Chapter 23
I followed Mia's advice exactly.
It was the hardest, most agonizing thing I had ever done in my entire life.
For the next five days, I completely withdrew. I didn't do it out of spite or anger-I did it because I was genuinely hurt, and because I was simply too shy and terrified to face the man who had bluntly rejected my confession.
I stopped making his chamomile tea. I stopped lingering in the library while he worked. At dinner, I kept my eyes firmly glued to my plate, answering his direct questions with soft, one-word replies before quickly excusing myself to my bedroom.
I gave the General exactly what he asked for.
I stopped waiting for him.
And Alexander absolutely hated it.
I didn't realize it at first. But by day three, the heavy, electric tension in the house had completely shifted into something dark, restless, and deeply predatory.
It was Thursday morning. I was running late for my hospital internship.
I practically sprinted down the grand staircase, wearing my light blue nursing scrubs, my stethoscope draped around my neck. I was expecting to see the usual estate driver waiting by the front doors.
Instead, standing in the center of the foyer, was Alexander.
He was in his full, dark green military uniform. His hands were clasped behind his back, his broad shoulders impossibly rigid, his sharp gray eyes locked onto the bottom of the stairs, waiting for me.
I froze on the last step.
My heart immediately kicked into a frantic rhythm. He was so intimidating, so overwhelmingly dominant, that my natural instinct was to shrink back.
"G-Good morning," I stammered, my cheeks already warming as I desperately avoided making direct eye contact.
"Where is Thomas? Is the car ready?"
"Thomas has been dismissed for the day," Alexander stated bluntly, his voice a low, heavy rumble that echoed in the quiet foyer.
I blinked, confused, my fingers nervously twisting the strap of my bag. "Dismissed? But how do I get to the hospital?"
"I am driving you."
My head snapped up. "You? But you have an important briefing this morning."
"The briefing will wait," Alexander replied without a single drop of hesitation. He stepped forward, closing the distance between us until his massive frame completely blocked my path.
He looked down at me. The dark, restless storm in his gray eyes was terrifying. He noticed the way I instinctively shrank back, the way my hands trembled, and his jaw tightened so hard I thought his teeth might crack.
"Let us go, Grace," he commanded softly.
He opened the heavy front doors.
The ride to the hospital was excruciating. We sat in the back of his armored, matte-black SUV. The tinted privacy partition was rolled up, separating us entirely from Ethan, who was driving.
I pressed myself as far into the corner of the leather seat as physically possible, staring out the window, terrified that if I looked at him, I would start crying again.
I could feel Alexander's intense, unblinking gaze burning into the side of my face.
The silence in the vehicle was suffocating.
"You did not come to the library last night," Alexander stated suddenly. It wasn't a question.
My breath hitched. I kept my eyes on the passing buildings, my voice incredibly small. "I had to study. And you... you told me not to wait for you."
A heavy, dangerous silence filled the SUV.
Alexander didn't apologize. He didn't offer a sweet explanation. He simply shifted his massive frame, completely closing the distance between us on the leather seat.
I gasped softly as the heat of his body pressed against my side. Before I could scramble further into the door, his large, calloused hand reached out, his long fingers gently but firmly gripping my chin.
He forced me to turn my head and look at him.
My eyes were wide, terrified, and painfully shy.
Alexander's face was mere inches from mine. The sheer, overwhelming dominance radiating from him made my entire body tremble. His eyes stripped me completely bare.
"I told you not to wait up for me," Alexander murmured, his voice dropping into a dark, gravelly register that sent a violent shiver straight down my spine. "I did not tell you to turn my home into a tomb. I did not tell you to avoid my gaze. I did not tell you to hide from me, Grace."
"I'm not hiding," I whispered shakily, though the frantic beating of my heart completely gave me away.
His thumb slowly stroked the sensitive skin of my jawline. The touch was agonizingly gentle for a man who commanded such violence.
"You are pulling away," he stated bluntly, his gaze dropping to my lips before rising back to my eyes. "And I find that I absolutely despise it."
My stomach did a violent, dizzying flip.
Before I could process his confession, the SUV smoothly pulled to a halt. We were parked at the front entrance of the massive city hospital.
Alexander released my chin, his aura snapping back into its impenetrable, disciplined state.
"I will collect you at 1600 hours," he ordered.
I didn't argue. I scrambled out of the SUV, my face burning as red as a fire engine, and practically ran into the hospital.
For the next eight hours, I was completely distracted. *He despises it.* He hated the distance. He had completely abandoned his military convoy driver just to trap me in the back seat and force me to look at him.
At 4:00 PM, my shift finally ended.
I walked out of the hospital's main sliding doors, surrounded by a group of my fellow nursing interns, chatting about our clinical rotations.
Suddenly, the chatter died.
In fact, the entire hospital courtyard went dead silent.
I looked up.
Parked illegally in the absolute center of the drop-off zone was the General's matte-black armored convoy. Four heavily armed security guards stood at the perimeter.
And leaning casually against the hood of the lead SUV, in his full, immaculate military uniform, was Alexander.
He had his dark sunglasses on, his broad shoulders relaxed, but his terrifying presence had completely paralyzed the civilian crowd. Doctors, nurses, and medical students were staring in absolute, terrified awe.
The moment I stepped through the doors, Alexander straightened up.
He didn't care about the hundreds of eyes on him. He walked straight through the crowd, parting the sea of terrified civilians like Moses parting the Red Sea.
He stopped directly in front of me.
My classmates practically stopped breathing, taking frantic steps backward.
"Alexander," I squeaked, my face igniting with a fresh, scorching blush. "W-what are you doing here? You're in your full uniform."
"Your shift is over," he stated bluntly, completely ignoring the terrified medical students beside me. He reached out, his large hand wrapping firmly around the small of my back, possessing me in front of the entire hospital. "Let us go home."
He didn't wait for my reply. He guided me with absolute, unyielding authority toward the SUV. Ethan opened the heavy armored door for us, his face perfectly professional, though I caught the faintest hint of a smirk on the Colonel's lips.
I climbed in, and Alexander followed, the heavy door slamming shut behind us.
The privacy partition was already up.
The moment the SUV started moving, I pressed my hands to my burning cheeks.
"You caused a panic!" I stammered, entirely overwhelmed by his public display. "Everyone was staring at us! They looked terrified of you!"
"They should be," Alexander replied coldly.
He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his military jacket, shedding a fraction of his rigid discipline. Then, he turned to me.
He didn't give me time to shrink back.
Alexander reached across the seat, his massive hands gripping my waist, and with one effortless, dominating pull, he dragged me across the leather seat until I was flush against his side.
"Alexander!" I gasped, my hands flying up to press against his solid, muscular chest to steady myself.
He didn't let go. He wrapped one thick arm securely around my waist, trapping me against him. His other hand came up, his long fingers tangling into the hair at the nape of my neck, tilting my head back.
The fear and shyness in my chest violently collided with a sudden, overwhelming wave of heat.
His face was so close I could feel his minty breath against my lips. His dark eyes were burning with a raw, primal intensity that completely shattered my defenses.
"You are my wife," Alexander ground out, his voice so deep it vibrated right through my bones. "You will not avoid me. You will not hide in your room. If I have to dispatch a military convoy every single afternoon to drag you out of that hospital to ensure you look at me, I will do it."
I stared up at him, my heart pounding so hard I thought my ribs might crack.
"You told me not to wait for you," I whispered, a single, frustrated tear escaping my eye. "You broke my heart, Alexander. What do you want from me?"
Alexander's jaw clenched. He looked at the tear tracking down my cheek, his eyes darkening with absolute agony.
"I want you," he stated bluntly, entirely stripping away his own walls.
He didn't ask for permission.
Alexander crashed his mouth down onto mine.
It was deeply, aggressively possessive. His lips devoured mine, his tongue sweeping inside to claim me with a desperate, starving hunger. He kissed me like a man who had spent the last five days dying of thirst.
I whimpered against his mouth, my shyness completely dissolving under the sheer, mind-blowing intensity of his touch. My fingers curled tightly into the lapels of his uniform jacket, holding on for dear life as the terrifying General of the Armed Forces completely surrendered.
?? THE GENERAL HAS COMPLETELY LOST HIS MIND! ?? Waiting outside in full uniform just to flex on everyone, and that backseat confession?! ??
Drop a ?? and vote if you are hyperventilating! Alexander finally admitted he wants her! But what happens when they get back to the estate? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Mwaah!