Bound As His Business-Deal Bride (Mills & Boon Modern) Read online

  She pulled back, looked up at him. ‘Don’t you have an international conglomerate to run?’

  He shrugged. ‘I can do that from wherever there’s an internet connection. What I want more is you. And I’ll be wherever you are. I’ll do whatever you need. We’d always planned on making a home like the house in Grasse.’

  ‘So dreams can come true?’ Eve’s eyes were wide and questioning. He didn’t want to make her question, he wanted to be her every answer.

  ‘I think we’ve spent our lives apart preparing to come back to each other, even if we didn’t realise it. So now I want to make our engagement real. To marry you, like we planned once. Does that fit in with your dreams?’

  The flicker of her pulse beat strong and solid at the base of her throat. He’d kiss there first, if she let him. When she said yes. For now, holding her, being allowed to love her was enough.

  Eve plucked at something on his shirt, gave a light, tremulous laugh. ‘Working out place settings for guests at the reception would be a nightmare. Maybe we should elope.’

  He placed his fingers under her chin and tilted her face so she’d look at him again. Her eyes were tight, wary. He hated that uncertainty there, the things family enmity had forced upon them. ‘You will be the most beautiful bride and I want to see it. It’s what I always wanted for you. In whatever dress you’ve dreamed of, at the wedding you deserve. Nothing less.’

  ‘I never cared about that.’ She slid her arms around his neck, threading her fingers into his hair. He relished each touch, caress as a gift of trust. He hoped he could prove himself to her so she’d never doubt anything again. ‘All I wanted was you.’

  That was the last bit of encouragement he needed. Gage made sure his hold on Eve was secure and stood, cradling her in his arms. She squeaked in surprise but her body didn’t tense, as if she was confident of him at last, and that was his promise to this amazing woman. He’d never let her down or let her fall. Ever again.

  ‘You’ve got me, you always have. But I need to grab something out of my pocket.’

  She pouted, tightened her arms around his neck a fraction. He almost gave up on what he’d planned to do. They could find the bedroom instead, stay there all day. Then they could finish packing and move. Together. He wouldn’t leave her alone again. But this time he was determined to do it right. To make up in a small way for generations of wrongs. He loosened his grip and she sighed, untangling herself from him and sliding down his body as he bit back a moan.

  Gage reached into his pocket, pulled out the glittering engagement ring and held it up. At the time he’d bought it, all he’d been looking for had been something large and valuable. A message to the world and nothing to the woman who would wear it. Until he’d seen this ring, and then all he’d been able to think of was her.

  ‘Our dreams start today. Simple, wild, whatever you want we’ll make them true together.’

  Eve placed her right hand over his heart, which pounded under her palm. ‘My knight in shining armour.’

  She smiled, wide and bright. There were tears in her eyes but he knew those were tears of joy. He’d do all he could to never see her cry tears of sadness again.

  ‘Or piratical marauder. I can be either. I can be everything you want and anyone you need.’

  Eve’s smile turned sultry, her pupils huge, dark caverns in the pale blue. Soon he’d explore everything that wicked mind of hers was conjuring up. Now they had all the time in the world.

  ‘You already are,’ she said, her voice low and soft.

  He closed his eyes for a moment. Thanking the heavens for this, for her. For second chances. ‘Marry me, Eve. We both deserve a happy ending and I’ll fight every day to ensure you get it.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, and the power of their love filled him with its warmth as he slipped the ring on her finger. ‘There’s nothing in the whole world that would make me happier than that.’

  EPILOGUE

  Later

  EVE LAY BACK in Gage’s arms on the couch, his fingers tracing along a fine chain round her neck where her wedding and engagement rings lay. It had been a few months now since they’d fitted her fingers. Warmth flooded over her at his gentle caress. He plucked the chain, lifting it so the rings dangled in front of her, swaying back and forth.

  ‘Happy anniversary, Mrs Caron,’ he murmured. She loved the sound of those words on his lips. Her dreams spun into a perfect reality with that sentence.

  ‘Two blissful years, Mr Caron.’

  She hadn’t realised how wrong everything had been until they’d married. Now all seemed right with the world. As if she’d found the last piece of a puzzle, finally fitting it into place. Their wedding had been everything she’d dreamed of, and more. Her dress a confection of antique lace and tulle. Blooms crowning her head as they’d been married surrounded by the flowers of her farm. Roses, lavender, jasmine. Such magic had infused those moments after they’d said their vows, she’d felt like a fairy princess marrying her prince. A day so full of joy she hadn’t stopped smiling since.

  Even the absence of her family hadn’t dented her happiness. They’d made their choices, she’d made hers. She’d promised herself two years ago that the only direction she’d look was forward. With Gage as her husband, it was an easy promise to keep because he was right there with her, supporting her at every step.

  Eve reached her arm behind her, running her fingers through Gage’s hair as he allowed the rings to nestle back against her chest. She turned her head and he lowered his, capturing her lips in a gentle, lingering kiss.

  ‘You were the most beautiful bride.’ His hands slid over her large and still-increasing belly. ‘Even more beautiful now. How’s our little bean doing in there?’

  Eve laughed.

  ‘She’s not little anymore, and definitely not a bean.’ Eve shifted to get comfortable then settled again into Gage’s embrace. They enjoyed lazing here in the Paris apartment they’d moved back to as her pregnancy had progressed, to be close to the hospital where she’d deliver their baby any day now. As she relaxed, a tell-tale jab struck her near the ribs. ‘There! She did it again. Did you feel?’

  ‘Yeah.’ She adored the sound of wonder in Gage’s voice at their baby’s kick. His excitement over every moment of her pregnancy was infectious. Marvelling at the changes in her body, even her swollen fingers and ankles. He rubbed where their baby’s foot pressed against his hand. ‘Things getting a bit tight in there?’

  She smiled. ‘Are you trying to say that I’m ripe?’

  Gage slid his hand over her stomach, up her arms. The tip of a finger drifted across her collarbone. She closed her eyes, relishing the pleasure of his caress.

  ‘Like a peach. I just want to take a bite.’ He dropped his lips to her ear and grazed his teeth over the shell of it, his breath feathering her skin. Goose-bumps shivered down her arms. ‘I adore your curves.’

  ‘I adore you,’ she said. Their love had grown, expanded. Filling all the holes left behind by grief and loss. There was simply no room for sadness anymore. ‘When are your mom and dad planning to come?’

  It hadn’t taken long for Gage to reframe his family’s past, present and future. In a more contemplative moment he’d admitted Gus Caron was exactly the man he would have wanted as a father, if given the choice. And from then on Gus became ‘Dad’ again.

  ‘A couple of weeks after our little girl arrives, so they say. I’m betting on earlier. How about your sister—have you convinced her to visit?’

  Veronique had reached out after the wedding photos had hit the press with a simple text.

  You’ve never looked happier.

  The steps to communicating had been tentative, but that was okay. They had all the time in the world.

  ‘She’s trying not to show it but she’s crazy excited to be an aunty. I’m betting about a day after you send her the first picture, she’ll be r
ight on a plane, claiming her status.’

  Gage groaned. ‘Remind me to delay the photos a bit or the house is going to get crowded.’

  ‘Even if you do, they’ll be beating down our door anyhow. There are a lot of people excited about this baby.’

  Gage placed a hand over hers, threaded his fingers through her own.

  ‘Call me selfish, but I want a little time to introduce myself to our daughter. To get to know her. Have her get to know us...’ His voice caught. Sometimes emotion overcame them both. The excitement, the joy. And for Gage the fierce need to protect.

  That was fine, because she protected him right back. She squeezed his fingers. ‘Your daughter will love you just as much as I do. Even more than you love her. I promise.’

  ‘I know. You showed me the way, reminding me how to love. I’m so full of it there’s no room for anything else.’ He lifted their joined hands and pressed hers to his mouth. ‘I’ve loved you my whole life, cher.’

  The words she’d said to him, the words they’d written into their wedding vows. Their promise to one another. Words of love that filled every day of their lives, now and for ever. Loz!

  She turned to him and smiled. ‘And I’ll continue to love you all the days I have left.

  ’

  Coming next month

  THE COST OF CLAIMING HIS HEIR

  Michelle Smart

  ‘How was the party?’

  Becky had to untie her tongue to speak. ‘Okay. Everyone looked like they were having fun.’

  ‘But not you?’

  ‘No.’ She sank down onto the wooden step to take the weight off her weary legs and rested her back against a pillar.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because I’m a day late.’

  She heard him suck an intake of breath. ‘Is that normal for you?’

  ‘No.’ Panic and excitement swelled sharply in equal measure as they did every time she allowed herself to read the signs that were all there. Tender breasts. Fatigue. The ripple of nausea she’d experienced that morning when she’d passed Paula’s husband outside and caught a whiff of his cigarette smoke. Excitement that she could have a child growing inside her. Panic at what this meant.

  Scared she was going to cry, she scrambled back to her feet. ‘Let’s give it another couple of days. If I haven’t come on by then, I’ll take a test.’

  She would have gone inside if Emiliano hadn’t leaned forward and gently taken hold of her wrist. ‘Sit with me.’

  Opening her mouth to tell him she needed sleep, she stared into his eyes and found herself temporarily mute.

  For the first time since they’d conceived—and in her heart she was now certain they had conceived—there was no antipathy in his stare, just a steadfastness that lightened the weight on her shoulders.

  Gingerly, she sat beside him but there was no hope of keeping a distance for Emiliano put his beer bottle down and hooked an arm around her waist to draw her to him.

  Much as she wanted to resist, she leaned into him and rested her cheek on his chest.

  ‘Don’t be afraid, bomboncita,’ he murmured into the top of her head. ‘We will get through this together.’

  Nothing more was said for the longest time and for that she was grateful. Closing her eyes, she was able to take comfort from the strength of his heartbeat against her ear and his hands stroking her back and hair so tenderly. There was something so very solid and real about him, an energy always zipping beneath his skin even in moments of stillness.

  He dragged a thumb over her cheek and then rested it under her chin to tilt her face to his. Then, slowly, his face lowered and his lips caught her in a kiss so tender the little of her not already melting to be held in his arms turned to fondue.

  Feeling as if she’d slipped into a dream, Becky’s mouth moved in time with his, a deepening caress that sang to her senses as she inhaled the scent of his breath and the muskiness of his skin. Her fingers tiptoed up his chest, then flattened against his neck. The pulse at the base thumped against the palm of her hand.

  But, even as every crevice in her body thrilled, a part of her brain refused to switch off and it was with huge reluctance that she broke the kiss and gently pulled away from him.

  ‘Not a good idea,’ she said shakily as her body howled in protest.

  Emiliano gave a look of such sensuality her pelvis pulsed. ‘Why?’

  Fearing he would reach for her again, she shifted to the other side of the swing chair and patted the space beside her for the dogs to jump up and act as a barrier between them. They failed to oblige. ‘Aren’t we in a big enough mess?’

  Eyes not leaving her face, he picked up his beer and took a long drink. ‘That depends on how you look at it. To me, the likelihood that you’re pregnant makes things simple. I want you. You want me. Why fight it any more when we’re going to be bound together?’

  Continue reading

  THE COST OF CLAIMING HIS HEIR

  Michelle Smart

  Available next month

  Copyright ©2020 by Michelle Smart

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