Page 37 of On His Bride's Terms

He bent forward and pressed his mouth to the upper slope of one breast. Faye sank back against the pillows. Maybe Primo was right. Maybe if they did indulge in this...phase, it would burn out quickly and some kind of sanity might return. And then she could remember what this was supposed to be about. A means to an end.

Six months of marriage to ensure her family’s legacy would be protected and secured for the long term.

Six months to indulge in this man, who was slowly but surely rewiring her brain to demand a level of pleasure that was truly unprecedented.

She reached for his robe and pushed it off his shoulders. Primo pulled back and shrugged it off, and then he was naked, his skin gleaming with dark golden perfection.

He whipped away the sheet completely, but before he touched her again he said, ‘So, do you think you can rearrange your schedule?’

Faye had never been more exposed than she was right now, practically panting in her desperation for Primo. Her brain was too feverish to try and figure out why this might not be a good idea so she gave in, and a little more of those defensive walls crumbled in the face of Primo’s bold charisma.

She said, ‘I’m sure it won’t be a problem.’

And then let herself be persuaded that indulging in a honeymoon was merely the most effective way to burn themselves free of this inconvenient chemistry as soon as possible.

Eight hours later

Faye’s heart was pumping and her limbs were shaking. She fought to get her breath back and she couldn’t stop smiling.

Breathless, sweaty, when she could speak again, she said, ‘That was...amazing.’

Primo grinned, and there was a smugness to his expression that didn’t even bother her.

‘I aim to please.’

Between Faye’s legs, the powerful and majestic horse shifted. She leant forward and patted her neck. Her horse was a little smaller than Primo’s stallion, but no less impressive.

She looked around her, getting her breath back. They’d just galloped along the shore of an empty beach in the westernmost region of Ireland. Not another soul shared the space with them. The sky, in typical Irish fashion, had gone from blue to grey, sunshine to showers within minutes. And back again.

Primo had surprised her—after they’d started their day again—by taking her to a small private airfield just outside Dublin, where a plane had been waiting to fly them to Galway.

Then a chauffeur-driven car had taken them along the most unbelievably scenic coastal route to a small, fully staffed private castle, overlooking one of the most beautiful beaches Faye had ever seen. Windswept, with a wild sea foaming at the shore.

Primo was a superb horseman, sitting in the saddle with an easy grace. And for a tall man, that was saying something. It was also the first time Faye had seen him in jeans, and if she’d thought him sexy before, now he exuded something far more dangerous.

The horses started to walk back down the beach—clearly this was a regular run for them. When they’d arrived, the housekeeper had shown them around and fed them a delicious late lunch, and then they’d been shown to the stables and the horses, where a groom had kitted them out with boots, jackets and hats.

Faye looked out to the sea now and shook her head. ‘I think I’ve dreamt of a place like this but never thought it could exist.’ She looked at Primo who was watching her. ‘How did you even know I could ride a horse?’

And then she thought of something, and for a moment she felt the tiniest prick of pain. A pain she really shouldn’t be feeling.

Primo had opened his mouth, but Faye put up a hand, forcing a smile. ‘No, you don’t have to tell me. Presumably whoever did their research into my background saw that I had competed in cross-country horse trials.’

Primo had the grace to look a little shamefaced.

Faye told herself this was a good thing. It would be very easy to be totally swept away by this impromptu trip to one of the most beautiful places she’d ever seen. And she hated it that it felt a little tainted now. The bubble of joy burst.

She wasn’t a fool. She knew Primo was investing his time and energy in her so he could turn her into an amenable bride.

She was more glad than ever that she’d laid out her terms from the start. If he hadn’t insisted on marrying her, this really might just have been an affair, and that was how she needed to view it from now on.

Before he might read anything into her response, she gave the horse a gentle kick with her heels and said, ‘Race you back to the castle.’

Primo sat in his saddle for a moment, watching the sheer beauty in motion that was Faye on a horse. She and the horse moved as one. Her hair streamed out from under her hat. Her face just now had been beaming with happiness, pink with exertion. Eyes shining. And it had caused an ache to form in Primo’s chest so acute that he’d almost put a hand to it.

She’d literally taken his breath away.

He realised that Faye was infinitely more beautiful than he’d given her credit for.

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