Enthralled and Entangled

Chapter 9

I froze, not daring to move.

Braydan leaned toward and placed his hand on the island counter. I was trapped between his powerful body and the counter beside me. There was no room for me to maneuver.

My waist pressed against the edge of the island and it was kind of painful.

Braydan suddenly brought his nose closer to my neck and sniffed. His warm breath tickled my ear. My cheeks instantly flushed, as if his warm breath was heating up the inside of my body.

“Strange. Why do you have the smell of baby milk powder on you?” he whispered curiously in my ear.

“You must have made a mistake, Mr. Braydan. I don’t smell anything on me,” I hurriedly said.

Braydan stared into my eyes, his eyes full of suspicion. Did he find out something?

I quickly added, “Maybe some kid spilled their milk on me when I was on my way to work this morning.”

The look in his eyes changed slightly upon hearing my explanation.

I seized the chance to plead with him. “I still have other work to do, Mr. Braydan. Can you let me leave?”

“All of your work is assigned by me. I can always rearrange it,” he said in a forceful tone.

His brashness offended me. “Mr. Braydan, your behavior is out of line. This is hardly appropriate between a superior and his subordinate.”

“This is appropriate between a husband and a wife.” Braydan’s deep voice rasped in my ear.

“You seem to have forgotten that I’ve never agreed to be your wife,” I retorted.

My words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Braydan’s arm snaked around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

“Riannon, you need to understand that you’re my destined mate, whether you agree or not. You can only be my wife,” he said firmly.

I simply could not understand what was going through his head. I found a burst of courage I never knew I had in me and rebuked him, “No! I’m not and I won’t! I’ll find my husband and he definitely won’t be you!”

Braydan’s eyes suddenly turned icy, I thought I could see frost in his blue eyes. His gaze chilled me to the bone, like the chilly wind in winter. I cowered slightly as I felt cold, like I was trapped in ice.

I bet my words had enraged him.

I detected a dangerous aura radiating off him. I hastily softened my tone and pleaded with him, “Mr. Braydan, please let me go.”

The next thing I knew, Braydan suddenly kissed and bit my neck angrily. His sharp teeth slowly sank into the skin of my neck.

Pain immediately bloomed in my neck. I jolted and cried out in pain, “Ahhhh, nooo!”

My scream echoed in the wide pantry, along with the wet slurping noises. Braydan’s arm tightened around my waist as he bit the nape of my neck with the bloodlust of a vampire.

He was no different than a wild beast. I could not believe that he would bite me to vent his anger. If this was a hunting ground, I bet he would have bitten my head off.

I was forced to hold my head high as pain and fear completely took over me. I subconsciously held my breath, enduring the pain of being bitten roughly on the neck by him.

It went on for a while until he finally ran his warm tongue over the teeth marks that were, thankfully, not too deep. The pain in my neck gradually turned into a tingling sensation.

He then sucked on the soft skin of my neck before peppering kisses on it. His thin and cool lips brushed over my sensitive spots softly, like the fluttering wings of a butterfly.

To my surprise, his gentle kisses dispelled all the fear and nervousness in my heart. I even started to feel a little aroused. My hands involuntarily grasped his suit coat.

Braydan returned his lips to my lips, running his bloodstained tongue over them and my teeth as he seeked entrance into my mouth. The moment my lips parted, his kiss turned merciless as our tongues fought with each other.

When we finally broke our passionate kiss, he cupped my face and whispered in my ear, “I’ll let it slide this time. Try to fight me again and I’ll make sure you won’t be given the luxury to choose.”

“Also, no one can take you away from me. Only I can be your husband.”

His voice echoed in my ear like the whisper of a devil from hell. His absolute command engraved itself on my heart like a curse.

“Yes… Mr. Braydan…” I mumbled half-heartedly, praying that he would leave me alone soon.

Braydan finally released me after getting my obedience. He smoothed out his clothes, then left the pantry as if nothing had happened.

His terrifying presence slowly receded from the pantry and the aroma of coffee once again filled my nose. I leaned against the island counter weakly as I panted heavily, trying to catch my breath.

At this point, I was fully convinced that Braydan was a lunatic

.

My neck was still hurting a little. I hurriedly went in front of a mirror, only to see that there were now teeth marks left on my fair neck, as well as a red hickey.

Both marks were glaring on my skin, reminding me of Braydan’s unbridled possessiveness.

I touched the teeth marks and hickey for a moment, then let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, Braydan did not continue asking about the smell of baby milk powder on me. If he did, I could not imagine how this would have ended.

Having successfully evaded Braydan’s suspicion, I could focus on my work for the rest of the day.

By the end of the day, I was thoroughly exhausted. My legs were weak and my head hurt like hell. I was even coughing a little.

I managed to drag myself home despite the dizziness. Mrs. Steve came to open the door for me with Sofia in her arms.

As soon as she saw me, she was startled by the state I was in. “What happened to you, Ria?!”

I was surprised by her reaction and looked at myself. “What’s wrong with me, Mrs. Steve?”

“Your face is really red!” Mrs. Steve reached out and touched my forehead then exclaimed, “Oh my, you’re burning up! You might be running a fever!”

I quickly touched my face when I heard her. It was indeed hot. I then broke into a coughing fit. Every time I coughed, I felt a splitting headache.

Sofia hurriedly got off Mrs. Steve and fetched the thermometer that I always used on her from the coffee table. “Here, Mommy!”

“Thank you, Sofia.” I accepted the thermometer from her with a smile, then took my temperature. 38.5 degrees celsius. Seemed like it was really a fever. I must have caught a cold from running in the rain yesterday.

“I’ll get you some meds to bring the fever down now, give me a moment.” Mrs. Steve hurriedly ran into the kitchen for the first aid box.

Sofia looked at me worriedly. She took my hand, trying to comfort me.

I bent down to pick Sofia up and kissed her on her cheek. I deliberately diverted her attention by asking her, “Did anything good happen to you today, Sofia?”

Sofia wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her chubby cheek against mine. “I made a new friend today, Mommy!” She smiled sweetly.

I carried her to the sofa and sat down. “Oh, tell me more,” I encouraged her.

Sofia’s eyes crinkled up in delight and she snuggled closer to me. “He’s someone from school. His name is Dorr Taylor.

The name that came out of Sofia’s mouth took me by surprise. This little boy actually shared the same last name as Braydan. As far as I knew, not many people in this city had that family name.

Could this little boy be related to Braydan?

I hurriedly shook my head and perished the thought. There was no such coincidence in the world. I must have been overly sensitive from being constantly harassed by Braydan.

“Here, take this, Ria.” Mrs. Steve came over with the medicine she found, then picked Sofia up in her arms. “I’ll take care of Sofia for you tonight. Go back to your room and have a good rest after taking the meds.”

“Much appreciated, Mrs. Steve,” I quickly thanked her as I accepted the meds from her before dragging myself back to my room.

After taking the meds, my fever showed no signs of going down. My body felt like it was on fire and my headache got even worse. I could not even sleep the entire night.

When the next morning came, I still felt as horrible as I did yesterday. Not wanting to show up late to work, I hurriedly took two painkillers then dragged myself out of bed and prepared to leave for work.

I must have overestimated the condition of my body. A wave of dizziness assaulted my head as soon as I was only a few steps out of the front door. I had to lean on the wall for support to continue walking.

Not long after that, a cab passed by and I quickly motioned it to pull over.

All of a sudden, my vision turned dark. The last thing I saw was the cab slowing down.

When I woke up again, I saw a white ceiling and the IV fluid bag that was dripping into my arm.

I was in a hospital?! Was I not on my way to work? How did I end up here?

“Ria, you’re awake!” A man’s voice suddenly appeared beside me. I turned my head to the side and saw Eddie sitting on the chair next to my bed.

I quickly sat up in the bed and asked in surprise, “Why are you here?”

Eddie took my hand in his and explained, “I happened to pass by when I saw you fainting on the street, so I brought you to the hospital.”

I massaged my head that was still spinning a little and reflected on what happened this morning. I was indeed feeling very ill before going out of my house. It seemed like Eddie had really saved me this time.

Although I still resented him, I softened my tone since he was nice enough to take me to the hospital. “Thank you.”

Eddie’s face suddenly lit up a little as he held my hand tightly and pleaded, “Ria, can we talk things out?”

“Please don’t get the wrong idea, Eddie. I’m thanking you because you saved me.” I then pulled my hand out of his grasp before continuing, “But we’ve already broken up and I don’t see the need to talk things out or even speak with you.”

“Ria…” The light in Eddie’s eyes dimmed as sadness filled them.

Rather than feeling bad for him, I was amused. Had he ever considered my feelings when he cheated on me back then?

I hoped that this would be the last time I had to see this rotten ex-boyfriend of mine.

I picked up my phone and looked at the time. I was already two hours late for work. I guessed I had missed work today.

Nothing was more terrifying than this realization. I hurriedly pulled the IV out of my arm and was about to get out of the bed when Eddie grabbed my wrist to stop me.

“You’re sick, get some rest.”

I twisted my wrist, trying to free it from his grip. “Eddie, I have to go to work now. Let go of me,” I demanded sternly.

Eddie suddenly pulled me forward by my wrist, then stared at my neck. “How did you get that kiss mark?” he asked coldly.