The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 8

Nora buried her red face against Maloney's chest.

"Drink your tea," she mumbled into his shirt.

"Okay." Since the tea was scalding hot, Maloney quickly downed a few mouthfuls. He set the cup aside, scooped Nora up in his arms, and carried her straight to the bedroom.

Nora looked incredibly nervous.

But she was entirely cooperative.

In the past, Maloney had always treated Nora like she was made of glass.

There was a very specific reason for that.

Their first time together had ended in a terrifying medical emergency.

Two years ago, when Maloney had taken a drugged Nora to bed, the night had been wild and reckless. But in the middle of the night, Nora had doubled over in excruciating abdominal pain. When Maloney helped her get dressed, he had noticed terrifying spots of blood on the sheets.

He had rushed her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a ruptured ovarian cyst and hospitalized for an entire week.

Although the doctor had reassured him that the blood was merely a normal sign of her losing her virginity, and that the ruptured cyst was a minor, self-healing tear that wouldn't leave any lasting damage, the incident had left a massive psychological scar on Maloney.

Women were incredibly fragile creatures.

They needed to be handled with extreme care.

After they married, Maloney treated Nora like a delicate porcelain doll, terrified of breaking her.

Maloney had even consulted specialists, learning that a woman's body was most susceptible to cyst ruptures during the seven days leading up to her cycle.

During those seven days, he refused to touch her.

Combined with the actual seven days of her cycle, that meant they couldn't be intimate for half the month.

Even during the remaining two weeks, he always held back, keeping his movements agonizingly controlled and gentle.

Almost every single time they slept together, Maloney had to go to the bathroom afterward to finally find his release alone.

He could never truly let go.

But it had never occurred to him that if a man had physical needs, a woman would have them too.

And women were notoriously harder to satisfy than men.

Could the real reason Nora wanted a divorce be that their sex life was fundamentally unsatisfying?

Regardless of the answer, Maloney was determined to eliminate every single possibility.

In their two years of marriage...

This was the first time he abandoned his self-control and took her with absolute, unchecked passion.

Afterward, Nora fell fast asleep, curled up tightly in his embrace.

She was so petite that his body easily shielded her entirely.

The following morning.

Nora was awakened by Maloney's kisses trailing down her jaw.

She was still half-asleep, caught in a dream where a massive, heavy dog was sprawled on top of her, aggressively licking her face and crushing her chest. She had tried to push the dog off, but her wrists had been effortlessly pinned above her head.

Staring down at her phone, she opened her group chat. Cassidy had just sent the location for their afternoon tea. Nora quickly typed back an "Okay!" and bombarded the chat with a string of animated stickers to distract herself.

When she finally looked up, Maloney was still staring at her.

"..."

She cleared her throat softly. "I'm heading out now."

Maloney grabbed his keys. "I'll drop you off."

"I can just drive myself," Nora muttered.

"I'm driving you," Maloney said, taking two long strides to close the distance between them. He leaned down, his lips brushing against her ear as he murmured, "You didn't get much sleep last night. You can nap in the car."

His warm breath ghosted over the sensitive shell of her ear, sending a fierce shiver down her spine.

Before she could protest, Maloney casually wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her toward the door. "Let's go."

In a complete daze, Nora found herself strapped into Maloney's car.

Come to think of it, this was her first time ever sitting in his passenger seat.

Nora felt strangely nervous, her hands subconsciously gripping the seatbelt. She sat stiffly, trying to adjust her legs to get comfortable. As she shifted her feet, she felt her heel step on something distinctly paper-like.

She glanced down at the floorboard.

Sitting right there by her feet was a divorce agreement—ripped cleanly in half.

"..."