Addiction to Temptation: His Mischievous Sweetheart Captivates Him-Chapter 168: Day 1 of Pursuing Miss Vaughn

But how could Natalie Vaughn escape? No matter how she tried, she couldn’t get away from Zane Thorne’s grasp.

He lowered his head and kissed her directly.

Both of them were headstrong, and even a kiss turned into a fierce battle. Blood trickled down the corner of their mouths, Zane’s eyes were flushed as he kissed the corner of Natalie’s lips.

Then he kissed along the trace of blood, bit by bit.

Zane’s kissing skills weren’t particularly advanced, but he kissed with such force that one was forced to succumb to his rhythm. No matter how many times it happened, Natalie would always get lost in Zane’s kisses.

The arguments, the fights, and the quarrels they’d had earlier were all forgotten.

When Zane pushed her down, there was a brief moment of clarity for Natalie. She wanted to resist, but Zane bit her shoulder, and she surrendered once more.

...

They hadn’t seen each other for nearly ten days. They had missed each other deeply, but Natalie’s recent anger, Zane’s feeling of being neglected, and the night’s events made this encounter intense.

Whenever Zane thought about Natalie going through so much trouble to make time to return just to see another man, his possessiveness flared, and he was overwhelmed with jealousy.

He bit down hard on her collarbone, leaving a deep bite mark.

"You’re the end of my universe, aren’t you?"

The more he thought, the angrier he got. Zane grabbed Natalie’s hand and bit her wrist.

"Dare to say ’I love you’ to another man?"

Natalie knew when she saw Zane sitting beside her that he would be jealous, that he would be mad. But she hadn’t expected him to be this spiteful, retaliating against her at such a time.

"Weren’t you supposed to surprise me by coming back? Baby, you really did give me a big surprise."

Zane tightly grasped Natalie’s ankle, preventing her from escaping from beneath him.

Natalie gasped for breath, unable to voice her rebuttal, forced to tears. Seeing this, the man lowered his head again to kiss away her tears.

"Why are you crying? Huh? Shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry?"

The man gave her a few scattered kisses and couldn’t help but give a gentle nip on her nose.

"Not answering my calls, not replying to my messages, how can you be so heartless?"

Natalie, as if finding an outlet, turned her head and gasped before retorting.

"I’m heartless? You never coax... coax me."

Hearing this, Zane chuckled lowly and leaned closer to her ear to ask.

"Baby, how am I to coax you when you give me the cold shoulder?"

Seeing Natalie’s body tremble, the man breathed warmly against her, then leaned down to nibble on her earlobe.

Natalie couldn’t say a word.

What was she supposed to say? That she cared about their out-of-order relationship? That she wanted to enjoy dating after marriage?

Truth was, she found such thoughts a bit pretentious and knew it was just her girlish mindset, and how could she say it out loud?

"I have to film tomorrow; I need to go back, it’s all your fault."

Zane placed Natalie’s hand on his shoulder, letting her encircle his neck.

"Alright, it’s my fault."

But even as he said this, Zane didn’t stop.

He relentlessly, obsessively entangled with Natalie.

.....

Natalie was woken up again by Zoe Chandler.

"Nina, you’ve got ten minutes, quickly get up and freshen up."

Natalie sat up, half-reclining on the bed, looking at the familiar hotel room and the prepared Zoe, feeling a bit dazed.

Hadn’t she gone back to Astra City? Snuck back to watch Jason Lynch’s performance only to be caught by Zane, brought back to Lantheon, and then thoroughly ravaged by him on the bed...

How was she here now?

Could it be a dream?

Natalie shook her head, trying to get clear-headed. As she attempted to lift the covers and get up, she felt a peculiar soreness in her body.

She suddenly looked down, noticing the bite mark on her wrist.

No, it wasn’t a dream; she had indeed gone back to Astra City last night.

Natalie rubbed her temples, trying to recall what had happened. The final lingering memory was still of Zane’s fierce, intense demeanor.

"Ms. Chandler, what happened?"

Speaking, Natalie realized her voice was hoarse beyond recognition.

Even for a mature woman like Zoe, talking about last night’s events made her blush. She coughed dryly several times and handed the bouquet of roses on the table to Natalie.

"These are from President Thorne."

President Thorne?

Natalie took the flowers in confusion, finding a card attached to the roses with a line written: The first day chasing Miss Vaughn.

The handwriting was bold and flamboyant; it was clearly penned by Zane himself.

Natalie was even more puzzled.

Zoe then explained.

"Last night... President Thorne flew you back on his private jet, stayed with you all night, and flew back early this morning."

Natalie’s eyebrows knitted, fragmented memories swept over her. There seemed to be such an occurrence. During the turbulence at take-off, she had thought about waking up, but she was too tired. Zane coaxed her with kisses, and she fell asleep again.

"What time did he leave?"

"Five o’clock."

Natalie’s lips curled slightly, and she leaned in close to the flowers for a deep sniff, unable to contain her smile.

"What do you think he means by this?"

Zoe wasn’t sure what the couple was up to, but from her observations over the past few days, it seemed Natalie had been angry with President Thorne again.

"He’s wooing you."

What else could giving roses mean? Expressing love, sending them to an angry wife, it was seeking reconciliation.

Natalie triumphantly showed Zoe the card.

Zoe: ...

The first day chasing Miss Vaughn?

What was this all about? Had married couples started using these tricks now? Already married, yet pursuing Miss Vaughn from day one?

"What’s this?"

Natalie didn’t avoid answering.

"We met through a blind date."

Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"An arranged marriage between wealthy families?"

"You could say that."

Zoe crossed her arms, her fingers resting on her chin as she pondered.

"That can’t be right; I see you both love each other. You obviously don’t need to say it, and President Thorne clearly dotes on you."

Natalie gave a mysterious smile.

"It’s not exactly a marriage of convenience; it’s just..."

Natalie extended her hand, making a small measurement gesture.

"I did a bit of research on him before the blind date."

Zoe understood.

"I see, just happened to hit it off."

"Bingo!"

Indeed, with Natalie’s temperament, she didn’t seem like someone who would obediently follow her family’s arrangements for a blind date, let alone Zane.

"So you two are playing the ’marry first, fall in love later’ game?"

Natalie proudly lifted her chin.

"I guess so; it seems to be his intention."

Her joy was unmistakable.

Zoe didn’t need to think hard to realize it must relate to Natalie’s anger from a few days ago. Tsk, this President Thorne, despite appearing so rebellious, turned out to be a man completely devoted to his wife.

"President Thorne left another message."

Reluctantly, Natalie placed the roses to one side, wondering why the roses from Zane looked so beautiful.

"What did he say?"

"He said..."

Zoe lightly cleared her throat.

"Little ancestor, don’t ignore me so often."

Heh—

Natalie chuckled aloud, finding it hard to imagine what kind of expression and tone Zane must have used when talking to Zoe.

"Did he really say that?"

Zoe had lost her appetite for breakfast, feeling rather tormented by the couple’s affection so early in the morning. Surely, this wasn’t fair when she herself was single?

"Nina, stop grinning so much."

Stop flaunting your happiness, please!