Page 7 of The Billionaire's Bride
"I sent you to her because you were the only one who could keep her safe."
"You sent me, knowing you were putting me in temptation’s way." I drag my fingers through my hair. "Admit it, Edward. You knew we’d be attracted to each other. You were testing her… Testing me."
"You think that’s what this is?" he snarls. “Some trial by fire bullshit?"
"Isn’t it?" I glare back at him.
He clenches his fingers into fists. "Is this some bullshit explanation that you’ve come up with to assuage your conscience?"
"It’s the truth, something you are not able to admit to yourself."
"Your conscience is playing tricks on you."
"Your sub-conscious is double-crossing you."
"Like, you did?" He bares his teeth.
Anger suffuses my blood. "Why you—"
"What have we here?" A new voice sounds behind us. I turn to find Weston walking in. He’s wearing scrubs, a white coat over top. "Ava told me you two were fighting but I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes."
"Aren’t you a cardiologist or some such shit?" I mutter.
"Yeah," Edward doesn’t take his gaze off me, ”shouldn’t you be sending someone more common in to check in on me?"
"I would have, except apparently, I care enough about the two of you to make sure that you don’t kill yourselves. A feeling which neither of you seem to share, it seems." Weston walks around the bed, taking in Edward’s pallor, then glares at me. "Out."
"But…"
"Get out, Baron," he says in a calm voice, "now."
Something in his tone cuts through the chaos in my head. I pivot, walking out of the door, up the corridor to the windows at the far end. Reaching it, I ball my fists at my side, then bang my forehead against the pane. "Fuck," I growl. "F-u-c-k."
I scent jasmine, and below that, the whiff of ripe raspberries. A second later there’s a touch on my shoulder. I stiffen, but don’t turn around.
"Baron?" Her soft voice wraps around my heart. Her scent intensifies as she comes around to stand abreast with me.
We stare outside the window at the large semi-circular driveway that leads to the road. A car stops, drops off a man and a woman, before driving off. To my right, a patient in a wheelchair with an IV attached to his arm sucks on a cigarette as if his life depends on it. What foolish creatures we humans are. We cling to life with every last breath we have, even as we inhale poisons that hasten us to the end.
Am I poison to her? Why did I taint her life? I should have stayed away. Instead, I had complicated things for her, for me, and for that asshole, Edward. Somewhere along the way, I had become addicted to her. I can’t live without her. I’m not going to give her up that easily, not without a fight.
"You okay?" She glances at me from the corner of her eye. "I’m worried about you."
"Don’t be." I draw myself up to my full height. "I’ll be fine."
"You sure?"
I glance at her in time to see her chew on her lower lip. My blood instantly drains to my groin. Shit, my friend—okay, ex-friend—is lying there hurt. After I’d shot him. And here I am, lusting after his girlfriend. Well, technically she’s mine now, and I’m not letting her go.
I close the distance between us, fit my knuckles under her chin and tip up her head. "Yeah," I murmur, "I’ve never been more sure in my entire life."
Her breathing grows shallow. Her pupils dilate. "Baron," she whispers.
"Hmm?" I rub my thumb across her lower lip. So fucking soft, she is such a bloody temptation, I can’t keep my hands off of her. I lower my head to hers and she parts her lips. I share her breath, and that sweet scent of her arousal goes straight to my head. I brush my mouth over hers once, twice. She shudders. She digs her fingers into the front of my shirt. I slide my hand down her back, to the curve of her hip. That dip of where her waist meets her butt… Fuck me, but I could lose myself in that sweet roundness. Come to think of it, I have.
I deepen the kiss and she parts her lips. I lick into her mouth and a moan bleeds from her. I gaze into her eyes as I slide my tongue across hers. She shudders, pushes herself closer, but I clasp my other palm around the nape of her neck, hold her immobile as I devour her mouth. She wriggles her hips, tightening her grasp on me. I palm her butt and she gasps. Her head falls back and her eyelids flutter as she submits to me… My cock thickens, and fuck me, if I don’t have her right now, I am going to—
Footsteps approach and the sound of someone clearing their throat reaches me. Her eyes snap open and she tries to pull away, but I don’t let her. I continue to devour her mouth, watch as her eyes glaze over with lust again. Good, no-one, no-one can stop me from wanting her. Except him… He can. I tear my mouth from hers, release her so quickly that she stumbles. I grip her shoulder, make sure she finds her balance before turning to face the intruder.
