Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 239

Clara merely frowned. The lingering scent of women's perfume clinging to his clothes made her skin crawl. Worse, his hands were entirely too bold, trailing from her cheek down the sensitive line of her neck.

A bitter thought crossed her mind: had Seraphina refused to put out tonight, leaving him to crawl back home to use her for a quick release?

Her heart clenched painfully.

She had absolutely no desire to play the dutiful lover!

She turned her head away, swatting at his wandering hand, and said coldly.

"Rest here. I'll go make you some tea to sober up."

Without giving him a chance to argue, she pushed him off her lap, slipped out of bed, and walked out of the room.

Julian didn't suspect a thing. Thinking she was just being her usual attentive self, he smiled and stretched out on her fragrant sheets, eagerly anticipating the rest of the night...

A short while later, Clara returned with a steaming mug of tea.

Julian took it and took a sip. The bitter, scalding liquid hit his tongue. It wasn't the soothing recipe she normally made for him; it tasted completely wrong.

Frowning, Julian forced it down but refused to take a second sip. He placed the mug on the nightstand, looked up at Clara, and asked softly, "You didn't make this?"

Clara looked entirely unbothered. She sat on the sofa on the opposite side of the room, smoothing down her nightgown, and replied lazily, "Does it matter who made it? It's all the same."

Julian froze.

If he couldn't sense the ice radiating off her by now, he would have to be completely dense.

He pushed himself off the bed and walked over to her. Tilting her face up, he brushed a thumb over her cheek. "Are you still mad I couldn't have dinner with you tonight?"

"Things have just been chaotic lately. Once the weekend hits, I'll make it all up to you, okay?"

Even now, he was still lying through his teeth.

What did he even see her as?

Why was he suddenly being so aggressive?

Julian's dark eyes were bottomless, fixed hungrily on her stunning features while his hands mapped the curve of her waist with agonizing slowness.

He had been holding back for days, entirely convinced he was going to take her tonight. Finding out it was her time of the month was a frustrating blow, but the physical urge still pulsed hot in his veins.

He had never felt this kind of desperate hunger for her before.

Julian continued to stroke her waist, leaning in until his forehead rested against hers. His gaze dropped to her parted lips, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper.

"Clara, I couldn't stop thinking about you today. That's never happened before. Tell me... did you cast some kind of spell on me?"

Clara shivered under his touch, her senses overwhelmed by his crisp, masculine scent. Hearing his confession, her eyelashes fluttered, a suffocating mix of emotions rising in her chest.

If this were the past, she would have melted into his arms, entirely at his mercy.