CHAPTER 10: THE FIRST KISS

ATHENA'S POV

I slam the bedroom door behind me so hard that it immediately rattles in its frame.

“God, you’re insufferable!” I shout toward the hallway.

“You’re not exactly a ray of sunshine yourself!" He shouts back at me.

I turn around, my breath coming out heavy and my chest heaving just as Xander walks in like he owns every square inch of this penthouse— which to be honest he does but THAT SHOULDN'T INCLUDE ME!

His jaw is set tight and his ridiculously expensive navy shirt is half unbuttoned, and if he's not careful I'm going to rip that shirt to shreds!

“You had no right to speak to the press again without telling me,” I hiss, angry that he had the guts to bring up the pregnancy matter again to the press and still claim that he was right.

He shrugs, casually walking closer to me as if I'm making a big deal of the nonsense he just did out there.

“It wasn’t an interview Athena, it was a statement and a necessary one.”

“Oh, right,” I snap, not agreeing with him for even a second of my life.

“... to save your precious empire. Who cares if you’re painting me as your willing mistress and not a woman whose body was hijacked by a clinical error?”

He stops in front of me, towering and hovering over me with his ridiculously 6 foot- plus something height, looking absolutely infuriating.

“It was not a hijack! You’re carrying my child, that matters more than whatever fairytale you want to tell yourself about how things should’ve gone!" He yells and I clench my fists.

Huffing, I walk over the remaining few inches to him and jab my right index finger to his chest and he looks down on it like he feels insulted but I couldn't care less.

“You don’t get to reduce me to an incubator just because your name is on some twisted sperm chart!”

“And you don’t get to act like a victim when I’ve given you everything to make this situation easier for you: security, privacy and comfort."

“Comfort?” I ask and laugh bitterly.

“I’m locked in a glass penthouse with cameras and guards watching my every move. You gave me a damned prison, not protection in any way.”

His eyes narrow at me, “So leave.”

Those words literally slap me in the face and I stumble back in shock but then he steps even closer to me, invading my personal space and dropping his voice to a low, dangerous tone.

“Except you won’t. You’re still here, you’re still in my house, eating my food and sleeping in my bed.”

I flinch, allowing my eyes to lower down for a second due to how he just sounded.

“I sleep alone.”

“For now."

Jerking, I gasp at what he just suggested and I move to slap him, but my hand falls short and hits his chest instead.

Damn him for being so tall.

"You're infuriating!"

“So are you," he says, dropping his gaze to my mouth and before I can blink or think of his words as a threat, he grabs the back of my neck and crashes his lips against mine.

He's not gentle at all, his kiss is raw, angry and possessive, showing me just how right he thinks he is.

I should push him away, I want to push him away but my body betrays me and I kiss him back.

My hands curl into his shirt, his grip tightens on my waist then our mouths devour each other messy and hotly.

His teeth graze my bottom lip and I moan, stupidly, breathlessly and aching.

He lifts me, just a little, like I don't weight a thing and spins, pressing me against the nearest wall.

Then he groans and his hands start to slide over my hips and my thighs, touching my every curve like he’s claiming it as his.

“You drive me insane,” he breathes against my skin.

“Good,” I gasp. “You deserve it.”

He chuckles darkly and lowers his head to my neck.

The moment his lips touch my skin, I gasp, digging my nails into his skin through his clothes and arching my neck to give him room as his lips start trailing down my neck.

“You’re dangerous, Athena Foster," he murmurs in a rough voice and it only makes me gasp again from the feeling of his warm breath on my skin.

He pulls back away from my neck then and I find myself whining shortly but his lips find mine and he kisses me again------- deeper this time.

His lips roam over mine, and I moan when he lifts my blouse up, snaking his hand over my bare skin.

And then---------

“BREAKING NEWS,” a voice blares from the TV across the room and we freeze, still pressed against each other, breathing breathlessly.

Xander turns to look at the annoying screen and then I feel his arms stiffen around me, causing me to stretch my neck to see what's going on.

On the screen is Veronica, looking so heartbroken.

> “I didn’t want to come forward like this,” she says, dabbing her eyes.

“But the public deserves to know the truth. I’m also pregnant with Xander Knight’s child.”

Immediately I push away from Xander, “What the hell is this?”

He doesn’t answer me and just keeps his gaze on the screen as Veronica continues.

> “We were planning a future together... we... we were going to be married but then... she happened. That woman.”

My mouth falls open on hearing the words while the headline rolls out across the screen:

“DOUBLE BETRAYAL: Knight Empire Faces Twin Scandal as Ex-Fiancée Claims Pregnancy.”

“Oh God," I breathe, staring in horror at the news.

"She’s lying. Tell me she’s lying.”

But even as I say that, Xander is already pulling out his phone from his pants pocket and dialing who knows who it is.

“She wasn’t pregnant. There’s no way.”

“Then why is she telling the whole world she is?”

He doesn’t answer me, obviously because neither of us knows why.