From Deadbeat To Doting; Something Is Wrong With My Husband!-Chapter 47: If you do that... then I’m all yours.

When she pulled away, she patted her lashes and softened her voice. "Don’t you want to be in your own bed? With me?"

Seeing the fire in Lucian’s eyes, she wondered if what she had just done would backfire. Before she could retreat, his large hand gripped her small neck, pulling her against his lips with a feverish intensity that made her cheeks begin to burn.

’God, I hate him,’ she thought, even as her heart betrayed her by skipping a beat.

Lucian’s grip on her neck was firm; not enough to choke, but enough to broadcast a possessive desperation. He tasted like something in-between coffee and copper. In between the kiss, his breath hitched as he drank her in with a starved sort of hunger.

Brianna’s heart hammered against her ribs. She hadn’t known this man had it in him, until she felt his hand grabbing her ass.

Her eyes widened. She had wanted to light a spark to lead him out the door, but she had accidentally triggered a wildfire!

When he finally pulled back just an inch, his forehead rested against hers, breathing heavily under her influence. "The papers," he rasped, sending a vibration through her chest.

"Where... where are they?"

Brianna swallowed hard. She could feel her fair skin crawling when his thumb grazed the underside of her jaw. "The nurse has them," she whispered, her voice trembling; which, luckily for her, he likely interpreted as passion.

"I just need you to say yes when they come in. Or let me go get the clipboard from the station. If you do that... then I’m all yours."

Lucian’s eyes searched hers for a lie his damaged brain couldn’t quite detect. The black pits of fire in his gaze softened just a fraction, replaced by a hazy, obsessive devotion.

"Go," he breathed, finally loosening his grip, though his fingers lingered on her skin as if he were afraid she might evaporate.

"But wife... if you don’t come back in ten minutes... I’m coming to find you."

Brianna didn’t wait for him to change his mind. She stood up, ignoring the way her legs felt like water, and adjusted her gown with trembling hands. She could still feel the phantom heat of his palm against her skin.

"Ten minutes," she repeated in a tone barely a whisper.

Turning for the door, she basically limped out and not once looking back in. Despite feeling his gaze burning a hole in the center of her back.

Once the door clicked shut, she leaned against the cool wall of the hallway, feeling her heart drum ridiculously against her ribs.

She had ten minutes to get to the station, sign the papers, and somehow disappear before the "Monster" decided his time was up.

But as she walked toward the elevator, she caught her reflection in the glass. Her hair was a mess, her lips were swollen, and her cheeks were a tell-tale of brilliant red.

’I look like I’ve been ravaged,’ she thought with a surge of self-loathing. ’And now I have to go face everyone.’

Ding.

Brianna limped out, while the cool, over-circulated air of the lobby hit her swollen lips like a slap. She felt exposed, as if the scent of oud and Lucian’s "starved hunger" were radiating off her skin for everyone to see.

Rochelle was standing right there, glancing nervously around until her eyes widened as they scanned Brianna’s disheveled state.

Rochelle rushed forward, speaking in a rather hushed but urgent tone. "Mrs.. Colburn! Good god, what happened to you? Your face is... you’re all red. And your hair—"

Brianna snapped. "It’s nothing."

She kept her gaze fixed on the receptionist desk because she couldn’t look at her assistant. "The room was hot. Lucian is... difficult. Just help me get to the station."

She began to limp down the long hallway toward the administrative wing until she approached the main reception area.

"Ma’am, I’m sorry. But I’ll have to ask you to leave. You are disturbing the other patients."

"Leave? Do you have any idea who I am? I am here to see my sister, Dr. Colburn! And if you don’t get out of my way, I’ll make sure this entire hospital knows exactly what kind of ’services’ this clinic provide in that private wing!"

Rochelle froze, still gripping Brianna’s arm. "Is that... Miss Reyna?"

Brianna’s eyes narrowed while she took in the scene.

Meanwhile, when the nurse saw Mrs. Colburn, she feared for her job. "Seriously, ma’am, you have to leave before I lose my job."

Then she rushed to Brianna and swerved slightly. "Doctor Colburn, you don’t have to worry. I’ll make sure the disturbance is taken care of."

"Excuse you?"

Before Reyna could throw another round of insults, the nurse clamped a hand onto Reyna’s right arm, pinning her in place like a common trespasser.

"Ma’am, please! You are creating a disturbance in a high-security zone. Security is on their way." The nurse stated coldly.

Reyna’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. She turned to the nurse in utter disbelief, her mouth hanged open as she felt the sting of being handled like a "peasant" for the second time that day. First the jewelry store manager, and now a common nurse?

"Get your hands off me!" Reyna shrieked. "Do you have any idea—"

"It’s fine."

Brianna’s voice was like a drop of ice water in a hot pan. She limped forward until she was before her other half.

She raised her hand toward the nurse, a gesture to let Reyna go. The nurse hesitated for a second, but she couldn’t disobey the orders of the President’s wife. She slowly released Reyna’s arm.

Stumbling back, Reyna frantically arranged her clothes and smoothing her hair with shaking fingers. She took a deep breath, her nostrils flaring as she looked Brianna up and down.

The anger was boiling over now. She saw the Icy Goddess looking down at her, seeing the swollen lips and the messy hair that Brianna hadn’t had time to fix.

This person before her was the reason all of that happened to her today! Reyna thought bitterly as her mind flashed back to the jewelry store.