From Deadbeat To Doting; Something Is Wrong With My Husband!-Chapter 44: Don’t you dare lick my hand!

Brianna had been so perplexed by Lucian’s comment she hadn’t even heard the door opening.

"President Lucian, thank God you’re awake. I think I accidentally sent your wife—" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The words died in his throat. He looked up, and for the first time in his career, the man who made a living exposing others was frozen in pure shock.

Lucian was laughing. And it wasn’t that predatory sound Marcus remembered from their past interview; it was human. This was a man who never laughed, he had believed for some reason he wasn’t human.

And standing beside the bed was a slender woman. Though she backed him, he couldn’t look away from how beautiful the sight was.

"Mr. Marcus Thorne, right?" Lucian spoke in a husky tone from the warmth of the laughter. He gestured toward his wife with a rare relaxed possessiveness. "This is my wife. And wife... this is the man who saved my life today."

Brianna scoffed. The concussion must really be messing with his senses. If not, why would Marcus Thorne, who was having an interview as she thought with Reyna, be at a hospital?

Moreover, the voice she just heard sounded very much familiar with the voice of the television host. Turning, Brianna narrowed her eyes incredulously.

"Marcus Thorne?"

She couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing, the same reaction was to be seen on Marcus’s face too.

"Doctor Colburn?"

Lucian looked between the two of them. He had wanted to be the one to introduce his wife, but apparently Marcus beat him to it. In his concussed head, no one should know his wife other than him.

For some primal reason, Marcus felt like a threat!

Dropping his voice into that dangerous baritone that made people tremble, Lucian pulled Brianna to his side until her hip pressed against the hospital mattress. "How do you know my wife?"

Marcus Thorne was taken aback by the sudden change in tone. He looked at Brianna, then at Lucian’s bruising grip on her. So President Lucian was truly married to Doctor Colburn?

If he’s the husband, then is this the useless man people talked about?

At the thought, sweat beads began forming on his forehead. He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

"I... I didn’t realize Dr. Colburn was a Mrs. to President Lucian."

"You didn’t answer the question."

"T-the thing is, Doctor Colburn is quite p-popular in the industry. A-and I had an a-a-a scheduled interview tonight with her sister, Miss Sue. We were going to... discuss the Doctor’s professional conduct."

Brianna felt Lucian’s fingers tighten around hers. She could almost feel the boiling rage rolling off him.

Giving Marcus a skeptical look, "Sister? My wife doesn’t have a sister. If you’re going to invent a source to justify announcing my wife to the world, Thorne, at least make it believable."

Marcus blinked, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. He looked at Brianna for help, but she remained stony-faced. "But... Reyna Sue. S-she has the same face. She has the birth records. She’s currently in the same city!"

Lucian’s concussion made his temper even shorter, he waved a dismissive hand. "I don’t care if you have a cloning facility in your basement. You admitted you were planning to ’discuss’ my wife’s conduct. You were going to let strangers drag my wife’s name through the gutter for ratings."

Brianna looked at Lucian; he didn’t sound like the stupid man a few minutes ago. What she didn’t know was he had enjoyed watching her beautiful face when she laughed, he wanted to see it again; even though it meant he acted stupid.

Lucian leaned forward. "She is the President of Better Health’s wife. She doesn’t have ’conduct’ for you to review. She has a status you aren’t qualified to touch."

Brianna looked down at Lucian’s hand on hers. The irony was suffocating. He was defending her "status" while knowing absolutely nothing about her life; not even the fact that she had a twin sister.

At that moment, Marcus Thorne’s BP skyrocketed! He couldn’t fathom what the false information would do to his career, that’s if he survives the wrath of President Lucian!

In a fit of panic, his body gave an involuntary jump as he fell on his knees, clutching Brianna’s slender feet. "This is all a misunderstanding. I wouldn’t dare come for the wife of President Lucian if I knew!"

To emphasize his point, he worked his way up to Brianna’s hands, covering it up with both of his hands. Brianna was stunned.

"Doctor Colburn, you are none of those things the media said about you. And I will personally make sure your sister... that impersonator... faces the penalty of their actions. Just give me another chance to prove myself."

Upon seeing Marcus holding his wife’s precious hand, Lucian’s skin turned to an intense shade of red! He didn’t see a man begging for mercy, he saw a man daring to touch a skin that, only minutes ago, had been flushed because of his jokes.

The heart monitor began to beep at a fast pace, mirroring the killing intent in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Brianna remained frozen at the sensation of the Almighty Marcus’s sweaty trembling palms covering hers; she found it revolting, but it was nothing compared to the stinging heat emitting from Lucian that truly paralyzed her.

She felt like a rope in a tug-of-war between a drowning man and a shark.

SNAP!

"’Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her." The sound of Lucian’s voice vibrated through the mattress and into Brianna’s hip. "She is not a Doctor to you, Thorne. She is only my doctor. And to the rest of the men in the world, she doesn’t exist. Do you understand?"

While Marcus Thorne nodded frantically, a shiver raced down Brianna’s spine that had nothing to do with the hospital’s AC.

She looked at the back of Lucian’s head, trying breath control. She was taken aback. Lucian wasn’t just defending her; he was erasing her from the public eye to keep her for his own.

It was a terrifying, suffocating kind of protection.

Moreover, Brianna knew this possession was only short-termed, so she opened her mouth to remind him that she did have a life, a career, and a very real twin sister; but the words didn’t get a chance to be expressed when Lucian turned his gaze toward her.

His predatory anger had been replaced by that same disoriented, "stupid" possessiveness.

"Wife, your hands are dirty now. Go wash them. I don’t want his scent on you."

That seemed like a good enough excuse to regain her senses with the timeout. She sighed, already turning to limp, but the grip from the bed suddenly became firmer.

She tugged further, but to no avail. Sighing, "Lucian, let go. I need to go to the restroom. I need a moment to... to process this."

She tugged her slender wrist again, against his hold, but his fingers were a collar of iron. He didn’t even look at the door. His dark, fixated eyes were locked onto the palm Marcus Thorne had just grabbed.

Lucian’s voice was heavy with the haze of the concussion and a terrifying, sudden possessiveness. "No. I don’t want you out of my sight. Someone else might... hold your hands again."

"I am going five feet away. I’m not a child, and I’m certainly not a prisoner. Now, let go so I can get this... this man’s sweat off my skin."

"I’ll do it," Lucian muttered.

However, before Brianna could ask how, he pulled her hand toward his face. Her eyes widened as she realized his intent.

"What are you doing, Lucian? Don’t you dare—Don’t you dare lick my hand!"

Brianna flinched violently, dragging her body backward until she was nearly doubled over the edge of the bed, but he was immovable. His concussed brain had simplified the world: Stranger touched Wife. Stranger’s scent must be replaced by mine.

"Stay still, wife. It’ll be quick."

"What kind of animal are you—! Lucian, stop! This is unhygienic! It’s... it’s psychotic!" Brianna turned desperately towards the corner where Marcus Thorne was still standing paralyzed by the sight!

"Marcus! Well, don’t just stand there! Do something! Help me!"

Meanwhile, Marcus Thorne looked like he wanted to jump out of the window! He was watching the President of Better Health, the most powerful man in the city, bring his wife’s hand to his mouth with the raw intent of a wolf.

Marcus stammered, his hands shaking as he took a frantic step toward the door. "I-I think I’ll just... I’ll leave the couple to their... their private recovery. Yes. Intimate recovery."

"Marcus! Get back here!" Brianna cried out, her eyes wide with disbelief.

But Marcus refused to look back. He gestured vaguely with a trembling hand, looking as though he’d just witnessed a ritual he wasn’t meant to survive, and ran into the hallway. The door clicked shut with a finality that sounded like a prison cell locking.

Brianna stared at the wooden door, her mouth agape. "You coward! You—"