Page 53 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

Ever since their conversation on Christmas Day, when he had given her an insight into his close relationship with his mother—and made her realise she had never been to blame for her distant relationship with her own parents—the insatiable need to know more about him had grown and grown. Until she had become desperate to know everything.

But when she’d probed, however gently, in the days since, he’d studiously resisted any more personal conversations—making her feel alone even as she lay in his arms, listening to his heart thud against her ear, steeped in afterglow.

Somehow, he had rediscovered that needy little girl, and reawakened the foolish yearning for the closeness her parents had always denied her. But she couldn’t risk threatening their friendship—and the working relationship they would need to establish going forward—so she needed to start resurrecting her boundaries.

‘I thought I’d sling a couple of steaks on the grill and we could watch a movie in the cinema suite tonight. Your pick. And celebrate the New Year together...’

His smile was warm and so inviting, but the distance remained in his eyes, which she had noticed more and more over the last few days, every time they made love...

The distance she should be establishing, too.

Why then did she still feel the vicious dart of disappointment and regret at the thought of saying no to him now? And the dull ache of sadness—because she couldn’t help reading far too much into the casual suggestion.

Is this what love feels like?

The question that had been lurking in her subconscious for days popped out without warning.

Surely, she could not be so foolish? So naïve? This was just the endorphin overload talking too, it had to be.

‘I’m really not hungry,’ she managed, backing away from him. ‘And I think it’s probably best we sleep apart from now on. Plus, I need to contact Mel and thank her,’ she began to babble, the familiar anxiety rising up to tangle with her panic as she headed to the door. ‘I had to ask her to host tonight’s New Year’s Eve ball with Rene, who is not one of her favourite people.’

Rene and she always hosted the Saltzaland New Year’s Eve event together, in a symbolic celebration of the close union between their two countries. Mel never attended because she usually took the opportunity to spend some vacation time away from Androvia over Christmas and New Year —either in London with her mother who was now retired, or elsewhere. It was just one of the many favours Isabelle had been forced to ask of the people close to her, the palace staff and her privy council, to accommodate this honeymoon.

The honeymoon that now felt far too real.

Guilt pushed at her throat—because she hadn’t thought of Mel, or Rene or even of Androvia since Christmas Day, jettisoning all her responsibilities far too easily too.

A call to Mel—to get a debriefing on the event which would be finished now given the time difference and catch up with her closest friend—would surely help to ground her again. Get this past week back in perspective. And prepare her for a return to her real life.

She couldn’t be in love with Travis Lord. She was just tired and struggling to cope with a host of new emotions in the past week that were way outside her realm of experience. Travis had mentioned how sheltered she was, and in many ways he was right. Her life had always been studiously planned and managed. She simply wasn’t accustomed to having to deal with anyone this exclusively on a daily basis, for this length of time, with no schedule or other distractions to focus on—while also discovering she had an insatiable sex drive.

She had to start getting these volatile yearnings under control—and build a working relationship with her fake husband foraftertheir honeymoon that wouldn’t distract her from her priorities.

She’d binged on the strong sexual connection they shared, they both had, but how could she continue to be a slave to her newly discovered libido without losing sight of what their marriage was supposed to achieve? Her role as Queen had always been exceptionally demanding, and now she was legally able to take full control of her inheritance, it would only become more so.

But as she tried to make a speedy exit, Travis strode across the room behind her and slapped his palm on the door, slamming it shut.

‘Wait up, Belle,’ he murmured, his breath hot against her nape, the easy manner gone.

She turned in his arms, to find him leaning over her, his hand still braced on the door above her head, the dark frown on his face wary and intense.

She breathed in a lungful of his scent and turned away from the sight of his bare chest glistening with moisture from their shower—and the tattoo of his mother’s name, which she had discovered he had had etched on his skin a few days after her death.

He’s a man who feels so much, but not for you.

She swallowed down the pathetic thought—which reminded her of the child who had once begged her parents to stay, and watched them leave regardless.

Surely this reaction was exactly why she needed to get a grip.

‘What did you mean by us sleeping apart from now on?’ he asked, his tone strained. He grasped her chin and raised her face to his. ‘Explain.’

She tugged her chin free, hideously aware of her body clenching and releasing at his nearness, even though he had given her several orgasms not five minutes ago. And the tremble of vulnerability, the wayward emotions she couldn’t control.

‘I think it is probably best we don’t continue our sexual relationship when we return to Androvia...’ She forced the words out past the aching pain in her throat and the deep feeling of loss in her chest. ‘It will only complicate the working relationship we need to establish.’

His eyes flashed with something searing. But before she could gauge his reaction, he had dropped his arm and stepped back, his gaze becoming flat and emotionless.

‘Yeah... I guess you’re right.’ His gaze roamed over her body, which felt naked now even under the thick towel. ‘Too much sex is kind of distracting.’

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