The Enticing CEO’s Chosen Bride

The servants stood frozen in place, struck dumb by the exchange, their minds wiped clean of their chores. Seth’s reaction was as if Cicely’s words held him at bay, his body refusing to move.

Cicely arched an eyebrow, retracting her hand to leisurely unscrew the lid of the ointment jar with her slender, pale fingers.

“Honestly, now’s the time I’d prefer you not to be obedient,” she muttered under her breath. “When you’re supposed to listen, you’re stubborn as a mule, and when you’re not, you freeze up like a damn statue.”

She squeezed a dollop of the pale yellow ointment onto her fingertip, reaching out to dab it on the cut at the corner of Seth’s mouth. The sting made him tilt his head slightly away.

Cicely looked down at him with an icy gaze, “What got into you earlier? Now you know how to dodge?”

Her mood was far from calm, her anger hardly subsided from the slap she’d delivered earlier. Even so, when she’d raised her hand to hit him, she’d consciously switched to her left, ensuring the blow landed on his unblemished right cheek, sparing the injury on his left.d2

“Cicely, I said I don’t need that stuff. Are you deaf, or just looking to defy me at every turn?” Seth turned his face away, rejecting her care.

Cicely’s grip tightened, the pain sharper, but she persisted in applying the ointment.

Pinned down on the couch by her, Seth could only tilt his head up, his eyes narrow slits of cold steel. “This is your last warning,” he growled. “Stop it and get off me, or forget ever setting foot in the Diaz mansion again.”

Cicely paused, her gaze dropping to meet his, contemplative.

“What are you plotting now?” Seth narrowed his eyes further. Her thought process was miles from ordinary; every time her eyes flickered, something off-kilter was bound to follow.

Cicely lifted her hand, twirling the ointment between her fingers, tilting her head with a half-smile, “I’m wondering, how did you threaten Danielle?”

Seth mulled it over for a second, reflecting on Danielle’s behavior that day, “Anyone’s smarter than you when it comes to knowing what’s worth it.”

“That just makes me more curious.” Cicely freed one hand, casually pulling open Seth’s pajama shirt.

his hand

know my name’s music to your ears, but could you not chant it like

were no serious injuries, just some faint bruises across his chest. But then she frowned, looking down at Seth, “Could you let

it was clear she wasn’t lying. His grip on her wrist

porcelain doll that couldn’t take a touch. Taking advantage of the moment, Cicely smeared a bit more ointment

years, no one had been allowed such intimacy with him.

what he did, she

the spot she’d treated, intending to let the medicine dry so she could pull his shirt back down. God only

and before she could register anything

with undisguised rage. “Cicely, you’re sixteen, not six. Have

still dazed from the fall. Regaining her senses, she leaned back, rubbing her wrist, and looked up with a lazy, sultry voice, “So, you’ve finally figured out I’m not a little kid?” She paused, shifting comfortably, “Makes sense. Half my classmates have had a string of

impatience and irritation.

countering, “I haven’t finished with

safe distance. “Is this your idea of affection, always opposing me? There’s a limit to self-indulgence, Cicely. Not everything you want can be yours just because you’re the Ellis family’s daughter.

the obedient type?”

to

“So what scared her into watching you suffer and not treating

Cicely continued, a mocking smile on her lips, “Let me guess—was

She had

her laughter low, “So that’s the kind of woman you men prefer? Someone who

But I must say, I’m not impressed with your taste in

and frankly, she wasn’t in the mood to drag it out. Squeezing the entire

a glass of warm milk and my bedtime just to come here and patch you up. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you promising to tutor Danielle, or how you’re gritting your teeth through the pain just to keep that promise. That’s still hanging in the air between

tied down by a girl so soon, and I get that. I’ll give you a pass to mess up, but only to the extent of your current distance with Danielle. If either of you steps over the

been truly smitten or had a whirlwind romance. If a decent man took a shine to me and put in the effort, who knows? I might fall head over heels. After all, I’m only sixteen, everything’s a mystery, and I’m full of curiosity. Don’t underestimate a

a cold glint in his eyes. “Don’t you think this threat sounds a

into a smile. “Do you think this