The Temporary Wife: An Age Gap, Arranged Marriage, Holiday Romance (Once Upon A Time Book 1) by Alden Maya

Author:Alden, Maya
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Maya Alden Books
Published: 2023-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Liesel

“Hey, A.” Orion raised his glass to his brother.

Atlas had just come back from work. He was still in the suit he’d left home in, but he’d taken his tie off and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. I could see the red silk peek out.

“You look cozy,” Atlas replied, an edge to his voice.

Orion took his arm from around me to look at his watch and sighed. “It’s late. How long were you working?”

“I had a meeting with a distributor in China.” He looked at me, his blue eyes piercing in the fire’s light.

“Sleep well, Liesel.” Orion gave me a quick hug, he picked up his glass, and I took it from him.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take it inside.”

Orion left after putting a hand on Atlas’s shoulder. My husband stood where he’d been, unmoving.

“There’s dinner if you haven’t eaten.” I drank some wine to calm my nerves.

“I ate…we ordered in because of the meeting.”

We? I got up then, unable to stand it any longer. Jealousy was eating at me. “Who was in the meeting with you?”

“Colleagues,” he offered unhelpfully.

I took the bottle and glasses and walked into the house. I heard him following me.

“You seem to get along well with Orion.”

“He’s more my age,” I retorted to provoke him. “And he’s actually around and has time for me.”

I set the glasses and bottle on the counter, feeling anger surge through me. I turned around to face Atlas, and he pulled me against him. “Am I too old for you?”

“I don’t know. You tell me. You leave early, come back late, and have no time for me. And when you come back late, you go straight to bed.”

Oh god, I sounded like a nagging wife.

My hands were on his forearms as he held me, an emotion I didn’t recognize vibrating through him, into me. This was the first time since our date that he had touched me. I felt the zing of it, the heat.

Did he feel it too?

“Are you waiting up for me?” he demanded.

“No,” I replied shakily.

“You like Orion?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want him?” he snarled.

I blinked. And unexpected laughter bubbled out of me. “Excuse me?”

“Do you want my brother, Angel? Do you?”

“No.”

“You want me?” he pulled me against him, cupped my ass and ground himself against me. “Do you?”

I could smell his cologne, the fall weather, the vines…and him.

“I want you,” I whispered.

It was fascinating to watch the dam break, his control disappear, and his mouth crash against mine. He kissed me like a starving man, and I responded, my hands stroking him, holding him close all at the same time.

“You want me?” he asked again.

“Yes,” I whimpered and planted my lips at his throat, where a pulse beat. I licked him and he groaned.

He lifted me and set me down on the counter. His hands moved over me, removing my sweater and then my blouse. He cupped my breasts through the bra and then as if losing a battle, pulled the cups down and bent his head to suckle me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.