Chapter 142: Obsessed and Smitten
Lauren was about to kiss Alec but he tilted his head to avoid the kiss. She raised a brow as a question.
"No kissing for you," he drawled with his jaw clenched tight. She could sense his amazing control taking over. "I want a real marriage, Lauren. Unless you can give
that, no kissing... and no making love."
Lauren was stunned. She was about to laugh because it sounded ridiculous—no, the words sounded ridiculous because it was from Alec Everston. Never in her wildest dreams she imagined Alec giving a condition that requires a woman to be tied to him forever.
As she stared at him in disbelief, with his stern look, she realized she wasn’t joking. He was very much serious, and she was not sure if she should be happy or scared.
This was all a charade at first. When she offered a contract marriage with him, she was very sure that no feelings would blossom. Although she knew that at so point being physical with him was possible because Alec was a man any woman would get attracted to, she thought it would be just that.
She never expected that he would eventually fall for her. It was out of the plan.
His hands were steady on her waist as they stared at each other. Lauren saw Alec’s critical look but she still asked, "Did you seriously an that?"
"Do you think I’m joking?"
"So there is no kissing, no making love... unless I say that I’m staying for this marriage? What kind of condition is that?" Lauren snorted. "You are thinking that you can use it against
to force
to follow your terms, don’t you?"
He was clearly manipulating her to make her do what he wanted.
"I am a woman, Alec. I can go through a long ti without getting laid. I can live without it. How about you? You are a man. You sure you are patient enough to wait for my decision? Unless... you are planning to bed other won while waiting for
to sort things out?" Her eyes turned into slits at the last question.
He smirked. "Yes, I admit I’m not the kind who is very patient, but if that is what it takes for you to be officially mine, then that should not be a problem. About bedding other won, no... definitely not," he drawled with a mischievous smile on his lips. Then he whispered, "I can take care of myself, sweetheart. I have my ways."
His ways... the way he said it brought a malicious image in Lauren’s mind. She jumped from his lap like she touched a scorching iron. She could feel her cheeks burning.
Alec chuckled darkly.
She stared at him with disbelief. How could he be so shaless?
"I only said I have my ways. I didn’t say anything, so why are you so flustered?" His eyes glead with amusent. He knew what she was thinking and the way she reacted entertained him.
Lauren sighed. She cleared her throat, "What if you eventually give in? Will you stop trying to make
stay?"
The amusent died down in Alec’s eyes. His gentle expression was replaced with a grim one. He knew what she was trying to do. If he said yes, she would surely do her best to make him bend his own word just to be free of him.
As the candles burned, Alec’s sullen orbs burned with unspoken emotions Lauren could not fathom. "Is it that hard to stay by my side?"
Alec sipped wine and put down the glass. He licked his lower lip and looked at Lauren who was standing beside the table. She glanced down the carpeted floor, puffed so air, then her gaze went back to him, now ready to answer his question.
"No, it isn’t hard," she said and it was the truth. "You are a smart man who knows what to do at crucial tis and that is what I like about you the most. But you have to understand that this is not about you, Alec. It’s not about whether it’s easy or hard for
to stay by your side. It’s about
wanting to live out of the castle. This place..." Lauren sucked in her breath and looked around.
When her eyes settled back to Alec, she continued, "This place felt nothing less than a cage. In the past thirteen years, my life didn’t co easy. I had many mories in this castle, both good and bad, I want to leave it all behind once I got my revenge. Well, initially revenge was all I wanted, but when I learned about the rising rebellion, I realized I can’t just leave without doing sothing. I thought that soone in the Monserrate family should show a little compassion to the people after everything my father had done. It will ease the weight of responsibility on my shoulders."
Lauren did not lie about her reason but it wasn’t the whole truth. She refused to tell him everything. She couldn’t even tell the friends whom she knew for years. She didn’t know what the future holds, and she didn’t want to complicate their lives just because of her.
"Where do you want to live, then?" Alec asked after a long silence. He had a stern look on his face as if he had sothing serious going on in his mind.
"Uh..." Now that she was asked, Lauren could not give a na of a place. She honestly didn’t think about it. "Perhaps in the east? I heard the land of Aviore has no winter and they have the best sunny days."
He nodded slowly.
Lauren’s brows knitted, confused about what he was nodding at. Was he finally giving up the idea of making her stay?
"If you want to live there, of course we can."
I nodded—wait, we can?
"We? Did you an ’you’?"
"No, you heard it right. If that is your reason, then I don’t see any reason for
to stay in this castle. I can live wherever you want," he said so nonchalantly which made her jaw drop. Did he an that? He would seriously go to such lengths just for her?
Pacing back and forth, Lauren faced upward and inhale so air.
When she stopped, she looked at Alec who remained sitting calmly on his chair.
"Are you fucking obsessed?" She was in utter disbelief. He would live wherever she wanted to be? Why would he when he had everything here? Unless he lost so screws in his head, how could he give up all he had here just to be with her?
"If I must remind you, you are the king of this land, Alec. Is it not what you want?" She wanted him to rember what his position was in their kingdom and his painstaking efforts just to sit on the throne.
"It is you who I want, Lauren," he replied in a dark tone, looking up at her as if he was a devil worshipping his god. "If being a king ans I have to take that path without you, I’d rather not have it. And yes, I am freaking obsessed and smitten."
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