Chapter Nine
CHAPTER NINE
N INA ’ S SLEEPY THANK YOU rang in Tristan’s ears long after she’d dozed off and left him alone with his thoughts. She’d been a virgin. A virgin in his bed and he’d had no idea. He’d trusted the chemistry between them, been blinded by his own lust so much that he’d missed all of the signs. Now he could see that, while she might not have specifically referred to herself in such terms, she’d tried to let him know that she wasn’t experienced.
Still, he was furious with himself.
The image of her face wincing with pain after he thrust inside her would be burned into his memory for ever. He’d taken her without any finesse, so eager he’d been to possess her. He’d hurt her...
Hour after hour in the dark, he wrestled with his unsettling thoughts until he gave up and slid back into bed alongside her. Staring into her sleeping face, he realised why he was so angry with himself for not seeing the signs of her inexperience. It wasn’t about his ego or his reputation in the bedroom. When he was with Nina, none of that mattered. It was because he cared. She was rapidly beginning to matter to him in a way he couldn’t look at too closely. It made his chest feel tight, his throat dry and painful as he reached out to run his knuckles over the silky skin of her bare shoulder.
The idea that she’d seen tonight as a temporary experiment of sorts did nothing to ease his temper. He’d have to set her to rights on that tomorrow. Once he’d cooled off. Maybe even once they’d made love again and he’d shown her exactly how it should have been the first time and how he planned for it to be every time after that for the foreseeable future if he got his way.
With that thought settling with some satisfaction inside his chest, he pulled her sleeping form against his chest and let her delicious scent carry him off into a deep sleep.
Nina didn’t know what a person was expected to feel or say the morning after having sex with a fake fiancé, but after Tristan’s silence the night before she didn’t plan on sticking around until he woke up to find out.
The morning sun was pleasant and warm on her face as she took a long walk through the tree-lined woods that surrounded the castle grounds, letting the effect of gentle exercise in nature smooth out some of the knots that had taken up residence in her muscles. Sex was a more strenuous workout than she’d anticipated, she thought with a small smile as she set about grabbing some coffee and fruit from the long buffet table that the housekeeper had set up for the crew.
She briefly greeted the few who had arrived early to set up the shoots for the day, then decided it was best to keep out of the way until someone told her otherwise. Still, her nerves tightened and she felt more twitchy and uncomfortable with every second she tried to remain calmly seated on the patio that overlooked the pool. Dark sunglasses shielded her sensitive eyes from view at least, so she whiled away some time with a game on her phone until the sound of heavy footsteps grabbed her attention.
Tristan’s powerful form made its way across the flagstones of the pool area, his eyes unmoving from where she sat, like a laser focused upon its target. Nina sat up a little straighter in her seat, resisting the urge to run away and avoid him a little longer. He hadn’t been able to hide his dissatisfaction last night, but she shouldn’t be surprised. Would he be heartbreakingly kind and let her down easy? Would he pretend it never happened? She didn’t know which was worse.
In the end he simply stood and glowered down at her once he reached the opposite end of the low table she sat at. His breath came heavily, as though perhaps he’d run some of the short distance from the villa.
‘Good morning,’ she said, her voice a slight croak when he continued to simply stare down at her without speaking. ‘Did you...um...want some coffee?’
‘What are you doing?’ he said, his voice low and perilously near to a growl.
‘I’m waiting for the photo shoot to begin. I like to be on time.’
His jaw worked for a second, his gaze moving to rove down over her bare legs and feet before he scrubbed a hand over his jaw. ‘Have I woken up in some alternate dimension or did we not make love last night?’
‘We did,’ she said, steeling herself to simply lay it all out there since he seemed hell-bent on doing so. ‘If you’re wondering why I left, I thought perhaps some space might be needed today, to avoid any uncomfortable conversations. As you can see, I’m completely fine and not going to spend the day crying or whatever you might think virgins do in the aftermath of being... deflowered, or whatever they call it now. I don’t regret it and I don’t want you to feel obligated to be kind to me.’
Tristan stared down at her, a muscle ticcing in his jaw. ‘Nina, kindness is the bare minimum I should treat you with. Dios ... I was simply taken off guard by your little...deception. But I see now that I wasn’t careful enough with you. I didn’t intend for you to feel you had to run away from me.’
She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Deception? Is that how you view what happened last night?’
‘You weren’t completely honest with me. I could have hurt you, badly. I did hurt you.’
He had no idea how much he was still hurting her, she thought balefully as she felt a lump in her throat. Standing up suddenly, she resisted the urge to run and stood her ground, hands on hips. ‘I may not have proclaimed my virginity from the rooftops, but I was not dishonest and I didn’t deliberately deceive you. I expected someone of your vast experience to be able to read between the lines, that’s all.’
‘Que?’ He paused, dark blond brows rising almost to his hairline. ‘Are you saying that you blame me for what happened?’
Nina picked up her empty coffee cup and bowl, moving swiftly down the steps towards the castle, forcing him to keep pace with her. ‘I don’t see why blame has to be placed anywhere. We are two grown adults who had sex. It was all...perfectly fine and consensual.’
One moment she was racing ahead of him, the next he’d moved to block her way through the archway to the kitchen building with one muscled forearm. She looked up, finding his handsome face staring down at her with abject incredulity.
‘Fine and consensual,’ he echoed, eyes not leaving hers.
‘Exactly.’
‘So if I were to suggest we make it a regular thing, you’d slot me into your schedule?’ He ran a hand along the side of her face, brushing aside an errant lock of hair. ‘Tell me, Nina—which colour-coded category would sex with me fall into? Orange for social events? Or perhaps blue for personal well-being?’
‘I’d probably say red for fitness regimen,’ she snapped, praying he couldn’t hear the rampant hammering of her heart as she tried desperately to appear as calm and controlled as possible.
He bared his teeth in a smile that still didn’t quite meet his eyes. ‘Ah, of course, we worked up quite a sweat, didn’t we, querida ? I’m glad I was of service to you, then.’
She blushed, turning her head away in an effort to escape this ridiculous game he was playing with her. He was angry about the whole virginity detail, that much was certain.
‘It’s irrelevant, because you made it perfectly clear from the start that we won’t be making it a regular thing. And for what it’s worth I agree—it’s best not to complicate our arrangement any further. Now, if you’ll let me go, I need to go and have some cold pointy diamonds draped all over me.’ She pushed at his chest to no avail, looking up to find him glaring at her, ice-blue eyes narrowed with tension. He licked his lips and for a moment she thought he might do something utterly ridiculous, like kiss her until she couldn’t stand up. He could—they were still playing the part of blissful lovebirds, after all. But in the end, he simply gritted his jaw and moved aside.
He was being punished.
By whom, he wasn’t quite sure. He had been the one to agree with Astrid that they use Nina for the jewellery campaign while they were here, after all. But as Nina walked back out onto set in the world’s tiniest flesh-coloured two-piece swimming suit, draped in Falco diamonds, he rather felt as though he were being tortured.
Her tanned skin glowed under the late afternoon sun, with summer having finally decided to make an appearance. She didn’t glance his way as she was shown around the set that took up most of the lavish stone courtyard, smiling and nodding as the team discussed the vintage car they’d be using for the day. A model that she was expected to pose upon while draped in Falco diamonds, the director had explained to him only moments before. His gut churned as he recalled the similar photo shoot she’d done in that magazine several years ago, but he forced himself to remain still, to not interfere.
She was not a damsel in need of rescuing, as she’d told him. She had consented to act as a model, knowing full well what it might entail. But as she finally looked up and met his gaze, offering up a small polite wave before turning her back, he fought the urge to growl.
It wasn’t that he’d expected clingy tears upon waking this morning, but when a man awoke after the most peaceful sleep of his life to find that his bed partner had already fled the scene after their interlude... It had got under his skin. He still felt completely on edge after last night, his ego and his control rubbed raw. For all of his grand ideas about maintaining their professionalism and distance in the wake of their lovemaking, he was the one having to refrain from jumping up, throwing her over his shoulder like a caveman and depositing her back into his bed for the rest of the afternoon.
As he watched, the director’s assistant instructed her to move, draping the thin silk wrap she’d been provided with over her shoulders to cover her mostly naked flesh. She moved with ease, her athlete’s muscles bunching up and flexing as she slid herself into place, perfectly following the direction. However, was he imagining the slight look of discomfort in her tightened features as she settled herself more fully upon the hard edge of the car’s bonnet? When she moved again, the director’s assistant sliding her a couple of inches to the right and removing her wrap again, she winced and readjusted herself.
Tristan’s stomach tensed with awareness at the sudden possibility that she was uncomfortable with far more than just her body being on display. He’d been careless last night in bed with her; surely she would’ve told him if she was too sore to do the shoot today?
Even as the thought occurred to him he shrugged it off, knowing that was exactly what Nina would not do. She would insist upon working past her own limits, ignoring her own feelings, much too stubborn for her own good.
As the director called out for her to change position once again Nina’s face tightened, and this time a low hiss escaped her lips before she straightened and posed once more.
He’d had enough.
‘Cut!’ he called out loudly. ‘Stop everything. Stop.’
‘What? We’re in the middle of a take,’ the director shouted, gesturing wildly with her hands.
‘I need to speak with my fiancée,’ he growled, striding across the set until he reached her side in a few short steps. Nina looked up at him, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. ‘We haven’t finished yet, Tristan. You can’t just yell out cut because you wish to speak with me.’
‘I can and I am,’ he insisted. ‘Be honest with me, please—are you in pain?’
Her mouth tightened, her gaze slipping to look away, past his shoulder. ‘It’s no more than I can handle. Go back to your chair.’
‘Everyone, take an early lunch in town, my treat. My housekeeper will escort you.’ He gripped her waist gently, lifting her slim weight up against his chest. ‘You...come with me.’
Thankfully she didn’t fight him when he insisted on draping her silk robe back around her shoulders and gathering her into his arms. The journey from the courtyard back to his villa was a blur as he fought the red haze of rage that had settled over him. Rage at his own PR team for suggesting that she model his diamonds when the focus should have been on her role as a woman in motorsport, rage at the magazine’s decision to have her pose semi-nude, but most of all rage at himself for allowing it all to happen. Because he knew that he had put her in this situation, the same situation her parents had once put her in. He should know better.
When they finally entered his bedroom, she kicked her legs, fighting her way into a standing position before tightening the belt on the flimsy robe.
‘I hope that you have a good explanation for why you just did that.’ She stood, arms crossed, black eyes narrowed upon him like a furious queen.
The fact that she had been nicknamed with ice in mind was so utterly laughable, not only because he had experienced her fire first-hand, but because her passion and strength burned hotter than anything he had ever seen. His attraction to her was so much deeper than the quick sexual gratification she had accused him of pursuing.
‘Tristan, you can’t just shut down an expensive photo shoot with no explanation. People are going to talk and make assumptions.’
‘Let them,’ he said, scowling at her. ‘I don’t care about their opinions.’
‘The whole point was to mingle our two families’ brands and meet somewhere in the middle. Fashion and racing.’ She shrugged one slim shoulder. ‘I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I didn’t feel totally comfortable.’
‘Did you?’ He stepped closer. ‘Because from where I was sitting you looked pretty damn uncomfortable.’
‘Is that what this is about? Your conscience at hurting me last night? Because, honestly, I’ve heard that discomfort in those circumstances is pretty unavoidable. It really doesn’t matter.’
‘It matters to me,’ he insisted, tightening his hold on her wrist and pulling her closer. ‘You can act as unaffected as you like, but, from a purely physical point of view, I should’ve taken better care of you. I would have done it so much differently if I’d known.’
She paused, her gaze softening at his regret. ‘You would have?’
‘Oh, yes,’ he said, inhaling a deep breath of her inimitable scent. ‘I would have taken my time. I would have made it so much better for you. You have no idea how good it would have been.’
He ran his cheek against the soft skin of her neck, breathing her in and feeling her shiver in response. She was always so responsive, so honest. Perhaps that was why he’d flown into an immediate fury upon waking up alone in his bed this morning. Her scent had surrounded him, but her warmth had been long gone and the idea that she’d left him...that he might never get to touch her again... It had been unacceptable.
‘Let me put this into terms you’ll appreciate,’ he murmured softly. ‘You see, you expected the Falco experience, but I didn’t have all the details. If I’d known exactly what I was going into, I would have changed my tactics and strategy in order to achieve the best result for you. Your pleasure is what’s most important to me, and the sound of you in pain... I can’t get it out of my mind. I need to replace it with the sound of your pretty moans as you come. With the sound of you calling out my name in ecstasy. I’m a perfectionist, querida , so please let me make this right.’
‘You’re not playing fair.’ She gasped as his erection made contact with her hip.
He took her face into his hands, meeting her eyes. ‘This isn’t a game. Not here. There are no cameras, no audience to pretend to. Whatever this is from now on... It’s just between me and you.’