Chapter 19 #2
Daniel was standing outside the wrought-iron gates, arguing with two heavily armed military guards.
At that exact moment, the lead SUV of the convoy slammed its brakes, screeching to a halt just inside the gates.
The heavy armored door swung open.
Alexander stepped out.
Even from a distance, I could feel the violent drop in the atmospheric pressure. He was in his full, dark green uniform. Colonel Ethan Brooks stepped out behind him, his hand instinctively dropping to the sidearm at his waist.
Alexander took one look at Daniel. He didn't ask questions. He simply recognized the face from the unauthorized text message the night before.
The terrifying, uncompromising wrath of the Armed Forces General snapped into place.
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, my breath burning in my lungs.
"Alexander, wait!" I screamed, but the wind whipped the words away.
I reached the gates just as Daniel foolishly tried to speak.
"You can't just lock her away!" Daniel shouted, completely oblivious to the lethal danger standing in front of him. "Grace is my friend! I just want to see her!"
Alexander's expression did not change. His gray eyes were like chips of glacial ice.
"Detain him," Alexander commanded, his voice a low, flat rumble that carried absolute authority. "Teach him the penalty for breaching a military installation."
Two massive guards immediately lunged forward, grabbing Daniel by the arms and slamming him face-first against the iron gate.
"Hey! Get off me!" Daniel panicked, struggling violently.
"Alexander, please!" I shrieked, finally reaching the convoy.
My legs gave out from sheer terror. I knew what "teach him a lesson" meant in Alexander's world. It meant broken bones. It meant Daniel's life was completely over.
And one part of my heart told me that Alexander won't really be happy with himself when he is done with daniel.
Without thinking, I dropped to my knees right on the hard asphalt in front of Alexander. I grabbed the thick fabric of his uniform trousers, looking up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.
"Please!" I sobbed, my voice cracking entirely. "Alexander, please! He's just stupid! He doesn't know what he's doing! Let him go, I'm begging you!"
Alexander froze.
He looked down at me, kneeling on the rough ground, clutching his legs, begging for another man's life.
A dark, violent storm erupted in his eyes. He hated it. He absolutely loathed seeing me on my knees.
With frightening speed, Alexander leaned down. His large hands clamped onto my upper arms, and he hauled me off the ground with effortless strength, pulling me flush against his side.
"Do not kneel," he ground out, his voice thick with raw, vibrating anger. "Never kneel."
He held me tightly against him, shielding me, before turning his lethal gaze back to Daniel, who was now trembling in the grip of the guards.
Alexander didn't yell. He stepped forward, his dominating presence suffocating the space.
"If you breathe within a ten-mile radius of my wife or my estate ever again," Alexander said softly, his blunt words cutting through the air like a knife, "you will disappear. And no one will ever find you."
He paused, letting the absolute certainty of his threat sink in.
"Release him."
The guards shoved Daniel back.
Daniel stumbled, his face pale with sheer terror. He didn't look back at me. He turned and sprinted down the road as fast as he could.
Alexander didn't watch him go. He turned on his heel, his jaw clenched so tightly a muscle ticked near his ear. He marched toward the massive front doors of the estate, radiating a cold, untouchable fury.
"Sir," Ethan started, stepping forward.
"Clear the perimeter, Colonel," Alexander ordered bluntly, not looking back.
He walked into the mansion, the heavy doors slamming shut behind him.
I stood in the courtyard for exactly two seconds, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm, before I hiked up my dress and chased after him.
"Alexander!" I cried, running up the grand marble staircase.
He didn't slow down. He took the stairs two at a time, striding down the East Wing hallway toward the master suite.
I practically threw myself through the heavy oak doors right as he was about to close them. I stumbled into the bedroom, panting, tears streaming down my flushed face.
Alexander had stopped in the middle of the room. He was unfastening the rigid collar of his military jacket, his chest heaving with heavy, restrained breaths.
"Alexander, I'm so sorry," I cried, taking a step toward him, my hands trembling. "I didn't invite him! I swear to you, I didn't know he was coming!"
Alexander turned around.
The look in his eyes stopped me dead in my tracks. It wasn't just anger. It was raw, unadulterated, possessive anger.
"You fell to your knees," he said, his voice dropping into a dark, gravelly register that made my stomach bottom out.
"I... I just didn't want you to hurt him," I sobbed, my natural shyness completely overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment. I closed the distance between us, my small hands desperately grabbing the lapels of his uniform jacket. "I was terrified! I didn't want you to do something terrible!"
"You begged for him," Alexander stated bluntly, his massive hands coming up to grip my waist.
"I was begging for *you*!" I cried, looking up into his face. "Because I didn't want my husband to be a monster!"
Something inside the terrifying General finally snapped.
He didn't argue.
Alexander's hands slid from my waist up to my face, his large, calloused thumbs tilting my chin up. And before I could take another breath, he crashed his mouth down onto mine.
It wasn't a sweet, gentle kiss.
It was an explosion. It was dominant, hungry, and completely overwhelming.
I gasped against his lips, and he immediately deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping into my mouth, claiming every single inch of me. His arms wrapped around me like a vice, crushing my soft body against the hard, unyielding wall of his chest.
My brain completely short-circuited.
The sheer force of his possession-the taste of him, the heat radiating off his massive frame, the absolute raw emotion he was pouring into me-was too much. I melted against him, my hands gripping the fabric of his jacket so tightly my knuckles turned white.
Tears continued to spill from my eyes, tracking down my cheeks, trapped between our faces. I was crying from the terror at the gates, crying from the adrenaline, and crying because the man I loved was finally, completely shattering his own walls.
He kissed me until I couldn't breathe. He kissed me until the entire world outside this room ceased to exist.
But my body had taken too much.
The shock of the confrontation, the violent spike of adrenaline, and the suffocating intensity of his kiss all collided at once.
My lungs burned. Black spots began to dance at the edge of my vision.
I whimpered softly against his mouth, my fingers losing their grip on his jacket.
Alexander felt me go limp. He broke the kiss instantly, pulling back slightly.
"Grace?" his deep voice was breathless, entirely stripped of its cold command.
"I..." I tried to speak, but the room violently spun sideways.
My eyes rolled back, and the last thing I felt was the sudden, terrifying sensation of falling.
I didn't hit the ground.
Alexander's massive arms caught me instantly, sweeping me off my feet and cradling me tightly against his chest as the world faded completely to black.
?? THE EXPLOSION! ?? The General finally snapped, and that kiss was EVERYTHING! But poor Grace's system just completely overloaded! ??
Drop a ?? and vote if you are hyperventilating! What is Alexander going to do now that she's fainted in his arms?! The General panic mode is about to be activated in Chapter 20! Let me know your thoughts! Mwaah!