Bound to my Enemy Chapter 42

Zane’s POV

From the wedding>>>>>>>>>

I don’t turn around when the music starts.

I already know it’s her.

Even my bestman straightens beside , like he senses sothing coming down the aisle that matters.

Still, I don’t look.

I wait.

I hear her footsteps, slow and asured.

Then I turn.

And for a mont, my mind goes completely blank.

Elaine isn’t just wearing the dress, the dress is holding on to her for dear life.

It fits her like it was made with hands that knew her body intimately. The curve of her waist. The slope of her shoulders. The way her hips move when she walks. White shouldn’t look like that on anyone. Soft, clean and dangerous all at once.

My chest tightens in a way I don’t lik.

She looks so fucking unreal, so delicate and fragile. She looks beautiful, like she’s an angel that fell from the sky. Now I know, I know that I shouldn’t be here ogling my enemies kid sister but damn does she look edible in that drez. Her hair is pulled back just enough to expose her long slender neck, that long line of skin that makes sothing tent down in my pants, lucky for my suit covers the bulge but if anyone were to bend down and look at they would be getting so much more than they bargained for . Her face looks calm, too calm. That’s what gets . She’s holding herself together with sheer will, eyes fixed ahead like she refuses to give this mont anything more than that..

Lucas is walking her down. Of course he is.

His hand is too close to her back. His posture is too protective. It irritates more than it should, even though he’s her brother and I have no right as to who touches her or not despite the fact she’ll be my wife in a few minutes.

She doesn’t look at until she’s close. When she does, it’s brief.

Good. I don’t need any form of softness from her.

But I notice things anyway

The way her fingers curl and uncurl at her side. The way her breathing stutters when the room goes quiet. The way her eyes glaze slightly during the officiant’s opening words, like she’s not really here anymore.

She’s zoning out.

That surprises .

I expected fury, defiance maybe even fear. Not this distant calm, like she’s stepped outside herself just to survive the mont.

When Lucas places her hand in mine, his grip lingers a second too long. A warning for sure.

I ignore him.

Her hand is warm and so much smaller than mine, she’s tense too, her pulse jumps under my thumb.

She slls clean and floral, sothing subtle and I take in an air full of breath to get more of her scent.

She doesn’t look at when I speak the vows. She stares straight ahead, lips moving automatically, voice steady but hollow. Like she’s repeating lines she morized without believing in any of them.

I watch her anyway.

I watch the muscle jump in her jaw when the word wife is said. I watch her swallow hard. I watch her shoulders lift on a breath she doesn’t realize she’s holding.

When it’s ti to kiss her, I hesitate.

Not because I don’t want to.

Because I want to too much and that thought surprises , I haven’t kissed a woman since I was a teenager. I fucked. And that’s just what I do, no feelings or strings attached.

I lean in slowly. I don’t rush it, I want her to feel it coming. Want her to decide whether she’ll pull away.

When she doesn’t I dive in.

Her lips are warm and so freaking soft. My first contact with her lips is light, like I’m testing it.

Then sothing in snaps, I deepen it without thinking, my mouth moving with intent, my hand sliding up to the back of her head, fingers tangling in her soft soft hair. She stiffens for half a second, then her lips part and it’s over.

She tastes like sothing faintly sweet. Not candy or chocolate. Alarm bells are ringing in my head at how she tastes but I decide to ignore it.. I don’t know why my body reacts the way it does but the kiss has heat and lust flaring low and fast, down in my groin.

Her breath catches, I feell it against my mouth.

For one unguarded second, I forget everything else. The room and the audience we have

It’s just her and and the fact that she fits against so freaking good .

Then it’s gone.

I pull back and lock my face into place before she can see how much the kiss affected . Her eyes are unfocused. Like she didn’t expect the kiss.

Good.

I offer her my arm. She takes it because she has to.

As we walk down the aisle, I feel her stiffen beside . I feel the tension in her spine. The anger she’s holding in so tightly it’s vibrating under her skin.

She hates .

I know that.

What she doesn’t know yet is that I’m not untouched by this. That the image of her walking toward , white dress clinging to curves I won’t forget, is already burned into my head.

I don’t let it show.

I never do.

Elaine’s POV.

(back to present)

By the ti we’re wheeled through a private entrance at the hospital, the dress feels too heavy on . Layers of fabric dragging behind hospital floors that sll like antiseptic and cold air. Soone keeps apologizing to . A nurse? Maybe an assistant. I stop listening.

Zane disappears behind double doors.

I’m left standing there in white, hands clasped in front of .

They put us in a private ward. With no waiting room, no phones, no curious eyes and most importantly no caras, I didn’t want pictures of in my wedding gown at a hospital standing like this on the internet.

I sit.

Then I stand.

Then I sit again.