Page 37 of Marriage Bargain With Her Brazilian Boss (Billion-Dollar Fairy Tales)

Soon, Princesa. Once I have everything in place, was all he would say.

Another time his abrupt taunt had been,When you give me your commitment, when you promise me you’re with me for the long term, Anushka, you’ll know all the dirty details of my past.

Even in her half-asleep state, she’d wondered at what he didn’t want to share with her.

Worse, only now, in broad daylight, did she realize that he was both surprised and displeased that she was holding out on him, could she see how he used her artless desire for him as a tool to distract her.

Just last night, she’d been awake enough for once to see the bleakness in his eyes, the hard twist of his mouth when she’d walked into the bathroom and found him staring at his reflection in the mirror.

Her heart had ached for the pain stamped all over him. And yet when she’d hugged him from behind and begged him to tell her what was eating at him, all he’d said was that he needed her. And she’d felt him channeling all of that pain into his caresses as he’d carried her back to their bed.

He’d kissed her and teased her with those clever fingers, his hard chest pressed against her back and her legs raised and open in an indecent but utterly erotic position that had made her sex clench greedily.

It had been the most gloriously slow climb to the peak, as he touched her slowly at first, then fast, then penetrated her with one, two and then three fingers, introducing her to a sweet, painful burn that made the pleasure he doled out in controlled measures all the more lush and welcoming. Like he was in every other walk of life, the man was extraordinarily thorough with her body, and the cues she gave, driven by some feral need that he’d learn every inch of her body and what turned her on, what made her sigh and groan and scream, that had driven him to drag out her orgasm for so long that when it had hit her finally, it had left her fractured and sobbing at the intensity of it.

Caio had held her with a tender reverence that had calmed her, coaxed her down from the volatile energy of her release, pressed soft kisses to her damp brow all the while whispering to her that her willingness and vulnerability were a gift he’d relish unwrapping again and again.

But even in the part Vicodin and part orgasm-fueled molasses that had been her mind, she’d known that he hadn’t let her touch him.

As if whatever had chased him during the day needed to be cleansed by splintering her apart and putting her back together all over again.

If she hadn’t felt him, thick and hard against her behind, she’d have thought he wasn’t affected at all. But he’d been. There had been a desperate intensity to his caresses but he asked nothing of her.

Nush might have let it go until she’d seen the email that had popped up in her inbox by accident. Until she called Peter Sr. and inquired after the acquisition Caio was working on and learned that Thaata had been expressly against the very thing. Which explained why he hadn’t left the stock to Caio.

Caio hadn’t lied to her and yet he’d hidden something big from her.

Every question of hers about the acquisition had been unanswered. Worse, he’d distracted her, used her own desire against her.

Even now, as she walked back into the house after an early evening stroll through the orange grove and donned a swimsuit for a soak in the hot tub, she decided things would have to change.

Caio walked into the deck that provided a spectacular view of the sunset over the dark waves of the ocean providing a symphony. With the orange horizon behind her kissing the silky golden brown of her bare shoulders, and the flimsy triangles of her bikini top drawing his attention to the swells of her breasts, she was a sight he wondered if he could ever get used to. Jets of water bubbled around her, kissing all that bare skin and it was all he wanted to do.

The first few days, it had been extremely disconcerting to find Nush in his bed, tangled up in the sheets, arms and legs thrown akimbo, thick wavy locks of her hair spread over his pillow. Smiling in the dark, he’d collected various arms and legs and bed covers and slowly tucked her to his side, making sure she didn’t jostle her wrist.

He didn’t remember the last time he’d had a woman sleeping in his bed. Probably never. Even when he and Sophia had been together, it had been all hush-hush, a dirty secret she hadn’t wanted to reveal to anyone. Being led by his groin and by the idea of thwarting his stepbrother, his nineteen-year-old self had found it intensely satisfying. He’d been a poor, gullible bastard.

It hadn’t taken longer than a day for him to get used to Nush there. And worse, every evening he returned wondering if she would still be there. His rational mind knew she didn’t know of his activities during the day and yet, with her probing questions about his family, about the acquisition, it wouldn’t be long before she’d know what he was up to. Before he couldn’t hide the reality of who he was from her anymore.

And the more she resisted giving him her commitment, the more he resisted giving her the truth, and the more he didn’t want to let her go.

Because for all the years and strategies he’d spent to corner his stepfather like a hunted animal, Caio hadn’t calculated how he’d feel when he’d arrived there. Of how empty and dissatisfied and purposeless it would all seem. How his half brother Javier’s face as Caio refused to see him again would torment him.

Cristo, it should’ve been a celebratory moment. He should’ve felt free. Instead all he felt was...this feeling of betrayal.

Neither did it escape his notice that he was using Nush as a balm to cover that emptiness, that she deserved more, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore.

Finishing his drink, he started unbuttoning his shirt when she became aware of his presence.

A fine tremor went through her shoulders as she turned to look at him, and wiped at the steam on her face. Her gaze landed on his bared throat and skidded away. “You’re back. Before the middle of the night.”

While the idea of aggravating her to the point where her explosive temper let him tease out that passion of hers was incredibly tempting, he didn’t want to manipulate her. Not today, when he needed something real and raw like only Nush could give him, to bring him back to balance. To rid the aftertaste of what he’d done. “Shall I join you?” he asked, the wariness in her eyes playing havoc with his need.

“No.” The weight of the single word had his fingers stilling on the buttons. “I’m ready to get out and if you want to take a shower, we can have dinner together after.”

“You still haven’t eaten?” he said, checking his watch, which said a quarter to eight.

“Nope,” she said popping thep, which confirmed she was indeed mad about something. “And really, Caio, just because my wrist is broken doesn’t mean I don’t know how to look after myself. I’ve done it for ages.”

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