Sold To The Untouchable Alpha novel Chapter 45

[Ivan’s POV]

Arissa’s body felt amazing pressed against mine, and fuck those breasts that pushed against my chest were so soft.

I wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but I didn’t want to question it. For weeks now, I had waited for her to allow me to have her, and here she was, throwing herself at me.

"Ivan," she sighed, leaning her head against my shoulder as I nipped at her neck, coming dangerously close to her mark spot.

‘Mark her.’ Bastian growled from the shadows. ‘Mark our mate.’

Jerking, I pulled away and stared at Arissa, who was now watching me with a confused look. What the hell was Bastian talking about? How could I possibly mark her? She wasn’t our mate, and she wouldn’t be becoming my luna.

"What’s wrong?" Arissa asked, drawing me from my thoughts. "Why are you looking at me with that disgust?"

From the tone of her voice, I knew that she was feeling hurt over my sudden actions. Shit. How was I supposed to save this now?

"It’s nothing." I tried, attempting to pull her head back towards mine.

"No," she snapped, getting up and straightening her clothes. Her cheeks were flushed red with desire, and I could smell her delicious scent. "Is it because of what you saw earlier?"

I didn’t know how to answer her. How would what I saw earlier make a difference? Did she feel unworthy because she was raped? Did that make her feel dirty or something?

As these thoughts hit, a surge of anger flared over the bastard that had done that to her. I had almost managed to forget it due to my father’s sudden appearance, but now that she had me remembering, I really wanted to kill him.

"Come back here." I sighed, standing and attempting to touch Arissa.

"NO!"

I watched with wide eyes as she stumbled backwards, wrapping her arms around herself.

"No, don’t touch me." She huffed. "I knew I shouldn’t have let myself get so lost in the fantasy that maybe agreeing to your deal would be fine."

It felt like I was slapped as her hurt-filled eyes began to water. I was beginning to find that despite her strong act, she was truly fragile, and I had really crossed the line. With someone this vulnerable, you needed to be sure to constantly reassure them, and my sudden moment of shock from Bastian’s words had caused me to hurt her.

"Could you listen to me?" I asked, taking another step forward. "You’re really jumping to the wrong conclusion."

Why was I even standing here wanting to explain? It didn’t matter if she thought highly of me anyway, right? I only wanted a strong heir. That was it. So why was I desperately trying to get her to trust me?

"I don’t think I am." Arissa shot back. Her tone became colder and colder with each word. If I didn’t fix things soon, there was a good chance that she wouldn’t give me a second opportunity to gain her trust.

"I just remembered what happened to you and it made me angry." I lied.