Chapter 38

KARIN POV

Climbing the steps to the manor two by two, I knock on the door. “Hello, Lady Karin,” the butler greeted me warmly.

I tried to contain my temper, knowing it was not directed at him. “Hello. Is Ansel in?”

The butler raises his eyebrow but doesn’t address my informality. There is a sly smirk on his face.

At this point I may as well tattoo we had sex on my forehead.

“Sir Ansel just returned. I believe he’s in his office,” he says.

“Of course he is,” I reply, and the butler moves to the side to let me in. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

I stalked past him and made my way to Ansel’s office. Barging in, I don’t let him get a word out. “Ansel, I understand that I’m your surrogate and I respect the ins and outs of our deal, but if you think you’re going to sleep with me and then bolt, you have another thing coming!”

From the corner of his office, I hear someone clearing their throat. “Lady Karin,” Henry addresses me as he sits with two other gammas. My face as turns white as a sheet, and I can see them stifle their laughs. “Perhaps we should give you two a moment alone?”

Ansel nods, and the gammas exit, and I wish I was leaving with them. “Close the door,” he says.

“I-I should have knocked.”

“Yes, you should have. Now close the door.”

“With me still inside?” He remains silent with a stoic look on his face. I close the door and shift my weight back and forth. “I’m sorry for that. It was disrespectful and will never happen again. I was angry and didn’t think it through.” His silence seemed to suffocate me. “Sir Ansel—”

“Which is it, Sir Ansel, or just Ansel? You had no problems with informalities in front of my men a moment ago.”

“And the butler and Maggie,” I murmur, secretly praying that he wouldn’t find out. “I didn’t know they were there, but that’s no excuse. My temper got the best of me and it slipped.”

“So then you take it back?”

“Yes.”

“Hm, that’s a shame. We spent the entire night together and you still feel the need to use my title. I had hopes we’d made progress, but I suppose not.”

The glint of amusement in his eyes makes my blood boil again. “Oh! You-you-just-you make me so—” I can’t get the words out and the more I struggle, the glint turns into a full gleam.

He stands and walks over to me. “I believe the word you’re looking for is angry,” he says.

“It’s not funny!”

“I disagree. You’re also adorable when you’re flustered.” His eyes roam over my body. “In every scenario.” Heat ebbs my cheeks, and I glare at him, making him laugh. “Alright, I’ll play. Let me guess, you’re angry because of my disappearance this morning. And I’m assuming from the outburst, you think me having your items removed from the villa means trouble.” He takes my hand and leads me back to his desk. Reaching inside, he retrieved a single surazan and waited for me to take it.

“Thank you,” I grumble, taking the flower.

“You’re welcome. I expected you to be upset. Maybe not with so much flair, but I understand and I’m sorry as well.” My eyes widen and he nods. “I hadn’t thought about how it looked not saying goodbye this morning, but I want you to know whatever negative thing you thought it meant is not the case.”

“Then why did you have my things packed up?”

“So they could be moved to the manor. You will stay here from now on.” He stills, then tilts his head at me and his eyes soften. “If that’s what you want. If not, I’ll have your things returned to the villa.”

I bit the side of my cheek as I watched him patiently wait for my response. I saw fragments of the Ansel from years ago. “Can I pick my room this time?” I ask.

He nods and moves a piece of hair from my face. “Sure.”

“Do I still get to sleep with you sometimes?” I blurted out. “I-I mean to, you know, conserve space.”

“There are more rooms than I can count in the manor.” He lifts my chin and locks our eyes. “Is the conservation of space really your concern, or do you have other intentions?” Ansel caressed my face. “You’re adorably flustered again,” he says. “We can have adjoining rooms. How’s that?”

“F-fine.” I pulled away, remembering the other source of my anger. “One more thing. I didn’t appreciate the list you gave Maggie for me. I don’t like being told who I can and can’t talk to.”

“Which is why I knew it would be hilarious when you saw it. My only regret is that I didn’t do it in person.” I glared again, and he shrugged. “You can shoot daggers my way all you want. It won’t change that I’ve officially beaten you at your own game.”

“No, you played unfair. I would never tell you not to speak to someone or that they couldn’t speak to you. Your royalty and I know I don’t have the authority to even try.”

He smirked. “I believe I was also royalty when we were younger, and you didn’t speak to me for two weeks because you found out Kathy Mae made cookies for me. If I remember correctly, you told her that a broken bone in your foot didn’t affect your hands and if she spoke to me again, you would cut her hair off in her sleep.”

I shrank. “I thought you forgot about that.”

“Absolutely not, especially since she mysteriously ended up with gum in her hair the day before you started speaking to me again and had to get it chopped off, anyway.”

Placing my hands on my hips, I turn up my nose. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but unlike you, it was never proven I was guilty.”

“When was there a time when I’ve been proven guilty?”

“When you had Rafael’s clothes stolen from his pool locker because you heard a rumor he was going to invite me for pizza. His locker had ‘I did it. Your move- Ansel,’ written on it in red letters. He had to hide behind plants to make sure no one saw him naked as he sprinted to his room.”

“Wow…I forgot about that. Now it makes sense why Rafael screamed and ran away when I saw him a year or so ago. Nonetheless, that doesn’t prove me guilty.”

“You were literally the only Ansel in the sanatorium. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you may have been sickly, but you also were a deviant. If it wasn’t for the doctors and nurses being tricked into thinking you were an angel, you would have been in a lot of trouble. And I specifically remember you telling me I should consider myself lucky because you saved me from a guy who swam naked in a communal pool.”

He laughs in a way that lights up his entire face. “We really were little terrors at that place, weren’t we? I mean, I could understand if we were younger, but you were seventeen and I was nineteen. We should have been well into maturity by then.”

“I guess liking someone can bring out the immaturity in even the most mature.” Ansel stops laughing and peers at me, and I look down at my shoes. “Crap. I should have gone with my first inclination and just asked if you wanted to join me for a walk, but instead I put my foot in my mouth and messed up the moment, didn’t I?”

He makes me look at him. “No, you didn’t. I was just thinking about a conversation I had earlier.”

“About?”

“You.”

“Oh…what about me?”

Ansel pulls me to him, and various emotions fall over his face. “You’re livelier than when you first arrived.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

He shook his head. “It’s a pleasant surprise. It reminds me of the Karin who from the moment we met made me feel like I could do anything.”

I placed my hand gently on his chest and smiled at him. “You do the same for me,” I say softly. “And it’s nice to see you become livelier too.” Ansel gives me a piercing stare and cups my face. Catching me by surprise, he kisses me passionately. When he releases me, his eyes are as yellow as the sun. He tugs at the strap of my dress roughly, almost ripping it. Trailing kisses down my neck, he massages my nipples through the thin fabric. He lifts my dress and picks me up. Placing me on the desk, he kisses me again. I can hear shuffling outside of the door, then a knock.

“Sir, we should get going soon,” a gamma says on the other side, but he doesn’t stop.

He breaks our kiss. “Later,” he says over his shoulder. “There’s something I need to tend to first.” Taking two fingers, he places them in his mouth, then inserts them inside of me.

I stifle my moan as best I can at the feel of his fingers working against my sweet spot. “Ansel, someone is going to hear us,” I say through labored breaths.

He removes his fingers along with my panties. “Then let them. You shouldn’t have given me that look.”

“I-I didn’t give you any look.” Using his weight, he leaned into me, and the coolness of the desk touched my skin.

“Yes, you did,” he said gruffly. He unbuckles his pants and releases himself from his briefs. Steading himself, he enters me, and I claw into the desk.

“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, but you specifically asked me to remind you about this meeting with your father.”

“He can wait!” Ansel roars out, and his jaw flexes. “Now leave!”

“M-maybe you should go. The meeting sounds important,” I say. He thrusts hard into me, and I claw the desk again.

“Do you see what you do to me, Little Wolf? How can I leave now?” he asked and bit into my neck. He grips the edge of the desk and rams into me hard. The pain and pleasure from his roughness threaten to make me cry out. The desk rocks and my body jerks as he finds my lips again. My legs shake, and he leans up. “Look at me,” he commands. “I know you’re close.” I dig my nails in his back and he winces slightly but maintains his gaze. “Look at me,” he repeats while tangling his hands in my hair. “I need to see how good I make you feel.”

I can no longer hold back, and I scream, “ANSEL!” as an orgasm tears through my entire body. Ansel turns my face and kisses his mark behind my ear. Groaning, he slammed into me once more and then his body went limp.

“Are you alright?” he asks after a moment, and I laugh lightly.

“Why do you always ask me that?”

Leaning up, he looks at me. “Because you make me lose control and I don’t want to hurt you.” The sincerity in his words makes me caress his face. “I trust you,” I reply, and he kisses the bridge of my nose. We dress quickly, I prepare myself for the reactions of the gammas I know are outside.

Ansel opens the door, and his demeanor remains calm and collected. “Let’s go!” he shouts down the hall and immediately his gammas appear.

He turns to me, and I stick out my hand. “Sir Ansel,” I say with flushed cheeks.

He smirks and shakes my hand. “Lady Karin.” Though the men say nothing, I can tell what’s on their mind. Still, as I watch Ansel leave, I find myself calling out to him. “Have a good meeting!” I say, and he stops. Turning around, he walks over and grabs me in his arms.

“Thank you. We will go for that walk soon. I promise.” He kisses me with passion, and I melt against him. Releasing me, he takes my breath as well. Facing his gammas, his professional demeanor returns. “Move out,” he says, and I watch them walk away.