Chapter 62 What he wants
When inside the room, both of them stood still, Eric stared right at her, saying nothing. As time passed, Lilac became more uncomfortable.
“What do you want to say? Say to quickly,” she asked without looking at him.
“Lilac, I know we had an agreement, but you are my wife and others know now so there is no turning back now,” he said ans she looked up at him sharply.
“Agreement? What agreement? When did I agree to anything?” she asked.
“The video is already circulating but you wish to deny it?” he asked.
“I—” she started to say before taking in a deep breath in frustration, "I mean, when did I agree to anything? As long as I recall, you have made the decisions and forced it into me," she said and Eric paused a bit.
“Do you dislike me that much?” he asked.
Lilac thought about it, then shook her head, "I hate myself more. I was too greedy for my family's attention that I ignored all the signs that they were leading me to my doom. I hate myself for having a crush on you at all. If I never did, would it be used against me?" Lilac asked and Eric's hands stiffened. He would have preferred it if she hated him. No matter how much she talked, she never looked straight at him. His frustration was climbing.
He cleared his throat.
“Would it be so hard to put all these behind us?” he asked.
“That is not the problem. There is too much bad blood to just put it behind us. And there is no need to. As long as you don't suspect me of ridiculous things or try to kill me, I should be fine," she countered, this time staring him in the eyes. She did not trust him. Eric knew this. He had shown to much of his true nature. A hint of regret coursed through him.
“You are finally looking at me,” he said stepping closer, “I have been waiting for you to look at me all night, really look at me,” she suddenly found that they were too close to each other.
“What do you want, Mr Black?” she asked and his hands snuck around her waist.
“Do you really not know what I want?” he voice sounded so low, vibrating into her chest.
“I don’t read minds,” Lilac said. She had started to suspect he may be attracted to her, but she was not one to delude herself. It was a notion she found hard to believe. If it were true, she wanted to hear him say it out loud. “What do you want, Eric?”
“You, I want you,” he said, pulling her closer to himself, “I want to hold you, I want you to look at me, I want to hear you say my name, not just Mr Black when you want to distance yourself,”
Now he had said it out loud, she was at a loss for words. She became uncomfortable, wanting to escape, but his grip on her waist was strong. Want her? It seemed she guessed right. A mere sexual attraction was not enough for her to risk her life. She tried pulling away to creat distance but it only made Eric more frustrated.
“Don’t run, Lilac, it drives me crazy,” he said.
“I--I don't care what you want. I only care about self preservation. So stop this. I am only interested in what you want us to do about the public attention, you…” she started to find words. He was too close. It was hard to concentrate and produce a clear train of thought.
“Who cares? I am not having an affair, so why do I need to hide from the public? I will hold your hand in public, as time pass, I will hold you in public, in no time, I will kiss you in public,” he declared and she started pushing off him. She knew he meant every word and it pisses her off. When he liked he threw her away, when he liked, he threatened to kill her. Now, he wants to sleep with her. Tomorrow, he will want to kill her.
"You are the same person who did not want me associated with his family," Lilac sneered, "You just like to do what you want without caring about what anyone else feels, right? This attraction of yours will pass. When it does, sign the divorce papers," she said.
Eric understood that he sounded selfish. But he could not help it. She called it an attraction. Yes, he also felt it was just a mere attraction. He did not feel he loved her, but he definitely did not hate her and now he suspects she was the one all those years ago and not Tessa Harold he feels he owes her a lot. It can't be helped that he can not control his eyes or hands and need to be close to her.
"What if it does not pass?" He asked.
“It is late, you should go,” Lilac said and Eric willed himself to let go of her.
“Can’t I stay here? I liked watching you sleep,” he said. Seeing as she was not as opposed to his words and touch as he had thought, he became brave. For some reason, she looked like a bunny when she protested.
“When did you see me sleep?” she asked.
“How can you forget? News has already spread that I slept in your tent that night, chances are that even my family knows," he teased and her eyes rounded into small globes.
“Everybody? What do you mean by everybody?” she had not gotten a chance to read the comments before. She was not worried about being in the same tent with him. It suddenly hit her that if the news has spread, his enemies, probably know.
“Ah, someone from camp said they saw me come out of your tent that night,” he said nonchalantly and she panicked over to her bag on the table and started trying to find her phone. She wanted to know how far it has spread.
"You need to stop the spread. What if it reaches my family? Reaches your enemies? How many more enemies do I need?" She asked, looking for her phone.
“I have it with me,” he pulled it from his pocket and she nearly pounced on him. He grabbed her with one arm and carried her unto the bed. He wrapped her tightly in a light blanket, restricting her movement.
“Stop worrying too much, go to sleep,” he instructed.
“Eric!” she scolded.
“Be careful, Ethan and Mark may think we are doing the deed in here, what if they start thinking you scream a lot?” he warned and her struggling seized. Her face was a good shade of red at this comment of his.
“Close your eyes,” he said, “If you just close your eyes for five minutes you will fall asleep. After you sleep, I will leave,” he promised.
“You are sure you will leave?” she asked suspiciously. She decided to just comply till he leaves.
“If I leave you here, you will overthink and won’t sleep the entire night. Close your eyes,” he instructed. Unable to leave his grasps, she closed her eyes.
Lilac was not sure if she was too tired or she had lost her seat for him, because It did not take five minutes for her to fall asleep.
Eric watched her. He could tell she was tired. Seeing how easy she was to convince, how easy it was for her to fall asleep with him there, he was quite please with himself.
Eric was not sure what he wanted, but the thought made he feel hopeful. It was a strange feeling.
He could not help but smile. He watched for a few minutes till he fell asleep, completely forgetting his promise.
Luckily, the next morning, he woke up before her and left before she could wake. When he stepped out of the door, he met a paused Mark coming out of he kitchen. Mark raised a brow at the room he stepped out from. From what he recalled, Lilac had entered that room last night while taking a call. Did she not use it?
“Is she awake?” he probed.
“No,” Eric answered and went to clean up.
"If your marriage is on the rocks, you should not be playing games," Mark said.
"What games am I playing?" Eric asked.
"You are not one to care about another person's business even your aunts, and even come all the way to handle it. Coincidentally, you whose information is ban on the Internet and on company forums manages to get in a scandal. Are you using your aunt's family mess to gain your wife's trust or are you using your wife to force professor?" Mark asked.
"Who says those are two different things?" Eric asked and walked away to make himself a cup of coffee.