‘Don’t call me that. You know you don’t mean it.’
He pushed away from the window where he had been leaning. ‘Here’s the thing—we have to act like a happy couple, even if in private you want to play pistols at dawn.’
Her chin came up to a defiant height. ‘No one’s going to believe it, you know. Not us. We’re known to positively loathe each other.’ Her cheeks went a shade darker. ‘Especially after that night in London in December.’
He smiled at the memory. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt that tingle of attraction. More than a tingle. A shockwave that had left him buzzing for hours afterwards. ‘Ah, yes. It wasn’t one of your best moments, was it? I was only trying to help and what did I get? A glass of red wine poured in my lap. Hardly the behaviour of a grown woman.’
Her jaw looked as though she were biting down on a metal rod. ‘You provoked me. And it was either have that wine in your lap or splashed in your face, and your throat cut with the glass.’
He tut-tutted and shook his head at her as if she were a wilfully disobedient child who consistently disappointed him. ‘It seems I may have to teach you how to behave. That will be fun: Wife Behaviour for Beginners.’
She sprang off the sofa as if something had bitten her on the behind, throwing him a look that would have stripped tarmac off a road. ‘You think you’re so smart, manipulating me into this farce of a marriage, but I’ve got news for you. I will not be a doormat. I will not be treated like a child. I will not sleep with you. Do? You? Understand?’
Draco loved it when she got angry with him. She was always so buttoned up, cool and controlled. But with him she showed the depth of passion in her personality others didn’t see. She was feisty, a firebrand with a flaying tongue and a whip-quick wit. He enjoyed their verbal sparring. It was a big turn-on for him. Few women stood up to him or challenged him the way she did. He liked that she had spirit. That she wasn’t afraid to lock horns with him.
He would much rather she locked those gorgeous lips on his, but all in good time.
‘I understand you’re a little apprehensive about sex, but I can assure you, I’m excellent at it.’
Twin pools of bright pink flared on her cheeks. ‘I am not apprehensive about sex. I have sex—I have it all the time. I just don’t care to have it with you.’
How he wanted to make her eat every one of those words and lick them away with that hot little tongue of hers. He wanted that tongue all over his body. He wanted. He wanted. He wanted. It pulsed through him like an ache. He’d been too long between relationships. It had been weeks—no, months—since he’d had sex. He’d been too busy, distracted by work and the dire financial situation Cosimo Kallas was in, to bother about hooking up with anyone.
But now he was ready.
He was so ready he could barely keep his hands off those slim hips, from pulling her against him so she could feel how ready. ‘You will share my bed even if you don’t share my body to begin with. I won’t have my household staff snickering behind my back at my inability to consummate my marriage.’
She glared at him so hotly he thought the champagne in his glass was going to boil. ‘If you so much as lay one finger on me, I’ll scream loud enough for them to hear me in Albania.’
Draco gave an indolent smile. ‘I can guarantee you’ll scream, glykia mou. You certainly won’t be the first. Most women in my bed do.’
Her mouth went into a flat line and her hands clenched into tight little white-knuckled balls. Her whole body seem to vibrate like a child’s battery-operated toy. ‘I’m surprised you want to wait until we’re married. Why don’t you throw me to the floor and have your way with me now?’
‘Tempting, but alas, I’m a civilised man.’ He swept a hand behind him where he’d entered the room earlier. ‘See? No knuckle marks along the carpet.’
Her caustic look showed just how uncivilised she thought him. She swung away and put herself behind one of the sofas, as if she needed to barricade herself. ‘I suppose you’re only making me wait to ramp up the torture quotient.’
‘The sort of torture I have in mind will be mutually pleasurable.’
She shook her hair back behind her shoulders in a haughty manner. The silky swing of it always fascinated him. It was like the swish of a curtain. ‘I find it hard to understand how you could want to bed a woman who hates you. It seems a little kinky to me.’
‘You don’t hate me, Allegra. What you hate is how you can’t get your way with me. You need a strong man. Someone who will allow you to express that passionate nature you keep under wraps all the time. I’m that man.’
She gave one of her derisory laughs. ‘Hello? We’ve actually had a women’s movement during the last century. Didn’t you hear about that or were you too busy clubbing mammoths and dragging them back to your cave?’
Draco’s groin tightened at her witty come-back. She always gave as good as she got, which was another reason he thought her perfect wife material. He didn’t want a doormat. He didn’t want someone who didn’t have the spirit to spar with him.
He wanted her.
It was as simple as that. Since he’d seen her in London he had lost interest in other women. He had found the dating scene increasingly boring and predictable. But every encounter, every conversation, with Allegra was full of surprises. She stimulated him physically and intellectually.
He reached into his top pocket and handed her the ring box he’d brought with him. ‘That reminds me—I have something for you. If it doesn’t fit, I’ll have it adjusted.’
She took the box and cautiously opened it, as if whatever was in there might leap out and bite. But then she let out a breath and picked up the diamond solitaire with almost worshipful fingers. ‘It’s beautiful.’ She looked up at him, her blue eyes showing a hint of uncertainty he found strangely touching. ‘It looks frightfully expensive...’
Draco shrugged. ‘It’s just a ring. I threw a dart at the counter. This was the one it hit.’
She slipped the ring over her knuckle. ‘It fits.’
‘Must be an omen.’
Her gaze flicked to his. ‘I’ll give it back when we divorce.’
Draco didn’t want her thinking there was any hint of romance in his choice of a ring. He’d done that once and it had been the worst mistake of his life. ‘Keep it. I’m not sure any future bride of mine would want to wear a second-hand ring.’
She opened and closed her mouth, as if she couldn’t find what to say. Then she looked down at the ring winking on her hand. It was a moment before she looked up at him again. ‘How can I be sure you won’t play around while we’re married? You’ve played around all your adult life. Men like you get bored with one lover.’
Right now, Draco couldn’t imagine ever being bored by her, but it didn’t mean he would propose anything long-term. Long-term was for the in love, and that hardly described him in this case. He wasn’t going to go down that path ever again. In lust? Yes. Big time. ‘When I get bored, I’ll let you know. We can end the marriage before anyone gets hurt.’
‘Perhaps
