His HOT wife

Chapter Thirty-Three: What I want

Loraine's POV

​The air in Stranton's room was heavy, smelling of cedar and the faint, expensive scent of the scotch he'd been nursing.

He dropped me onto his bed-not with violence, but with a finality that made my heart skip a beat.

I immediately scrambled to sit up, my silk gown riding up my thighs, but he was already there, looming over me, his shadow swallowing the light.

He looked scary and undeniably attractive looming over me, but I ignored that thought.

​"Put me down? I'm done with the games, Loraine," he growled, his voice vibrating with a frustration that had been building for weeks.

"I'm done with the separate rooms, the cold shoulders, and the way you look at me like I'm a stranger you're forced to tolerate."

​I stood up, adjusting my dress, my chin tilted in defiance.

"Then perhaps you should have thought about the consequences before you decided to share your bed with someone else on our engagement night, Stranton."

​He winced, the familiar shadow of regret crossing his face, but he didn't back down.

He paced the small space between us, his hands raking through his hair.

He looked like a man unraveling-a man who had spent weeks trying to be the "perfect" husband, the corporate shield, the patient partner, only to find that every move he made pushed me further away.

​"I am trying," he said, his voice dropping to a desperate, ragged plea.

"I've given you space. I've given you time. I've tried to show you that I am not the man I was that night. But I'm just a man, Loraine...

I'm madly in love with you, and I'm terrified that the more I pull back to give you room, the more I'm just letting us rot."

​He stopped, his intense gaze locking onto mine.

"Tell me. What do you want me to do? I'm not asking you to forget-I know that's impossible. But tell me how to earn your forgiveness so we can build something real again."

​I felt the fury flare in my chest, hot and blinding.

He wanted a roadmap? He wanted me to just "forgive" him so we could move on to a "beautiful life"?

​I stepped into his space,

my eyes flashing with a predatory light.

I wasn't going to make this easy.

​"You want to know what I want?" I hissed,

reaching up to trace the line of his tie,

my touch light and intentionally agonizing.

"I want you to fall for me harder than you ever have in your pathetic life.

I want you to wake up every single morning and feel like you're starving for me.

I want you to look at me, look at everything I am, and feel that jagged, burning regret in your gut for every second you wasted with her."

​I let my fingers slide down his chest,

feeling his heart hammering beneath his shirt.

​"I want you to be so obsessed with me that you can't function.

I want you to want me every waking minute, to lose sleep over me, and to know-with every fiber of your being-that you are not worthy of me."

​I leaned in, my lips brushing against his ear, my voice a soft, venomous whisper.

"You broke me, Stranton. So, if you want forgiveness? You're going to have to spend the rest of your life trying to put the pieces back together, all while knowing that I might never let you touch them again."

​He stood perfectly still,
his breath coming in sharp, shallow hitches.

His eyes were dark, dilated, and full of a dangerous hunger.

He didn't see the woman who had just insulted him; he saw the woman he couldn't live without.

​"You're playing a dangerous game," he breathed, his voice barely audible.

​I smirked, my body language a calculated mix of availability and absolute untouchability.

"And you, Stranton? You're just the man who's going to lose."

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A/N: What are we feeling?

Hi, how are you? I hope you have a great day as always. I hope to see you on the next Chapter. Please vote or leave a comment? Do we like the flow of the story? What do you want to see next or in the future? Please share your thoughts in the comments. I would very much like to know. Also for motivation purposes 😅😊. Thank you for reading!