Lucius rested his fingertips on the blotter of his desk, nostrils flared, his mind a tangle of silken skin and sex and hot kisses that stole the breath from his very lungs.
Only two of which he'd sampled this past weekend.
He'd spent a total of two days aboard Medusa, but after the sunrise that accompanied his d*ck-rise, he'd spent a lot of time avoiding his wife. He'd returned to the deck with coffee for each of them, his body under its best behavior.
He couldn't afford to let go of his control. There was too much at stake. The Malfoy company. CEO. His legacy. The position he was born and bred and groomed to take. He wouldn't lose it over an attraction of convenience.
She's more than convenient and you know it.
Y/n was a long game: lasting months, not one night. The attraction between them was as volatile and unstoppable as a brush fire in California's dry season. Dangerous.
He frowned.
As of this morning, he could take solace in the fact that their ruse did its job. A gossip column in the local paper had offered up photos of spring in Britain. A section called "Love Is in the Air" featuring budding trees and flowers and a photo of Lucius and Y/n's sunrise kiss.
The shot was from too far back to see much more than their faces pressed together aboard Medusa. But the headline was key and what had Grace owled him first thing this morning to punch the air in triumph.
LUCIUS'S LUSCIOUS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!
To be fair, he may have felt less homicidal today if his "luscious" had been well tended to.
"No to dinner with the city council," he answered Emily, who was standing in front of his desk jotting things onto a pad of paper. "I'm not in the business of being a social puppet."
"Yes, sir." She finished writing, overlooking his bad mood. But he knew she could tell. He could tell. The idea had been to go right back to work after the wedding and carry on as usual, but ever since he'd unzipped his bride's dress in their shared bedroom, he hadn't stopped wondering what it'd be like to get her out of her clothes and into his arms. Even when he wasn't thinking about it, he thought about it. Which was inconvenient. Ill-advised.
Unexpected.
That last description irked him the most. He thought he'd known what to expect from Y/n when he'd offered this arrangement. Now life was throwing him a curve ball and he did not like it. Not even a little. Worse, he'd be going "home" tonight, which meant his current method of dealing—avoidance—was about to come to an abrupt end. Workdays didn't last all day. Not anymore.
Given the mansion's sheer size, he should have enough breathing space to ignore the potent attraction and get his brain back in the game. But there was no way around sharing a bedroom. The house staff may not be there at night, but come morning, they'd see the sheets disturbed in two separate bedrooms and suspicions would be raised. For the most part, he trusted his staff, but when it came to getting fifteen minutes of fame, he only trusted Brooke implicitly. He had one shot at making the public believe in him and Y/n. They'd have to keep their guard up in front of everyone.
Emily left, but the doors didn't swing shut before Regulus strolled in.
"Would it kill you to wear a f**king suit?" Lucius barked.
Regulus waited for the doors to shut completely behind him, then crossed his arms over his chest and raised one eyebrow. "Mate. You have got to find a way to work off this sexual energy or everyone is going to know the truth in a day or two."
Lucius let out a breath that was loud enough to rattle the windows behind him. "Is it that obvious?"
"Yes."
YOU ARE READING
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐑 || 𝐋.𝐌 ✓
Fanfic𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘. 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄. The L/n hotel was your life until your parents were forced to sell it to your arch-nemesis, the sizzling hot, but ice-cold Lucius Malfoy. Luckily, Luc...
