Page 19 of The Billionaire's Last-Minute Marriage
She closed her eyes at the thought, feeling the urge rise within her to follow through on it, to reach out and touch his strong jaw, his sharply jutting cheekbones. This had always been a problem for her, going right back to her childhood. Much to the horror of her parents, their unruly daughter had once insisted on touching every single dish at a celebration buffet just to see what they all felt like.
Impulsivity, her father would check off on his mental list. Father seemed to be the only one who noticed all her quirks and kept a log of her progress over the years. Mother was so busy with her career that she’d had no choice but to delegate the management of the daughter who’d needed so much extra time to her husband.
But when her brother had come along, with his inability to speak at all and his very obvious physical stimming and his wild mood swings... Well, no one had been able to ignore that. She had been twelve the first time she’d heard the wordautismspoken, but it had not been in relation to herself. Her brother, Odin, had been three then, just started in preschool. Her own diagnosis had come more than a year later, and pretty soon family life had devolved into a series of appointments and progress charts.
Now, the only tracking of her own progress she did was trying to shave down her time on the treadmill. Running centred her mind and helped with her coordination. It was the only part of the intense therapies she’d endured that she elected to continue as an adult.
Regular movement was essential to her well-being, as was nurturing her other innate needs, even if they weren’t exactly considered to be normal.
Whatevernormalwas supposed to be.
As her thoughts wandered, she became aware of a heavy weight sliding over her thigh. But rather than feeling threatened, she felt grounded and leaned into his touch, glorying when he covered her leg with his own completely.
She opened one eye, her breathing slow and deliberate and her heartbeat thundering in her ears. His face was still completely relaxed in sleep. But as she watched him, he moved again, a low moan escaping his lips. Pandora inhaled a deep breath, scandalised by the erotic noise and her own body’s instant response to it. She should turn around, she told herself firmly and began to inch backwards, carefully trying to dislodge the heavy weight of his thigh.
Her progress was stopped by a firm male arm sliding around her waist.
‘Stop moving, Quinn.’
The low rumble of his voice murmured against her hair, startling her. He was clearly still asleep, but Pandora instantly obeyed the command. She focused on steadying her own erratic breathing, inhaling the delicious scent of his lemon verbena soap. To her surprise, every muscle in her body began to relax, almost as though she were melting. She fought the urge not to groan in sheer delight.
She highly doubted that her convenient husband would be pleased to wake up and find himself wound around her so closely. She would just wait another couple of minutes until she was sure he was asleep, and then she would move him.
That was the last thought she had before sleep claimed her.
The morning was already well advanced outside the bedroom window when Xander felt his body snap to attention. Someone had been...moaning? He stilled, listening to the sound of heavy breathing for a long moment before he realised that the sound had come from his own chest.
He had been dreaming. He never dreamed. It had been so detailed, so intense... A fine sheen of sweat beaded his brow and his chest barrelled out with his still-fast breaths. He felt as if he’d just finished completing the erotic acts that had played out in his subconscious mind. He had taken Pandora gently at first, and then much harder until they were both loud and frantic with pleasure. The memory of it was enough to have all the blood in his body immediately rushing south.
Soft curves nestled firmly against his front from sternum to knee.
But worse, his erection was now pressed between the indentation of his new wife’s deliciously toned buttocks.
He supposed waking up nestled into a soft, vanilla-scented female body without any chance of release would do that to a man. Even a female he didn’t fully trust. Or did he?
Even if he was still suspicious of her behaviour in the safe, he was not so arrogant as to believe that she would deliberately engineer a situation that had them sharing a bed. He had seen her on the plane; she’d been vulnerable. And no matter how out of control his libido seemed to be around her soft curves, he would not be taking advantage of his new wife by seducing her.
He carefully backed away, managing to get off the bed and into the bathroom without waking her.
But even after showering vigorously, he still swore he could feel the heat of her against him.
She didn’t wear the usual heavy exotic brands of perfume of the women he’d dated in the past. Her scent was lighter, almost like a breeze in a summer garden. He remembered her face as she had watched him emerge from the bathroom. If he had any doubts as to her level of sexual experience before, her stunned reaction had spoken volumes.
Pandora Quinn was not often in the presence of semi-nude men, he would bet his life on it.
Not that he had any business ruminating over her relationship history. But she was his wife for the next year, so didn’t he deserve to know that he would not be made to look a fool in public from any romantic skeletons in her closet?
His own inability to remember whether or not he’d mentioned these terms to her suddenly seemed vitally important and took up much of his attention on the short drive to the Osaka headquarters of the Tanaka Corporation for his lunchtime meeting. The building had an older feel to it than the others on the streets of the upscale financial district, which was fitting considering the Tanaka family had been among the first families to set up their investment firms in Japan.
The Tanaka Corporation owned the entire building including an impressive top-floor jungle made of glass and wood, filled with exotic plants and solar lighting; it truly was the jewel of the city. He felt the familiar pull of longing, the urge to obtain it. This particular building was the main draw for him in buying them out. He had grand plans for what he would do with it, but first, he needed to clinch the final part of this deal in person.
The investors were already seated at the long table when he entered, and he felt the awareness of dozens of curious eyes upon him as he strode into the room. Ran Tanaka, oldest daughter of the family and a powerful businesswoman in her own right, had been their key contact over the past weeks as they’d tried to broker the extremely time-sensitive and urgent acquisition. Tanaka Corporation was sinking and needed a silent buyout fast in order to keep their historic image intact. It was a deal that Xander urgently needed to make if he wanted to be able to take a foothold in Japan, after decades of bad press and disrespectful moves by Zeus had previously shut them out.
He had expected a difficult summit meeting as both sides finalised the last of their demands, but what he hadn’t expected was the atmosphere of sheer disdain when he arrived at the meeting alone, without his highly regarded EA in tow. It seemed that Pandora was a firm favourite, especially with Ran. The other woman’s face noticeably dropped when Xander revealed their hasty nuptials and Pandora’s sudden resignation from the office.
‘She’s far too talented to be cooped up in the tea rooms all day like a tourist, Xander. She was at the very heart of this deal and you’ve left her out.’ The other woman sighed, then sat up straight as there was a hubbub out in the hallway.
A man burst into the room, his face wrinkled and worn, showing his ancient years. Hari Tanaka, the family’s patriarch and former CEO, burst into the room, his gaze immediately landing on Xander, before launching into a speech that Xander was clueless to interpret. Maybe he should have swallowed his pride and his doubts, and brought Pandora with him regardless of what she’d been doing in Zeus’s safe?
