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MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter eight
Alex’s hands hung at his sides, empty. For one moment, he’d been filled with her: her curves, her scent, her heat. Now he stood in the middle of the room, alone, just like he had on their wedding night. A married man with a hard-on and no relief in sight. Amazed at his ridiculous predicament, he tried to go over the events of the evening and see where he had gone wrong. The moment he caught her with Michael, a slow, steaming anger had risen up within him. The heat started at his feet, traveled to his stomach, his chest, and finally settled like a hot band around his head. If he was a horse, he would have snorted out smoke and stamped his hooves. If he was a wolf, he would have howled at the moon. Her hand had rested on the Michael’s arm. He must’ve been quite amusing, because she threw her head back and laughed, her cheeks flushed and rosy. Her full lips had gleamed under the chandelier light. They’d acted like they were long-time friends instead of people who had just met. But the
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Nine
“Oh, yeah, Alex would just love this kind of night out. He’d probably prefer a root canal and a prostate exam.” “How are you two getting along? Besides the physical attraction.” “Fine.” Olivua rolled her eyes. “Lying again. You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Maya realized she’d always confessed everything to Olivia except for one event. The first time Alex kissed her. She’d known she loved him back then. Friendship turned to rivalry and then to a girlish crush. That first kiss twisted emotions so pure within her she believed it was love. Her heart beat for him, full of joy at the possibility of them being together, so she uttered the words, her voice echoing through the trees. “I love you.” Then waited for him to kiss her again. Instead, he stepped back from her and laughed. Called her a silly baby and walked away. She learned her first lesson in heartbreak in that moment. Fourteen yearsold. In the woods with Alex Smith. She wasn’t about to repeat the lesson. She pushed th
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Ten
Alex reached down and snagged Maya's fingers, pulling her up from the chair. “Show me the rest of the store while this guy finishes up.” Olivia chuckled and settled herself into the empty chair. “He’s just afraid of hin being next.” “You’re absolutely right.” Alex led her away from the crowd. With an instinctive motion, he stopped in a shadowed corner by a sign entitled RELATIONSHIPS. He guided her so her back pressed against the bookshelf, then dropped her hand. Alex shifted his feet and cursed under his breath at his sudden uneasiness. He hadn’t planned what to say, just knew he had to break the tension between them before he got crazy and dragged her into his bed. Somehow, he needed to bring the relationship back to friendship. Back to older brother/younger sister camaraderie. Even if it killed him. “I want to talk to you.” A slight smile twitched those bee-stung lips. “Okay.” “About us.” “Okay.” “I don’t think we should go to bed with each other.” She threw back her head
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Eleven
Maya. Pregnant.This can't be happening. Despite the warmth of the summer day, an uncomfortable chill settled over Maya’ skin as she settled on the bench in the small garden just a few blocks from the apartment she shared with Alex . She shivered even as the sun’s rays found her tightly clenched fingers, the heat not yet chasing away the goose bumps. Javier wouldn’t be happy over her brief disappearance. Neither would Alex when Javier reported that she hadn’t taken proper security measures. But dragging along the imposing guard to her doctor’s appointment hadn’t been an option. Alex would have known of her pregnancy before she could even return home to tell him herself. How would he react to the news? Despite the fact they had taken precautions, she was eight weeks pregnant. The best she could surmise, it had happened when he had returned from an extended business trip overseas. Alex had been insatiable. But then so had she. A bright blush chased the chill from her cheeks as she
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Twelve
AlexAlex urged her back to the bed then strode out of the suite toward the kitchen. After a long week of laying traps for the person attempting to sell his company out from under him, the last thing he wanted was a hysterical confrontation with his mistress.He poured a glass of Maya ’s favorite juice then prepared himself a liberal dose of brandy. The beginnings of a headache were already plaguing him.He smiled when he saw Maya ’s shoes in the middle of the floor where she had left them as soon as she hqd come off the elevator. He followed the trail of her things to the couch where her bag was thrown haphazardly.She was a creature of comfort. Never fussy. So this emotional outburst had caught him off guard. It was completely out of character for her. She wasn’t clingy, which is why their relationship had lasted so long. Relationship? He had just denied to her that they had one. She was his mistress.He should have softened his response. She probably wasn’t feeling well and needed
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Thirteen
Alex. Three months later. Alex sat in his apartment brooding in silence. He should have some peace of mind now that there was no longer any danger to his company, but the knowledge of why was hardly comforting. He stared at the pile of documents in front of him as the evening news droned in the background.His stopover in New York was going to be short. Tomorrow he would fly to London to meet with his brother Jake and have the groundbreaking ceremony for their luxury hotel, a hotel that wouldn’t have happened if Maya had gottenher way. A derisive snort nearly rolled from his throat. He, the CEO of Zionsville International, had been manipulated and stolen from by a woman. Because of her, he and his brothers had lost two of their designs to their closest competitorbefore he’d discovered her betrayal. He should have turned her over to the authorities, but he bad been too stunned, too weak to do such a thing.He hadn’t even ridded his apartment of her belongings. He bad assumed she wou
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fourteen
Maya. Maya struggled underneath the layers of fog surrounding her head. She murmured a low protest when she opened her eyes. Awareness was not what she sought. The blanket of dark, of oblivion, was what she wanted.There was nothing for her in wakefulness. Her life was one black hole of nothingness. Her name was all that lingered in the confusing layers of her mind. Maya .She searched for more. Answers she needed to questions that swarmed her every time she wakened. Her past lay like a great barren landscape before her.The answers dangled beyond her, taunting her and escaping before she could reach out and take hold.She turned her head on the thin pillow, fully intending to slip back into the void of sleep when a firm hand grasped hers. Fear scurried up her spine until she remembered that she was safe and in a hospital. Still, she yanked her hand awayas her chest rose and fell with her quick breaths.“You must not go back to sleep. At least Not yet.”The man’s voice slid across h
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fifteen
Alex. Alex stood in the darkened room and watched as Maya slept. The strain of the frown he was wearing inserted a dull ache in his temples.Her chest rose and fell with her slight breaths, and even in sleep, tension furrowed her brow. He moved closer and touched his fingers to her forehead, smoothing them across the pale skin.She was as lovely as ever, even in her weakened state. Raven curls lay haphazardly against the pillow. He took one between his fingers and moved it from her forehead. It was longer now, no longer the shorter cap of curls that had flown about her head as she laughed or smiled.Her skin had lost its previous glow, but he knew restoring her health would bring it back. Her eyes had been dull, frightened, but he remembered well the brilliant blue sparkle, how enchanting she looked when she was happy.He cursed and moved away from the bed. It had all been a ruse. She hadn’t ever been happy. Truly happy. It seemed he had been incapable of making her so.All the time
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MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Epilogue
“No.” Alex shook his head, his face contorting with agonized concentration as he recalled every detail of the last time he had seen his daughter. “At least, I don’t think so.”“You don’t think so?” the policeman pushed, and Emma could have slapped him for his insensitivity. But Alex was calmer, explaining Alex’s problem in ameasured voice, but his voice was loaded with pain.“My daughter has problems—behavioural problems.” Katrina opened her mouth to argue, but Alex stood firm, shaking his head at Katrina, clearly indicating that now wasn’t the time for futile denial. “She doesn’t react in theusual way—you never really know what she’s thinking. Look, you have to tell your colleagues that they could be just a metre away from her, could be callingher name, and she won’t answer them, she won’t call out...” His voice broke for about asecond and Emma watched as he attempted to recover, his eyes closing for an agonising second as he forced himself to continue. “You have to tell them that
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter sixty two
She gave tiny gasps in her throat as her fingers knotted together in his hair, as still he teased her more, histeeth grazing the silk, his tongue moistening her more, and even if it was everything she wanted, it still wasn’t enough. Realisation hit her that, despitewhat had taken place in the garden, she’d never seen him naked. Need propelling her, she pulled back a touch, saw the question in his eyes as slowly he stood up. Her fingers, nervous at first, but bolder as desire took over, wrestled with thebuttons of his shirt, pushing the sleeves down over his muscular arms. Closing her eyes in giddy want, her pale breasts pressed against his chest. She felt thenaked silk of his dark skin against her, skin on skin, as she opened his belt and unzipped his shorts. She held her breath in wonder as Alex now shed thegarments that stood between them, and if he’d been beautiful before, he was stunning now.Never had she seen a more delicious man, his body toned and muscular, his dark, oliv
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter sixty one
“It would have,” Emma said softly, watching his wince of regret at her refusal to accept it, actually grateful when Katrina and Hugh ducked inside theemerald canopy and broke the painful moment, because whatever Alex was trying to say it was too little, too late—even a garden full of flowers wasn’tgoing to fix this.“Join us for a drink,” Hugh offered. “Alex’s just about to put Alex to bed...”“I’ve got too much to do here.” Emma smiled as she shook her head. “But thank you for the offer.”“I think we might have to stay over.” Katrina pretended to grimace. “Hugh’s had a couple too many champagnes to drive.”“I’ve had one,” Hugh said, but Katrina had clearly already made up her mind.Emma was tempted to tell her that she needn’t bother, that Alex didn’t need to be guarded on her final night here, but instead she offered her goodnights andheaded to the mountain of tools that needed to be sorted.“You really ought to think about finishing up,” Alex called. “There’s a storm brewing and
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter sixty
“No.” His single word hurt her even more, if that were possible, his refusal to soften it cheapening her more than she’d thought possible.“So what was that all about?” Emma asked, gesturing to where they had lain, where he’d found her, held her, made love to her, forcing the confrontation,steeling herself to hear the confirmation of her worst fears. “What just happened there, Alex?”“Sex.” Black eyes stung her, a warning note in his voice telling her she’d crossed the line. His lips set in a rigid line as she shook her head, refused histake on the history they’d so recently created.“It was more than that and you know it,” Emma rasped, shocked by his callousness, reeling from the ferociousness of his sparse summing-up, yet refusing to buy it, because she knew there was more to him, had witnessed the real Alex only moments before, and all she knew was that she wanted himback. “Alex, please, don’t do this...” Emma attempted, her hand reaching out for his arm, but he recoiled as if s
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fifty nine
Only now did his lips release hers. Any sooner and she would have begged him to stop, would have halted things.But now she was putty in his skilled hands, pliable, warm, willing to move, to let him do with her what he wanted, and, oh, how he did—kissing the pulseleaping in her throat as she wriggled out of her top. The second her breasts were free, his tongue paid them the attention they deserved, tender attention, kissingthe swollen, needy tips in turn, his finger retracing his steps, working downwards now. Her stomach tightened in renewed tension as he slid down the zip of her shorts, but for the first time since contact he spoke, the liquid deep tones of his voice not breaking the spell but somehow deepening it.“Don’t hold onto those thoughts, bella, just let them come and go.” Repeating the words she had said to him, but with entirely different meaning this time. Andshe tried, really tried to just relax as his hand cupped her bottom and lifted her enough to slip off the shorts
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fifty eight
What?” One eye peeped open.“Abdominal breathing,” she explained, but from the two vertical lines appearing over the bridge of his nose Emma knew she was talking to the hopelessly unconverted.“You don’t move your chest,” Emma explained. “Remember when Alex wasa baby and you watched her sleep?”The frown faded a touch, a small smile lifting one edge of his mouth.“Babies know how to relax,” Emma said. “They instinctively know how tobreathe properly.” “Like this?” Alex asked, dragging in air, and Emma watched as he struggled with the concept. His stomach was moving but so too was his chest.“Almost. Look, I’ll help you. Just push against my hand.” Sitting up slightly, she instinctively moved to correct him. She’d shown this to numerous friends,knew how to show him simply, but her movements were hesitant, her hand tentative as it reached out towards him, hovered over the flat plane of his stomach, knowing, knowing where this could lead, wanting to pull back, to endthis dangerous game,
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fifty seven
***Six years laterI’m sorry to have disturbed you.”“It’s fine.” Emma attempted, struggling to sit up, slightly disorientated andextremely embarrassed that Alex had found her in the middle of the day, hot and filthy in nothing more than the skimpiest of shorts and a crop top, lying on a blanket with her eyes closed. Absolutely the last person she was expecting to see at this hour, he was dressed in his inevitable dark suit, but there was a slightlymore relaxed stance to him. He held a brown paper bag in one hand and he didn’t look in his usual rush—his usually perfectly knotted tie was loosened, the top button of his shirt undone. But his dark eyes were shielded with sunglasses making his closed expression even more unreadable if that were possible.“You’ve done a lot.”“It’s getting there.” Emma nodded. “And if I keep going at full speed, I could still be done by early next week.”He didn’t say a word, he didn’t have to. Just a tiny questioning lift of his eyebrow from behind his
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fifty six
Ironically enough, Maya discovered she was in labor halfway down the stairs.Alone. She gripped the banister and doubled over as a contraction rippled acrossher abdomen. Wasn’t labor supposed to start out slow?She wanted to laugh at the fact that fate was obviously cursing her for trying to sneak down the stairs without Alexknowing. While he’d relented abouther taking the stairs in the earlier stages of her pregnancy, now that she was so close to her due date he’d once again insisted she not walk the stairs alone. He’d go insane now that she was nine months pregnant and, if the pain ripping out her insides was any clue, about to deliver.She stood on the step, holding on to the railing and taking deep breaths. She’d have called out if she weren’t so busy sucking air through her nose. Besides,Alexwas busy with endless calls as he and Theron worked out Theron’s relocation to the New York offices. Theron was taking over operations there soAlexcould remain in Europe. They had been ti
MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE Chapter Fifty five
Alex wasted no time in finalizing plans for their wedding and preparing for them to travel to the island. He single-handedly rearranged his business schedule, made sure everything Maya could possibly need was purchased, though they’d already shopped for her wedding gown. She stood in awe of all hecould accomplish in such a short time.The authorities questioned her now that she’d regained her memory, and she spent several exhausting hours providing them with the few details she couldremember. The kidnappers hadn’t harmed her and had actually shown her consideration when her pregnancy became obvious. They had watched her,knowing she was close to Alex , and had struck when the opportunity arose. They’d asked for a small ransom, certain they would get it with no fuss.When no ransom had been forthcoming, they abandoned the kidnapping andarranged for Maya to be found.It was the realization that Alex had ignored the ransom that had pushedMaya beyond her limits. It was that moment in
