Free The Twelve-Month Marriage Deal by Margaret Mayo

wanted to do was snatch off her negligee and kiss away her tears and play beautiful games with her for the rest of the night. He wanted to tease and arouse her so completely that her body wouldn’t back down again. He wanted her moulded to him, he wanted to be beside her and inside her. Even thinking about it caused an erection that he knew Elena could see.
    Except that she wasn’t looking at that particular part of his anatomy. She was looking him straight in the eye. She had beautifully expressive eyes, which at this moment were shadowed and sad, but when they had been kissing and touching and exploring each other’s bodies, when she had revealed how gloriously, sensationally sexy she could be, they had turned into golden orbs. She had wanted him as much as he had wanted her.
    Now it looked as though he would have to be patient, very patient.
    Elena sighed. Vidal was making her feel uncomfortable. This was a side to him that she hadn’t been aware of. He was actually being nice and, although she appreciated the fact that he hadn’t forced her into making love, she knew that it still wouldn’t do to trust him completely.
    He was too virile a man to go without his pleasure, nor was she sure that she would be able to resist him the next time. Her inability to go on had probably been a psychological block, caused by the trauma of the day.
    Amazingly, even now she felt like flinging herself back into his arms, declaring that she was ready—butknew that it would be far too embarrassing if the same thing happened again.
    On the other hand she could not see Vidal accepting twelve whole months of nothingness, despite what he had said.
    Actually she ought to be thanking Vidal, not backing off. If he hadn’t agreed to marry her and take over their bank then her mother would be in a far worse condition. She had clearly worried herself sick over the last few months. And now that a heart murmur had been discovered they must all pull together and see that she had no more serious concerns. If only her parents had said something before. Not that she personally could have saved the bank, but she might have been able to do something.
    Instead of putting herself into the hands of Vidal Marquez!
    ‘I am grateful to you, Vidal,’ she conceded reluctantly. ‘Without your help my mother might not—’ Tears filled her eyes and she dashed them away angrily. ‘My mother could be a lot worse. I never knew how bad things had got and how worried both she and my father were.’
    Vidal felt sorry for Elena’s mother too, very much so, and he knew that she didn’t need any more stress, but he didn’t want to talk about her now. On his wedding day! When he should be partaking in glorious sex. Where was the fairness in this world? The way he looked at it, making love would help take Elena’s mind off her mother. And it would certainly help him.
    Marrying her wasn’t having the result he had expected. From the instant he had set eyes on the newly grown-up and deliciously exciting Elena he had wanted her. He’d said that he was prepared to wait—but hell, he wasn’t made out for the waiting game. Especially when she’d responded so amazingly.
    He smiled slowly. ‘The pleasure will wait. I can be patient. Though I’m afraid that for tonight we’ll still have to share the same bed.’
    Elena knew very well that his smile wasn’t genuine. She also knew the impossibility of Vidal sharing a bed and doing nothing. But what choice had she? There was a sofa in the adjoining room, but it was overstuffed and not conducive to a good night’s sleep. Not that she expected to get any sleep—even in the bed. How could she with Vidal at her side? He was too magnetic, too potent, too everything.
    In the end she did slide into the bed, pulling her negligee tightly around her, conscious of Vidal’s still naked body only inches away. She lay a long time listening for his breathing to deepen, conscious of the heat of his body, conscious too of the