The Illegitimate Flame: Bride of Ashes-Chapter 35- another man’s name

With her eyes closed, Janet could feel the intense presence coming from the cold, dark man like a night demon. Her hands were pinned above her head, and his commanding breath enveloped her mouth. Her lips tingled painfully under his biting, yet he relentlessly pursued her delicate tongue, forcing her to soften under his assault.

Until a metallic, sweet taste filled her mouth, Janet struggled to break away from his scorching kiss. The nausea she had suppressed earlier surged back fiercely under his forceful passion.

Her hair tangled wildly around her neck as she struggled. Charles’s eyes were bloodshot, locking onto her flushed face, his desire growing fiercer. "Where did you go?"

Not noticing Janet’s unusual reaction, Charles’s kiss drifted lower, murmuring her name between his teeth, "Janet, xi..."

"Ugh, let go of me!" Janet felt a coldness on her chest — his lips had moved to her clavicle. Freed, she quickly pushed him away. The wave of sickness in her stomach made her want to vomit again.

"Ugh—" She expelled the bile in her stomach. Her rosy cheeks immediately paled. Leaning on the glass countertop in the bathroom, she caught sight of the cold gaze reflected behind her in the mirror. Clutching her collar with fear, she turned to face Charles, who had followed her inside.

His handsome face was now so dark it held no warmth. Janet knew this time she had truly challenged his proud dignity.

"My kiss made you feel disgusted?" Charles’s neck was exposed, the prominent collarbones tense, veins twitching as he stepped forward. He grabbed her slender wrist, eyes blazing with furious fire.

Her previous disregard had pushed him to the limit, but the damn woman had actually thrown up from his kiss. When had Charles’s pride ever been so scorned by a woman? His eyes were filled with a terrifying, bloodthirsty aura, as if with a slight squeeze, her wrist would shatter under his grasp. Tears welled in Janet’s eyes, trembling lips biting down as she stepped back, "No, no, I don’t know why I feel like vomiting, it’s not because of you..."

"Don’t come any closer!" Janet shrank back in fear until her body hit the smooth wall. Charles still held her wrist tightly, his gaze all the more intimidating. frёeωebɳovel.com

"Isn’t it?" Charles’s eyes flashed sharply. Then with domineering authority, he commanded, "Then kiss me. On your own."

"Please don’t do this, I’m not feeling well. Don’t force me!" Tears blurred Janet’s eyes under Charles’s insistence, and her body involuntarily slid downward.

With a gentle tug, Charles caught her collapsing body in his arms. The darkness in his eyes softened the moment he saw her pale, nearly translucent face, and a surge of tenderness welled up in his heart. His movements became noticeably gentler.

"Where does it hurt?"

Though his voice remained cold, it couldn’t mask the concern underneath. Charles used the pad of his finger to wipe away the tear at the corner of her eye, then kissed her lips with aching affection—nothing like the violence from before—letting Janet once again feel the warmth of being cherished.

"N-No, I’m fine now, much better."

Janet placed her small hands against his chest, trying to create a bit of space between them, afraid that even the slightest movement might provoke another of his volatile moods.

But in her memory, Charles had never lost his temper in the office—not even in front of those closest to him like Giles or Novia. Yet she had repeatedly stirred his anger, pushing him to discard the composure he was known for. Even Charles himself hadn’t realized when this woman had begun to affect him so deeply.

"Where were you just now?"

Charles still held her slender waist tightly, seeming to relish her obedience. His fingers wandered across her smooth skin, making it harder and harder for him to let go.

"I... went to eat with a friend," Janet answered like a child who had done something wrong. She answered whatever he asked, though she didn’t understand when their relationship had grown so close—so close that even her smallest actions had to be accounted for under his gaze.

Was it just because of Philip’s orders? Or... was there something more between them? The thought brought a flicker of sweetness to Janet’s heart.

"From now on, no other man is allowed to kiss you like that—except me. Understood?"

Charles tilted her chin up, issuing the command with possessive discontent.

"Why?"

Caught off guard by his sudden demand, Janet’s heart fluttered with confusion and something she dared not name...

"I don’t like it."

Charles’s reply was curt and cold, but it left Janet even more puzzled. "But..."

Philip is my husband.

The words formed in her mouth but were swallowed under Charles’s ice-cold gaze. Unknowingly, her once-resisting hands had now gripped his shirt tightly.

"No ’but.’ Not even Philip. Understand?"

His voice was unyielding. Charles tightened the hand at her waist, gripping her slender figure. When he learned that Derrick had forced them to consummate their marriage—even if Philip wouldn’t actually touch her—the thought of his woman lying beside another man was unbearable. Even if that man was his own brother, Charles couldn’t stand it. He could tolerate everything else—but not this.

She was his woman. From the very beginning.

Janet nodded timidly, her watery eyes locking with his seductive gaze, as if under a spell, responding to his name. Her reaction drew a satisfied smile from Charles. He pressed a light kiss to the corner of her lips, and the earlier tension dissolved completely.

The dimly lit room was filled with the heady scent of lust and chaos. Clothes were strewn across the floor, and the echo of labored breathing bounced off the bare walls, making the atmosphere even more provocative. On the soft bed, a muscular man kissed the woman beneath him with urgency, her breathless moans rising and falling in waves of desire, growing increasingly wild under his teasing touches.

"Mm... Charles!"

Her lips parted, and the name spilled clearly into the man’s ears just as he was about to cross the final line. In that instant, all of Ternence’s passion vanished. Disbelief flooded his face as he froze mid-movement, grabbing the woman beneath him.

"Zoey, what did you just call me?"

"Why did you stop? Charles, give it to me... faster..."

Wrapped in lust, Zoey didn’t even open her eyes, simply flinging her arms around the man above her, pressing his body into her ample chest. But the name on her lips remained unchanged—the one she truly longed for.

"Zoey!!!"

Ternence snapped out of his daze like he’d been struck with a bat. Seizing her arm, he yanked her up from the bed and shoved her away with force. This shameless woman—she had dared to call out another man’s name while in bed with him.

Charles. Charles?!