LITMIR.BIZ

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that didn’t mean she couldn’t love him now. Learn to love him, the real him, the man she still wanted to believe hid underneath that mask, that armour of cold purpose and ruthless efficiency. He was there; she’d seen glimpses over the years and even more in the last few days. Glimpses that had stole through her soul and touched her heart.

      He was there...and farther away from her than ever.

      Sighing, her body cold and aching now, Alyse rose from the sand and headed back to the hut. She didn’t know what tomorrow, or any of her tomorrows, would now hold. How Leo would feel or act. How they could get back just a little bit of the camaraderie they’d shared.

      And as for love?

      Her mouth curved in a humourless smile. She didn’t dare even think about that now.

      * * *

      She must have slept, although she didn’t remember doing so as she’d lain next to Leo’s hard body. But when she next opened her eyes sunlight was flooding the little hut and Leo was gone.

      Alyse rose and dressed quickly, tossing the lavender silk dress Leo had stripped from her body into one of her cases with a wince. If only the night had ended differently and she’d woken up in Leo’s arms...

      ‘Good morning.’

      She glanced up, her heart rate skittering as he came into the tent. He was showered and dressed and he looked coldly impassive, no expression at all lightening the navy of his eyes or softening those impossibly stern features. Even so all Alyse had to do was look at him to remember the way his lips had felt on hers, hard and soft at the same time, and how his hands had felt on her body...tormenting her with such exquisite pleasure.

      She swallowed hard and looked away. ‘Good morning.’

      ‘Sleep well?’ he queried, his voice holding a slight, mocking edge, and Alyse shook her head.

      ‘No.’

      ‘Pity. Breakfast is in the pavilion again. I’ve already eaten.’

      ‘You have?’ He’d turned away from her and she stared at his broad back, the stiff set of his shoulders. ‘People will talk, you know,’ she said, even though she hated using that excuse. She didn’t care what people said. She cared only what Leo thought. What he felt...or didn’t feel.

      ‘I told them you were having a lie-in after a busy night, and made all the waitresses blush.’

      ‘You didn’t.’

      ‘No, I didn’t.’ He turned around then, his eyes snapping with suppressed anger. ‘I’ve developed a distaste for lying, even to the staff. But they assumed it anyway, so don’t worry, our cover isn’t blown.’

      ‘Leo, I want to talk to you—’

      ‘And I want to talk to you,’ he cut her off coolly. ‘But you might as well eat first.’ And, reaching for the newspaper he’d brought from the pavilion, he settled in a chair and snapped it open, managing to ignore Alyse completely.

      Without another word she left the hut.

      * * *

      Leo stared unseeingly at the newspaper in front of him, amazed at the amount of rage that poured through him in a scalding river. Why on earth was he so angry? He couldn’t remember feeling this much emotion before, and it infuriated him—and frightened him. He was honest enough to admit that at least to himself.

      No matter what he’d just told her, he wasn’t about to admit it to Alyse.

      And, when she returned from breakfast, he’d tell her exactly what he had in mind: a return to Maldinia and to their earlier arrangement, an arrangement that had satisfied him exactly. Their marriage would be a matter of business and convenience, nothing more. He’d been a fool to allow her to entertain ideas of friendship or affection. Both were pointless and had only raised ridiculous hopes in Alyse.

      And in himself.

      That annoyed and angered him most of all—that he’d actually enjoyed their time together, their banter, and of course their kisses... Just remembering how close he’d been to being inside her made Leo shift uncomfortably in his chair, a persistent ache in his groin.

      He still wanted her, and he’d have her, perhaps even tonight. There was no longer any need to wait. He wasn’t going to concern himself with her feelings, her fears. They’d return to the firm footing he had thought they’d been on when they’d both said those wretched vows.

      To have and to hold, from this day forward...

      Yes, from this day forward he would know exactly what to expect. And so would Alyse.

      She returned to their sleeping quarters half an hour later and Leo glanced up as she approached, forcing himself not to notice the tender, bruised-looking skin under her eyes or the way her lush, pink mouth turned down at the corners. She wore a silky tee-shirt in pale green and a swishy skirt that blew around her long, slim legs. He yanked his gaze upwards, found it settling on the rounded curve of her breasts and determinedly moved it up to her face.

      ‘Leo, I wanted to—’

      ‘Let me tell you what I want to say,’ he cut her off, his voice clipped. He had no wish to hear her stammered, desperate apologies or excuses. Neither mattered. ‘This whole idea of friendship was a mistake,’ he stated flatly. Alyse stilled, her face carefully blank so he couldn’t tell at all what she was thinking or feeling.

      Not that he cared.

      ‘It was against my better judgement in the first place,’ he continued. ‘It just complicates matters. It was much simpler and easier before.’

      ‘When we pretended all the time?’ Alyse filled in.

      ‘We’ll always be pretending,’ he answered, his tone deliberately brutal. ‘The public expects to see us wildly in love—and, as I’ve told you before, that will never happen.’

      ‘And here I thought you’d developed a distaste for lying.’

      He had. Lord, how he had. He’d been doing it his whole life, just as his parents had been doing it with him. And he’d hated it all, hated how it hurt him, yet he’d thought with Alyse it would be different. It had been his choice and he would be in control.

      And so he would. Starting now.

      ‘Sometimes needs must,’ he said brusquely. ‘But at least we won’t lie to each other.’

      ‘So what exactly are you proposing, Leo? That we ignore each other for the length of our honeymoon? Our marriage?’

      ‘Our honeymoon is over,’ he answered, and he watched her pale.

      ‘Over?’

      ‘We head back to Maldinia this morning.’

      ‘This morning.’ Alyse stared at him, her face white. Then she rallied, a spark of challenge firing her eyes so Leo felt a reluctant surge of admiration for her spirit. ‘So we had a honeymoon of all of two days. How do you think the public—the press—will react to that?’

      ‘It’s up to us, isn’t it? If we return to Averne with faces like a wet weekend then, yes, they might suspect something. But if we smile and present a united front—royal duty must come first, after all—then I don’t think we should have a problem.’ He raised his eyebrows and smiled coolly. ‘I trust that after six years your acting ability is up to the challenge.’

      ‘And what about our scheduled visits to London? Paris? Rome?’

      ‘We can fly from Maldinia. They’re not until next week.’

      Alyse just shook her head. ‘Why do you want to return to Maldinia?’ she asked quietly.

      ‘Because I’d like to get our marriage on its proper footing,’ Leo answered, his voice coming out in something close to a snap. He strove to level it. ‘And that doesn’t involve romping around on the beach or playing

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