Page 16 of Princess Bride Swap

She is your wife.

But this was the library. Definitely not the place foranythingthat gripped him. And everything that gripped him was...thorny. Complicated. Not as in control as he needed it to be. He had experienced lust before, identified it and set it aside.

Easily.

This did not feel in the least biteasy.

He cleared his throat, so that his voice would sound firm and in control. “I’m afraid your hair looks a bit tousled. And your...lipstick. There’s a mirror over here if you want to fix up.”

She didn’t say anything for ticking moments. Just regarded him with thoseeyeshe couldn’t seem to read. “Perhaps it would be good for the staff to see me with mussed hair and lipstick. If the goal is to seem like a newlywed couple, that is.”

He found himself nodding. She was right. It was smart.

But nothing about the situation he found himself in feltsmart. Nothing about what was rattling around inside of him was in his control. There was no denying he was attracted to her, that he wanted her.

So instead ofdenying it, he needed to take control of it. It couldn’t creep up on him. It couldn’t take over so that he forgot everything he was, everything he needed to do. He would never be like the men who’d come before.

Step by step, he’d told her last night. And that was how he’d control this surprising desire.

Step by controlled step.

CHAPTER SIX

BEAUDIDNOTknow how to parse what had happened in the library. He had kissed her. For no...discernible reason. Except maybe...he’d wanted to?

She had to admit, she hadn’t allowed herself to dream about the possibility her arranged husband might actually find her...attractive. The greatest hope she’d allowed herself had been that they could have a partnership built on mutual respect.

It felt downright dangerous to think of anything else, but he’dkissedher.

And now he led her down the hall to their bedchamber.Theirs.Because once again, they would share a bed tonight. She thought the second night would feel less nerve-racking, but that kiss changed everything.

Everything.

Ithadn’tbeen a brush of lips. It had been akiss. She had spent a lifetime loving to read a scene about knee-weakening kisses without ever really believing that was arealthing, physiologically. But she’d had to lean into him just to stay upright. She hadn’t been able tobreathe.

Kiss? No. Devour? Maybe. Maybe she finally understood that as a descriptor for a kiss. Because...

Wow.

He opened the door to their rooms and gestured her inside. So much of this was like last night. An unwieldy dress she’d need help with. Nerves dancing, but not the kind that createdfearor panic. No, there was something far more like anticipation wriggling around with nerves.

She felt full of pent-up energy. Like she simply wanted to...runor yell or something. So she kept walking, through the sitting room and into the bedchamber. She walked all the way to the large window that looked out over a dark night. The moon hovered at the edge of one of the peaks in the distance, partially shrouded by all that mountain.

She tried to find some sense of calm, some sense ofselfin the celestial scene outside. So they had kissed. So it had been unplanned, and wonderful. So they would have to do a lot more to produce heirs. This was what she’d agreed to. She needed to stop being so silly about it. Romanticizing it. When she’d promised him she didn’t have romantic notions.

Because this wasn’t romance. It was simply a physical reaction to one another. Besides, chemistry and attraction were good. It would make the whole thing less awkward. And it didn’t mean she thought she’d fall in love or get swept off her feet. She was too practical, understood herself too well, had too much to hide to believe in any of that.

So, this wasgood.

Why did it feel so damn scary?

“If all goes well, we will travel to the vacation chalet for the weekend. A honeymoon, in the press. It’s up there,” he said, coming closer with every word until he was standing next to her and he pointed to the mountains in the distance.

“Is it as beautiful as here?”

“More.”

“Then I hope all goes well.” She tried to offer him a happy smile, but when she looked up he was gazing at her intently.

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