Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 174

With bloodshot eyes, she screamed, "I just don't want to live like such a pathetic subordinate around you!"

A terrifying silence descended upon the living room.

Her eyes were rimmed red, tears precariously hanging from her lashes.

She hadn't wanted to cry in front of him, but the years of repressed grievances and frustration poured out like a flood through a broken dam, impossible to stop.

Randal reached out and pulled her into his embrace, his voice dropping to a gentle, placating whisper. "Wills, I'm sorry. I didn't think it through. From now on, whatever you say goes..."

Soothed by his embrace and coaxing tone, the fiery anger that had just flared up in Willa instantly died down, leaving only a stubborn ember smoking in her chest.

She squirmed lightly but couldn't break free.

"Wills, please don't be mad anymore."

"Is 'sorry' the only word in your vocabulary?" she snapped, though her voice had already softened significantly.

"I also know how to do this..."

Before he even finished the sentence, his warm lips claimed hers with a cautious, desperate tenderness.

Willa wanted to push him away, but her body betrayed her, greedy for his affection.

She suddenly found it all so ridiculous.

One second they were screaming at each other, and the next, he had effortlessly derailed her fury.

Was this how men saw the world? Could every conflict just be erased by physical intimacy?

She shoved firmly against his chest, growling softly, "Get off me."

Reluctantly, Randal propped himself up a little and looked down at her.

Her eyes were red, the tear streaks still fresh, and her lips were slightly swollen from his kiss. She looked utterly ravaged, yet the sight only stirred a maddening desire deep within him.

His Adam's apple bobbed, his voice dipping into a husky rasp. "Wills, looking at me like that... it only makes me want you more."

Willa glared at him. "Randal, can you take this seriously?"

Her feet remained glued to the floor, but she couldn't stop herself from peeking around the corner.

Randal was sitting on the sofa, his dress shirt hanging loose, exposing his collarbones and a sliver of his chest.

His head was tipped back, his eyes squeezed shut, and his Adam's apple bobbed rhythmically.

One hand gripped the armrest of the sofa, while the other...

His brow furrowed deeply, his lips parted.

A muffled, trembling groan tore from his throat, long and drawn out, as if something vital was being ripped straight from his very core.

Willa's face instantly burned, a fierce flush spreading from her neck to the tips of her ears, making her whole body tremble with heat.

She scrambled frantically back into her room, her heart hammering against her ribs.

The moment the door clicked shut, a broken, breathless whisper drifted into her ears.

"Wills..."