Mills & Boon Stars Collection: Passionate Bargains: The Perfect Cazorla Wife / The Russian's Ultimatum / Once a Moretti Wife

In a mesh of lips and tongues, they came together, devouring each other, her fingers digging into his scalp, one of his hands sweeping up her back and nestling into her hair, clasping her head tightly.

His taste filled her, his warm breath merging with her own sending deeper darts of need into her, every part of her aching for his touch, his kiss, his caress...

The hand not cradling her head so possessively swept up her thigh and under her skirt, his mouth still hot on hers, his tongue swirling in her mouth. His finger found the band of her knickers and slid beneath it to feel the heat and dampness at the heart of her.

When he found her, already swollen and aching for him, she gasped...

And then he pulled away, releasing his hold so quickly her legs would have given way if the table hadn’t been there to support her.

There was the tiniest moment when she caught Raul’s own dazed incomprehension before his composure snapped back into place.

He smoothed his shirt down and nodded at the window. ‘The gardener,’ he said tightly.

A rumbling sound played in the distance and through the glass she caught a glimpse of a figure on a ride-on mower just metres from where they were...

It was enough to bring her to her senses.

What on earth had possessed her?

She tugged her skirt back down before straightening.

A taunting smile now played on his lips. ‘See, cariño? I was right. All that hate fuels lust beautifully.’

She wiped her mouth defiantly, loathing herself for being the one to instigate the kiss as much as she loathed him for the mocking tone of his voice and his unscrupulous mind and the power he held over her.

‘It won’t happen again,’ she promised through ragged breaths.

‘I think you’ve told enough lies this past week, don’t you?’

Raul sat back down and reached for a breadstick, waiting for the thunder beneath his ribcage to abate.

How had things got out of hand so quickly?

He’d been taunting her, teasing her, asserting his control, spelling out to her how much he held the upper hand. He’d enjoyed it but had kept his mind firmly on the seduction in hand.

She’d been the one to kiss him, a fact that, from the look on her face, she regretted hugely.

She’d hooked her arm around his neck and his mind had gone blank, desire overshadowing everything else.

The chemistry between them had always been explosive but that...

It had felt as if a coil locked in a too-tight box had finally sprung free.

He’d been seconds away from taking her on the table.

In his haste to free the house for them, he’d forgotten about the ground staff. If he hadn’t heard the sound of the mower, who knew how far they would have taken it?

She still stood by the table, her green eyes firing their hatred at him.

Who did she hate the most? Him for compelling her back into his bed? Or herself for wanting it?

‘So, cariño, do we have a deal?’ He was gratified to hear his voice functioning as normal. He would never allow himself to show weakness in front of her. ‘The day care centre, signed, sealed, delivered and renovated in exchange for four months in my bed?’

Four months. That would surely be enough to get her out of his system once and for all.

Maybe it was fortuitous that she’d walked back into his life at this moment. He needed to move on, not just from the dissolution of their marriage but from the sexual hold she still held over him.

Her chin rose, her pretty nostrils flaring. ‘Yes. I accept your terms but with one condition of my own: I won’t be sharing your bed until the deeds of the building are in my hands.’

‘The building will be in the Cazorla name by the end of the week.’

‘Then you’ll have to wait until then before you can touch me again.’

‘You are not in a position to make any demands, cariño.’

‘Of course I am.’ She swallowed but didn’t waver. ‘You can always go running back to your girlfriend if the frustration of waiting four days gets too much for you.’

‘That relationship is over.’ It hadn’t even started.

Her lips curled into an expression that most closely resembled a sneer, but it was a fleeting look, quickly replaced by the loathing he was becoming familiar with.

Another four days?

He could force the issue if he wanted. It wouldn’t be hard. All he had to do was touch her and she’d be putty in his hands.

Another four days?

The anticipation would be delicious.

He knew his wife and what an earthy, sexual creature she was. The chemistry between them was just as potent—if not more—as it had always been.

After four days of living together, Charley would be begging him to take her.

He’d managed almost two years. Another four days would be nothing.

* * *

‘What time do you finish?’ Raul asked when he pulled the car to a stop outside the building that currently housed the Poco Rio day care centre.

‘Five o’clock,’ she answered shortly. ‘Wait for me to call—I might be late.’

‘I’ll be here at five o’clock and you will be ready.’

Not bothering to argue or say goodbye, she shrugged a shoulder, grabbed her bag and got out, slamming the passenger door behind her. She might not be able to see his face but could easily imagine her handsome husband’s wince at her treatment of his precious Lotus.

When they’d first met, her manners had been somewhat rough around the edges. She’d been taught to say please and thank you, and not speak with her mouth full, but that had been the extent of it and those few manners had been drilled into her by her primary school headmistress, not her parents. Her mum had been too busy holding down two jobs to find the energy while her dad had hardly been there, flitting in and out of their lives as and when it suited him, which had never been enough, not for her.

She’d never lived with her father, had never spent a night under his roof and had lived for the days when he would visit his only daughter.