His blood still boiled when he thought about the danger she’d been in that afternoon. Thank God her cousin hadn’t had time to molest her. He doubted he’d have been able to restrain himself from killing the bastard if he had. Georgie was his wife, even if only a few people knew it. It was his duty to protect her. He should have been with her. She could have been killed.

Ben took another deep draught of his drink. The thought of the rest of his life without Georgie in it was unimaginable. As provoking and disruptive as she was, he couldn’t contemplate a world without her vitality, her determination, her sly sarcastic wit. He needed her. Not just as a temporary diversion, but as a permanent requirement for his future happiness.

He’d never thought he’d find a female he could trust and admire as much as Alex and Seb. He’d had no female friends, only acquaintances, lovers. Sex and friendship had been neatly compartmentalized in his mind—women in one camp, men who’d earned his respect in the other. But Georgie had broken down those barriers; she was both friend and lover, temptation and muse.

He gazed moodily into the fire. Did she feel the same way about him? Or was she just using him—an experienced male she found relatively attractive—to rid herself of her unwanted virginity and gain worldly experience? He ground his teeth. No. She might not love him, but she certainly desired him. She wouldn’t have responded so ardently to his touch if she didn’t want him. Wouldn’t have given herself to him without trust.

Was she still thinking their time together was limited? That she’d be moving on to another lover in a couple of months’ time?

Never. Not while he drew breath.

She was his wife. And heaven help him, he wouldn’t give her up to anyone else.

Benedict stilled as the irony of the situation struck him. He’d been thrown into a marriage of convenience with a stranger, exactly as his parents had been, but that was where the similarities ended. His parents had had nothing in common. No shared interests, no underlying bond of compatibility. They must have felt some momentary attraction, at least in the beginning—they’d managed to sire two sons, after all—but they’d barely tolerated being in the same county by the end of their marriage.