Stand User in Marvel Universe - Chapter 2: Dio

[Mature Content:]Alaric was too close to Nicolette.Her mouth was just inches away from his.He could smell the lavender on her skin, the heat radiating from within her.But he held back, refusing to be carried away by her charm…“Mr. Allens…” she purred, and he looked down at her.Her eyes widened with desire, and he knew, in that moment, that if he wanted to kiss her, she would let him.The last thing he wanted was commitment. He knew that Nicolette didn’t want that either.But why was she this tempting?So willing?It was that willingness that confused him.She blinked, then swallowed as she pulled the jacket off her shoulders. His eyes lingered on her exposed neck.God.He just wanted to bury his mouth in that hollow spot.“Here,” Nicolette said calmly, extending the jacket to him.He took the jacket, his hand brushing hers just a second. She flinched, her face turning pink as she clutched the towel against her chest.His stomach flipped at the sight.If only that towel would give way to…Before he could stop himself, Alaric pressed his arousal against her stomach, pushing her against the wall, cornering her.She gasped at the sudden movement and for a moment, he lost his mind.“Cole…” he breathed, crushing himself against her.Her eyes gleamed with desire and a vulnerability that rocked him to his core.He would be foolish not to give in to this feeling.But he would also be a fool if he did.She had chosen to marry him.Not her boyfriend.And definitely not Lucian Crawford.Yet, he couldn't help it.She was only his for a year.But still…***************When her business and the gallery she inherited from her mother burn to the ground, Nicolette Voss is determined to rebuild—and get revenge on her father.She turned to her father’s rival, Alaric Allens, for an alliance.Alaric is willing to help, but on one condition—she must be his wife for a year.They called him Ruthless Alaric after an infamous incident 6 years ago. Alaric is back in town, and so are the crumbs of his past. But he is determined to change everything with a wife.He has his hidden agenda.She needs her revenge.But will this marriage between storm and steel survive the heat? And what will they do when deep secrets threatens to destroy them both?

A child was born unable to cultivate Inner Strength. In order to gain his father's attention and regard, he resolutely chose the painful and difficult path of cultivating Outer Strength. As spring gave way to autumn, time flew by, and the child grew up... he became a young man. What truly changed his destiny was a mysterious Crystal Stone formed from a meteor—the Meteor Tear. This Meteor Tear, unbeknownst to the young man, merged into his body, and like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, the young man metamorphosed... And with that transformation, everything changed. And his father finally came to realize the astonishing strength of the son he had never truly invested his Heart Power in...

I have given up power that can make the strongest of men tremble. I bore scars very few can imagine; loved women, very few had the gall to talk; and tread paths with chaosfiends.

“And I'm still standing.”

- - -

Gale was summoned into a mysterious world of magic and monsters for no particular reason. Thrown into squabbles of beings vastly higher than him, Gale strived to make a place for himself in the vain dream of immortality and a better world.

That was six years ago.

Beaten and battered from years of brutal war, Gale finally had enough and resolved to start over a new peaceful life in a totally unremarkable town with his trustworthy companion, Vale. Give up the weapon of slaughter and take up a hoe? That seemed like a fine deal to him.

Unfortunately, the valley wasn't as unremarkable as he thought it to be. Dictatorial governing bodies, suspicious practitioners, an exceedingly unwelcoming guest, and a secret that would change the entire world, all impeded his peaceful life. Gale will need all his mental stability to keep his temper in check, lest he brutalises his way out of trouble. Again.

Experiencing a suffocating marriage with the man whom she was arranged to marry made Joanna want to leave him. But it was a failure as she died as the wife of the man who abandoned her and her son before they divorced.On the verge of her death, she made a wish to not encounter him again if there was a next life. She wished for the end of their fate only in this lifetime. She wanted to forget everything about him.However, when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the room of the mansion of the man she just married. She was awakened by a dream that seemed to be a nightmare of her past life.She didn’t remember completely everything that had occurred in her past life and the dream was fragmented. But deep inside her heart, she only felt one thing. She was adamant about leaving him, to be far away from him.Therefore, she left his mansion just before she met him in person in the present lifetime.However, what she didn’t expect was that the so-called husband pursued her, not allowing her to leave him.Would Joanna be successful in leaving the man in this lifetime? Would fate play the same tragedy as her past life?---As he pulled his finger away from her soft, warm lips, he said, “It is good you stopped winding up, Joanna. Otherwise, I would have used the other method to make you stop blabbering over the same, boring topic endlessly.”When he noticed the stubborn woman was about to prove herself to be stubborn, the man leaned forward in a swift movement, facing the woman’s stupefied face which was an inch away from his.“Continue to blabbering, don’t blame me if I apply my other method right now,” the man murmured above her breath, trailing his gaze from her quivering eyes to her lips before moving it back to her now widened eyes.