Page 42 of Marriage Bargain With Her Brazilian Boss (Billion-Dollar Fairy Tales)

“You’re being purposely stubborn about this. Turning this into a battle.”

“I’m not, Caio, believe me. Choosing the hard way is Yana’s style. Not mine. I just...want this, have wanted this for too long, with everything in me, to let it be anything but real. I’m not holding out on you because I don’t want this. But because I...want it too much.”

Even out of her periphery, she could see the tension around him deflate at her honest confession.

Hard knuckles dragged down her cheek as he said, “Okay, let me ask you something. Would you turn back on me, desert me if you discovered a new facet to me? If you learned that I...have a real deficiency? Not a mental health problem like you worry about, which makes no woman or man less. If I have a weakness that has been bred into me as a product of cruel circumstance?”

It was her turn to stare at him. There had been something in his voice as he said that, a certainty that there was some dark facet of him that he’d never let her see. Yes, he was ruthless, and ambitious and had an armor that was probably made of platinum but... And even the question was more dare. As if he was playing with her concept of loyalty and commitment.

“If it’s some kind of test, it’s a horrible one,” she said, reaching for the wine. Wanting to wash away the taste of fear from her mouth.

“It’s not, Princesa.”

“Of course I wouldn’t desert you.”

“Then you also know that I’d never let you be alone like that, Nush,” he said, “no matter what happened between us.”

Nush blinked back tears, his promise taking the edge off her deepest fear.

Throwing her own rules out the window, she nuzzled her face into the side of his neck, loving the scent of him, the rough texture of his skin even though he’d just shaved. When she pressed a soft kiss under his ear, his fingers on her arm tightened. With a smile, she catalogued his reaction away.

Her erratic heartbeat settled back into a slow rhythm as she pulled back into her seat.

For a while, they ate in silence, his vow taking on a new depth and breadth between them, morphing into another concrete layer in the foundation of their relationship. Not that everything had been addressed, she knew that.

But it was progress and she reveled in the quiet joy of sharing the moment with him.

“How did I not know that you’re such phenomenal cook?” he asked, patting his flat abdomen.

Pleasure filled her like colorful bubbles in a jar at the sight of his empty plate. “I’m full of untold delights like that.”

“No arguments there.” He kissed her knuckles. “You’re like a present I’ll unwrap forever, Princesa.”

Heat crested her cheeks and Nush cleared her throat. “If you keep saying things like that, I’ll melt into goo, and you’ll have to scrape me off this lovely patio.”

Elbow on the table, he leaned toward her and licked her upper lip. “How’s it that you exchange filthy talk like a pro but blush fiercely at simple compliments?”

She bunched the neck of his sweatshirt in her fingers and licked him back, inviting him to do more.

No, she didn’t have to wait for him to do anything. He was hers for taking, for mussing up, for reveling in, to do as she pleased. For now, at least.

Bolstered by the thought, she took his mouth in a hungry kiss, pouring every ounce of her need into it.

She moaned when he nipped her lower lip and his tongue swooped into her mouth. The kiss intensified yet again, as if there was nothing but heated embers between them to be stoked into life at the barest contact. Flaring hotter and higher with each day that passed, each layer of vulnerability that was ripped off.

His mouth came back for her—nipping, licking, demanding. Demanding so much that Nush felt like she was nothing but a mass of sensations. God, the man kissed like a hungry beast. As if only devouring her would do. As if she was the only thing in the entire universe. And still, this kiss was different from the other ones. As if there were a million different flavors to be yet discovered between them.

He growled when she pulled away to whisper, “God, Caio. We could be together for seventy years and I’d think I’ll want you with this same desperate need.”

“Give me your vow, Nush. Give me what I want.”

Burying her face in his chest, she whispered, “I’m yours, Caio. And not just because those papers say so.”

He held her tightly then, with more affection than passion, she thought. Just like their kisses, this embrace was different from all others.

“How did you learn about the acquisition?” He asked then, and Nush felt the instant change in the tenor around them. His arms around her stiffened. And his embrace went from warm Brazilian coast to Arctic frost in one second. He didn’t push her away as much as he slowly untangled them and turned to face the spectacular view. Was that all it took? Her word that she was in?

“The paperwork... I got cc’d on your email by accident.”

---