The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 262

Chapter 131-3

Clam

Here, in the quiet of the penthouse, looking at me like I’m the only real thing in the universe, he just looks… awestruck.

“What?” I ask. “Do I have marshmallow in my hair or something?”

“No,” Locke says. “You just – you look amazing, baby. You’re sitting here with chocolate on your chin, wild, just-been-fucked hair, zero makeup… and you’re the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

My heart does a slow, heavy flip in my chest. “Locke…”

“I’m serious,” he says. “Any man on earth would lose his mind to have a woman like you sitting in front of his fire. You’re funny, you’re brave as hell, and when you’re relaxed like this, just being you… it’s dangerous, baby. It makes a man want to lock the door and keep you tucked away from the rest of the world forever.”

I feel the heat rise in my cheeks, a genuine, shy warmth that has nothing to do with the roaring flames beside us. I reach out from under my blanket, threading my fingers through his large, calloused hand and squeezing tight. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He stays quiet for a while, his eyes dropping to our joined hands before drifting back up to mine. A subtle shift comes over him. Not cold or distant, but hesitant, as if he’s mentally wrestling with himself.

It’s a strange, surreal look on a man who usually moves through life like an unstoppable force of nature.

“Can I ask you something?” he asks quietly. “And you can tell me to shut up and eat another burnt marshmallow if you want.”

I chuckle. “Locke, you just saw me entirely open and begging and cumming on this rug thirty minutes ago. I think we’re well past the boundary of forbidden questions. Ask away.”

Locke lets out a long, heavy sigh, a chest-expanding breath that he seems to use to ground himself when he hates what he’s about to bring up. He looks at me – really looks at me.

“I hate to kill the mood,” he says. “God knows I don’t want to bring up garbage when you’re sitting here relaxed and laughing. The last thing I ever want to do is make a shadow cross your face.”

“Locke,” I say, leaning my head against his bare shoulder. “It’s fine. You can ask me anything. I trust you.”

He rests his chin against the top of my head for a second, inhaling deeply before straightening up to look me in the eye.

“I’ve been wondering something for a while,” he admits. “Ever since I met you, but especially tonight, watching you just… be happy. You’re strong, you’re soft, you’ve got a heart that’s way too big for this dirty world, and you’re so far out of the league of the bastards around here, it’s not even funny.”

He pauses, his eyes darkening into something hard, protective, and deeply bitter.

“So… why the fuck did you ever marry Knox McVale?”

177

Chapter 132-