Chapter 99: 99-Tempting Him
Verity:
The next time I regained consciousness, I was back home.
I recognized my room immediately.
For a split second, my heart started racing, thinking Ragnar had actually brought me here himself.
Then it hit me.
Ragnar must have sent one of his drivers to drop me off.
I had no idea what had happened after I passed out, but one thing was certain.
I was fully awake now.
As I lay there in bed, only one thought kept circling through my mind.
What had happened to me?
That dream where I killed Ragnar—
Had it really been just a dream?
Or had I actually slit his throat?
However, I quickly realized an Alpha King wouldn’t die that easily.
I climbed out of bed and carefully made my way outside.
The moment I stepped into the living room, I saw Alpha King Ragnar standing there.
He was trying to make a phone call.
Then a thunderclap jolted through my body, and I suddenly realized why he couldn’t get through.
Whenever the weather turned this bad in the omega community, the phone signal disappeared.
Ragnar let out a frustrated groan.
That was when I finally understood.
It had all been a dream.
No!
A hallucination.
The bats that lived in the woods left their teeth inside their victims after biting them, causing vivid hallucinations for a while.
So I could use this hallucination to my advantage.
For the first time, while standing face to face with Ragnar, I found the courage to start something between us.
I dramatically stumbled out of the bedroom, swaying as I walked.
"Roman, when did you get here?" I called out, watching Ragnar turn around and frown at me.
"Roman," I called again, blinking repeatedly.
"I’m Ragnar. Your boss," he corrected.
But I kept walking toward him.
The moment I got close enough, I felt my heart flip in my chest as I placed my hand against him. Even through his shirt, I could feel how firm and muscular his chest was.
He immediately grabbed my wrist to stop me.
Then he bent down until we were at eye level, gently shaking my hand.
"I’m Ragnar," he repeated, staring straight into my eyes.
He was so close that our gazes locked completely.
I slowly lifted my free hand and brushed my fingertips against his cheek.
Then I let them trail through his beard before tracing along his jaw.
I watched his eyes widen ever so slightly at my audacity.
"Miss Verity," he said, grabbing my other wrist as well before giving me another gentle shake. "I’m not who you think I am."
His voice carried even more frustration this time.
"But you told me you’d be everything I wanted," I mumbled, continuing to pretend I was speaking to Roman.
Ragnar closed his eyes and swallowed.
"I’ll leave you here to rest. I’ll check on you tomorrow," he said, slowly guiding me backward as he turned to leave.
But I already knew what I was going to do.
"Then I’ll come after you," I murmured. "I’ll keep looking for you, Roman."
The moment those words left my mouth, Ragnar stopped.
He slowly turned back to face me.
The look of surprise on his face told me exactly what he was thinking.
If he left now, he’d be leaving behind a hallucinating woman who might wander through the omega community on her own.
He glanced down at his phone and let out a frustrated grunt.
The signal still wasn’t working.
He probably would’ve called one of the warriors or a doctor to stay with me.
Instead, he was stuck here.
With me.
"What?" I asked, taking another step toward him. "Have you changed your mind? Are we not dating anymore?"
I closed the distance between us again and rested both of my hands against his chest.
He caught my wrists at once and gently lowered them.
"Miss Verity," he said, "I’m going to take you back to bed."
I smiled sweetly.
His eyebrows immediately drew together.
"Are you going to cuddle with me?"
The question made him visibly swallow.
"No," he replied curtly.
"What’s wrong? Is there a problem?" I asked innocently, blinking up at him.
"What do you mean?" he replied, even though he knew I wasn’t really talking to him.
He knew I thought he was Roman.
"Are you having any trouble down there?" I asked, tilting my head innocently.
His entire body stiffened before he abruptly pushed me away.
"You think any fucking man would—" He stopped, pointing at himself before realizing how ridiculous he sounded.
But I’d already done my job.
Everything had been planned in advance.
I stepped toward him again.
He pushed me back once more.
This time, I pretended to lose my balance.
He hadn’t even pushed me that hard. He had only been trying to get my hands off him.
I made sure my back slammed into the shelf before I dropped to my knees.
"Ouch," I complained.
"I didn’t mean to do that," I heard him mutter.
Even then, he didn’t come any closer.
I slowly lifted my head and clenched my jaw, as though I were genuinely offended.
"Then leave, Roman. I don’t want you either."
I glared at him.
"I don’t want a man who isn’t enough of a man to satisfy his girlfriend."
The moment those words left my mouth, I saw his expression harden.
"You’re not even hard."
His eyes widened at my words.
Even though Roman existed only in my hallucination, he knew those words were landing on him.
Whether he was hard or not, I couldn’t tell.
It didn’t look like he was.
I slowly climbed back to my feet while he continued glaring at me.
"What kind of man doesn’t get hard for his girlfriend?" I added.
That was when he lunged.
I immediately flinched, curling into myself as a small yelp escaped my lips.
But he didn’t touch me.
Instead, he planted both hands against the shelf on either side of me, trapping me between his arms.
"Don’t test my patience," he grunted.
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