Page 105 of The Christmas Wife

Which means we are alone, in my room, and I intend to take full advantage of that.

"Excuse me?" She frowns up at me.

"You heard me," I drawl. "Get your sweet tush into bed." I jerk my thumb over my shoulder, pointing at the massive four-poster that occupies the center of the room.

"We are not together; this is all a farce." She glowers, "Have you forgotten that you wanted me to come here to put on a front with your family? I have done that, and now I want some privacy."

"No." I fold my arms over chest.

She gapes, "What…what do you mean?"

"Exactly that." I glance down my nose at her, "We need to keep up the pretense."

"In here?" She glances around the spacious suite that takes up the entire top floor of the house. It also comes equipped with its own kitchen, a fact I had pointed out to her earlier. Why was that? Why does it matter to me that she feels at home in this space? I shake my head, narrow my gaze on the woman who scowls up at me.

"No-one’s going to come in here," she insists.

"You don’t know that. One slip-up, and this entire charade will amount to nothing."

"That’s all this is—a farce." She juts out a hip, props her hand on it, "So why the hell can’t you allow me to sleep on my own?"

"Because…"You’re mine,is what I want to say, but fuck that. I have no claim to her. I can’t call her mine. I don’t want to have any relationship with her, do I? So why the hell am I being this unreasonable? I crack my neck, draw in a breath, "As long as you are here, under my roof, you do as I say."

"It’s not your roof," she growls.

"It belongs to my family," I retort.

"I don’t care."

"You should, because in one second you are going to be breaking a record, one that you’ll remember for the rest of your life."

She balks, "Wh…what do you mean?"

"Just try to walk out of that door, and I’ll have you on your back and make you orgasm so fast, and so many times, that you’ll forget all about the world outside this bedroom."

Her chest heaves, her face pales, she swallows hard, and clenches her fists by her sides, "You wouldn’t dare."

"You know better than to challenge me, Princess."

"I’m not your princess."

"You’re right," I look her up and down, "you’re the woman I am paying to keep me company."

She falters, then pulls her shoulders back, "You forget that we no longer have an arrangement."

"So why are you here?"

She bites the inside of her cheek, "Because…"

"Because?"

"Uh, I didn’t want you to let your family down."

"Bull-fucking-shit," my words crackle through the space.

She winces. "Keep your voice down," she hisses at me. "You may not care about your family hearing us, but I do."

"The walls of this suite are thick enough for you to scream all night long and no one would notice."

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