Chapter 2

• The door closed quietly behind me as I walked into my room. Finally, I was alone, alone with my thoughts.
• I sighed in relief as I took off my high heels. I proceeded to pull out all the bridal pins and the crown on my head, which made me uncomfortable as I wasn't used to it. My wedding gown was a burden on my shoulders, a big lie that I was wearing, and I suddenly felt guilty.
• "Damn zipper," I muttered, fingers out to clutch the back. I turned, cursed, muttered. The nasty animal just refused to budge.
• "Need some help?"
• Nathaniel's voice, deep and seductive, reached my ears.
• I turned to him and gave him a small smile before looking away. "I can do it."
• Nathaniel didn't wait. I could hear his light footsteps behind me, his warmth before he touched me. His fingers wrapped around mine on the zipper, firm, commanding.
• "You've had enough stress for today. Let me help."
• The zipper descended smoothly without snagging. But he didn't release me.
• His fingers stayed.
• He applied a gentle pressure and caressed up my bare back.
• I breathed shallowly. "Nathaniel… ."
• "Do you get this tense every time you're touched? Or is it just me?"
• I turned, pulling the front of the dress up over my breasts and regarding him. "You said that it was for the girls. That this wedding was not real."
• He wrapped his hands around my waist, his expression unchanging. "I said what I wanted myself to believe."
• I blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
• "It means… I lied. To you. To me."
• I looked at him. "Why?"
• "Because I didn't want to have to tell you that I wanted more. I need you not just as a replacement for my late wife in my daughters' lives, but I want all of you." he dipped his head down to kiss my neck to my chest.
• My hands were trembling as I was desperately trying to hold the wedding dress to my chest. "Nathaniel, don't—"
• "I have to. I can't keep lying to myself."
• I placed my hands on his chest. "You're drunk. You had a lot to drink during the party."
• "I've known it for weeks. You don't think I've noticed the way my heart thunders when you walk into a room? The way I'm ravenous to hear your voice every night?"
• My heart pounded in my chest. No. No, this was not supposed to go like this.
• "You don't know me that well." I shook my head. "We just met four months ago, and I'm just here to look after the kids."
• His palm was hot against the side of my face. My skin flamed.
• "We can get to know each other, Jenna. Just let me in."
• I can't because then you'd know that I'm a liar who is only using you and your family.
• But I didn't say that either.
• Because then his lips had been on mine, soft and delicate.
• "Nathaniel…"
• "Please don't make me stop."
• I didn't. I couldn't. As if my lips had a mind of their own, they began to kiss him back.
• His arms around me, warm and tight. I dissolved into him despite my rebellious head. I had my arms around his neck, pulling him close.
• His fingers stroked the skin beneath my dress. I shivered.
• "I've wanted to do that," he breathed as he kissed my neck down to my collarbone. "Since the night you staggered into my office in that wacky coffee-stained blouse."
• I smiled gently. "That blouse cost five dollars."
• "Good five dollars I ever spent on a memory."
• "Nathaniel—"
• He kissed me again, this time harder. All reasoning began to break down.
• "This isn't right," I swallowed.
• "It feels right. Doesn't it?"
• My throat tightened when he swept me up, carried me across the room like a feather. The wedding dress slipped down from my chest, leaving my upper body bare to him.
• He paced me on the bed and removed the gown completely, leaving me in my underwear. His eyes burned with hunger as he took in my body.
• "You're fucking beautiful." His mouth latched on my breast.
• I was panting as his hands were massaging the other breast, his lips ravenous as they bit and sucked on my nipple. Heat constricted my stomach, swelling like fire. My fists were cramped tight in his shirt, rending it open.
• He let out a low laugh and released my nipples with a pop sound. "Desperate much?"
• "Shut up," I gasped, pulling him down to capture his lips.
• He grunted deep within my throat. "God, Jenna. You're everything I never knew I needed."
• You do not need me, Nathaniel. You need the truth. And I will not give it to you.
• And yet still, I let him have his way with me.
• My mind reminded me, this is for your parent's sake, for justice.
• Nathaniel cursed when he eased his member into me and realised I was a virgin. "Shit, why didn't you tell me?"
• "Please don't stop." I begged while biting back the pain and stretching myself to accommodate his size.
• He began to move slowly and minutes later, the room was filled with our moans and groans as Nathaniel brought me to my high.
• He collapsed on top of me as he emptied his seeds inside me.
• "I wish we could be honest," he told me. "I wish we could raise the girls together. I wish every morning I'd wake up next to you."
• My ribcage contracted.
• "Jenna?" he called as he caressed my naked body. "Tell me you feel it too. Tell me I'm not going crazy."
• I opened my lips and I did one I had been doing since I met him.
• "I do." I lied.