“I don’t know if it’s from all the time I was unconscious, but I feel… scared, uneasy when I can’t control my own body.” His voice was laced with a practiced weakness.
“Ji-woo, please. I just want to wash up and rest.”
Ji-woo’s heart hammered, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave. Riling him up now would be a mistake. Nothing good could come from provoking a man whose memories were supposedly in such a fragile state.
“I’ll use a washcloth,” she said, reaching for one hanging nearby.
“Unbuckle me first.”
Ji-woo slipped her hand into the tub. The warmth of the water was a small comfort against her skin as she reached carefully for his pants. A soft sigh escaped him. She had squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, his face was inches from hers.
“You’ve missed the mark, Ji-woo,” he murmured.
“What?”
“Those are my testicles you’re touching,” he said, a smirk playing on his lips. “The zipper is a little higher.”
She snatched her hand back as if burned. In an instant, Seo Tae-joon’s smile vanished. He seized her arms, yanking her into the tub with a tremendous splash.
Her clothes were soaked through. Sputtering, Ji-woo shoved at his chest and glared up at him. “Stop playing games!” she yelled.
“You started it.” The smirk was back, and she wanted nothing more than to wipe it from his face.
“I did not!”
“How am I supposed to feel when my own wife tries to sell me off like livestock?” he snarled. “And you were the one running the auction.”
She thought they were past this. But seeing the glower on Seo Tae-joon’s face, she realized with a sinking heart that he had been nursing his anger all this time. Their fight was only just beginning.
“Sometimes, I think you need to be taught a lesson,” he said, his voice a low growl.
“What do you…”
“What’s the point of holding the leash if you never take advantage of it?” Ji-woo stared, speechless. What was he even talking about?
“You tremble just trying to unbuckle my pants,” he continued. “You can’t even handle me being at your mercy, yet you were ready to sell me to another woman?”
Ji-woo stared at him. “Did you think it was such a waste?”
He lowered his head, his teeth grazing the soft swell of her breast where it pushed against the top of her bra.
Ji-woo gasped, her heart pounding at the sharp, unexpected pleasure. Weren’t they fighting?
She tried to ignore the heat coiling low in her belly and shoved him hard, but he was an immovable weight. In one fluid motion, he shifted, lifting her torso only to press her down against the hard slope of the tub. She was trapped beneath him as water sloshed violently over the rim.
“Seo Tae-joon, this is…”
His body was a heavy, confining presence. He loomed over her, his eyes bloodshot with a dangerous light. “If you’re going to give me away,” he said, his voice rough, “you should at least try me first.”
Ji-woo was speechless. “Use me properly before you decide I’m not worth keeping.”
“Seo Tae-joon, it’s not like that,” she pleaded. She couldn’t tell him the truth, not until she could be sure this wasn’t just the illness talking. How could she explain any of it to him when he was like this? His reaction was already spinning out of control.
“You act so prim and proper every time I get close,” he accused, “but if you’re so conservative, why were you so willing to pawn me off on another woman? I never expected to be betrayed by someone who pretends to be so loyal.”
“Seo Tae-joon…”
“Have you always been like this?” he demanded. “You feel responsible for me, so you can’t bring yourself to throw me out, but you have no problem trying to offload me onto someone else?”
Ji-woo’s mind went blank. Words of defense died in her throat, leaving only strangled, useless sounds.
“Of course, I did say I would do anything you wanted,” he murmured. “So I need to ask one last time. Do you really want me to fuck another woman?”
She was stunned into silence. She had never meant anything of the sort. “Is that what you want?” he asked, his voice chillingly cold.
Where was he even getting that from? A miserable realization dawned on her: his thinking was just as the doctor had warned. Extreme. All or nothing.
“You want that?”
“No!” she cried, shaking her head and sending droplets of water flying.
“Then explain it to me. Because otherwise, I’m going to assume you’re trying to get rid of me because you’re curious how another man’s dick tastes.”
Ji-woo didn’t respond. The accusation was so vile it stole her breath.
“My head isn’t right these days,” he explained, his tone deceptively soft. “I tend to assume the worst.”
She had grown so accustomed to his gentle, obedient side. This aggressive stranger was a shock, leaving her utterly disoriented.
His voice was calm, but rage simmered in his eyes. A wave of helpless frustration washed over Ji-woo. She had no idea how to handle this.
A cold smile touched Seo Tae-joon’s lips as he looked down at her. “Is that your final answer?”
“I… what? No.”
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I understand perfectly.”
He lowered his head, crushing his mouth to hers. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub as his tongue plundered her mouth. Her lips, already wet, parted easily under his assault. Above her, his eyes were unnervingly calm, his hot breath ghosting across her skin.
Their bodies were tangled together, their mouths locked in a furious kiss. His strong hands gripped her face, holding her steady. With every slight shift of their weight, more water spilled onto the floor. His chest pressed down on hers, and his tongue dueled with hers.
Ji-woo gasped as his knee nudged her legs apart. The hard ridge of his arousal pressed insistently against her lower belly. Even through the soaked layers of their clothes, the pressure sent a deep tremor through her.
His mouth left hers, trailing wet heat across her cheek and down the curve of her neck. His rough hands fumbled impatiently under her shirt, closing over her bare breasts. Then his mouth followed, sucking hard as his tongue laved the sensitive peak.
A low moan escaped her. A shiver of pure weakness ran through her limbs. Only the tangle of their legs kept her from sliding bonelessly under the water. Her fingers, clenched on the smooth porcelain edge of the tub, began to lose their grip.
Suddenly, he gripped her waist, lifting her hips as he dragged her soaked pants down her legs. She gasped, flustered by the suddenness of it, and then his large hands settled over the thin, wet fabric of her panties.