Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 135: Hold Your Hand and Grow Old with You

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The glimmer in Timothy’s eyes became dim. Rather than answering her, he exerted some force and pulled Samantha over to him.

The distance between them was shortened and Samantha’s body was practically leaning into him.

After a few seconds of stupefaction, she finally realized what he was talking about. Her words became a little flustered and she spoke rather hesitantly, “T-T-Timothy... Don’t mess around!”

She was not a naive person. There was no way she could not see Timothy’s intentions when things had already reached such a point.

Samantha’s intuitive reaction was to stretch her hands forward and place them on the man’s chest. She tried to push him away and remarked absent-mindedly, “We… It’s not like we’re a real couple, we can’t...”

Despite their relationship improving much more than it did at the beginning, it was still far from being a normal husband-and-wife relationship!

While factors beyond their control had been at play during their previous intimate sessions, they were completely sober right that moment.

Timothy interrupted her loudly and asked, “Is our marriage certificate fake?”

His sudden question caused Samantha’s words to get stuck and she replied instinctively, “It’s real...”

When Timothy publicized their marriage certificate at the press conference that day, some of the nosier netizens dug up the government records and ascertained that Timothy’s marriage to her was genuine.

“Then what about the wedding ceremony we held today? Is it fake?”

“It’s...real too...” Samantha could not refute that either.

“Why then, pray tell, are we not a real couple?”

Those three consecutive questions left Samantha stumped.

“Any other issues?” Timothy stretched out his hand, hugged Samantha’s slender waist, then leaned his handsome face nearer to her.

Samantha finally knew why Timothy had been kind enough to bring her to dinner and satiate her hunger. It turned out that she had to return the favor after having her fill.

Was it her turn to satisfy his appetite?

Most men were probably capable of separating feelings from physical needs. Having zero feelings did not preclude them from fulfilling their physical needs. Women, however, were generally unable to separate the two.

When it came to that sort of thing, her previous bad experience made it so she was unable to restrain her psychological resistance.

Samantha immediately leaned her upper body back and was quick-witted enough in the face of impending danger. “I do! There’s still one issue!”

The interruption elicited a flash of annoyance in his eyes, but he nevertheless continued to be patient. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “What is it?”

Samantha took a deep breath and ignored her shyness as she said softly, “We…don’t have ‘that’...”

“That what?” Timothy frowned.

Samantha’s cheeks became slightly red and she answered him in an even softer tone than before.

Timothy was speechless.

She gulped and continued, “Don’t you think it’ll be even more troublesome if I get pregnant and we end up divorcing in the future?”

Samantha thought about how Timothy was a normal man who had needs. There was nothing wrong with that, but he probably would not want her to bear his child...

After all, he had misunderstood her far too often before and it might be possible that he still did not completely trust her yet.

Sure enough, the fire in Timothy’s eyes seemed to wane slightly as soon as she asked that question. Samantha secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

A second later, Timothy grasped the tender flesh on Samantha’s waist, drawing out a moan from her and prompting her to look up at him.

Timothy’s black pupils stared intently at her. His thin lips parted slightly and he emphasized every word in his sentence, “Please listen to me, Samantha. I have no plans to divorce you after making our marriage public. Don’t you ever let me hear you say the word ‘divorce’ ever again!”

‘I have no plans to divorce you after making our marriage public.’

Those words traveled slowly into Samantha’s ears. Her black pupils shrank abruptly and she was overwhelmed with disbelief.

She always thought that Timothy made the marriage public as a stop-gap measure to quell the situation. He never struck her as having had such an intention.

If he did not want a divorce, did it mean that he would want to be tied to her for an entire lifetime?

That would be too great a price to pay if it was simply to retaliate against her. Timothy did not seem to be the kind of person who would throw his entire life away just to get revenge.

Could it be because of the Barkers’ and the Barker Group’s reputation, or could it possibly be due to some other factors?

“Just give birth to the baby if you get pregnant. There’s nothing for you to worry about, and...”

After a pause, Timothy’s gaze darted slightly. “...Grandma would want that too. She’ll be very happy.”

Samantha was lost for words. The second sentence came as another shock for her, and that was before she could even react to his first sentence.

What did he mean by ‘just give birth to the baby if you get pregnant’?

It was not as simple as going to the market and buying some vegetables! It was a human life they were talking about!

The experience of having parents like Simon and Cynthia instilled in her a deep sense of importance and responsibility when it came to things involving children. If she wanted to have children, she wanted to make sure that the child had loving parents and was born in a circumstance where both parents were looking forward to its arrival.

Children would be gravely hurt if they were born to be used as tools to appease the parents’ elders, or if the parents were at odds with each other and only superficially in love, or if the family would eventually become fragmented in the future.

She was unwilling to let her child go through the same pain she experienced.

Moreover, she still bore the responsibility of taking care of the seriously ill Corey. She put all her thoughts on him and had no spare energy to be responsible for another precious little life.

“Timothy, I—”

Before Samantha could even refuse, the man had already given her a passionate kiss. She had no chance to explain and her mouth was sealed shut by his lips.

“Mmmgghh...” Samantha’s eyes widened as she tried to push him away.

Timothy started losing his patience. He pushed Samantha into the soft mattress, clasped her hands, then pressed them to the sides and kissed her even more fervently.

Ronald was right—Timothy was more suited to actions rather than words.

If the conversation continued, they might end up on bad terms again.

Although Timothy’s movements were strong, his kisses were very gentle and relentless, preventing Samantha from getting a chance to escape. Oxygen started to drain from her lungs. Her body turned limp bit by bit and she slowly began losing control over it.

Timothy slowly loosened his grip on Samantha’s wrist and intersected his slender fingers with hers.

When he heard Samantha say ‘I do’ during the ceremony at church, the only thought he had in mind was ‘I want to hold your hand and grow old with you.’

He no longer wanted to think about what the past was like. All he wanted at that moment was to hold Samantha tightly in the present and the future.

It was a long night for the two of them.

…

The next day.

Sunlight illuminated the room and a few rays mischievously shone on Samantha’s eyelids. She sensed the sun on her eyes and strained to open her eyelids.

She gritted her teeth after finally opening her eyes to see Timothy sleeping soundly with his arms around her.

That rascal had flipped her around in all sorts of positions throughout the entire night! She did not even know what time it was when she eventually passed out.

Once Samantha was fully awake, she gritted her teeth again, removed Timothy’s hand from her body, then got down carefully from the bed.. After taking a quick bath, she changed her clothes and left the room without hesitation.