Terms and conditions.

DOUGAL’S POV

The alarm shrieked but I paid no heed to it. My eyes were cracked open and facing the window. The morning light spilled over, burning my face but even that didn’t move me. The alarm shrilled again and I snorted at it. Extending a hand to the side table, I grabbed my phone and turned the sound off. 

6:45AM, the time read. 

I moaned as I got up from bed. My thumb and index fingers clasped over my face, trying to get the tiredness I felt out of my eyes. I hadn’t slept a wink through the night. 

Natasha Philips refused to leave my head despite how hard I tried not to think about her. The look on her face after I told her I was married haunted me over and over again, making me wish that any of the words I spoke to her were lies. Especially that of my marriage. 

Cold memories slammed into me. I grunted as I stood up from the bed, ready to start the day. My mistake burned and regret tasted as acid and as fresh as the day the disaster all started. 

I could remember the first day I met Nerissa. I thought I had found my forever and we would be building the rest of our lives forever. Ten years down the line and I was left with no choice than to curse the day I met her. I wished I didn’t leave the house that day. 

My phone rang, and I swiped it up from the bed with fury. Angela, my personal assistant’s name, flashed through the screen. I clicked the answer button, ready to turn her away. 

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Wilde.” Her voice rasped at the other end. “I just said to remind you that you have a court hearing concerning you and Miss Nerissa’s divorce.” She let out quickly. 

That name again! It was the bane of my existence. 

I jerked my free hand into my hair, wondering how I managed to forget about the whole divorce court appearance shit. 

“What time?” I asked. 

“10AM, sir,” she replied in a small voice. 

I checked the time on the golden wall, only to see it was already 9AM. 

“Okay,” I replied in a calm voice, even though I was anything but calm. I stabbed the phone screen to end the call and then threw it back on the bed. 

With just an hour left to get ready and get to the court room, I rushed, temporarily taking my mind off both Natasha and Nerissa. 

******

Case adjourned again!

For the millionth time, the judge and the judiciary had adjourned the case with the claim that they still needed time to come to a conclusion. A conclusion that was likely on how they would split everything I had with that deadly woman. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she laid herself down for the judge just so I could be frustrated. 

“How was the meeting?” Angela asked the moment I walked into my office. 

“Nothing new,” I replied. I gave her a quick glance, noticing as usual that she was in her usual clothes that looked suited for everywhere except the office. I would have had an issue with it except that she was efficient with her work, and I would choose that over dressing corporately. 

“Oh.” Her look was down but she was quick to adjust it. She gave me a bright smile. “I’m sure it will soon be over.”

I ignored her and walked straight to my office. I heard the clinking noise of her heels behind me. When I got to the door, I paused. I turned toward my personal assistant. 

“Cancel all my meetings for the day. I do not want to see anyone unless I specifically request for them,” I told her. My hand rested on the doorknob, ready to turn it. “Including you,” I added. 

“But Mr. Wolfe, there is—“ she began. The rapid opening and closing of the door on her face was all the answer she needed. 

“Hmmm!!!” I grunted the moment I was in my office.

“For someone who seemed to be doing so famously well and seems to have been in this business for long, you are late.” A tiny, angelic voice said behind me. 

I turned at the speed of lightning. Sitting on my chair like she belonged there and staring back at me was Natasha—the woman who stole my night. I opened my mouth to say something but she stood up. The words died in my throat immediately. Unlike yesterday when she had her face covered by makeup—making her look a lot older than she was—her face was void of any now, except for the lipgloss that coated her lips and made them shiny. Her spaghetti strap dress was cut low enough to reveal half of her cleavage to anyone who cared to make a show out of them. I tore my gaze away, refusing to rise to her obvious bait. She let out a low, sexy chuckle and breezed toward me, her gaze glim.

“Hello, daddy.” Her tone stabbed. Unlike yesterday when she called the daddy out of anticipation for something naughty, this one was to spite me for letting her in about my age.

I cast a disbelieving gaze at her. “You switched sides so fast,” I murmured at her. I meant for my voice to come out harsher than a murmur but she was so close to me that my eyes were staring directly at her breasts through the low cut of her dress.

I cleared my throat, ready to look away. She held her hand on my jaw and pushed my face back until I was back to staring at her. 

“An old man should know to control himself.” She let out. She was tempting me and she knew it.

“Why are you here?” I bit at her. If she thought that coming here in revealing clothes would make me change my mind, then she has no idea how much self control I’ve got. As gently as I could, I grabbed her hand and moved it away from my jaw. I left her standing at the spot and went to my seat. Once seated, I felt a little of my semblance return, putting me back in control.

She ignored my question and sat at the opposite chair. Her hands plopped forward, supporting her body. The pressure from her arms squeezed her breasts and spilled them over the neckline.

“My father, your business partner, asked me to come and review the terms of the business proposal deal with you.” Her voice quivered as she spoke. 

“Hmmm, hmmm,” I mumbled, my mind already far away. My gaze was on her boobs. All I could imagine was how loud she would moan if I had the opportunity to play with them. With my hands. My mouth. And my cock.

Fuck, Dougal. Focus.

“Or we could talk about us.” She offered. Her breathing was fast, making her plum flesh swell out even more. “Do something about this sexual chemistry.”

“I am married,” I reminded her. I was anything but married to that Jezebel in my mind. But until the court separated us, she was still my wife.

“I know you are going through divorce already. I asked my daddy.” She moaned softly. “I know what she did to you.” 

“All the more reason why I should stay away from women, especially those that just want to be daddy’s little girl and never make a name for themselves because daddy is rich,” I moaned out, intending it to be a backlash at her. It came out all weak and woe-begone and pathetic, embarrassing me.

Natasha got up from her seat and circled round the table to where I was seated, lost between doing what is right or eating the forbidden fruit. 

“Just this once.” Her voice was a plea now. Her hands rested on my shoulder, gently massaging them. “We fuck this once and forget about each other forever.”

I fell silent, falling into the spell she seemed to cast wordlessly—all with those big blue-green eyes that made my skin burn. For too long, I stared at her. Desire sank deeper into my muscles, slicing through my bones.

Before I could stop myself, my hand reached for the band that held her strawberry blonde hair in a bun and tugged it out. I watched as the hair fell every which way, splashing across her face and shoulder. I gripped the hair and jerked her down gently, until her face was almost touching mine.

“If you have any sense you would run away from me as fast as you possibly could,” I whispered to her. While I wanted to devour her, I still wanted to give her the opportunity to put a stop to it. A small part of me hoped that she would. The bigger part though? It prayed that she wouldn’t.