Free Carides's Forgotten Wife by Maisey Yates Page B

intense, a growl on his lips as he found his own release, holding her tightly against his body when it was all finished.
    She was dazed. Storm-tossed. Completely and utterly at the mercy of what had just taken place between them. She could hardly remember her own name. And for one hysterical moment she imagined that was how Leon must feel. Wiped clean. Fresh. Remade.
    There were worse things than being remade with him.
    “Your ribs,” she said, suddenly remembering that he was injured. She moved her hand to touch his side and he caught hold of her, his dark eyes clearer now, his expression intense.
    “Tell me,” he said, not moving from his position on top of her, his fingers like iron around her wrist. “How is it that my wife of two years was still a virgin?”

CHAPTER SIX
    H IS WIFE WAS a virgin. There was absolutely no question about it. At least, she had been up until a few moments ago. What he didn’t know was why .
    She was beautiful, and he was incredibly attracted to her. More than that, he had married her. It made no sense at all. Although he supposed it didn’t make any less sense than any other part of this situation they found themselves in.
    A sense of cold dread filled his stomach and he turned toward her, his heart pounding hard. “Did you not want me? Did I force myself on you just now?”
    “You know you didn’t. I said that I wanted you.”
    “Then how is it we had never consummated our union?”
    Rose looked as though she was going to curl in on herself. She moved away from him, sliding beneath the edge of the blankets, disappearing completely beneath them. “You were the one who didn’t want me.”
    “How is that possible?”
    “I don’t suppose it matters how it’s possible. Only that it is. And even knowing that, I said yes to you while you couldn’t remember how little you wanted me. In real life—whatever you want to call it—Leon Carides does not want Rose Tanner. You didn’t know that. I did.” She reappeared, her face peeking out from beneath the blankets. “I’m sorry.”
    It took him a moment to process the words. It was taking him time to process all of this. “You are my wife.”
    “You keep saying that like it means anything, but believe me, Leon, it has meant nothing to you over the past two years.”
    “I want it to.” He didn’t know where the certainty came from, but he felt it all the same. Bone-deep and as real as anything. He had no memory, that was true. And it meant he counted on these feelings. They were all he had.
    “You might not. You might not when you remember why you didn’t in the first place.”
    “Why didn’t I?”
    “I don’t know,” she said miserably.
    “Start from the beginning. Why did we get married?”
    “For the house. This house. For the company you run now. And for my father. He was dying, and you were like a son to him. He loved you, Leon. And he wanted all of this to be yours. I think... I think it brought him a lot of joy to know that you would be the one taking care of me. There was no one in the entire world that he trusted the way that he trusted you.”
    Leon’s stomach tightened. Because to hear Rose tell it her father had trusted him, had cared for him. And he had done...what with that? He had married his daughter as a formality. And then had... Rose had said much about how he often went out. The thought made him feel sick.
    “Rose,” he said, his tone grave. “When I go out what is it that I do?”
    She didn’t answer immediately, her expression mutinous. “You like to drink.”
    “What else?” he asked, his voice scraping his throat raw.
    “You like... You like women.”
    Pain lanced his chest, his brain, his ribs. Everything. “I have been unfaithful to you.”
    “We don’t have a conventional marriage. As you can see now you have never touched me. Not before this. You kissed me on our wedding day and that was it. And you told me... You told me that it didn’t have to change anything. I think the offer