. He kissed her back, relishing in the softness of her mouth, the hesitant stroke of her tongue. Let himself believe they were back...before. Before any of the pain and hurt. He pulled away from her and looked down, her lips dark pink and moist, her breaths heavy, matching his.

‘Bed.’

‘Yes.’

He swung her into his arms, where she clung on, so light and breakable. Something precious to be cosseted and adored. She nuzzled into his neck as he carried her to his room, striding with purpose, in a hurry to get there because the night ahead loomed large and pleasure-filled. He’d have her again, and again and again. Hell, he needed to take a few breaths to make sure he’d last. Even the thought of being inside her once more unravelled him. He walked through the door of his room into darkness. Found the bed and gently laid her on the covers then moved away.

‘Where are you going?’ Eve asked, voice low as if whispering some naughty secrets.