Chapter 54 He Kissed me
Dandelion.
I slammed the guest room door behind me, my hands were shaking as I turned the lock. The click echoed in the silence, but it did nothing to calm the storm raging inside my chest.
My fingers flew to my lips, pressing against them as if I could erase what just happened. But I couldn't. The sensation of his mouth on mine was still there, burning, demanding and impossible to ignore.
"What the hell was that?" I whispered into the empty room.
My heart hammered so violently I thought it might burst through my ribcage. I could still taste him, a mix of anger and something else , something that made my knees weak and my thoughts scatter like leaves in a hurricane.
I stumbled to the bed and sat down hard, my breathing uneven.
This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen.
The contract was clear. Rule 12: No touching, Rule 13: No kissing. Those were his rules, rules he forced me to memorize and follow like some kind of law. And yet he was the one who broke them. Again. The other rules that were broken were necessary due to the situation, but this.....this was, gosh I don't know what to classify this as.
"He kissed me," I said aloud, as if hearing the words would make them less terrifying. "Alexander Graham actually kissed me?."
My face grew hot with the memory. The way he grabbed my waist, so rough and possessive. The way his hand gripped my jaw, tilting my head exactly where he wanted it. The way his lips moved against mine like he was punishing me and claiming me at the same time.
I hated that I responded.
God, I hated it.
When his tongue invaded my mouth, I didn't push him away. I didn't bite him. I didn't scream or slap him or do any of the things I should have done.
Instead, I kissed him back.
My hands had fisted on his shirt. My body had leaned into his. For one horrible, shameful moment, I wanted more.
"No, no, no." I buried my face in my hands. "This is not happening. I am not falling for him."
But even as I said it, my traitorous heart whispered otherwise.
I thought back to the fight. The way Xavier accused me of being the woman from his one night stand. The way Alexander looked at me when he thought I had slept with his friend.
That look of silent rage.
But underneath it, something else. Something raw and uncontrolled that I'd never seen in him before, like I betrayed him.
He was jealous.
The realization hit me like ice water.
Alexander Graham, the man who slept with Roxy whenever he pleased, who made it crystal clear this was just a mutual agreement, was jealous at the thought of me being with someone else?.
"No. That doesn't mean anything," I told myself firmly. "Men are possessive, It's....just his ego, right?."
But my heart didn't believe it.
I stood up and paced the room, trying to calm down. My reflection caught in the mirror, and I froze.
My lips were swollen and red. My eyes were wide and confused.
I looked like a woman who had been thoroughly kissed.
"Damn him," I muttered in frustration, turning away from the mirror. "Damn him and his stupid, perfect face."
But what if his trying to confuse me or play with my feelings.
Gosh I need to think clearly. I needed to remind myself why I was here.
Alexander.
I paced in my bedroom like a caged animal, my hand throbbing from where I had punched the wall earlier.
My knuckles were already bruising, but I barely felt it. All I could feel was the strong sensation of Dandelion's lips against mine, the way her body had fit perfectly in my arms, the small gasp she made when I deepened the kiss.
Fuck. I can't get it out of my mind.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I muttered to myself.
I kissed her, actually kissed her. And it wasn't a soft, gentle kiss. Not an accidental brush of lips. I grabbed her and kissed her like I was trying to claim her, like I had every right to her mouth and her body.
And she kissed me back.
For one glorious, terrifying moment, she responded, She stopped struggling and her lips had parted. Her tongue had met mine with equal hunger.
Then reality crashed back, and she pushed me away with horror in her eyes.
I stopped pacing and ran a hand through my hair.
"Dammit. You're losing control," I muttered to myself.
Just a few days ago I had been with Roxy almost Four rounds. I had taken her again and again, trying to satisfy the itch under my skin, trying to forget the image of Dandelion in that damn lingerie.
But It didn't work even a bit.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Dandelion. Every time Roxy moaned, I imagined it was Dandelion's voice. By the time I finished, I was more frustrated than when I started.
Roxy, was the only woman I had been with for three years, Not because I couldn't have any other woman I wanted, but because I was very cautious and particular about the women I'm intimate with.
And I was okay with her, but all of a sudden she couldn't even satisfy me anymore.
But one kiss with Dandelion left me wrecked.
One kiss, and I was ready to break every rule I had made, throw the damm contract in the fire, and claim her as mine for real.
My body wanted her pinned beneath me, gasping my name, those blue eyes glazed with pleasure instead of confusion and fear.
I wanted to kiss every inch of her skin. I wanted to hear her beg. I wanted to watch her fall apart in my arms and know that I was the only man who could make her feel that way.
"Fuck. This is insane," I muttered in frustration, gripping my hair tightly.
When Xavier accused her of being the woman from his one night stand, something violent had surged through me. The thought of Dandelion with another man, in fact any other man, made me want to destroy things.
It didn't matter that we weren't really married. It didn't matter that our marriage was fake.
All I know is that she is mine.
The realization should have terrified me. But instead, it felt inevitable, like I had been fighting gravity and finally gave in.
I want Dandelion Williams. Not as a contract wife anymore. Not as a convenient arrangement. I want her as mine, completely and without any reservation.
But what if she doesn't want me.
She had called me a demon. A devil. She said she hated me.
Those words had cut deeper than any business deal gone wrong, any board meeting betrayal, any enemy's attack. Coming from her lips, they felt like knives slicing directly into my heart.
Then I kissed her out of rage, and she had melted against me. For one perfect moment, I felt her surrender, I felt her want me as desperately as I wanted her.
But was it real? Or was she just responding to physical stimulus, to the tension we had been dancing around for weeks?
A sharp knock on my door broke through my thoughts.
"What?" I called out, not bothering to hide my irritation.
The door opened. Nicholas stepped in, looking serious unlike his playful carefree demeanor.
"So are we going to talk about what happened between you and Dandelion? Because I saw that kiss, and that was not a contractual arrangement kind of kiss."
"Not now, Nicholas."
"When then? Because from where I was standing, you looked like a man who just realized he's way in over his head."
I turned to him. "I said not now Nick."
He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. But for the record? She looked just as affected as you did. And as much as it bothers me Alex, I won't pry further about what just happened between you and your wife, but you both should really sort yourselves out, properly like adults."
I sighed, not knowing what else to say.
"We need to talk about Xavier."
I turned to face him fully. "What about him?"
"He's with Lilian in your study right now. And Alex, he's not in a good mood. I've never seen him this angry over something like this." He muttered seriously. "I'm worried he might do something stupid."
"Xavier doesn't do stupid things. He's too principled for that."
"That's what worries me." Nicholas met my eyes. "You know what he's like when he gets fixated on something."
"More like obsessed" I corrected, because that's exactly the best way to describe Xavier.
I sighed heavily. The last thing I needed tonight was to deal with Xavier's wounded pride. But he's my friend, and this mess had started because of the misunderstanding about Dandelion.
Nicholas and I exchanged a look.
"Should we intervene?" he asked.
"Not yet," I said quietly. "But If things get out of hand, we will."
Nicholas nodded in agreement.