Page 57 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

So why was he feeling guilty?

That sensation of something precious slipping out of his grasp was haunting him again, mocking him. He pushed it down deep and told himself he was being ridiculous.

‘I feel like you’re avoiding me.’

Mia looked at Daniel across the dinner table at the end of the first week since they’d returned to Paris. ‘What gives you that impression?’

Daniel arched a brow. ‘The fact that this is the first meal we’ve shared since we got back to Paris, and the fact that you’re not sleeping in my bed.’

A pang of sexual need gripped Mia. In spite of the deep vulnerability she felt around Daniel now, she couldn’t dent the aching need at her core. Every night she had lurid X-rated dreams and woke up aching and frustrated in the morning.

‘Lexi has been unsettled at night since we returned. I don’t want to disturb you.’

‘Where is Odile? I offered her a full-time job.’

‘I told her she didn’t need to start straight away.’

‘The launch of the Delphine line of jewellery is next week. We’ll have press junkets and the launch party to attend.’

An assistant of Daniel’s had informed her of the schedule, and it alternately terrified her and excited her.

She looked at Daniel now. ‘I’ve never been involved with anything this high-profile before.’

‘I’ll be right by your side.’

That thought should have comforted Mia, and it would have at any other time. But every minute she spent in close proximity to Daniel now left her terrified that she’d reveal her feelings, or he’d see something. And if he knew how she felt she wouldn’t be able to continue pretending she was okay with a marriage in name only.

That was why she’d been avoiding him. Because she didn’t know if she could truly do this. And she felt like a failure because she should be stronger for her daughter’s sake.

People lived through marriages of convenience all the time—what was so special about her that she thought she deserved more? But Mia knew that she did. And so did Lexi. Living with Daniel and knowing that his feelings only ran tolikeandrespectwould wear away at her soul until she was a husk.

And that couldn’t be good for Lexi.

Hearing Daniel during that phone call had brought home just how clinical he was about this marriage. And yet when he touched her he made her think that there was a chance ofmore.

But that was just sex.

That was why she couldn’t let him touch her again.

And yet even as she thought that her body ached. The thought of not making love to Daniel ever again... That was obviously not something he would tolerate. Did she really want to drive him into the arms of a lover? The mere notion of that made Mia feel violent.

Daniel’s gaze was narrowed on her face. ‘Want to share your thoughts? You look like you want to commit murder.’

Desperation mounted inside Mia. Something had to give or she’d lose it completely. Clearly avoiding Daniel and depriving them both of release was not working, and it would only invite scrutiny and, yes, possibly murder.

Could she do this and hide her feelings, not confuse passion for emotion? She had to. Or she might as well get up and leave now.

Baldly, before she lost her nerve or changed her mind, she said, ‘I want you.’

His eyes flared at that. ‘Right here? Now?’

She blushed. She felt gauche, like the first time she’d gone out with him. But he took pity on her, standing up and taking her hand, pulling her up from the chair and leading her out of the dining room and down to the bedrooms.

After Mia had checked on Lexi quickly, just across the hall, she stepped into Daniel’s bedroom. His shirt was already off and the top button of his trousers was undone. He closed the door behind her and caged her in with his arms, hands either side of her head.

‘Now, where do we start to make up for lost time? This week has felt like a month, Mia.’

She reached up, pressing kisses to his jaw, her hands exploring his chest, revelling in the feel of taut muscle under hot silky skin. She pressed kisses there, trailing her mouth down, her hand finding the zip of his trousers and pulling at it, then urging his trousers off his hips along with his underwear, until they fell to the floor.

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