Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

My remedy After talking with Chris, | becrestless. lan Haskett had been eliminated by someone who didn’t want him to talk. It would be obvious to suspect that the assassination had been ordered by Mr. C., whoever he was. It was frustrating: as soon as we found answers to sof our questions, more questions came. | used to think that the moment we found and dealt with the man who kidnappedfrom my wedding ceremony would be the moment our battles would end. It was terrifying to think that a man like lan Haskett had been merely a pawn in Mr. C.’s game.

Chris toldthat the sniper managed to run away right after successfully shooting Haskett. | bet that the shooter must have been there the whole time, observing the situation. The sniper must have been prepared to act in case lan Haskett’s plan went south. The second Blue Dreamland’s board of directors had been arrested and the whole company basically ceased to exist, lan Haskett had becexpendable, but, for sreason, he wasn't eliminated by Mr. C.’s people right away. | also knew that Mr. C. didn’t want Aren dead, but at the stime, his men didn’t interfere when lan Haskett decided to kill me. Would | becMr. C.’s next target? It was enough that | saw those disgusting men trying to rapeeach t| closed my eyes, and now the vision of an unknown man trying to killprolonged the list of my nightmares.

Miranda gavesedatives so | could fall asleep, but even then my dreams were gloomy and disturbing. As soon as | closed my eyes, | found myself inside an empty room. It was dark, and only a tiny bit of light cfrom the crack of the door in front of me. | stepped toward it, my hand reaching for a door handle when suddenly | noticed that the cuffs Haskett had put on my wrists were restraining my hands once more. | felt a burning pain wherever the poisoned steel touched my skin. | screamed in agony, desperately trying to take the handcuffs off, but I felt as if they had gotten tighter. | screamed again, reaching for the door handle, somehow knowing that it would releasefrom the pain. | stretched my hand, fighting through the pain. | wanted to step closer to the door, but | felt as if sforce keptinside that dark room. Then, miraculously, the door in front ofopened, letting in a pleasant amount of light. | moved my foot forward a bit and felt that the force keepinginside had becweaker. | stretched my hands forward and felt someone’s touch. It was comforting and warm. It soothed me, instantly stopping my tears from falling.

| opened my eyes and found myself in a well-known embrace. My back was pressed against a warm, chiseled chest, and | was wrapped in a pair of strong arms. | smiled and started crying again.

“Hush, sunshine,” Aren whispered in between kissing my hair. “Don’t cry. | will never leave you alone again. | will never let anyone hurt you again. Please forgive me.” He huggedtighter. Only then did | realize that he was lying on the sheets of my hospital bed and was still dressed in his suit.

“Did you chere straight from the airport?” | murmured.

“How could | not?” he breathed, lowering himself to nuzzle the nape of my neck.

| pleasant wave of shivers flew down my body. | instantly wanted to feel his naked skin against mine. | felt as if he was my remedy for all the darkness that crept inside my mind. He made my pain go away. But then he suddenly releasedfrom his embrace, deprivingof his warmth. “I can go if you don’t wantto be here...” “No!” | exclaimed in a panic. | grabbed his arm and pressed it to my chest. “It’s just that... You must feel uncomfortable in those clothes... and | would much rather feel you instead of your fine jacket and shirt.” I heard him chuckle against the back of my neck. “When did my wife start to take initiative?” he purred, teasingly My grip on his arm tightened nervously. “I need to feel your touch. | ne ed to feel you and not...” My voice cracked He turned my body to face him before | could even gasp. He looked deep into my eyes, his dark irises filled with pain as if he was suffering for me. He smiled faintly and gently kissed my lips. “Miranda will killif | sleep here with her patient.” © RE | smirked at him. “Miranda is your employee, and this is your clinic.” He laughed and kissedagain. “Good point,” he stated before jumping off my bed and rushing from my room straight to the bathroom. “Givea minute.” | chuckled, hearing him turn on the shower. He took that “minute” quite literally, because sixty heartbeats later, | saw him standing on the room's threshold, his skin freshly towel-dried and his hair deliciously damp. The sight of his towel wrapped low around his hips, exposing the sexy V-line, madeswallow, my thirst for him increasing.

The only thing that kept makingfeel uncomfortable was the way | looked. | was more than aware that my bruised, exhausted body was anything but sexy. And yet, Aren was staring atas if | was the most desirable thing on this planet.

“Do you intend to sleep naked?” | raised one eyebrow at him.

He chuckled, walked to the door, and locked it. “Like you said, it is my clinic.” | laughed nervously. “But it'll be a little strange withwearing my patient's pajamas...” “Do you have any other bandages aside from your wrists?” he asked, a smirk crossing his lips.

“No,” | said emphatically.

“Then you will sleep naked too.” He shrugged.

My eyes widened as | tried to protest. “But | am a patient.” “And | am providing therapy,” he said, slipping under the sheets before starting to unbutton my pajama shirt.

“Aren..."” | gasped when his fingers brushed my breasts, sending a wave of shudders through me. “I don’t think that this is a good idea...” He slid the sleeves of my pajama top down. “I'll be gentle,” he whispered.

I minute later, he was huggingfrom behind, our naked bodies pressed against each other. He showeredwith little, sweet kisses, cherishing every inch of my skin. “Are you uncomfortable?” he asked. “If you are in pain, just tell me, and I-” “No,” | muttered, leaning back to sink in his strong arms and chest. “Don’t you dare leave me.” He chuckled softly and kissed the top of my head. “I will call my grandfather and tell him we won't come.” I flinched and turned around to look at him, frowning. “Why would you do that?” “Because my wife was almost raped and killed and needs my attention and a stable recovery far more than attending an old man’s party,” he said firmly.

| reached out my hand and stroked his cheek. As much as | loved that he was willing to give up on his plans for me, | didn’t want him to. “We need to go there, Aren,” | whispered, my lips curving into a cautious smile.

“Spending a few days in bed with you sounds tempting, but we need to go.” Aren caught my hand stroking his cheek and kissed it. “Sunshine, you must be aware by now that whoever wants to harm you andwill probably attend this party as well.” | nodded. “I know that. But do you think that | would be safer in New York if we didn’t go there?” He sighed. “I need to know that you are OK. Meeting the Lan family won't be easy...” “I will be fine if you are there with me,” | said and kissed his delectable, full lips.

He smiled and stroked my hair. “How did | deserve to have a woman like you?” 1 | smirked, “You didn’t. You are just one hell of a lucky bastard.” He laughed and pulledcloser before clashing his lips against mine in a rough, passionate kiss. “I must have saved the entire world in my past life to get a reward like that,” he breathed as he finally broke our kiss.

| chuckled and nuzzled against the chiseled muscles on his chest. “You work far better as my cure than Miranda's medicines.” He snorted but then suddenly becserious. | could hear the change in his breathing as if his mind traveled elsewhere, somewhere that made him restless. “Cora... this trip will be dangerous. You need to promiseone thing.” He gently grabbed my chin, pullingup to look into his eyes. “You need to trustno matter what happens.” | stared at him, nervously trying to read him. “I always trust you,” | claimed with a smile.

“I need you to know that | would never hurt you.” His words increased every anxiety | had in me.

I nodded. “I trust you,” | repeated.

He exhaled in a rush and tightened his embrace around me. | shifted in his arms, settling myself more comfortably, and closed my eyes.