His dangerous lover

Chapter 9: Their Accidental First Time

At the Morgan Group’s building…

Joseph's voice was icy as he asked, "Have you found the location yet?"

"Ch-checking…” someone answered nervously. “We’re checking it, sir!"

As they worked, all the technicians were sweating profusely. Once they finally located the target position, they wasted no time reporting the coordinates.

As soon as the words left their mouths, their boss strode out vigorously, his back showing signs of anxiety and urgency.

A relieved technician murmured to the others, "Interrupting the board meeting to locate a mobile phone number… who could the boss be looking for?"

…

When they reached the place, the well-trained bodyguards spread out and guarded the door. Joseph stepped up and kicked it open. Inside one of the cubicles in the restroom, a woman had fainted. She was breathing in quick and shallow bursts, and her cheeks were flushed with color.

Joseph reached out to touch her, only to find that she was really burning up. Joseph's eyebrows furrowed tightly.

When she felt his touch, Rose unconsciously mumbled and rubbed herself against him. Her soft arms wrapped themselves unknowingly around his neck, and the sudden closeness allowed Joseph to smell the alcohol on her breath.

"I feel so hot… I can’t take it…"

Joseph told her soothingly as he carried her up, "Endure it for a little longer. I will take you to the hospital."

But the woman in his arms did not comply. She held on to him tightly, triggering an excitement inside him that was enough to make anyone squirm. She then sobbed like a spoiled child, "Touch… touch me…"

Joseph hesitated for a moment, but he quickly suppressed his desire. He didn't want to take advantage of someone who was vulnerable after clearly being drugged.

Just as he was about to step out of the restroom with the barely conscious Rose, he heard—

"Don’t you want me, Joseph?"

“…”

She was calling his name…? Did she know who was with her?

Boom.

His breathing suddenly becoming heavy, Joseph heard his reason shatter.

…

In the harsh morning sun, Rose slowly opened her eyelids.

The strange room she found herself in was decorated extravagantly, and there was an indescribable smell in the air. The pain all over her body was so intense that she didn't even want to move a finger. As her consciousness returned fully, Rose's eyes suddenly widened.

She remembered the problematic wine, the narrow restroom cubicle, the familiar embrace…

She also faintly recalled crying and asking the man holding her again and again for something she couldn't recall.

When she tried to move, the pain was so unbearable that it made her turn pale. Amber's smiling face appeared in her mind, and Rose clenched her teeth in frustration.

That was too dangerous. If Joseph hadn't found her in time, she might have fallen into Amber's trap and would be regretting her carelessness now.

"Are you awake?" a man's magnetic and satisfied voice asked lazily.

When Rose heard it, blood rushed to her head, and her face suddenly flushed.

Joseph had just come out of the bathroom with wet hair hanging down, his waist only loosely wrapped in a bath towel. His bulging chest muscles and strong abdominal muscles were perfectly displayed in front of her, bringing back her memories of how his strong body had pressed on her and taken her to the heights of pleasure the night before.

Rose felt her ears burn with heat, and she lowered her head and whispered, "Tha-thank you… Thanks for…"

Even though—strictly speaking—Joseph had “taken advantage” of her the night before, she was the one who had called him for help. He only held her in his arms after she begged for it, unable to take the heat coursing throughout her body after the drug took full effect.

She finally recalled that in that condition, all she wanted was to be granted release…

Joseph raised his eyebrows in a way that hinted at the satisfaction he felt. He looked like he was in a very good mood.

He was about to say something when he heard the woman who had spent the night with him continue in a stiff tone, "Yesterday was… a mistake. My mistake. I fell into Amber's trap. But it won't happen again, Joseph, I promise. Please pretend that last night never happened. I don't want it to cause trouble in our… partnership."

As he listened, Joseph's face slowly darkened.

Rose was putting up a strong front, but she was secretly so nervous that she couldn't dare to look directly at the man who had taken her virginity. Thus, she wasn't able to see the complicated emotions in his eyes.

After a long silence, Joseph chuckled. "We're both adults, Rose. What happened between us was just some harmless fun. From what you said, it could have been worse for you. With that said… I won't be at ease if you're not comfortable with it. I can only hope you could look at it the same way I do, which is to say… that it’s not a big deal."

Rose was undoubtedly relieved by Joseph's response, but at the same time, she felt a sense of indescribable loss inside her.

She didn't want this little accident to affect her relationship with Joseph. Sure, she needed his help, but she had never once intended to sell her body for profit—not to him, and not to anyone.

“I got it,” she said. “Thanks for your understanding.”

As she mustered the courage to look at him quietly after giving that reply, Joseph put on his suit. Once he was dressed and presentable, he gave Rose one final nod before leaving. Rose mutely watched the sight of his tall and straight back disappearing from her presence without any hesitation.

When the door of the hotel room was closed with finality, it caused her heart to constrict painfully.

…

On the other side, Amber had tossed and turned in bed all night.

She had lain a well-planned trap that only needed Rose to walk into it. After Rose had done something extremely disgraceful, Amber could have used it to her advantage as blackmail material in the future.

However, after Amber had hurriedly left while Rose was still in the restroom, Matthew's message shocked her: Rose never came back to join him at all, causing her plan to fall through.

How was he able to miss an entire person and let her escape? As far as Amber was concerned, he shouldn’t have let a good opportunity slip away after it had already been served to him.

But to Matthew, it was Amber who didn't honor their agreement. He must have assumed she had brought Rose away with her when she left. Did Amber get cold feet, perhaps? Or was she just playing around with him?

Amber did no such thing, of course. Matthew was the one who had messed up.

But though she was cursing him for his stupidity and ineptitude behind his back, she outwardly apologized for “her” mistake and soothed his ruffled feathers.

She wasn’t sure how Rose managed to get away, but she had a good hunch of what could have happened after the younger woman excused herself. Rose had very few people she could ask for help, after all, and Joseph was the most likely candidate.

However, if Joseph had indeed rescued Rose, it might cause another big scene, and that was something that Amber feared. The thought of a new round of internet storms gave her a headache so early in the morning.

She hurriedly got up, intending to discreetly arrange for people to find Rose's whereabouts. Melissa, who had been forced to get up to help her mother, yawned and looked reluctant to do so.

To their surprise, before they could even step out, the person they were intending to find walked in. Looking tired and weak with her footsteps staggering and unsteady, Rose entered the front door by herself.

Amber immediately put on a surprised and concerned expression as she rushed up to her to ask, "Rose, where have you been all night? Matthew said you didn't come back, but is that true? We thought you might have been kidn*pped or something! We were so worried all night and were just about to report you missing now…” Amber gulped. “Did he… did he do something to you?"

Rose sneered in her heart. How could Amber push the blame onto someone else without even batting an eyelash? The memory of the humiliating way she lost her virginity last night was fresh in Rose’s mind, and she blamed this vicious woman for it.

The only silver lining was that Joseph came to her rescue. Her first experience with a man was thus with him and not with some sleazy stranger that Amber wanted to sell her to.

Despite the lingering pain from losing her virginity the night before, Rose said nothing and kept her suffering to herself.

Then someone said, "Mom, you're worrying for nothing."

Melissa had been delighted when she heard that Rose was missing. While she was bored and uninterested in helping find Rose before, she now stared at her maliciously. Her sharp eyes had caught the sight of the bite marks and hickeys on Rose's neck.

She pointed at them and continued gleefully, "I mean, just look at her shameless appearance. She must have been with a man all night. How dare she come back so brazenly with those marks on her neck? Rose Sommers who? I think the person we’re looking at is now nothing more than a slut!"

"Melissa!” Amber exclaimed. “How could you speak to your cousin like that?"

But though Amber's attitude was firm and unwavering, she didn't actually take any concrete steps to reprimand Melissa, indicating implicit indulgence.

Melissa didn't back down and continued to say sarcastically, "I don't have such a shameless cousin! Your parents aren’t even cold in their graves, Rose, and yet you're already fooling around with men, just doing whatever you want? They must be so asha—"

Pa!

Melissa's triumphantly sarcastic remark came to an abrupt end, and the atmosphere fell into a dead silence for a few seconds.

After that resounding slap, Melissa now had a symmetrical red and swollen five-finger mark on each side of her face.

Melissa lunged at Rose, screaming, "Rose, you b***h! You hit me! Again!"

As weak as she felt, Rose didn't know where she got the strength. When Melissa rushed wildly at her, she pushed back without being knocked down herself. They then scuffled with each other, and Rose's nails tore at Melissa's cherished face, leaving several deep scratches.

Melissa's screams of anger and pain grew even louder.

For a time, Amber could only watch in shock as her daughter suffered. Then she was finally jolted into calling for servants to come and separate the two young women who were still entangled together.

In just a short while, Melissa had gotten injured several times, mostly on her face. Despite being held back by multiple hands, she kept trying to lunge back at Rose while yelling threats and obscenities at her.

In contrast, Rose was much calmer and didn’t need to be held back. However, her throat was so hoarse that she couldn't make any sound, and the hands that were now hanging limply at her sides were shaking badly.

But it wasn’t because of fear, excitement, or anger.

Rather, it was because of the unprecedented thirst for violence that was still pumping throughout her body and coursing white-hot in her veins.