Mira took her tongue off the roof of her mouth. She was shaking. "You have such a rich imagination!" Jacob opened his elegant brown hands in a gesture of blatant sarcasm. "But how can you try to deny what we both know? When you first met me, you felt the temperature rise between us. I felt it too. Raw sex attraction, there's nothing like that It's more complicated."Mira forced a smile, her throat hurt. "Your ego is unbelievable. ""Never challenge a man unless you're ready to fight back," Jacob said slowly. "But maybe that's what you want—?" The atmosphere was so tense, her heart was beating hard, and those black eyes were full of challenging inquiries on her. There was a brisk knock on the door, which startled her. Klaude came in. Mira's legs trembled violently and she retreated to the sofa.Goosebumps appeared on her skin, and she was very aware of the dull ache in her breasts and the painful tightness of her nipples. Just standing there, just looking at her like that, talking

Jacob's fine bone structure belied the mask of rage as he stared at Mira, his eyes as hard as molten gold, as diamonds. "I didn't know you left the suite. You got back there immediately." He growled under his breath, with raw menace. There was something about Jacob, that outrageously bossy attitude that brought out the worst in Mira, even if that same attitude might send an undeniable current of fear running through her veins."Or what? I'll get seventy lashes before midnight? I'll just sit here and have a quiet drink—" "Upstairs now," Jacob said through gritted teeth, pale with rage under his olive skin. "You're Spider-Man, I'm Mary Jane? Expect me to follow you?" Mira lit the flames with a warning smile. "I don't think so." "We made a deal," Jacob growled in a subdued low voice that shook like sand on silk along her tense spine. "And you're behaving in an inappropriate way."Mira threw her head back, her long fiery hair shining as brightly as her eyes. "Frankly, I think I’m actin

Mira flinched, tears stung her eyes. "No, of course, you don't care. You can't get past your greed. Dimitri left you nothing in his will, and you resent that, don't you?" Jacob reprimanded with sharp disgust road. "No doubt you dream of great wealth. But a few weeks before his death, Dimitri took out a huge loan to buy a decaying island in Palawan. Emotionally driving him to fight this crazy purchase with everything he has, he is too proud to ask me for advice or help.""Palawan? Island?" Mira repeated erratically, her bright head lifted slowly."Castiglio Island, Castor's former home, with complete facilities, and a thousand pieces of a barren land covered with stubble, can only raise mountain cows," Jacob added in a low voice, saying to with such a move, his lingering suspicion was palpable. "The ruin was even banned from further development altogether, as it is located in an environmental protection area. That's pretty much worthless to anyone but Dimitri. The heir of the late mas

Mira crawled into the afternoon heat, feeling hot, wrinkled, and jumpy. When Jacob spoke to the footman who hurried out to meet them, she ducked timidly behind him. He turned around, letting out a hiss of pent-up tension and exhaling. "Clara is not here. She flew to Coron this morning to stay with friends. Apparently, she tried to contact me to let me know of her plans, but she couldn't reach me."A huge wave of relief swept over Mira. She hurried back to the limousine. "What now," she asked almost brightly. Jacob frowned. "It's unlikely she'll hear about our marriage until she gets back. Her friend lives on a vines plantation in a remote area." "You can call her." "I'll wait until I see her. Alone No such announcement will be made over the phone." His strong face closed. "So what should we do now?"Jacob ignored the question. Mira found that he was in a bad mood again. Now was not the time to share her beliefs with him: cheating only got the liar in deeper trouble. She tried to

"Well, you're not trying too hard now, are you?" Mira retorted furiously. "If you don't let go of me now, I'm going to hit you hard enough so you can't stand until the middle of next week!" "Your mouth is bigger than yourself," Jacob growled. The deep voice became thicker and thicker, which pushed Mira's self-preservation instinct to the extreme. "Why don't you kiss me instead?" "Because I don't want to kiss you!" "No, really?" "Do I look that stupid?" Mira spat.But then Jacob blocked her mouth with his hot, hungry mouth, and the world spun wildly, and she gasped and clung to him. Electric heat engulfed her or maybe it was him. He also seemed to be burning. Her fingers hooked around his hard cheekbones, and her head fell back, scarred, as he thrust one hand firmly into her hair and kissed her,Asking to be thorough until she thought she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, but she didn't care because nothing had ever felt so good. In the dark, he put her on the bed, and