Read Online The Twelve-Month Marriage Deal by Margaret Mayo - Free Book Online

feel of Vidal’s lips on hers, and the treacherous hunger building up in her lower belly, Elena dared to look into his face. She had instinctively closed her eyes when his mouth claimed hers, allowing herself to forget everything except what he was doing, but now her lids flickered open—and shocked themselves wide when they met his steady silver ones!
    They were narrowed and intent and filled with something she couldn’t read, and she wondered how long he had been watching her. Had she laid bare all her feelings? Was that why he had made a move on her so quickly and so surely? Because he had been aware that she was having second thoughts?
    ‘You taste good enough to eat,’ he murmured against her mouth, his voice gruffer and deeper than she had ever heard it. Full of animal hunger.
    ‘Mmm,’ was all she could manage in response. She could taste brandy on his lips, but it reminded her of howlittle he had actually drunk. Clearly he had wanted to keep himself alert for this very moment. He had known she wouldn’t want a drunken husband forcing himself on her.
    His kiss deepened, his tongue exploring inside her mouth now, an agony of fear and delight whistling through her mind. Her head fell back in silent submission, her tongue dancing with his, faint groans escaping the back of her throat. She was giving too much of herself away, but she couldn’t help it.
    Ever since she’d come back home and discovered this new excitingly sexy Vidal she had known that it was inevitable. It wasn’t a case of being in love with him. He was simply a man whose sexuality could not be ignored. She’d like to bet that each woman he encountered felt the same. There was something about him that awoke every female hormone in her body.
    It was a unique blend of hunger and fear and she did not wish to deny it. Not any longer. She had spent the last weeks trying to ignore the feelings that chased through her body every time they were together. Now she could contain them no longer.
    When his lips moved from her mouth to make an excruciatingly slow descent down the arch of her throat she heard herself cry out his name, ‘Vidal…’ And her legs suddenly felt as though they were no longer capable of holding her up.
    ‘Vidal, what?’
    She heard the smile in his voice as he slid one arm down to the small of her back so that she was bent slightly over it, while his other caressed the side of her face, touching her lips where his mouth had been,tracing her high cheekbones, the delicate lobes of her ears, and all the time his mouth moved ever lower.
    Elena felt her blood screaming through her veins, felt as though all her birthdays had come together. It was a whole and totally new experience. She’d had boyfriends in the past, yes, but none who had created this same storm inside her. She feared meltdown—and he hadn’t yet started!
    Earlier she had changed out of her wedding finery into a strapless emerald-green dress and without her knowing it Vidal’s knowing fingers had inched down the zip. The dress had built-in support, so when her naked breasts were suddenly exposed to his greedy eyes she gasped out loud.
    He growled something deep and unintelligible as his mouth began a fresh assault. At the same time her hips were ground against his and she could feel the full impact of his awakening. It was both scary and exciting at the same time.
    Vidal felt like shouting for help. Each time Elena moved she rubbed against the part of him that throbbed with need, increasing his hunger a hundredfold. He ached and burned with such fierce longing that he found it hard to keep control.
    Yet he knew that he must. He knew that if he took things too quickly he could easily scare her away. It had been hard enough these last few weeks; he had thought they would last for ever. And he wanted now to enjoy the delights of her body, but he wanted Elena to enjoy it too.
    When she once again wriggled explosively against him he couldn’t contain a groan from deep in