ASHER I stared at her a little longer than necessary, but I couldn't help myself. What could I say? I was kind of in a daze. I didn't know if astonishment would have been the right word to describe whatever it was that I was feeling.I don't think I've ever seen Claire dress so casually. Who would have thought that she would look good in the most basic clothes? I noticed the way the dark washed jeans clung to the curves of her hips in a flattering way. Her long-sleeve fitted top added to the whole combo. Her face was bare aside from the minimal touches, and I didn't notice the long length of her hair and the highlights in them until now. I closed my eyes and sighed. It was almost impossible to ignore the way that my skin ignited in heat. It was almost impossible to focus.It was impossible to concentrate. I watched intently as she headed towards me from across the room. Get it together, Asher. Her face showed no sort of emotion whatsoever, and I wanted to imagine what she'd look li
CLAIRE I released a moan as I bit into the chicken sandwich. My taste buds exploded with delight instantly as I chewed. The only thing that I couldn't regret about this was the good taste. Asher seemed to have good taste when it came to food. Not that I was ever going to admit it out loud. I closed my eyes and sighed. I felt an odd sense of satisfaction. I couldn't exactly put it into words. I closed my eyes and sighed, and when I opened them, my shoulders flinched slightly when I opened them to find Asher intently staring at me. My cheeks flushed almost immediately. It was too late to regain any sort of composure. He already knew that I was flustered. “I can see you're enjoying your meal. Do you want more?” His lips tilted up into its usual signature smirk. Something about it was beginning to become oddly interesting now. “Don't get too cocky." I scoffed, but the tone of my voice held less spite than I intended. Was his ego beginning to grow on me? Definitely not. Don't be ridicul
ASHER I had no idea what I was doing. The only thing you could come up with is telling her she's moving in with you. Just when I thought you couldn't get any way worse.I watched the light dim from her eyes, and I was going to retract my statement when she placed her small hands against my chest and gave me a push. I didn't budge, of course, but I could spot the rage in her eyes from the way she looked at me. I saw the resentment she had for me in full force, and I wished for it to be something else. "First, you take one year of my life. Then you take away my choices. And then you get to decide where I live too?” She snapped at me. If the height difference wasn't obvious, perhaps she would have attempted to punch me. It didn't make her less capable of it.She did the most unpredictable things; you could never tell what she was going to do next, so maybe that punch was coming. You deserve it. “You shouldn't have thought about that when you stole money from me,” I said. I regretted
CLAIREI found it odd watching him smile. I watched as his smile magically transformed the hard features of his face into something else that I couldn't entirely recognize. It wasn't the signature cocky smirk that screamed that I was used to. This was very genuine, or at least it seemed to be. If we were afraid of getting wet. It was already too late.I could feel my clothes clinging to my body like second skin. I shifted my wet hair away from my eyes, and when I looked up, I blinked in surprise. The proximity between us was much closer. I had no idea that he had caught up with me so fast. His white shirt clung to his muscled frame, and it transformed into a see-through. I tried not to let my gaze linger on his torso for a minute longer. My throat suddenly became dry, and I didn't know what to do. I only knew that every inch of my skin was igniting in heat. 'Get it together, Claire. Stop thinking about devouring him on the spot.' I scolded myself mentally. I was caught in-between fee
ASHER Her eyes were wide and scared as I stepped forward, and for a moment, I was disappointed that she thought that I was actually going to hurt her. Her hands were still on my face, and it was suddenly too difficult to breathe.Even though it was rainy and it was chilly, I suddenly felt too hot. I could see the outlines of her nipples through her shirt. I resisted the urge to groan out loud. It was becoming more and more difficult to contain this need that I felt for her. I wanted nothing more than to hold her and shield her. Without thinking, I yanked her into my arms. “You're shivering. I can't watch you catch a cold,” I whispered. It made no sense at all because the both of us were wet. I was pathetic, and I was just looking for an excuse to hold her. Even if it was just for a few minutes. I yelled at myself, and I asked myself what the hell I was doing. I could provide no form of answer. To my surprise, she didn't push me away like I expected there would be. There were no sn
CLAIRE My eyes flickered open. I didn't know that I had drifted into sleep. I only knew that I was exhausted. I was tired, and I was on the verge of catching a fever. It was so cold. I groaned. My eyes fully opened, and I realized that I was in Asher's arms. My arms were wounded around his neck. I closed my eyes for a moment. I was too tired to argue with him tonight for not waking me up to walk by myself. “You're awake,” he said. He sounded as tired as me. Today had been such a long day. The last thing that I had expected was for us to be stuck together under the rain. The universe had a way of spitting me. “How long was I out?” I mumbled. He paused. “You were out for a while. I felt you were too tired to walk, and I didn't want to wake you,” he said. His reply sounded reasonable. I didn't want to pick up a fight with him over it. I closed my eyes and sighed, and I relaxed my head back against his chest. I didn't want to think too much about anything that I was doing tonight. L
ASHER It's been almost an hour. I was almost tempted to knock on the bathroom door and ask if she was okay. I knew women usually took a lot of time to get ready, but it's been way too wrong. I was beginning to get worried. I wondered if I had scared her into thinking that I had intentions yet again. I felt the need to assure her that wasn't the case.I walked up to the bathroom door, and then I paused. Since when did you begin to care about what anyone thought of you? I paused. Since her. I realized I was too obsessed with the idea of getting a reaction out of her. I spited her. I said anything I could to get her attention. I also felt the need to impress her as well. It was apathetic way of getting her attention, but I was unable to help myself. I was unable to stop myself from doing stupid things. Like making sure the driver knew she was my wife even though it was clear or glaring at the chauffeur when she smiles at him because I wanted her to smile at me the same way. My thought
CLAIRE When I opened my eyes, I realized that I had drifted into sleep. I wondered when. It must have been after dinner. It had been such a long day, and I was so exhausted. I scanned the surroundings of my room.It was dimly lit, and when I looked harder, I realized that I wasn't in a place that was familiar. This was Asher's bedroom. I wanted to say that I had no idea how I got here, but then I remembered. We had dinner with a little bit of wine, nothing too extreme, and we had gone into conversation, and I was... comfortable. Surprisingly, he was a good listener. Well, when he wanted to be.But I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea when I had fallen asleep, and when I turned to the side, my heart hammered wildly against my ribcage as I spotted Asher lying on the bed. Shirtless. My throat ran dry almost immediately. This was ridiculous. The way my skin tingled with heat, the way my heart was beating relentlessly. Everything about what I was feeling was ridiculous. What the
CLAIREAsher held my hand the whole ride back home. We didn't even bother telling anyone goodbye. They didn't even know that we had left. Not to be a vindictive bitch, but I didn't care what anyone thought about me now. I wasn't bothered about what Gregory thought about me. I was simply relieved that I got the opportunity to get out of that place.Being around Regal and Annabelle made me choke with so many sensitive memories that there was a high possibility that I might explode on the spot. “You're tired,” Asher said the moment he got into the house. He crouched and undid the buckles of my shoes, and I automatically slipped out of the shoes. My legs felt relieved almost instantly. A small laugh escaped me when he automatically hoisted me up into his arms, bridal style. “What are you doing?” I asked, breathless with laughter. There was no need to ask any questions. I trusted him, but that didn't mean that I wasn't curious; I was curious to know what he was planning to do. “Just gi
CLAIREThe room was shrouded in silence for a brief second, and I couldn't stop myself from wondering if it was because of me or because of the tension that traveled through the air. I didn't regret my outburst.I guess this would count as the first time that I had the luxury of putting Annabelle in her place without thinking of consequences. I took my time chewing into the chicken tenders. They were juicy and delicious. The only privilege of being in Gregory's company was that at least we had access to delicious food. That was the only thing that I was going to give him credit for. I was still trying to wrap my head and my mind around it. Asher and Regal were family. It dawned on me that there was a high possibility that I was going to be seeing more of Regal. Just when I hoped that I was done with him. “So tell us, Regal. Simply for curiosity sake. How did you two separate considering the fact that the both of you were once married?" Liah asked. I could see her lips curled up in
CLAIREThe drive to Asher’s father’s house felt way too short, like the universe was speeding things up just to mess with us. The closer we got, the heavier the air seemed to get. I glanced over at Asher. His grip on the steering wheel was tight, his knuckles pale, and every so often, I could see his jaw tighten and then relax, like he was trying—and failing woefully—to keep it together.Neither of us had said much since we got in the car, and the silence was almost worse than any awkward small talk we could’ve tried. The tension between us wasn’t the kind you could ignore. It just sat there, heavy and obvious, like a third passenger we couldn’t throw out of the car.Outside, the scenery blurred past, but I barely noticed. My stomach was in knots, and my hands were clenched in my lap, fiddling with the edge of my sleeve just to give myself something to do.“You okay over there?” I asked cautiously, though I already knew the answer.“Absolutely not,” he muttered. “Going to see my dad i
CLAIREAsher had this way of making me feel like the only person in the world. It was the little things—the way his hand hovered near mine like he was ready to catch me at any second or the way he smiled like he knew a secret no one else did. It was comforting, almost addictive, and I found myself wanting it more and more.When we left the coffee shop, the city seemed alive in a way I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe it was the buzz of morning activities—people moving around, talking, going about their days. Or maybe it was Asher walking next to me, his hand brushing against mine every so often, sending little sparks of electricity through my skin.“Where to first?” I asked, glancing up at him.“You’ll see,” he said with a sly grin.Of course, he didn’t tell me. Asher loved a good surprise, and while it usually annoyed me, today I decided to let him take the lead.We ended up at a small flower market tucked into a corner of the city that I had never explored. Stalls lined the cobblestone s
CLAIRERegal was becoming a thorn in the flesh. I couldn't think of any way to get him to stop bothering Asher and I. The more that I tried to get him to stay away. The more he would keep coming back to prove a point and I was getting extremely tired of entertaining his antics. How could I not see that he has been such a pain when I married him. I closed my eyes and sighed.I shivered when Asher ran a finger over my bare arm tenderly. My gaze met his. Somehow, he had been awake and I didn't even know it. He had a way of taking his time to observe me before I became aware.“Whatever is bothering you. It's best you tell me so that I can take care of it,” he said softly. But then I still couldn't find the courage to bring up Asher. Bringing him up is going to ruin the mood completely and I wasn't so sure that I could have that. Regal had already caused so much tension between us. I wasn't going to let him ruin the morning too. “Nothing. Just thinking about the pile of work that I had
CLAIREI toweled off quickly, feeling the residual heat from the bath clinging to my skin. Asher's gaze lingered on me with a mixture of affection and intensity, which had me fighting a blush that I knew was already creeping up my neck. He wrapped his towel around his waist, his eyes never leaving mine. Back in the bedroom, I watched as Asher moved with ease, the muscles in his back flexing as he reached for clothes. For a moment, I just stood there, taking him in—the effortless confidence in his movements, the way the faint light caught on his skin. I found myself unable to look away."You're staring," he said without turning, but there was a hint of a smile in his voice, as if he had been watching me and not the other way around."You're too smug for your own good," I shot back, rolling my eyes to hide the flush creeping up my neck. "Maybe put on a shirt before your ego inflates."He turned around, one eyebrow raised. "So you admit you were enjoying the view?""Maybe I was just adm
CLAIRE“So what's in it for her?” Asher asked after a few seconds of silence.“That's the thing,” I told him, “I have no idea, and I can't seem to figure it out.” “That's very strange...and suspicious. Liah wanting to help someone for no reason? That's practically impossible, to be honest. The Liah I know wouldn't be caught dead doing someone a favor without getting a single thing in return.” He went back to massaging my scalp. It was more of him running his fingers absentmindedly through my hair while he spoke than it was a massage. "Well, I don't think it's for no reason. She kind of said she might be doing this for you when I asked what she would get out of it.” “Oh, that definitely sounds more believable. So what exactly did she ask for?”My body tensed up a little bit as I thought of answering his question, and he seemed to notice. “Anything wrong? You seen tense. What did Liah tell you?” He placed a hand on my shoulder gently, and I started to feel slightly relaxed. Then I r
CLAIREThe proximity between us evaporated as he clutched my face tenderly in his hands. My breathing heightened. I was still trying to recover from the heat of his kiss. I was drowning in the heat that threatened to consume me. My hands were on fire as soon as I realized they were still placed across his torso. It was impossible to concentrate. “I've been waiting for you all day. I thought you were going to take forever to get back home. Get back home to me,” his voice drifted into a whisper as he placed his head against mine.I closed my eyes. My heart was threatening to give way from my body. I couldn't breathe, but it was a good kind of discomfort. “I've been thinking about you all day too. I-” I paused as my eyes watered with tears. I was terrified that Asher was going to see me in a more vulnerable state than he has ever seen me in his life. I wondered if it was the right time to be vulnerable with him. I closed my eyes. I needed to breathe. I need to pause every negative thou
CLAIREIt was a good thing that I had a very firm practice of keeping my temper on a leash. The sight of Liah seated comfortably on the chair from across made me want to lung out in frustration. I was exhausted from feeling so many intense emotions in a day. Everything about her irritated me, right from the sight of her perfect legs to the cold, sassy smile on her face. My headache intensified and I inhaled deeply to at least regain composure because my anger was already beginning to rise to the surface. “I'm not sure I'm going to need your forgiveness for anything. I'm also certain that you're imposing on my private time. So if you're done spewing your BS. You can as well leave my office,” I said. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for sounding unbothered.I could have almost sworn that I saw irritation flash through her eyes, and when I looked again, the same smug smile still remained on her face.When she remained on the chair, making no attempt to move, I raised an eyebrow a