Chapter 2
Married life turned out to be nothing like I'd imagined.
I thought we'd be two strangers under one roof, each minding our own business.
Instead, on our wedding night, he cornered me right outside the bathroom.
I'd just stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, and when I looked up, I walked straight into a solid wall of muscle.
"Ah!" I yelped.
I stumbled back in fright, but his arm shot out on reflex and caught me around the waist.
His palm was burning hot, and even through the thin towel, the heat felt like it might scorch my skin.
I was pressed right up against him, my nose filled with the crisp, clean scent of his body wash, mixed with a raw, aggressive masculinity that hit me like a truck.
My cheeks instantly went up in flames.
"Hey," I started.
I was about to tell him to let go of me, but when I looked up, my eyes met his, and the words died in my throat.
I'd never seen eyes like those.
They were usually cold enough to freeze a person solid, but right now they burned like two bottomless flames, churning with something fierce I couldn't read, and it scared me for reasons I didn't understand.
His throat worked, and when he spoke, his voice was wrecked.
"Lily," he said.
He said my name slowly, like he was grinding it between his teeth, with a strange, lingering tenderness.
My heart skipped a beat.
I tried to squirm away on instinct, but he only held me tighter.
"Don't move," he said, low, his breath hot against the top of my head. "If you keep moving, I can't promise what happens next."
I went completely stiff.
Because I could feel it, something hard and unmistakable, pressing against my lower belly through two thin layers of fabric with serious intent.
And it was enormous.
I was so wet.
My mind went blank, and that one thought was all that was left in it.
I couldn't wrap my head around what was happening with this man.
He was actually turned on by me?!
I was totally dumbfounded.
Where was the legendary tyrant who never went near women? Where was the iceberg CEO?
They were all liars, every single one of them!
The tension kept building, and the air kept heating up, so I did the only thing I could think of. I lifted my foot and stomped down hard on his polished leather shoe.
Alexander sucked in a sharp breath.
He grunted in pain, and his arm loosened.
I wriggled free, bolted to my room like a startled rabbit, and locked the door behind me.
I leaned against the door with my heart still hammering.
Out in the hallway, I heard him sigh, half-annoyed and half-defeated.
That night, I stayed in my room, and he stayed outside it, and nothing happened.
But I knew something had changed.
This man had designs on me.
And me? I was a lightweight who loved to play with fire, and nothing delighted me more than watching him lose his grip because of me.