Vengeance in His Bed

Dorrent leaned his hip against the edge of her bed frame, his hand still pressing firmly against his bleeding stomach to stem the pain. He looked down at her, his silver eyes dark and deeply conflicted. "How can you stand there and say that to my face, Jannah? I literally walked through a storm of high-caliber bullets yesterday just to keep those men from dragging you away. I saved you from a brutal kidnapping, and this is the thanks I get?"

"Maybe those kidnappers would have treated me better!" Jannah shrieked back, her fingers clutching the hospital blankets tightly against her chest as her dark eyes burned into his. "Unlike you, who always manipulates me, always corners me, and treats me like a biological object! At least with them, I would know exactly who my enemy is, instead of being forced to sleep in the bed of a psychopath!"

"You truly are an ungrateful little dog," Dorrent muttered, his voice dropping into a rare, quiet gravity. He took a slow, painful breath, his eyes softening as he looked down at the fierce, beautiful tilt of her jaw. "But... I don’t care. I am just happy to see you doing well, Jannah. Seeing you breathing safely is enough."

Jannah froze.

The words echoed through the quiet hospital room, sounding entirely different from his usual arrogant, dominant frequency. He sounded completely sincere. The deep, heavy tone of his voice carried a raw, vulnerable warmth that she had never heard from him before. For a brief, terrifying second, Jannah felt her stubborn heart melt. A strange, suffocating warmth bloomed in her chest as she realized that this terrifying, S-tier god genuinely, truly cared about her well-being. He had almost died for her, and he was standing here bleeding just to make sure she was okay.

Dorrent watched the sudden shift across her features. He saw the wild fury in her dark eyes soften, replaced by a stunned, enlightened vulnerability.

And instantly, a cold dread struck his own chest.

The realization hit Dorrent like a physical blow, making his internal instincts flare with sudden panic. He saw the realization in her face, and it terrified him to his very core. He looked and sounded desperate. He was standing there looking like a pathetic, weak Alpha who was begging for the affection of a slum girl. He couldn’t admit it—not to her, and certainly not to himself. He was utterly terrified to acknowledge the depth of how much he actually cared for this girl’s life beyond his own pride. He couldn’t let her know the true reason.

A cold, cynical smirk intentionally cut across his handsome face, completely erasing the sincerity from his eyes as he sought to protect his crumbling defense.

"At least... I still have someone to fuck," Dorrent added carelessly, his voice returning to that smooth, mocking frequency that always made her blood boil. He let out a dark, amused chuckle, leaning in slightly closer. "I put my life on the line because I would hate for my favorite little enemy to get stolen before I am thoroughly done enjoying her skin. I need that sexy body completely whole for my physical satisfaction every night."

The fragile warmth that had briefly bloomed in Jannah’s chest was instantly crushed into dust, replaced by a roaring fire of humiliation and fury. Her face turned bright red, her teeth grinding together so hard her jaw ached.

"As expected of you," Jannah delivered in a freezing, trembling whisper, her dark eyes flashing with deep scorn. "You are nothing but a disgusting, primitive beast. You only ever care about the satisfaction of your own cock."

With a sharp, furious twist of her torso, Jannah aggressively pulled the blankets over her shoulders and turned her back completely to him, facing the wall to shut him out of her sight.

Dorrent stood entirely still by the edge of the mattress, staring at the rigid curve of her back for a long, silent minute. His eyes were flooded with a chaotic storm of conflicting emotions—guilt, dark obsession, and an unyielding protectiveness that he couldn’t voice out loud. He dragged his hand down his face, his breathing stabilizing as he forced his business mindset back to the surface.

"Jannah," Dorrent called out quietly, his voice losing its mocking edge and turning dead serious. "Listen to me very carefully. I don’t care how much you hate my name right now, but you need to understand the reality of your situation. You are currently being hunted by a large number of dangerous people from the lower and upper sectors. The men yesterday were just the beginning."

Jannah didn’t move, keeping her back turned, but her shoulders tensed beneath the blanket.

"You need to watch out," Dorrent continued, his voice dropping into an intense, unshakeable vow that vibrated through the quiet room. "Be careful, and never leave my sight for a single second from this day forward. I will protect you from whatever is coming, whether you want me to or not."

Jannah let out a short, cynical laugh against the wall. "And how would I know the truth, Dorrent?" she rasped out bitterly, not turning around. "How do I know those people yesterday weren’t actually trying to save me from your disgusting clutches? Maybe anyone else in this world is safer for me than being locked up near you."

"Believe me, they are not," Dorrent delivered flatly, his eyes narrowing into slits. "They are a thousand times worse than me."

Before she could hurl another insult, Dorrent leaned his frame over the mattress, his warm hand coming down to rest flat on the pillow right beside her head. He lowered his face until his lips were hovering just millimeters away from the soft shell of her ear, his winter-frost pheromones drifting gently across her skin.

"The only way to minimize your chances of being kidnapped by those factions is by getting married to me soon," Dorrent whispered into her ear, his hot breath sending an involuntary shiver straight down her spine. "The moment you carry my name, those cowards would never dare touch a single hair on Grefo’s daughter-in-law. Our marriage will be your ultimate shield."

Jannah clenched her fists beneath the covers, her breath catching. "Get away from me." she hissed.

"We will get married the moment I get well," Dorrent stated with authority, his tone leaving zero room for negotiation.

Suddenly, he leaned in that final millimeter, his wet tongue darting out to lick the delicate, sensitive curve of her earlobe in a slow stroke.

"Ah! You disgusting monster! Go to hell!" Jannah shrieked, her hand flying up to cover her wet ear as she spun around to glare at him, her face flushed with fury.

Dorrent simply stood up straight, a victorious smirk touching his lips as he watched her beautiful anger. He gave her one final, lingering look of obsession before turning his tall, bandaged frame back toward the door.

"I can’t wait to be doing that to you every single day when we are married, little wife," Dorrent murmured over his shoulder, his eyes flashing as he pushed the door open and stepped out into the corridor.