Sarah was about to explain that Holden was actually her big-shot boss, but for some reason, she decided to tease him instead. Her eyes glimmered mischievously. “He’s my husband.”
The others just laughed, not believing she was married, and kept walking.
Sarah grabbed the larger suitcase and handed the smaller one to Holden.
He raised a brow and took both suitcases from her without a word.
It was still a bit chilly at night, so Sarah wrapped herself in a white coat and hopped along happily after him to the car.
She wasn’t sure where Holden had gotten this massive SUV, but it was her first time seeing a vehicle like this. The door was heavier than she expected, and it took her two tries to shut it properly.
Holden leaned over, shut the door for her, and then slid into the driver’s seat.
“Get some sleep,” he said.
With a low growl, the SUV sped east, vanishing into the dark mountains.
Sarah was exhausted. She curled up on the wide back seat and soon drifted off into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and the wind howled outside. The car had stopped at the top of a mountain. Holden’s seat was reclined, and he sat there with his eyes closed, resting.
Sarah quietly leaned closer, studying his face. His features were sharp and defined, giving him a cold, almost ruthless look when he wasn’t smiling. Yet most of the time, Holden came across as warm and gentlemanly–just like last night.
For the first time after wrapping a shoot, someone was there to pick Sarah up and take her home.
She hesitated for a moment, debating whether she should steal a quick kiss from that handsome face while Holden was asleep. Opportunities like this didn’t come around often, after all.
But there was something unpredictable about Holden. She couldn’t tell if he was really asleep or just pretending. What if she kissed him, and the next second, he kicked her out for violating their contract?
And now they were parked at the top of a mountain, far from civilization. For all she knew, if she upset him, he might bury her out here.
Wait-why had Holden driven them to a mountain peak in the first place? Did he want to watch the sunrise? But the car wasn’t even facing east.
As her thoughts spiraled into increasingly wild directions, Sarah finally landed on a disturbing realization: Holden only seemed to seek her out when he wasn’t in a good place mentally.
Just then, Holden’s eyes opened.
He looked at Sarah, the girl who kept showing up in his life-helpless and adorable.
Like a drowning man clutches at anything within reach, monsters lurking in the depths tend to latch onto whatever stumbles into their world.
Holden hadn’t been drinking tonight, and that made him more aware than usual. He grabbed Sarah’s shoulder and pulled her into the crook of his arm. “Are you thinking of leaving me?”
Scattered images flickered through Holden’s mind, blurring the line between memory and illusion. He wasn’t sure what was real anymore.
All he knew was that, for the longest time, no one had dared come close to him. His world had been empty.
But here was this girl, with creamy white skin and wide, soft eyes staring at him. Even her deep purple hair-though silly-was surprisingly beautiful.
He lightly patted her cheek. “You’re not scared of me?”
Sarah trembled. Of course, she was scared.
There was no warmth in Holden’s gaze-it was as if he were a demon in human skin. Butler Ted had once subtly warned Sarah to stay away from Holden when he was like this. In these moods, Holden was capable of anything. He might even kill her.
But tonight, Holden wasn’t interested in death. Nor did he want to drag Sarah down with him. A charming little fox had wandered into his lonely world, and all he wanted was to enjoy her company.
He lowered his head and bit gently at Sarah’s neck, grazing his teeth along her skin.
She winced from the sting, a soft whimper slipping from her lips.
Holden immediately eased his bite, kissing the spot where his teeth had sunk in.
Now Sarah deeply regretted everything.
She never should’ve entertained the thought of sneaking a kiss while he slept.
Not only had she missed her chance, but Holden had ended up taking advantage of her instead.
As expected, big shots like him always came out on top.
She bit her lip in frustration.
Oh well. If it had to be someone, at least it was Holden.
If it had been anyone else, she’d have jumped out of the car, even if it killed her.
Still suspecting Holden must have some medicine on him, Sarah let her hand slip under his shirt while he nibbled at her neck again.
Beneath the thin fabric of his dress shirt, her fingers traced the hard ridges of his abs.
Her coat had already been tossed aside, and her white cotton blouse now hung loosely, two buttons missing from the front.
Holden bit down on her neck again, softer this time. It was almost gentle-like he wanted to hurt her just a little, but not too much.
Sarah sat in Holden’s lap and finally managed to fish out a pillbox from the inside pocket of his coat. Inside were two types of pills, different in size. Sarah grabbed two.
In the next second, she popped them into her own mouth and looked at Holden.
Holden’s eyes were dark and cold, like the surface of a frozen lake. He wasn’t pleased with Sarah’s small act of defiance.
Sarah leaned up and pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips. The coldness of his skin made her hesitate-she wasn’t sure how to pass the pills to him, and she felt embarrassed.
Holden, on the other hand, seemed a lot more comfortable with this than she was. Even though he tasted the bitterness of the pills, he didn’t flinch. Instead, he parted her lips effortlessly, taking the pills from her mouth and swallowing them down.
Sarah’s body felt weak, and she braced herself against Holden’s shoulders to sit up straight.
Holden’s blue, icy eyes studied her, and after a brief moment, a small, unreadable smile curled at his lips.
For some reason, a shiver ran down Sarah’s spine-something about that smile felt… ominous.
She remembered hearing from Butler Ted that Holden had been sent to Europe as a child, moving from place to place. He’d become fluent in many languages and eventually returned with his parents. After they passed away, he stayed with the Smith family.
Holden muttered something low under his breath, and Sarah tilted her head, confused.
He cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “Du gehorst mir.”
You belong to me.
As if sealing the claim, Holden bit her neck again, then pulled her into his arms and drifted off to sleep, holding her close.
Sarah only slept for about an hour before waking up.
It was already after seven in the morning, and she carefully slipped out of Holden’s arms and moved to the back seat.
She rummaged through her suitcase and found two cartons of milk. After drinking one, she left the other next to him.
Then she texted Butler Ted. “Where’s Mr. Holden?”
Ted replied, “He’s at a meeting. His assistant should know where he is.”