All Chapters of DESPERATE THIRST FOR LOVE: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Jesus, Elvie, what on earth are you doing? Stop responding to that man! You know better than that! Stop! The alarm bell of her conscience shattered the moment she pushed against his chest and stepped back to create some distance between them. "Stop! Don’t even think about it, Zander!" His mouth tilted in a knowing smile. "It's not like we haven't done it earlier. But okay, I’m a patient man. The longer I wait, the better the satisfaction." Wait for what? She pondered. Elvie had a feeling there would be a heck of a lot of satisfaction going on if she were to submit to his passion again. The sort of satisfaction that had mostly eluded her in her previous encounters. She wasn’t an expert at sex, or at least not with a partner. She could get things working fairly well on her own, but at least she had been able to fudge her way through it. So far. What happened to them earlier was stupid and damn her for thinking about it again.But she suspected Zander wouldn’t be fooled. Not for a m

When Elvie left, Zander picked up his champagne glass because, unless he gave his hands something to do, he knew they would be tempted to jump ahead a few spaces. He could wait. Sure, he could. Elvie was all for keeping things on paper, but he knew she would crack before her brother’s release from the mental institution.He knew she was still attracted to him. What happened earlier in the closet was never a mistake, and they both knew it but tried to deny it. Yes, he had a moment of weakness, but how could someone blame him? He was a man in his prime.However, he knew Elvie had a teenage crush on him, which had amused and annoyed him in equal measure back in the day when he and her brother were still the best of friends. He’d been a little ruthless in handling her back then, but he hadn’t been interested in messing with a teenager, especially so soon after his break-up with the ex he’d thought he was going to marry. Back then, Elvie had been young and starry-eyed, fancying herself in

Later that night at Zander’s mansion, Elvie didn’t know how she got through the rest of the evening, with Zander and her brother, Joey, chatting away over dinner like two good friends who’d just nailed a successful business deal. Damn it. She was the business deal. How could this be happening? Married to her worst enemy! And it was happening so quickly. Her phone hadn’t stopped buzzing with incoming messages because Zander had taken the liberty of announcing their marriage on social media and in the press. She thought he wanted their marriage to be private—out of the media’s eyes.Her friends and colleagues had been calling her since earlier, and even though she ignored their messages, her phone hadn't stopped ringing.And Joey? Her brother? She didn't even know what happened to him that made him surrender himself to the mental institution, and now that his doctor said that he was clear to get out and was now cured of whatever was happening to him, She had so many questions that her h

Zander bit her lips in a sensual way that made Elvie want to just kiss his lips again. "Are you sure, wife?" One side of his mouth came up in a slanted smile. "You seriously think you can maintain that, even if by some remote possibility I agreed to it?""Of course," she said with much more conviction than a person who would have then lied about having botox. "What happened in the closet stays in the closet and must never be repeated ever ever ever again.""Wow! That's a lot of EVER."Elvie raised her chin. "I'm serious, Zander. Those are my rules.""Are you sure, wife? I can be persuaded, you know.""What the hell are you doing? You hate me, and I hate you. The feeling is mutual. Can we just get this over with like two civilised people?"He raised his brow. "Here’s what I think of your rules." He stepped back into her body space, standing close enough for her to feel the tug of attraction pulling at every one of her organs like invisible silken cords. His eyes moved back and forth be

Zander took his child, holding her slightly aloft as if not wanting to get too close. But then Thea smiled and gurgled up at him, and Zander brought him against his chest and gently rocked her in his arms, looking down at the smiling kid. Elvie hadn’t expected the sight of him with Thea in his arms to stir her so much."I think she is really tired," he said after a moment."A nap will do, and she'll be back into a bomb," Elvie said."Don’t we all?"She angled her gaze at him.He gave her a self-deprecating smile. "With a baby, it's like having a meeting with a client.""Seriously?""Yeah. Uncontrollable. You'd be surprised. It took me a long time to get control of my life. I almost lost my way a few times." He looked down at the child again, his smile dimming slightly. "Especially after my parents were killed, I suddenly found myself all alone in the world." His expression reminded her of a suit of armour. She could see the outline of his face, but only through a mask of steel.She fr