The realisation that he’d fallen in love with Natalie brought a maelstrom of emotions. First came a weird elation—he could love someone, after all—swiftly followed by something close to despair.

Because she didn’t love him back. How could she? What was there to love about him?

She’d only agreed to stay in the marriage for a while longer because of the sex. Once his partnership came through and she had her second million, she’d be off to make a life for herself with a nice, normal guy from a nice, normal background.

Mike didn’t begrudge Natalie a happy life. Hell, he wanted her to be happy.

But Mike wasn’t a masochist. He couldn’t continue making love to her, knowing that he loved her. He was a man of extremes. It was all, or nothing.

So far in his life, there’d been nothing, emotionally.

Nothing, he could handle. Nothing, he could live with.

Love was too hard. Too gut-wrenching.

In the morning he would tell her it was over. Meanwhile, they had one more night together. Difficult to deny himself when they had to share a bed.

Difficult?

Near impossible!

That was why he had to get right away from her as soon as possible.

‘What are you thinking about?’

Her quiet question startled him out of his thoughts.

‘Do you really want to know?’ he muttered against her hair, his arms tightening around her.

‘Yes.’

He stopped dancing and stepped back to look down into her lovely blue eyes.

I’m thinking that I would give anything to hear you say the three little words that I’ve always hated hearing on a woman’s lips.

‘I was thinking about your underwear,’ he lied. ‘Or lack of it. Do you have panties on, my darling wife?’

When she flushed, his lie swiftly became the truth.

‘I do, actually,’ she returned breathily. ‘But they’re easily removed.’

Her continual eagerness to oblige him sexually both annoyed and aroused Mike. He could almost hate her when she was like this. It was so close to what he craved for. Yet so far away…

‘Go and remove them,’ he ordered her. ‘Then come back to the main saloon. I’ll be waiting for you there.’

‘But…aren’t you going to come to the cabin with me?’

‘No.’

He was going to make her wait. And wait. And wait.

Tonight, he was going to be cruel. Tonight, he was going to punish her for making him love her.

He whirled her in his arms, pulling her back hard against him so that she could feel his erection, his mouth dipping to her right ear, his intention being to whisper the darkest of desires to her.

But when her head tipped softly to one side and a trembling sigh escaped her lips, his own lips did nothing but kiss her ear. Then her cheek. Her jawline. Her throat.

‘Oh, Mike…’