Read Online The Billionaire's Unwanted Virgin by Doris O'Connor - Free Book Online Page B

Fortunately, he had more sense than she, as he
disentangled himself from her slowly, and heat rose in her cheeks at her body's
wanton behavior.
    He framed her face and studied her, a
small smile twisting round his full lips, and he ran his thumb over her mouth.
It felt swollen from his earlier attentions, and his eyes darkened to the
deepest black she'd ever seen.
    "My sweet little Alice. We
should save something for our honeymoon, don't you think? At least, we know
we're compatible in this department."
    He kissed her nose and stepped away
from her with another rueful smile that had her insides curl in excitement at
the heated promise in his onyx eyes.
    "We're going on honeymoon?"
She grimaced at the squeaky quality of her voice, and clenched her thighs
together to relieve some of the delicious ache in her core.
    He simply smiled and nodded, just as
Beth woke up and broke the moment.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Alice stared at her reflection in the
mirror, not really recognizing the person looking back at her. Today was her
wedding day. A day that should be the happiest day of her life, yet fear and
regret gnawed hole in her tummy. She wasn't frightened of Lakota as such. He had
given her no reason to be frightened of him, rather the opposite. Her heart
gave a suspicious little lurch every time he walked into a room, and when he
bestowed one of his rare smiles on her, the ones usually reserved for little
Beth, parts of her just melted. She was fiercely attracted to him, and by some
sheer fluke he seemed to find her attractive, too.
    Alice was under no illusion that
there was anything more but basic lust involved on his part, at least. Her own
emotions were far too complicated to try to make any sense out of. If only
things were different, but that was just wishful thinking. As much as she might
hope for more this was a mere business transaction.   She had sold herself to the highest bidder,
and as Lakota needed to get married, this was the perfect solution to the
problem she'd presented.   Not for the
first time Alice wondered at the demons that drove him, at the need to do right
by his brother.
    Family was important to Lakota. That much
was obvious. It showed in every smile he gave little Beth, in the myriad of
things he did to make the little girl's stay in hospital nicer for her, and in
the way he tensed and the shutters came down, whenever his late brother was
mentioned. It was almost as though he blamed himself for his brother's death,
and he was trying to atone. What for exactly, Alice couldn’t even begin to guess
at.
    But as fond as he seemed to have
grown of her niece in the process, and as much as Beth pleaded to be bridesmaid
at their wedding, he had become an unmovable statue at the suggestion that they
postpone the wedding.
    Beth had sulked, Elizabeth had frowned,
and Alice had forced herself to keep her lips curved into the semblance of a
smile.
    Lakota had not met any of their
gazes. He had simply stood up, and shook his head.
    "I'm sorry, but the date is
fixed. We're getting married on Friday." He'd exited the room, the thud of
the door too loud in the stillness his departure left them in.
    "Well, he has his reasons I am
sure. We can see the video, Beth. It will be fine." Mum had fixed an
overly bright smile on her face for Beth, but when she looked at Alice the
shimmer of unshed tears in her eyes, had almost been Alice's undoing.
      Alice closed her eyes and shook her head to
clear away the fog of emotion. She was a big girl. She could do this—she had to
do this—she was under contract after all. Lakota might be fond of Beth, but he
was a man of business, and one just did not cross him in business, and business
was all this was. As long as she remembered this, she would be just fine, so it
was probably just as well, that neither Mum, nor Beth, nor any of her friends
would be at this wedding. It would be easier to stick to her side of the
bargain, if she didn't have to act the doting bride, even if she did