Page 23 of Contractually Wed

He pushed off from the door with a deliberate grace that sent her heart thundering in her chest. It was ridiculous to flee because she wasn’t scared of him but she took a step back. Eyes now a molten gray, he stalked her across the vast room. When her bare feet touched the cold wood past the rug under the bed, he took a detour to turn the fireplace on. Another thing she’d noted—how he took care of the smallest thing that caused her discomfort, how he was always watching out for her.

Then he was there, caging her against the dark wood bookshelves, which lined the only wall that wasn’t glass. “Jia Galanis...scared of a little gift?”

She squared her shoulders and tilted her chin. “I’m not scared of you or anything you do.”

“Then open it.”

She took the bag, made a face at him when he laughed at her trembling hands. Her heart decided to take on Olympic speed as she pulled out a dark blue velvet box. She wasn’t a huge jewelry person but this was a gift. And she could count on one hand the number of gifts she’d received in her life. Most were before her mom had died when she’d been thirteen.

Slowly, she undid the latch on the box and there, nestled in a soft, velvety cushion was a thin, exquisitely made gold necklace with tiny, detailed leaves and a teardrop sapphire in the midst. It was exactly like the one piece of jewelry she’d coveted all her life but wasn’t allowed to have.

Tears filled her eyes and a strange urgency beat at her. The necklace almost got twisted in her trembling fingers before Apollo steadied them. When he lifted it, to put it around her neck, Jia jerked away. “I want to put it back in the box before I...break it.”

“Jia—”

“Put it back, Apollo,” she said, nearly yelling.

“Okay,” he said in a tender voice that threatened to break her apart. Then, as she watched like a vulture circling prey, he nestled it back into the box and closed the clutch.

Jia grabbed the box from him with a proprietorial jerk, opened her little backpack and shoved it inside. When she straightened, he was at her back, crowding her with his broad, lean frame. His arms came around her waist, his large palms resting on her belly, and without her meaning to, without her permission, her body relaxed into his hold.

She allowed herself the luxury of his tender embrace for a few moments. “Where did you...how...”

“I asked Rina about your interests. She’s feeling guilty enough that she stole into your father’s locker and photographed it for me. I commissioned the piece. I was waiting to pick it up before I flew here.”

She looked up sideways and his gaze caught her as easily as if she was a floundering fish. “Why?”

“I wanted to give you something that you would like. Giving you something that you’d never been allowed to touch was better. I didn’t expect to make you cry,” he added in a droll voice that didn’t quite mask his concern.

Jia hesitated, reluctant to answer the hidden question. But he’d taken a step toward making this more than a cold, business arrangement, hadn’t he? This gift and those words in his office...as much as it terrified her, she knew it was time she took a step too. At least, in her own head and heart. “That piece was my mom’s. My father gave it to her. She wore it for special occasions only. She’s...” her voice broke just at those two words “...she’s the closest thing to my heart.”

“Tell me about her.”

She shook her head.

“Jia...”

“No. Some things are too precious to taint as ammunition between us.”

He stiffened around her, his disappointment as visceral as the thundering beat of her heart. “Your wants and your fears and your dreams,” he said, repeating the words she’d thrown at him on the flight. “You guard them as if they were a treasure.”

But Jia didn’t relent. Couldn’t. “They are foolish and simple. Of no value to you.”

“This was a horrible gift, then,” he said with a scoff, releasing her.

Jia turned and fisted her fingers in his shirt, refusing to let him go. “No, it isn’t. It’s...the best gift anyone’s given me. Especially since I know my father will never let me have the original.” When he looked doubtful, she hid her face in his chest and breathed him in. He was solid and hard and warm, his heart thundering under her cheek. And now, she wanted to take a thousand more steps toward him. “I don’t want to fight with you. Not after you gave me such a...special gift.”

CHAPTER SIX

JIATHOUGHTHE’Dpush her away and the very prospect sent dismay curling through her. He’d called Rina, made the effort to find out what would please her, and then he’d had it commissioned, blasting through all the fake, false armor she’d draped herself in. It was more than anyone had ever done for her.

Maybe she was giving him too much credit for a little gift—she was that deprived of basic affection—but she couldn’t help it.

After what felt like an eternity of her clinging to him, his fingers came into her hair. He roughly yanked the clip she’d used to put it up and his fingers circled her nape and then crawled up to tilt her face up to him. “I will have all of your secrets, Jia. Willingly, from you.”

It was a promise and something more, but she didn’t have the will to challenge him anymore. “You won’t take what I more than willingly, wantonly offer,” she whispered, and then on a dare, she went on her toes and dug her teeth into his chin. It was a possessive gesture but she didn’t care. This was the most freedom and selfishness she’d allowed herself in her life and she wanted to drown in it.In him.

A gasp escaped her when he lifted her and deposited her on the desk.

---