Page 52 of The Forbidden Bride He Stole

She tilted her chin up and barked a laugh. “Um. No. I absolutely didn’t expect to sleep with you, no.”

“Even when you were being an absolute brat?”

“I could see that you wanted me,” she said, turning to her side. “But I could see that you were very mad about it.”

“I was. At you. How dare you?”

But he didn’t ask it with any heat or venom. How could he? There was none left in him. Not now.

“You aren’t a monster, you know,” she said, softly. “I was angry at you because I was angry at life. I still am, a little bit.”

“I thought you were angry because you liked me.”

“That didn’t help. I wanted to be normal, and on the one hand I do think having a crush on your problematically young and sexy guardian is normal, but on the other hand, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to just go out and find someone and hook up. I was a virgin because I was preoccupied with you, and that was annoying.”

“I am not a virgin,” he said, his voice rough. “Far from it. But I’ve had the kind of sex that takes more from you than it gives back. For what it’s worth, you’ve given something back to me. In that sense I am close enough to a virgin.”

She smiled slowly. “I like that. You’ve always been good to me, Apollo. And I understand what you’ve been saying. You can’t give me love. I’m not sure I want it anyway. I need to figure all of this out first, I think. But what if we took care of each other for a while? I think that would be nice.”

“All right, Hannah. If that’s what you want. I’ll take care of you; you can take care of me.”

He said it as if he was humoring her. When in fact he wanted it. Deeply. He had never been taken care of, not once.

Lying in bed next to her was the closest thing.

He didn’t want it to end.

But someday it would have to. He didn’t have the stamina to do this forever. She was so firmly beneath his walls, and even now he wanted to close it all off.

Not now, though. Now he would coach her through her beginnings at the company. Now he would be her husband, not just her guardian.

He would be all of these things now, and set her up for success.

And someday, he would simply be a man she once knew.

All the better for her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

HANNAHLOOKEDOUTthe office window, down at the bustling New York streets below. The last two weeks had gone well. Really well. Apollo had come with her on the first day, and done formal introductions in the boardroom. It had made sense, since the board knew him. Of course, it had been their job—sort of—to present a united front as a married couple. In many ways, she didn’t actually think the board thought the marriage was real.

The whole thing had been chaotic enough that she didn’t think it looked overly authentic.

And yet, the lines were beginning to blur.

At least, as far as she was concerned.

She was nearly thankful for the reprieve that she’d had the last few days. He had flown back to Europe for five days to deal with something that had come up in his and Cameron’s company.

And so she was staying in his penthouse alone, going to work alone.

He would be back sometime tomorrow, and that was good.

She missed him. It was interesting, to feel the footing change beneath her when it came to their relationship. And it was. It had.

After he had shared the truth of his past, things had in fact changed.

He was different. In every way. The first time they’d had sex had been electric, there was no denying that. But since then, it was like a wall had fallen down between them. The time in the penthouse when he had looked at her with those dark, wounded eyes had produced an entirely new sort of dynamic between them.

---