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038: San Francisco (V)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"It's already midnight." Claude spoke up as he looked up to meet her gaze. "Do we really have to go?"
"It'd be rude." Ayla rolled her eyes before picking up her denim jacket and pulled it over her shoulders. "Kathie looked eager to spend time with you." She added with a shake of her head.
"No! She is eager to spend time with you." Claude corrected her before burying his face into the pillow. "And there's no way we'll be able to come back inside before the sun is up. You don't know her like I do."
"It's not like you are an early sleeper anyway." Ayla interrupted him. "And you don't have to wake up early either tomorrow." She added, trying to persuade the man who was refusing to get out of the bed.
Claude, on the other hand, found himself to be in a dilemma. As much as he wanted to spend time with his family, he needed the rest more. He agreed completely with what Ayla said about his sleeping habits, but there were certain things she
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"Claude…""What is it?" He muttered a reply under his breath as he took a step closer to her. Bringing his free hand up to her face. He slowly tucked away a few stray strands of her hair which had managed to slip out of the bun that rested on top of her head.A sharp breath left her trembling lips and she shook her head."N-nothing.""Talk to me." He refused to let go of it. He wanted to know if any of his actions bothered her. Because if they did, he would respect her space and take a step back no matter how badly he wanted to feel her in his arms."Kathie must be waiting for us." Ayla forced herself to reply to him. She lacked the courage to say anything else to him even if she wanted to. Hence, she chose to make the safer bet and brought his attention back to the matter at hand. But what she didn't know was that he could be a lot more persistent than he seemed."She can wait." His thumb moved over the
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Claude finally forced his eyes open and looked in her direction only to find her staring back at him. Her face was shadowed by a threatening frown. "I'll be fine here." He mumbled once again, hoping that she would give up this time. "Alright then. I'll just go and ask Katherine to arrange another room for you." Ayla shrugged her shoulders casually and was about to get out of the covers when she was interrupted. "Fine." Claude got up on his feet and walked to the other side of the bed. "Don't you ever threaten me like that again though." He grumpily added before throwing himself on the mattress. He didn't forget to pick one of the pillows from behind and placed it between them. "I will threaten you again if I want to, Mister." Ayla mumbled with her half droopy eyes. "If that's what is going to take to make you have a good sleep." She pushed herself under the covers, snuggling against the pillow behind her. "Have a
The Heartless Bride 041: San Francisco (VIII)
"How are you feeling now?" Ayla decided to break the eerie silence which was lingering in between the two as the couple was left to enjoy their food."Well, the tiredness is gone now." Claude spoke up, briefly looking at her. "So, I am feeling much better. What about you? Did you sleep well?" It felt a bit weird for him to just act so casual before her without mentioning the elephant in the room."Ummm… kinda. It was okay, I guess." Ayla replied to her, keeping her eyes glued to her plate while her fork dances around the omelette, poking it slightly every now and then. "It just takes me a little while to get settled in new places. Too used to sleeping in my own bed." She cleared it to him before taking a small bite out of her toast."I didn't know that." Claude mumbled a reply, stealing another glance at her. "Is there something on your mind?" He could see it on her face. Something was definitely troubling her, and he wanted to know. He wanted her t
The Heartless Bride 042: San Francisco (IX)
"I don't want an apology from you, Claude. I want to know what you see. What could possibly make you feel so terrified in your sleep? Because from the looks of it, I can tell it wasn't the first time…."Claude saw her looking back at him intently. She was waiting for him to start talking, but he didn't know where to even begin. He knew that one day he would have to share things with her, things that he never mentioned before anyone else. He just didn't expect it to be this sooner.He drew in a sharp breath before turning his eyes away from her."Would you mind if we finish our food and our conversation in the garden at the back?" He briefly looked up at her and saw her reply in the form of a nod. A faint smile slowly made its way on his face as he picked up their plates and started walking out of the kitchen.Ayla followed him out, holding their coffee mugs. Her eyes were strained over his back. She could make out his taut muscles
The Heartless Bride 043: San Francisco (X)
"He wasn't alone when they kidnapped him. The only heir to his business empire was alongside him…."Claude's words sounded alien to her ears along with his voice.Ayla tried and tried to make sense of them, but her brain only came up empty every time. It wasn't the complexity which irked her mind, but the truth lingering behind them. She refused to accept them."W-what do you mean?" She finally found the courage to question the man who was focused on finishing his food."You heard me, Ayla." Claude could see the shock behind her words. "You heard me just fine." He didn't want himself to repeat those words."You were with him?" She spoke up only to see him bobbing his head up and down in agreement."How?" She questioned him, her eyes never leaving his face."I was supposed to inherit everything he has worked for, it was only normal for me to learn the ropes too starting early. He took me along on th
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"It's alright, wife." He let out a small chuckle. "You can use me as a chair for as long as you want." He pressed his lips to the top of her head, chuckling to himself. "I don't mind at all…." His words only added more to her embarrassment as she felt her face heating up in response. Instead of letting her go, Claude shifted her small frame slightly in his lap so that she could easily rest her folded legs on him without straining them. "Do you have any other questions that you'd want to ask?" He spoke up after what seemed like an eternity to both of them. "We have already moved past the hard part." "Your siblings…" Ayla struggled to phrase her question, but Claude got the gist of it. "They know about it all, but not so much about my nightmares. I don't want them to worry about me when they have their own lives to deal with. And before you ask me, no, my mother has no clue about it either." He cleared his throat before continuing.&nbs
The Heartless Bride 045: Back to Reality (I)
Flying back to their home city wasn't an issue since Claude had the company's jet on standby. But it sure was tiring as hell for both of them. Especially after Claude showed her around the city and made sure she had a good time for the rest of the day. The couple only left San Francisco after midnight after bidding their goodbyes to the rest.It wouldn't be wrong to say that the both of them wanted nothing more than to sleep into the day instead of going about their own days as soon as the sun was out and about in the morning.But they both knew better than to let their bodies make decisions for them. They had their own things scheduled for the day which were a little too important than catching up on some sleep. Hence, they both made the difficult decision of leaving the comforts of their own beds.----------------"What is wrong with people today?" Ayla let her eyes roam around the entrance of her college as she c
The Heartless Bride 046: Back to Reality (II)
"We are comforting that…."Ethan's eyes snapped to her manicured nail before they slowly moved in the direction she was urging him to look in.He saw a group of girls standing around the corner of the corridor, huddled together like they were going through the game plan before breaking into loud cheers and running around the field. But their ducked heads and low whispers combined with their stealing glances at Ayla only proved otherwise. His train of thoughts was interrupted by the lady in question."You know what they are talking about?" It wasn't a question but she still threw him a questioning glare. Without waiting for his reply, Ayla continued, "they are wondering out loud as to how the rich and dashing business savvy Claude Atkinson ended up getting married to a nerd like me."Ethan couldn't help himself from chuckling. A low chortle left his lips while he kept his eyes glued to Ayla's twisted face. He wanted to share his ow
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[The following chapter includes mention of R-18 content. Kindly read at your own discretion.] Claude sucked onto the soft spot as his finger moved inside her, earning her moans in return which were not less than a siren's call for him, luring him to continue. He felt her insides tightening around his finger as he moved it relentlessly. He knew that she was close to finding her release and deliberately slowed down his movements. Ayla could feel her orgasm building up, inching closer to the edge. She let out a frustrated groan when Claude slowed down his movements. "D-don't st-op." She managed to say in between her gasps for air. "Oh! I am not planning to, my love, not tonight." Claude murmured against her skin and moved his lips to her cleavage, biting and sucking on her fair, smooth skin. "This might hurt a bit." He said as he inserted
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[The following chapter includes mention of sexual assault. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "Let me tell you a story, kitten." He pushed himself off the wall, dusting his coat in the process. Gavin walked to the other side of the room to pick a chair and dragged it to the centre of the room. He settled down on it so that he was facing Ayla. "What story?" Despite the fact that she was scared for her life, she didn't show it on her face. She knew that she had to put up a brave front until Claude could reach her. He would realize sooner or later that she was missing. With a smile, Gavin began. "My father and a friend of his started a business together. The kind which was to grow into a big one over time. But the old man got played by his so-called friend. My father spent everything we had or owned on his dream. When our family w
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"So…"Ayla dragged it out as she turned around to stare at the man who was still standing by the doors."Mr. D'Souza?""Call me Gavin, please." He still has the same charming smile playing across his face as he walked further into the room"Umm… I am pretty sure I can not do that." Ayla let out a nervous chuckle. There was something ominous about the way he stared back at her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she was sure that it wasn't only her mind playing with her. Something about him had shifted since the moment they walked in."Oh, please. Claude and I may not be the best of friends, but we are on our way there. It would mean a lot to me if you'd call me without any formalities." He paused before adding after a while. "Only when it's us… three."'What the f*ck!'Ala
The Heartless Bride 184: I was Missing you (II)
"Because it looks like I interrupted something important."Her frown was the only thing which Claude could see but the helplessness which filled her eyes was enough of a giveaway for him. She was feeling guilty for interrupting their meeting. Well, it was more of a tour now. The actual meeting had already been wrapped up a while ago. It was what had Claude believing that her interruption was not going to have any repercussions. Even if there were any, he didn't care."It's fine. Don't worry." Claude rubbed his hand up and down her back to calm her down. Turning his attention to the group, he began. "Apologies for the interruption everyone, but let me introduce you all to my girlfriend." He was smart enough to not announce her name to the team. Though he wondered where Ayla was going with the secrecy."I am sure she must have a name." It was Mr. D'Souza who spoke up. There was a small smile playing acros
