His lips were ice cold. She hadn't expected them to feel that way. She had built up this wondrous idea in her mind but when it came down to it, her first kiss was just disappointing.

She didn't know why he had stopped her in the hallway. He backed her up into the wall, caging her in with his arms. Her heart hammered in her chest as he stepped closer to her. His hand trailed torturously slow down her side, coming to rest against the gentle curve of her stomach.

He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers softly.

Just lips on lips.

But she felt nothing at all.

"Why didn't you come with? Dahlia and Ihsaan asked about you?" Hoori looked up as Mikaeel entered the room.

She raised her book, blocking his view from her as she tried to find her place once more. "I didn't feel like it," she replied offhandedly.

"Suit yourself." Mikaeel shrugged out of his shirt before he walked into the bathroom. He needed a shower after the woman he had. The scent of her perfume still lingered on his body and he found, as he licked his lips, her taste still clung to his tongue.

He looked back at his wife, his eyes roving over her tall frame as she immersed herself back into her book. He didn't even know why in the hell they were still together.

Confounded, he turned away, shutting the door gently behind him as he stripped of his jeans and reached for a towel.

Hooriya sighed as she heard the door click close.

She couldn't stand answering any of his questions about his friends, specifically those concerning Ihsaan. If anyone was Mikaeel's weak spot, it was him. From what Hoori had gathered, they had been friends since before either could remember and in Mikaeel's eyes, Ihsaan could do no wrong. She didn't stand even half a chance when it came to defending herself against that cretinous man. And it wasn't as if Mikaeel was ignorant to the reasons behind her detestation. He simply chose to believe otherwise.

He came out of the bathroom, dressed in his study clothes he had stashed in the bathroom before he had left the house. She didn't know where he found the time to go out with his schedule, but she had no complaints. It had been a very long time since she had bothered to seek out his company. If she was being truly honest with herself, she preferred it more when he was out of the house than in.

She looked at him and wondered when she had stopped finding him attractive.

She lifted her feet and tucked them beneath her legs as she studied him over the top of her book. He still had the same black hair and brown eyes. The tiny scar that ran through his eyebrow was still there and his lips were the same as they had always been. If she had his lips, she surmised she would never be in need of lipstick. They were a dark pink that she didn't think could ever be found on a guy. They were the lips writers obsessed about in their novels, made for passionate, beautiful, earth-shattering kisses.

But she had never felt those things whenever his lips were pressed to hers.

He was the textbook definition of Pretty Boy yet she had forgotten what it felt like to look at him and feel tongue tied. When they had just gotten married, she had been so nervous talking to him. The prospect of sharing her life with someone as devastatingly handsome as him used to send her into a sort of tizzy, causing her mind to muddle up whenever he had spoken to her.

It hadn't lasted long. Other than good looks, he didn't have much else going for him and she had grown bored of feeling nervous around him.

He kissed her chastely on her lips before leaning back to look at her. she knew her expression mirrored his own. They felt absolutely nothing. He leaned forward once again, closing his eyes as he kissed her. Yet still, he felt nothing so he kissed her again, nipping lightly at her bottom lip, trying to feel something.

Anything.

But once more, he felt absolutely nothing.

Her eyes were closed as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pressing herself as close to him as possible. She had never been kissed before but she was sure it didn't feel like this. They both forced it, trying to lose themselves in it but it never happened.

Mikaeel could feel Hooriya's eyes on him even though she was being subtle about it. He knew why he married her and he knew why he stayed married to her but he didn't know why she did it. She had never demanded or even expected him to love her. But she stayed, regardless of the fact that neither felt much for the other. She was like a closed book that could never be pried open and he liked it that way. She kept to herself, never questioning him about his whereabouts neither was she intrusive about his actions. She let him study in peace and for that he was grateful, but still, she confused him.

All he knew about her was that her Dad was rolling in money and she had lived in London for 8 years from the time she turned 13. He didn't know why she moved back to South Africa or which she preferred but he didn't care to ask. She contented herself with her books and her novels and that was that.

"Why are we still married?" he asked suddenly. The need to know had overwhelmed him enough to blurt it out, unmindful of the fact that he had startled her enough to drop her book.

"Excuse me?" Her voice was soft but it was not done through any conscious effort on her part. It had always been that way.

"Why are you still married to me?" he asked again as he turned to look at her. He looked far too relaxed against the wall to be bombarding her with such questions.

"Why?" He had never been curious before and Hoori couldn't understand why he deemed it acceptable to ask now.

"I know why I married you and I know why I stayed married to you. But I don't understand why you would want to stay married to me."

"Why did you marry me?" Hoori asked, deflecting his question.

"Because I needed to." He replied flippantly. "So, I'm asking you again. Why are you still married to me?" His curious look seemed to intimidate her more than anything else.

"Probably for the same reason you're still married to me." She answered, shrugging her shoulders as if dismissing him entirely.

He looked amused at her answer. "You know," his stare unnerved her, "For such a quiet woman, I'd have never guessed you would be so thorough in your descriptions."

"Pardon me?" she looked up at him again. What on earth was he going on about?

"That sex scene was kind of hot." He was purposefully blunt, trying to garner any other expression beside polite disinterest. "Actually, it was really hot."

He had finally succeeded. Her mouth dropped open in a gasp as her eyes widened to almost twice their size.

She set her book down loudly and scrambled out of her seat, wishing with all her soul to be anywhere else in that moment but there with him.

How in the hell did he find out?

She was halfway to the bathroom with her towel in her hands before she felt his grip on her waist, halting her movement. The last time he had been this close to her was...

Almost 6 months ago.

"if you were the girl in your story, I would have taken you out with me tonight." He had stepped entirely into her space, grasping her hips tightly in his hands as he spoke. "I would have danced with you instead." He nipped lightly at her earlobe, feeling a smug sense of satisfaction when she let out another gasp as the skin on her neck burst into tiny goosebumps. "I would have pulled you really close to me," he pulled her closer, kissing the sensitive skin beneath her ear, "Then when you were so close that all you could feel was me," he nudged his knee between her legs, his fingers dancing along the waistband of her skirt, "I would-"

"Stop it." She tugged out of his hold. "I'm not like you." She couldn't bear the idea of turning around, watching as he amused himself at her expense.

"I wonder what your readers would say if they knew the truth about your marriage." He mused, still unsure as to why he kept goading her.

"What do you mean?" she closed her eyes, trying to abate her annoyance.

"You have a husband who hates kissing you." She could feel his presence behind her, crowding her once more.

"How-"

"He hasn't even slept with you in months." He said before he kissed the birthmark on the back of her neck.

"Your husband doesn't even like you." He breathed into her ear, causing her to feel those tingles all the way to her toes.

He could feel it too, the way her body shook in his hold before he kissed the side of her neck. He wondered what she would do if he had to do more than just kiss the side of her neck. He was tempted to run his teeth along the juncture between her neck and her shoulder just because he knew she would hate it.

"What do you want from me?"

Her shaky voice jolted him out of his stupor.

"Nothing." He turned away. "Absolutely nothing."

The last time he had been that close to her was one of the few times they had tried being intimate with each other but the painful awkwardness was just too much for either to handle.

The door slammed loudly behind him, echoing throughout the hallway.

It was only the second time in their marriage that he witnessed her anger. The first time was unwarranted but this- this was all on him. He just needed her to react for once.

He had more important things to worry about though. He was writing in a week and he had barely even started to study. He tried to organise the sections in his head, determining which was the easiest to start with. He would probably start with general chem before-

"Mikaeel!"

Her terrified screech had him running back to their room before he even realised he had turned around.