C02: Temptations, Temptations

"Fuck.”

“I…" An innocent-looking Sandra let out a gasp when she heard someone curse in the room. She didn't need to even look around to know that the big bad Alpha had finally made a show after coming from his girlfriend’s house. 

'Oh great, he finally makes a show,’ Sandra said to herself as she stared at the man who was eyeing her with lust in his eyes. The shock of seeing Aztec had made her stay rooted to the spot she had been standing in, making Aztec have a slight clue of what her body would probably look like under the damn towel. 

For the first time, Aztec felt like there was something wrong with him. He felt giddy, and all that was too new for him. It was a reaction he had never let out, not even with Beatrice and even the goddess knew how much he loved his girlfriend. 

The two, bound by a marriage of convenience, stood there staring at each other, holding their trances like it was something they had been waiting for for months. Sandra’s raspberry scent was screwing with Aztec’s head. How could a mere human have such a beautiful scent? 

Aztec wanted more of that, he needed to breathe her in and he was so tempted to make a move. However, the realization that he had a girlfriend slapped him back to the odd reality of being a married man to a woman he desired, and yet had to hate at the same time. What kind of game was this anyway?

"You… Here…" Sandra let out, her confusion evident, even though she wanted to bash his face in for lusting over her. His proud eyes lingered over her and for a moment, she felt like she was living a dream, one that had turned into a nightmare a little too soon.

"Scarlet, I married you just to fulfill the contract. If that may prompt you to even imagine being my real mate, I would advise you against having any desires for me love, we will never be mates,” Aztec bit out angrily, making Sandra wonder whether this man was a bipolar ass every day.

No wonder it was easy for people to associate him with inhumane acts.

This Alpha was just something else, and Sandra had noticed that much, when he intentionally called her, her sister’s name. The pretense of it always hung so low on his lips, but Sandra didn't want to cause a ruckus. 

She tried to hold herself back from saying anything, considering what the stakes currently were. She wanted to be sure her grandmother was okay before she did anything, but this man was really beginning to piss her off. Maybe that was also why she retorted at him.

"Isn’t Beatrice enough for you, dear Alpha? Don’t tell me you are still afraid of being tempted by others despite the beauty you have warming your bed— oops, the one whose bed you are warming considering the rules won’t allow you to bed her in our house, yeah? I wouldn't put it past you though.”

Aztec looked at the woman who was talking to him, and he was astonished at how much mockery she held on her tongue. The woman had seemed so quiet through the ceremony that he never imagined she would be able to bite back at him.

Wasn't she aware of the rumors about his toxicity and cruelty? Or did she just decide not to care one bit about the rumors then?

From what he had heard, Scarlet had minimal education and was a hopeless spendthrift that spent most of her time in shopping malls rather than educating herself. And now, he thought she was trying to seduce him by acting all tough, but was that it or was Sandra more than willing to bash the Alpha’s head on the wall for how he was sizing her up?

Goddess, she felt like she was being mocked, even though she was the one with a tongue of mockery.

"Anyway, while you were away, I drafted two agreements, of which this contract is to push through. Read them carefully so you don’t end up mistaking me for Beatrice. We both know she's prettier in your eyes, so that should save us some time and energy,” Sandra said as she handed Aztec a piece of paper that had only two sentences to it. 

Aztec looked at the paper, wondering whether this woman was insane when she had drafted this. Wasn’t she hoping for too much from him? Especially in the second bit? Damn, the audacity this woman had, but hey, maybe they truly needed to make everything clear before they got to live their forced life, yeah?

"Aztec must help Scarlet’s family to tide over the difficulties?” Aztec read out with a scoff before continuing.

"The two shall not have any sexual relationships for any reason,” the Alpha read out before sighing defeatedly. He could see that Sandra had already signed her ‘name’ there as Scarlet, and there was a bit that Aztec needed to put his signature. It was pretty much a simple agreement, but it was also one that pissed the Alpha off.

"What trick are you playing?” the Alpha asked Sandra who just glared at him. Was he really that thick in the head to not understand the simple sentences?

"Why? Is it too much for you now that you saw me in a towel? Come now, Alpha, let’s not play with each other. Besides, there’s no harm in signing the agreement. It’s not like we will ever fall in love with each other, now hmm? You can continue seeing your pretty Beatrice, and I can keep living my life alright?”

Aztec was once again astonished by the woman before him. For a girl who had minimal education, she sure had brains. The Alpha had initially felt so damn guilty because of the forced contract marriage, but now that he looked at her, he could tell that he had just subscribed to a nightmarish situation, not that he would ever admit that to anyone. 

He was the man here, but she most definitely would be having the most power, and to some point, Aztec knew he wasn't going to be able to win this girl over with a mere limitless credit card. Not that he wanted to anyway, but it was just harmless speculation.

"Fine, but you must follow the third rule I just added there,” Aztec said, as he signed the damn agreement.

"What agreement?” Sandra asked when Aztec handed her the signed document with the third rule.

"You need to cooperate with me and act like we are a loving couple,” Sandra scoffed, before adding, "easy peasy. Don’t worry about that. I am a good actress anyway, though I kinda worry for your Beatrice. Anyway, hand me the pen, would you?”

"Here,” Aztec said and Sandra got the pen for him, signing the document aggressively, again. She was so glad to have the rules approved by the bonehead Alpha that she hadn't even noticed that her towel had slipped down at some point in time.

Instead of pointing out her wardrobe malfunction to her, Aztec took his time, staring at the beauty that was standing before him. She had a great and sexy shape and was so flawless that his heart once again seemed to have a glitch, hammering in his chest like they had been exercising.

Sandra realized a little too late for the intense lust-filled stare that Aztec was giving her, and she blushed. That wasn't her intention and now there was a chance that the Alpha would think that she truly was trying to seduce him. It wasn't like she would even succeed anyway.

Aztec looked at his new wife and for a moment, his thoughts drifted to the fact that he hadn't yet marked Beatrice. Even though they had been dating for so many years, the Alpha had never once laid his claim on the woman.

He wanted to think that it was because he respected Beatrice, but which wolf didn't want to claim their mate?

Maybe Aztec knew Beatrice wasn't his mate, but he wasn't ready to have her out of his life, right?

"Sleep in your room, I’ll take the guest room,” Sandra managed out, even though she was a flustered mess. She wanted to scold herself but it wasn't like that would make the Alpha think any different of her.

"Whatever,” Aztec said, before heading to the showers. He really needed a cold shower, because if he didn’t have one, he would be thinking of Sandra’s body the whole night, and that would push him to try and advance on her. He had to remain loyal to his Beatrice, no matter what happened.