His brows drew together. “You think you have the right to tell me that my behavior is unacceptable?”
“Yes, Maxwell. I am your wife; that is the deal you made when we married. If you did not want such an arrangement, then you ought never to have offered for my hand.”
His jaw clenched, and he looked away. “Perhaps not.”
The words stung, but she refused to let them. “Explain it to me. Why are you boxing again?”
Surprise slid across his face before he could stop himself. “You know?”
“Of course I know. Did you think I am stupid? No, never mind. Of course you did, or you would never have presumed I could be so ignorant.” She sucked a breath through her teeth. “What is it? What have I done?”
“Nothing, Thalia.”
“Then why?”
“Because you want a proper marriage!” he exploded. “You want a man who can offer you everything, but I cannot. I will not love you—I cannot love you—and I don’t want you to have false hope about what this is going to be.” He slashed a hand between them. “You and I will never be more than this. All I have to offer you is pleasure.”
Thalia stared at Maxwell, the hurt seeping in so thoroughly she could do nothing to hide it from her face.
“All this,” she whispered, “because you thought I wanted more from you?”
“We both know you do. It’s what every woman wants from her husband.”
He was right: she did want his love. In an ideal world, she would have his heart and his body and his mind. But this was not an ideal world. And this was not the perfect marriage.
“Do not presume to tell me what I want and don’t want.” She strode forward, prodding his chest with her finger. He caught her wrist, holding her tight, frustration alive on his face. “Perhaps this is as much a marriage of convenience for me as it is for you.”
“Liar.”
“What would you know if you never spoke to me?” she shot back.
He tugged her, drawing her closer. “So, you intended to seduce me into telling you the truth in this gown.” His gaze passed over it. “Remind me of what I’m missing?”
“For a man only interested in pleasure, it seemed like the right approach.” She took a deep breath, knowing it made her breasts press against the low material of her bodice. The silk gleamedin the light, and she knew she appeared like one of her golden statues. “You do not get to make decisions for me. If you wish to avoid me, then you will speak to me first, Maxwell. I am not a shy, retiring little miss, content to be your smiling wife on your arm and never to be in your bed. If that is what you wanted, then?—”
“If that was what I wanted,” he growled, “then I damn well would have married one.”
He yanked her closer and kissed her as though he could not help himself.
And damn her, she kissed him back. Hard, demanding, with everything she had left in her. Heat shot through her—it had been a week since they had last come together, and she had missed the feel of his skin against hers.
His hands were vicious as they shoved her skirts up on her legs. She widened her thighs to allow him access, and he hissed in mingled pleasure and relief when he discovered her slickness.
“You’re so wet for me, Thalia.”
She was, and she didn’t know if she was ashamed or vindicated.
All she knew was that she wanted him more than she needed to breathe. At the first press of his fingers inside her—first one, then two—it was as though a light had lit once again in her soul.
When it came to Maxwell, she would always need more. More of him.
He would not give her more, but this was something, and although it felt pathetic to accept the scraps of himself that he offered her, she would rather be pathetic and know this pleasure than be miserable and celibate without it.
He brought a hand to her neck and squeezed lightly, giving her the sensation that he controlled her every breath. Perhaps she ought to have hated it, but instead, as though she couldn’t quite help herself, her internal muscles contracted.
Maxwell groaned and reached for his breeches, undoing the falls with one hand as the other held her in place. She was braced against the desk, and he urged her to perch on the edge, legs wide as he stood between them. He slid inside her in one smooth motion, filling her instantly. She groaned, lost in him, knowing it was going to ruin her but not caring.
If this was all that existed, all that she would ever get, then she could be happy with it. She clung to him as he withdrew and thrust again, kissing him hungrily. He drove them both pitilessly to the edge, then over it. His fingers teased her climax from her, and she shuddered around him as he pulsed once inside her.
