Substitute Bride: Utterly Pampered by Her Billionaire Husband

Chapter 1485: What, You Can’t Bear to Do It?

What is he doing?

Beast!

Celeste Linden immediately reached out to cover her own clothes, "Ethan Barnes, if you keep doing this, the virus on me will really spread to you!"

Ethan Barnes reached out and shoved her, directly pushing Celeste Linden to the floor. He looked down at her from above, "Then why not let the virus come faster, it would only fulfill you that much quicker."

After speaking, he kissed her red lips.

Celeste Linden widened her eyes, for a few seconds she couldn’t even react to what he was doing. She was disfigured to this extent, yet he could still kiss her — his taste was truly intense.

Her small hands pressed against Ethan Barnes’ chest, she forcefully pushed him away, "Mm... let go of me!"

Ethan Barnes didn’t let go, he watched her struggling with open eyes and deepened the kiss.

She tasted really sweet, like the milk candies his mother used to give him when he was a child—not overly sweet, just a soft sweetness that left him wanting more, savoring it endlessly.

Ethan Barnes pried open her teeth, laying siege to her fervently.

Celeste Linden had no means to resist; her strength only tickled him, leaving her no choice but to passively accept his kiss.

She thought this kiss would end quickly, but he seemed addicted, pressing her down for a long, long time.

The initially rough and domineering kiss gradually became tender — one of his few moments of gentleness.

Celeste Linden always felt she couldn’t understand this man. She never reached his true heart, sometimes not even knowing if he had one.

She didn’t know how long it lasted, but by the time her lips and tongue began to go numb, losing all sensation, Ethan Barnes finally let go.

The kiss markedly improved his mood. He reached out, rubbing the bangs on her forehead with a hint of indulgence.

Ethan Barnes, such a man, full of wilderness, like a beast in the forest ready to pounce, inducing fear yet constantly exuding charm. Now, with his sudden offer of tenderness, Celeste Linden’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

She immediately turned her face away, "King Hayden, is this enough? If so, can you let me go?"

"What if I said it wasn’t?"

"It’s that time of the month, only the second day!" Celeste Linden had to kindly remind him.

Ethan Barnes instantly felt displeasure, furrowing his sharp brow before turning to lie beside Celeste Linden.

The two just lay there quietly, without another word.

Soon, Celeste Linden sat up; she didn’t want to lie there with him, "King Hayden, it’s getting late. You’ve had your fun; it’s best you head back and rest early. I’m going inside."

Celeste Linden wanted to go indoors.

But Ethan Barnes casually reached out, pulling her forcefully back into his arms, his muscular arm falling around her delicate waist, "Stay with me for a while."

Celeste Linden collided with his firm muscles, feeling pain, yet dared not protest, "Lying here might give us a cold."

"Then hug me tighter." Ethan Barnes took her little hand and placed it around his sturdy waist, encouraging her to hold him tight.

Ethan Barnes, long accustomed to martial arts, feared no cold. His embrace felt like a furnace to Celeste Linden, who, frail as she was, couldn’t withstand the chill. Despite her reluctance, she couldn’t bring herself to mistreat herself, so she clung to his waist.

Thus, they embraced on the floor outside, an unexpected way for Celeste Linden to spend her first day as a discarded consort in the cold palace.

Celeste Linden drifted into sleep, waking the next morning to find herself on the bed.

She had slept on the floor last night, it must have been Ethan Barnes who carried her to bed.

Celeste Linden attempted to rise, but upon moving realized she was still cocooned in warmth, Ethan Barnes hadn’t left nor had he risen.

Why was he still here?

Celeste Linden gazed at his sleeping visage; asleep, he seemed less fierce, yet his handsome, wild-featured face remained intensely conspicuous.

It was then Celeste Linden felt something hard, looking down to discover a gun.

A black gun tucked into his waist—he slept with this thing.

Suddenly, Celeste Linden felt an urge to kill. If... if he vanished from this world, she would be free.

Her family and friends would no longer be threatened, she could breathe freely.

Celeste Linden reached out, drawing the gun from his waistband, aiming the cold barrel at the sleeping Ethan Barnes.

Pull the trigger—a golden chance. Miss it, and she’d likely rot here a lifetime.

With one shot, he’d be dead, and her life’s nightmare would vanish. Celeste Linden, pull the trigger.

A voice in her mind urged her relentlessly, yet Celeste Linden hesitated, clenching the cold metal so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Her fair eyes were red and sore, finally closing in pain, with the gun dropping onto the bed.

She couldn’t do it.

She truly couldn’t.

She hated.

Hated her own impotence.

At that moment, a lazy voice echoed by her ear, "What, can’t bear to kill me?"

Celeste Linden froze, raising a hand abruptly to meet Ethan Barnes’ profound eyes.

Unbeknownst to her, he’d been awake, leisurely watching her pain and struggle, like a king controlling everything from on high.

"When... when did you wake up?"

Ethan Barnes raised an eyebrow, "The moment you harbored such murderous intent toward me, I woke."

Celeste Linden broke into a cold sweat, realizing he’d been awake, silently observing her. Had she fired, he’d likely have lived, while she would have perished.

So terrifying.

This man was utterly terrifying.

Ethan Barnes rose, slowly tidying his clothes before placing the gun back into his waist. He ambled to the bedside, grasped Celeste Linden’s petite chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Why didn’t you shoot earlier? What, starting to like me?"

Celeste Linden’s eyes brimmed with tears, "No, I just... don’t want to become a person like you, you’re not worth it."

Ethan Barnes paused, released her without a word, and left with long strides.

Ethan Barnes’ expression was unpleasant, stepping from the room shrouded in gloom—for he’d been threatened by a woman with a gun.

These years, he’d lived on the edge, licking blood from a knife. Even asleep, he never allowed himself to fully slumber, maintaining vigilance, yet he’d slept soundly, only jolting awake when Celeste Linden’s intense killing intent arose.

This was undeniably a first.

Being held at gunpoint.