Guarding the Rose: The CEO's Secret Duty

On the morning I was waiting at the airport with a ticket in hand, a familiar voice suddenly rang out behind me, the owner practically grinding out his words. "Tessa!"

The stunning, imposing man who'd ambushed me at the airport stepped forward and tore my ticket into pieces.

Then, cornering me against the wall, he stared at me with red-rimmed eyes. He sounded menacing but wounded as he said, "How dare you leave me like this? You promised to give me a complete family, remember? You called me cheap, well, guess what? I am—"

I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. I couldn't bear to hear him degrading himself.

I'd been so hung up on Lorcan's rejection of me ten years ago that I couldn't resist bringing it up during my conversation with Sabrina.

She'd sputtered in disbelief. "He wanted you to stay away from him? Please. That was because he had low self-esteem and believed you were too good for him. You may not know this, but given the chance, he'd work himself to death to propel you upward."

My heart dropped to my stomach, but I decided to leave anyway.

After a week of hanging out with Lorcan without properly defining where we stood with one another, I secretly bought a plane ticket. I'd built a life for myself in a foreign country, and I had friends, co-workers, and mentors to see and bid farewell to.

I'd only just landed when my phone blew up with countless calls from Lorcan. I called him back. "Hello?"

"Well done, Tessa," Lorcan bit out. I could hear him gritting his teeth. "I'll teach you a lesson when you come back!"

I laughed and taunted him, "Alright, then. I'll be waiting."

"You're only getting away with this because I'm busy right now," Lorcan pointed out. However, his tone softened considerably when he asked, "So, when are you coming back?"

I smiled but made no reply.

Three months later, a southeast-bound plane took me back to Credea.

A tall, strong, well-dressed man waited for me outside the arrival hall. I grinned at the sight of him and ran toward him, leaping into his open arms. Before he could speak, I said, "I've come to give you a complete family, Lorcan. Will you marry me?"

Lorcan gripped me under my thighs, his face warming with a smile. "Yes."

I started work at the headquarters' Credean subsidiary, but Lorcan wanted me to run Moondust Corporation. I didn't have the acumen to run a business like that, so I shook my head and said with a smile, "What, can't my husband step up and help my dad manage the business?"

"Of course I can. I'm happy to be of service." Lorcan wrapped an arm around me, his fingers toying with my hair as amusement worked its way into his voice. "But now, I've got bigger things I need to do for your dad."

Burrowing into his arms, I looked up at him in confusion. "What?"

"Continuing his bloodline, of course." I barely had time to register what he meant before he flipped me over and pinned me to the couch. I could practically taste the testosterone rolling off him as he kissed me slowly, reverently, then trailed his lips down south.

He was relentless and demanding at night, refusing to cut me some slack. A week later, I'd visibly lost weight from all the extra exercise.

One night, he was kneading my waist and hinting at what he wanted, but I furiously warned him, "If you don't start controlling your urges, Lorcan, we're calling off the courthouse appointment tomorrow!"

I'd never seen a man so big and tall panic like a child. "Okay, okay, I promise it's just a massage and nothing more. I'll keep myself in check."

"That's more like it." I savored the snacks he made me and luxuriated in his massage, but I didn't expect the massage to grow into something heated. I gradually felt a burning need pooling under my stomach, yet Lorcan seemed content to stop just before I could ask for more.

He even smugly added, "I can't risk losing my soon-to-be wife over a night's enjoyment, right?"

I could have combusted on the spot. Gritting my teeth and suppressing the urge boiling in me, I snapped, "Stop being a tease and take me like a man, Lorcan!"

He grinned, though I couldn't tell if he was doing this out of sheer retaliation. "You're being difficult, Tessa. You didn't want me to touch you, but now, you want the total opposite."