"You... as sharp a tongue as ever. But I suppose that's what I fell in love with, right?"
He tilted his head to the side and smiled. Even in another world, his cockiness and playfulness never changed. It was reassuring. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She stumbled from the fast action and ended up tumbling face-first into his strong chest. She had to say, they were as glorious as they looked.
"And what do you mean that my word is all I have going for me? I'll have you know, I'm a loved man."
Lorena looked up and saw his playful smile. She shot him one of her own and retorted.
"Really? Last I checked you were a feared man."
He shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"There's a thin line between love and hate. They think they're on the hating side, but they're not."
Lorena cocked an eyebrow at that.
"That's a big assumption you made there. How do you know they don't hate you to your very core?"
He put on a pending look and furrowed his brows. He reminded her of a child who was thinking of a way to persuade someone to give him candy.
"Well, because they're jealous of me, right? I mean, I've never had the chance to truly piss someone off. They just are envious of my looks."
He tapped one finger on her butt.
"My wealth."
He tapped two fingers.
"My family."
He tapped three fingers.
"My charisma."
He tapped four fingers.
"My handsomeness."
Lorena laughed at that one.
"Haha. You already said that, though."
"Well, it was so important I thought I had to say it again."
And finally, he squeezed his hand and brought his face close enough for Lorena to smell his minty breath.
"And they seem to be jealous of this really badass and smoking hot subordinate that I just so happened to turn into my lover."
He dipped his face low and captured her lips. She smiled and returned in kind. He licked her bottom lip, asking for permission, and she gave it to him. She opened her mouth and he slowly inserted his tongue. He leisurely ran it over every inch of her mouth, as if stalking and claiming his territory.
She had to say... Paterson was much more dominant than Zachary. She didn't know if it was the previous Zachary influencing him or something, but he was a bit different. But she liked this difference. Zachary... was a bottom. There was no other way to say it. She enjoyed being the dominant one in their relationship, but she enjoyed being the submissive one as well, she discovered.
Him claiming her made her body temperature rise. She felt secure. She felt safe. She felt that being here with Paterson, that was why everything that had happened to her did. She never liked to be sappy, but she couldn't help but feel like they were made for each other.
As he picked her up and she straddled him, he walked towards the bed and laid her down onto it. His smoldering eyes penetrated her watery ones and they began to kiss once more. This time, with an undisguised passion and a sense of paranoia. But also a relief.
Hehehe... we're gonna skip to after.
Lorena woke up with a sore waist. After him pounding her like that, she would be surprised if she wasn't sore. She seemed to realize something and rushed to turn around, ignoring the pain she got after doing so. She relaxed once she saw him.
His face was relaxed and didn't have his usual cocky smile or arrogant attitude. He seemed more ethereal (godly) like this. His lips were slightly parted and she could hear his steady breaths. She snuggled up closer to him and rested her face to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was smooth, steady.
Buh dum... buh dum... buh dum...
Her alertness and slight bitterness faded away to drowsiness and she let herself succumb to sleep. Her eyes were closed, so she didn't notice Paterson watching her actions with a slight smile on his handsome face.
Lorena and Paterson were inseparable after that. Work, home, friends, family, didn't matter where they went or who they were with, they were always by each other's side. Many people had asked them separately whether they were bothered by it, but they both said no without hesitation.
Lorena had no family, but she did have a few friends. She reunited with them and cut off the ones who obviously had thoughts towards Paterson. She was a very small-minded woman when it came to him. He seemed to be the same way to her though, so it was fine.
Paterson introduced Lorena to his family and explained their situation to a select few people (the ones who knew about the power). The other members, though bitter towards the most eligible bachelor getting a girlfriend all of a sudden, couldn't say anything as the people above them seemed to have no qualms and accepted them in a stride. They comforted themselves in their hearts that she was just a girlfriend, and that Paterson would get bored of her and then take one of their daughters as his wife.
Reality slapped them in the face though, as he never got bored with Lorena. Rather, he seemed to love her just the same, maybe a bit more, as when they had first met. He proposed to Lorena in a dark alleyway.
Others were appalled. He actually proposed to her! In. An. Alleyway! You couldn't get less romantic than that. But Lorena was the only one who understood the gesture and didn't quite care what others thought. The alleyway was like the one where she had left in the last world. Him proposing to her there was symbolic. It was a promise, that they would never leave each other again. That whenever times got tough, he or she would hold the other in their arms and support them.
Their wedding was big. It was grand. It was befitting of their status. Lorena didn't have many people she knew, so she invited her friends. Paterson invited his family, his friends, and his family invited some of theirs. Only when the wedding rolled by did Lorena find out what the Blacks meant by 'some'. There had to be over a hundred people.
Lorena stood in the mirror, appearing calm, but the sweat dripping down her back clearly stated otherwise. She was incredibly nervous. First, she would be walking down an aisleway in front of tons of people she didn't know. Second, this was probably going to be one of the biggest days of her and Paterson's lives, and she didn't want to ruin that. Third, she was going to marry the man she loved.
The maids were running every which way and barking orders to one another.
"Hurry, grab the veil!"
"Ah! What have you done! That's a blue flower, not a yellow one! Redo it!"
"Whose going to carry her dress!"
"Put some more mascara!"
You get the point.
All of these maids, however, were stunned to silence when Paterson himself barged through the door like a bat out of hell. When he saw her, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Lorena was wearing a white lacey dress that had covered her front and showed most of her back. White fabric was underneath the lace from her chest down and her creamy skin showed through from then upwards. The lace continued down her arms and a ring attached to the end of it was slipped onto one finger on each hand. Her hair was tied into a low bun with many small braids inserted throughout it. Her face had a minimal amount of makeup, but a lighter red lipstick that made her pouty lips stand out.
She was gorgeous. But she was all his.
Lorena sized up her soon to be husband as well.
His hair was slicked back neatly and let his perfect facial features show. His suit was black with a white undershirt and black slacks, and he had on a nice pair of black leather loafers. His suit was tailor-made for him, so his proportionate body was shown and he gave off a very mature and sexy vibe.
They were entranced with one another until a maid shrieked.
"Ah! You musn't look at her! This is bad luck! Bad luck! Quickly, leave!"
She rushed over and all of her maids did too. They quickly began to shove Paterson out of the room. He snapped out of his trance and turned around. He easily pushed through the maids and swooped Lorena up. Carrying her princess style. Lorena hooked her arms around his neck and smiled affectionately. All of her previous butterflies flying away.
He smiled back at her and kissed her on the lips. He turned his head to the maid who had spoken.
"Bad luck? With this woman by my side, it's non-existent."
He spoke those overbearing words and proceeded to march off with Lorena in his arms. The maids were shocked. Ah! Where had this overbearing CEO come from?!