Page 29 of The Billionaire's Last-Minute Marriage
‘That’s it, you just want a break?’
‘I think we both deserve it, don’t you? Consider it a celebration of our expansion. We can pass it off as wanting to extend our honeymoon. We are supposed to be madly in love, after all.’
Pass it off. Of course, they were still playing a part, weren’t they? He was still thinking of how this would look to his board. How he could use it, spin it to his best advantage. His simple words hit her hard, making her almost accidentally reveal all her messy feelings in one terrible tide of truth. He wanted her, at least for now. And, God...she wanted him too. But still she held back, needing to protect herself.
‘It has to be just for this week. Promise me, Xander.’ Her body practically hummed like a tuning fork, struck boneless with desire for this impossible magnetic force of a man. But she needed to know exactly where the boundary was here, or her mind would ruminate endlessly over the possibilities. She’d lose herself in this, in him, unless she had a clear idea of what they were doing.
‘I promise. I’m not looking for anything more,’ he murmured softly against her earlobe, biting down to seal their deal.
He was her drug, there was absolutely no doubt about that. And she knew with absolute certainty that she would take whatever she could get of him while she could, and to hell with the consequences. She would deal with them later.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEADVENTURETHATXander had planned turned out to begin with a full day exploring the wonders of Kyoto, followed by their arrival at a private train, which was to be their home for the next five nights. The car was the height of luxury, usually only available to eight individual guest parties with a minimum of a two-year waiting list for the privilege. Of course, Xander had managed to buy out the entire train for their own private use for the week with hardly any notice at all.
They had a private chef and a small staff, each of whom were an absolute delight in creating the most perfect authentic Japanese experience while they travelled along the famous Seto Inland Sea, taking in the most beautiful sights. Their bedroom had a wall of one-way glass that expanded almost across the ceiling and Xander had made quick time in getting them alone so that he could make love to her while the countryside passed by.
On their penultimate day, they stopped at Miyajima Itsukushima, a mountainous island covered in the most glorious shades of red and orange maple trees that were renowned across the country. It was a little like travelling back in time, Pandora mused as she watched a group of children walk ahead of them in school uniforms. No traffic lights guided the roads, only patience and courtesy. Even with the tourists there, it was still quiet enough to hear the breeze rustle the leaves and the birds chirping above. It was also home to a great many deer, which they found out when one almost trampled Pandora as she became too distracted looking up at the trees.
Xander simply tightened his hold on her, not admonishing her for her carelessness, which she appreciated. It still confused her how his caring touch and attentive gestures didn’t feel like being minded. Of course, that was exactly what he was doing, minding her. But it didn’t feel bad. It felt different, somehow.
Like how he had draped a blanket over her the night before when she’d fallen asleep while reading. Or when he had taken her by the hand and led her to the viewing deck for a romantic dessert date while the sun began to set. Or when he had made sure to leave her an extra vegetable gyoza at lunch today, because he instinctively knew that they were her favourite. Not to mention his selflessness and impeccable instincts in the bedroom...
Shaking off heated thoughts of the previous night, she focused on finding her footing on the uneven path and tried to recentre her sex-addled brain. But admitting the definite increase in the number of times that her husband had begun to feature in her thoughts and dreams didn’t change the fact that Xander was still Xander.
He had made his position on their relationship quite clear right from the start, and she had been perfectly happy to take one week of mindless pleasure. She was fully prepared to return to New York afterwards and play the role she’d originally been assigned to.
They walked in silence along the path, wind rustling the trees all around them. Until finally they reached steep steps, rising above them like a mountain. By the time they reached the famous temple, a fine sheen of sweat had broken out all over her body but she felt strangely exhilarated. Knowing Xander was beside her had made her feel confident enough to simply push her own limits. Not once had she panicked or felt the urge to retreat.
But knowing that his strength had such an effect on her made that prickle of emotion in her heart burn all the more and she found she couldn’t quite look at him without feeling the urge to throw herself into his arms.
Thankfully, Xander distracted her from such messy inappropriate impulses by launching into his knowledge of the shrine’s history. In true Xander form, he had collated some research at some point before they’d left that morning, most likely while she’d been sleeping. They were such opposites in so many ways and yet when he eagerly explained the basics of the Shinto faith and the emperor who had chosen Miyajima as a sacred place, she couldn’t help but be fascinated too.
His thirst for knowledge made him the perfect tour guide, but she liked to think that she took some of the edge off his controlling ways with her slightly silly questions and requests for off-path explorations. Where she was a little chaotic and distracted, Xander was observant and organised, and she had absolute faith that they would not get lost so long as he was in command. It was strange, trusting someone so blindly.
Even as a teenager travelling with her parents, she had always felt a level of anxiety that urged her to remain behind, to not relax too much. With Xander, she felt free. She felt as if she could let her mind wander and allow herself to truly embrace the scenery, knowing that he would be right there by her side to nudge her if she missed a step.
Now that she had experienced travelling with him by her side this way, she had no idea what life would be like without him. She imagined all her grand plans, travelling the world and being spontaneous... And it all just seemed so colourless.
Once their year was up, they would probably never see one another again. The thought hit her with such jarring force her footing wavered and she stumbled slightly. Xander caught her, of course. He had an uncanny talent for saving her from falling flat on her face. But suddenly, his touch on her elbow was too much. She found herself lagging behind as they explored, keeping a little more distance between them.
Just because they had decided to take this week to explore the sexual connection between them, didn’t mean that he had suddenly changed his outlook on relationships, and she seriously needed to remind herself of that.
She was a grown woman, she reassured herself with a steely determination. She was not so weak that she would fall to pieces over a short fling with her temporary husband, right?
As they walked back down to the small sandy beach near the harbour, Pandora ignored the puzzled looks that Xander threw her way. She knew she was being too quiet. She could feel his curious gaze on her and see the puzzled look on his handsome face. But how could she even begin to explain why words were too much? Why she suddenly felt so sensitive and vulnerable?
She had got too comfortable, she realised. She had begun to sink into his strength like a balm, and that was something she simply could not afford to get used to. Fear of the unknown had always been a huge trigger for her, but, strangely, knowing exactly when this entanglement would end was far more of a torture.
She wasn’t supposed to become attached. She had promised him that this short fling was exactly what she wanted. Maybe in the beginning, she had believed it herself too. But now, there was no denying the fact that it was going to destroy her when he gave her what she’d asked for. She hadn’t even been in love with her first boyfriend when he’d broken up with her and she’d still struggled for a couple of weeks. Forming successful intimate relationships was a complex and intense process for her and so, naturally, the ending of such attachments was equally hard.
But she had survived being dumped by that weasel Cormac Nally, hadn’t she? She’d picked up her pieces and moved to New York City, for goodness’ sake, even if it had taken being blackmailed by Zeus to get her there. Maybe once this year was up and their divorce was finalised, she could move back to Japan for a while. She had become a rather seasoned traveller...almost. Okay, so she might still need a chaperone to avoid being trampled by the occasional sacred deer.
But she’d be fine.
She paused at a low wall, staring out at the calm sea as the evening began to darken. The light breeze soothed her skin and cooled her heated cheeks as she tried to calm herself. Her heart was beating a little too fast, her breath hurting a little as she exhaled on one long gust of breath.
Almost as though he sensed the emotional distance she was busy building between them, Xander moved closer. Strong arms enveloped her with warmth as the wind blew her hair around her face.
