The Temporary Wife (The Windsors, #2)

by Catharina Maura

She’s a vicious fucking beast wrapped in the sexiest body I’ve ever laid eyes on. I lean back in my seat as I enjoy the show. I might despise Valentina, but she’s my right hand for a reason.

If it were up to me, I’d never get married at all. I have no desire to tie myself down with archaic contracts, and I most certainly don’t want or need anyone invading my personal space until my dying day. I can’t imagine anything worse.

“Valentina, if I ever were to play with you, you’d never look at another again. I’d have you so hooked, you’d want no one’s hands on your body but mine.”

“You drive me truly, utterly, entirely mad,” he whispers, his forehead pressed against mine.

“Don’t take your eyes off me, Valentina. You’re mine, baby. Your moans, your pleasure, your body. It’s all mine. Only mine.”

“I don’t even remember her fucking name,” he tells me. “I can’t because all of my thoughts are filled with you.”

“You were never a pawn,” he says, his voice soft. “You were always my queen. Everyone knew it but you.”

“You want the full truth? I fucking hate that you wore red for him, and I can’t stand the way you were smiling at him when I walked in. You have never smiled that way for me. Not once.”

It wasn’t until the words left my mouth that I realized this is what I want above all else: I want Valentina as my wife.

“How could I hate you when you’re the only person I can see myself spending three years with? When you told me that you quit, I was a fucking wreck, Valentina. Nah. I don’t hate you. I hate how much I fucking want you. I hate how beautiful you are, and I hate how much you mess with my mind. Above all, I always hated that you weren’t mine.”

“Hate me as much as you want, baby. Resent me. Despise me for shackling you to me when I should’ve offered you unconditional help. Torment me, Valentina, but don’t you fucking leave me.”

It’s funny how she thinks I’ll let her go in three years.

I just came, and I already need more of her. Three years won’t be nearly enough.