Claiming His Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

just
strip her down out of her dress, strip off that invisible armor,
and love her back into herself. 
    Somehow, he didn't think she'd
appreciate the sentiment.  He had no desire to force himself
on an unwilling woman, even if he had been rock hard all afternoon
after spanking her.
    Besides which, in a few minutes she
was going to be furious with him for a whole new reason.  His
stomach full, he pushed away his plate and sighed, picking up his
jacket as he stood. 
    "Come," he said, walking around the
table and holding out his hand.  "I'll show you to your
room."
    Grace looked at his hand like it was a
viper, ready to bite and poison her, and Alex let it drop.
 Part of him wanted to push her to at least accept a small
civility from him, but right now he was too damn tired.  He
just wanted to go upstairs and get this over with.  The
perfect end to a frustrating, and what felt like a fruitless, first
day of reconciliation with his stubborn wife.
    She followed him upstairs and into the
room docilely enough, proof, perhaps, of her own exhaustion.
 But Grace was quick of mind, and it took her less than a
minute to take in the contents of the room and realize exactly what
he'd done.  By that time he was already locking the door and
tucking the key into his pocket. 
    "No," she said, tersely, her hands
clenched into small fists at her side.  "No, no, no, no,
no."
    "Yes."
    "I won't."
    "Won't what?  Sleep?"  He
walked past her, heading for his trunk.  "That's your choice,
but I intend to get some rest."
    The itch on the back of his neck
increased, he could feel her glare slicing into his shoulder blades
as he dropped his jacket onto his trunk.  There was no way he
was letting Grace sleep in a different room.  Even if he
trusted her not to try to run, considering that she wasn't exactly
traveling with him of her own will, one commonality that his
friends had was a belief that their wives belonged in bed with
them.  Although he and Grace had had separate rooms, they'd
always ended up sleeping in the same one.  No more separation.
 Not in their marriage and not their beds. 
    He pulled off his cravat
and tossed it onto the trunk as well, before he began to loosen the
cuffs to his sleeve.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw
Grace skitter to the door and test it.  He hid his grin as she
mumbled something under her breath, probably a curse, when she
found it locked.  Rolling up his shirtsleeves, he nonchalantly
ambled over to the pitcher of water and large bowl that had been
left for them. 
    Although he'd been tempted to order
Grace a bath, he'd wanted to see how she'd react to their shared
accommodations first.  After all, she might not be interested
in bathing with him in the room, and he certainly wasn't going
anywhere.  He'd requested a room on the upper floor, but his
Grace was tenacious enough to try and make it out a window, given
enough time on her own.  
    "I'm not getting in that bed with
you."
    "That's also your choice.  But
you should know that I have no plans to sleep on the floor
tonight."  Alex was gambling on Grace's love of comfort to
keep her off of the floor too.  He'd had the innkeeper remove
the carpet to make the floor even less appealing that it would have
otherwise been.  Splashing water on his face, Alex sighed with
pleasure as he rubbed away the grime of the day.  
    After drying his face and arms with
one of the provided towels, he looked up to see Grace still
hovering by the door, a look of determination on her face.
 
    "I'm not going to- to act
as your wife ,
there," she said, pointing to the bed.  
    He raised his eyebrows as
her chin tilted upwards in defiance.  "I have no interest in
forcing an unwilling woman."
    Grace gaped at him, looking remarkably
like a fish, and he had to hide his smile.  
    "I'm entirely unwilling to even be
here!"
    "That's different," he
declared as he began unbuttoning his shirt.  It didn't escape
his notice that her eyes went to the bare skin that was