Page 52 of Bought For The Marriage Bed

‘I wouldn’t exactly put it like that.’

Marc wished he could control the tide of jealousy that assailed him every time he thought of her with his brother and God knew how many other men, but it ate at him regardless. He could just imagine how she had flitted from bed to bed on her hunt for the highest bidder. Hadn’t his own experience with women taught him that in the past? Money was the biggest aphrodisiac for mercenary women and, although Nina was giving an Oscar-winning performance as a wide-eyed innocent, he had to remember it was an act, and it wasn’t likely to last.

‘How exactly would you put it?’ he asked, unable to remove the contempt from his tone.

She moistened her lips and stared at the pulse beating in his neck rather than meet his eyes. ‘I don’t want to argue with you. I’m tired and it will only make things worse.’

‘Did you ever spend a whole night with my brother or did you just service him and leave as quickly as you could?’

Nina flinched at his blunt crudity, her anger rising steadily within her. Her sister was promiscuous, yes, but she sure as hell wasn’t a prostitute and she resented him implying it.

‘That’s a despicable thing to say,’ she bit out.

‘Did you ever spend a full night with him?’ he asked again.

‘It’s none of your business.’ She shut her eyes again and turned her back.

His hand came down on her shoulder and turned her over in one swift movement, his expression grimly determined as he held her gaze. ‘Did he ever pay you for sex?’

‘What do you think?’ she said with a challenging edge to her tone. ‘You’re the one who thinks he knows me better than Andre ever did. Do you think I would do something like that?’

Marc wanted to believe her incapable of such behaviour but everything his brother had said proclaimed her guilt. Besides, the allowance he had given her had disappeared almost as soon as it had been deposited.

After a tense moment that seemed like forever, he released her. He twisted round to snap off the bedside light and lay back down and closed his eyes, wishing he could wake up in the morning to find that the woman he had come to care for was someone else instead of the woman who had destroyed his brother’s life.

‘Marc?’ Nina whispered in the darkness a few minutes later, but there was no answer except the deep even breathing indicating he had fallen asleep.

She flopped on her back and stared at the ceiling. If only she could fall asleep so easily, she thought with a touch of resentment. Her conscience was very likely to keep her awake for the rest of her life.

Some time during the early hours of the morning Nina became aware of strong arms holding her, the warmth of a large body behind her making her feel safe in a way she’d never felt before.

She moved one of her legs and felt the springy hair of Marc’s legs where they lay entwined with hers. He mumbled something in his sleep and his hold tightened a fraction, one of his hands gently cupping her breast through her thin cotton nightshift.

She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep but it was impossible to ignore the heated probe of his growing arousal at her back. She felt it swelling against her, the heat coming off his body melting her like chocolate beneath a blowtorch. She felt her own body responding, the tightening of her breasts, the clench of her stomach muscles and the feathering feeling stirring between her thighs.

She drew in an unsteady breath as he began to nuzzle her neck, his mouth playing further havoc with her senses.

‘Mmm,’ he murmured against her skin, the movement of his mouth tickling her. ‘You taste wonderful.’

‘I—I do?’ She gave a tiny shiver as his tongue unfolded in her ear.

‘Mmm.’ His mouth moved towards hers, hovering just above, the movement of air when he spoke caressing her lips. ‘Delizioso.’

She shut her eyes as he closed the distance, the soft press of his mouth on hers sending her back into the mattress with a deep sigh of pleasure. It was unlike all of his previous kisses in that it was slow and drugging, no hint of urgency, although no less tantalizing. She felt the slow melt of her bones in his loose embrace, the way her spine softened where it lay against the mattress, her legs gently tethered by the length and strength of his.

His kiss deepened with the soft stroke of his tongue, the sensuous movement sending shooting arrows of need to her core. She could feel her body clamouring for more, his pace two steps behind her need of him. She groaned against his mouth as he sent a hand to the soft swell of her hip, the splay of his fingers drawing her inexorably closer to where his erection pulsed with thick, passion-charged blood.

‘I want you so badly,’ he said against her mouth. ‘I do not think I have ever wanted someone so much.’

She sucked in a breath as he lifted the hem of her nightshift, the slow glide of his hand up the length of her thigh instantly reminding her of why she was in his bed in the first place.

‘I can’t.’ She captured his hand to stall him, an apology in her eyes as she met his. ‘My period, remember?’

He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes so dark she felt herself drowning in their midnight depths.

‘I did not have you picked as coy about such things,’ he said at last. ‘It is terribly old-fashioned to be so squeamish about a perfectly normal bodily function.’

‘I know. I’m sorry.’

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