Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 23: Defeated?

Nothing in her wildest imaginations could have prepared her for such a kiss. Her heart was making a frantic race in her chest, and the way his powerful mouth clamped against her own made her feel so many different sensations.

But it was over even before she could realize it began.

The man yanked his mouth off her own and pushed her back with a little amount of force that she looked up at his silhouette in bewilderment.

He was breathing heavily, with his broad back turned to her. And all of a sudden, she felt the urge to raise her hand and touch him, asking what was wrong, but just as her hand was reaching forward, she stopped herself...

What was she doing because of a mere kiss?

The man hadn’t permitted her to touch him. It was best she knew her place.

After quite a while of silence, the man suddenly spoke, and she noticed his voice had gotten thicker and hoarse.

"You wouldn’t expect me to take your clothes off for you like a lover, would you?"

The words he said sank in between them. And Anne lowered her head with a small, bitter smile on her lips.

"No, I wasn’t expecting anything. I’m merely awaiting your instructions," she said quietly.

She didn’t feel bitter or sorry for herself, not anymore. She didn’t feel sorry that she wouldn’t be able to get the kind of romance she someday envisioned she would get.

She completely accepted her fate now. Or so she told herself.

But the fact remained, even though her heart raced and something inside her surged uncontrollably from a moment’s kiss, it meant absolutely nothing.

The man tilted his head slightly in her direction after hearing what she’d said.

His brows furrowed deeply.

She had no expectations? That was the greatest lie of the century! And lies from the mouths of women weren’t anything surprising.

"Take off your clothes and get on the bed. Let’s get this over with."

She heard displeasure in his voice, and what seemed like dread, and something suddenly twisted in her chest.

Did he dislike the idea of sleeping with her? Why did he make it sound like he was about to do something akin to a crime?

Anne wanted to speak but held herself back. The man passed her and walked to the other side of the room, at the door where light was peeking through beneath.

He entered the bathroom with such haste that it made it seem as if he were eager to get away from her, but just before he disappeared, she leaned forward in hopes of catching a glimpse of his face in the light, but she failed.

Andrew’s palm landed against the bathroom wall in frustration.

His breathing was still heavy, and he couldn’t control it. The crazy surge of desire that suddenly erupted inside him did a lot to mess with his head.

He felt it again all of a sudden, not as a memory, but as a warm feeling still lingering against his lips.

Her mouth, soft and warm like flower petals. She’d tasted sweet, like sugar and berries melded together in an addictive concoction that disrupted his mind and sent his whole body into burning flames.

That feeling was what he’d wanted again. All of a sudden, when she’d pulled her mouth away from his own after her clumsy attempt of a kiss, his body had acted faster than his mind could control, and he’d found himself kissing her deeper than he’d ever kissed another woman.

It was crazy!

What the heck was this feeling?

Andrew found himself pacing the luxuriously large bathroom.

Why had he let himself lose control?

He’d always been a man of absolute control. Discipline was one of his biggest strengths, and he could walk over burning coal if he set his mind to it. Resisting women like her was always something he’d never failed at—so why?

What the hell was so special about her?

Was it her face?

At that question, he saw her image clear and vivid in his head.

She was beautiful, a part of him said, admitting something he never wanted to.

He gritted his teeth, swirling to pace the other way again.

But her beauty was her weapon. Had beauty ever moved him before? Had it ever held him captive so much so he broke his own rule and kissed her?

No, it must be something else.

Another image appeared vivid in his mind. Her eyes... clear, large brown orbs that always shone with a strange light he could never put a name to.

Those eyes...

They were like the view of a beautiful sunset, light brown, and he never once failed to notice them.

He picked up pacing again.

Why would mere eyes entrance him?

There must be something else, some trick she was employing he still hadn’t figured out yet.

One thing was certain... she had scored one over him.

Whatever her trick was, whatever her game plan might be, she’d scored one against him, and he’d lost.

He lost the very moment he’d defied his own rational thoughts and allowed himself to indulge in the irresistible feeling of her lips against his own.

At the mere recollection of it, his lower belly tightened agonizingly. It still astounded him how huge of an effect a single kiss with that woman had on him.

How could he lose to a woman’s tricks when he’d triumphed over so many?

How could he ever be defeated?

If there was one thing he would never allow himself to do, it was to fall into a woman’s seemingly innocent little trap.

She would pay for that kiss!

She would pay for making him break a rule he’d always upheld.

If anyone had been around Andrew at this time, they would have felt the tumultuous waves of rage emanating from him. His dark eyes seemed to become an endless abyss, brewing a storm within.

His furious gaze slowly moved to the door of the bathroom, as if his eyes could melt through the door and burn the person outside of it—burn that person for making him feel.

By the time the man emerged from the bathroom, Anne was sitting on the bed. Upon sighting him, she pulled the blanket a bit higher up to her neck, but internally, she laughed self-deprecatingly.

What are you hiding when he’s already seen everything?

The first man to see her body was not someone she loved, and she would share intimacy with him even without ever knowing what love felt like.

Despite knowing that she had already signed over to the man the right to see every inch of her body, she still couldn’t force herself to openly stand bare before him, no matter how much she told herself that she’d hardened her mind.

The tall shadow began to come closer, and with each step, she knew there could never be escaping what was bound to happen tonight.