The click of the door lock echoed through the silence of the room, followed immediately by the swing of the door opening without a single warning knock.
Joanne gasped, her heart leaping into her throat as she bolted upright.
She was standing beside the large vanity mirror, her skin still damp and flushed from the hot shower, her fingers glistening with the scented body oil she had just begun to smooth over her arms.
The sudden intrusion shattered her privacy into a million pieces.
Acting on frantic impulse, she lunged toward the mattress, her hands scrambling for the white towel she had carelessly discarded on the bed moments before.
She snatched it up, wrapping the fabric tightly around her torso, covering her naked body just as Alfonso stepped into the room.
Alfonso didn’t even blink at her frantic movements.
His dark, piercing eyes raked over her bare shoulders and the damp, exposed skin of her long legs with a cold, possessive intensity.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a small, medical cream tube onto the bedsheets right beside her.
“What the hell are you hiding from me, Joanne?” he growled, his voice vibrating in the quiet space of the bedroom.
He closed the distance between them with slow, predatory strides, completely unbothered by her reaction.
“I’ve already seen, touched, and thoroughly tasted every single inch of everything you’re trying to cover up right now. Sit. We have things to discuss.”
As he spoke, Alfonso sat down on the edge of the plush mattress, his massive, imposing frame instantly dominating the entire space.
Joanne swallowed the bitter taste of fear, her fingers tightening their absolute grip on the knot of the towel above her breasts.
She cautiously walked to the furthest corner of the bed, sitting as far away from his towering body as possible, her knees pressed tightly together.
Alfonso’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing to lethal slits as he tracked the massive gap between them.
“When the fuck is this bad habit of yours going to stop, sweet doctor?” he hissed, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low register.
“You’re not sticky and dirty anymore like you claimed to feel in the car. You’ve just showered. What the hell is your excuse right now for keeping such a ridiculous distance from me?” This chapter is updated first at novelping dot com.
Joanne kept her eyes glued to the floorboards, her voice dropping into that slow, husky whisper that was still raw.
“I am just showing you respect by keeping my distance, sir. Nothing at all.”
“Respect?” Alfonso let out a low, dark chuckle that sent an involuntary shiver straight down her spine.
“I don’t want that kind of useless respect from you, Joanne. Every single one of those beautiful women you saw downstairs in the palace lobby would gladly kill themselves right now just to have the privilege of sitting next to me on this bed. So tell me, why the hell are you behaving like you’re someone special?”
Before she could even attempt to formulate a lie, Alfonso reached across the bed.
His hand wrapped around her upper arm with sudden, lightning speed, and with one powerful, effortless yank, he dragged her across the sheets until her hip crashed directly into his thigh.
Joanne gasped, her bare skin burning as it met the rough fabric of his trousers.
His arm instantly slid around her slender waist, pinning her body flat against his side so she couldn’t retreat.
“The only kind of respect I want from you, doctor,” Alfonso whispered darkly, his face dropping inches from her neck, “is for your body to get used to my proximity. You belong to me now. Get used to my touch.”
He lifted his free hand, his long fingers slowly trailing along the sensitive skin of her neck.
He deliberately pressed against the dark purple bruises and angry crescent teeth marks he had left on her throat hours before.
Joanne winced softly, her breath hitching as a sharp spike of pain rippled through her collarbone.
“I got you a relief cream,” Alfonso murmured, his rough thumb tracing the swelling on her skin before he gestured with his chin toward the small tube he had thrown on the bed earlier.
“It’s a high-grade anti-inflammatory compound. Apply it on yourself right now to ease the pain and heal those marks so I can mark you again.”
Joanne nodded in tight, forced acceptance, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“I told you to talk, nurse,” Alfonso commanded, his grip tightening on her waist until her ribs ached.
“Don’t just nod at me.”
“Thank you,” Joanne forced herself to whisper, her voice trembling with a mixture of intense hatred and physical exhaustion.
“Now open the tube. Apply it on your skin right now. Let me watch you do it.”
Joanne’s entire body froze instantly, her body reacting with a sudden, paralyzing spike of panic.
Her mind reeled in absolute horror.
Right now?
In front of him?
To apply the cream to the worst of her injuries, she would have to undo the towel, exposing her bruised breasts, her flat bruised belly, and the raw, torn skin of her inner thighs directly to his burning, insatiable gaze.
She couldn’t do that.
She would rather die than strip herself bare and care for her wounds while he sat there watching her like a predator preparing to feast.
Alfonso tracked the sudden rigidity in her muscles, watching the frantic rise and fall of her chest beneath the white terrycloth.
A slow, sinister smile touched his handsome face, his eyes gleaming with a dark, terrifying amusement.
“I absolutely love how innocent you behave, Joanne,” he whispered against her skin, his breath hot and intoxicatingly heavy.
“It’s delicious. And I am going to enjoy stripping that innocence away from you, day by day, until there’s absolutely nothing left but my corruption.”
He suddenly pulled his hand away from her neck, shifting his massive frame slightly on the mattress as his expression hardened, transitioning instantly back into the ruthless, cold mindset of an underworld king.
“But we have more pressing matters to attend to,” Alfonso continued, his tone turning sharp and serious as he changed the topic completely.
“You saw what happened at the hospital tonight. You’ve seen exactly how dangerous and blood-soaked my world truly is. Now that you are legally bound to my side as my personal nurse, you are a target for every rival syndicate in the city. You need to learn some basic things if you plan on surviving.”
Joanne blinked, her voice husky as she forced herself to look into his dark eyes.
“What… what kind of things?”
Alfonso leaned closer, his jaw setting into a rigid line as his final, chilling words echoed like a death sentence in the quiet room:
“Every single servant, guard, and person you have seen inside this palace knows exactly how to fight, kill, and defend themselves, Joanne. And now… it’s officially your turn.”