No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance by Michelle Love (9)

“Did you ask him about it?” David asked, his expression thoughtful. I nodded, and David gave a little shrug. He considered it, then grinned at me and nodded back. “I think it sounds like a really good idea,” he murmured, and there was a strange, almost furtive light in his eyes, as though part of him was ashamed by what he was doing.

Probably just my imagination. Why would he think he shouldn’t hook Brent up with one of my friends? I was getting paranoid and seeing things that weren’t there.

“Okay,” I murmured and sidled over to him, nuzzling my face against his strong, warm chest. I could hear the beating of his heart, just as I had the previous night, and it comforted me deeply.

He put his arm around me and I snuggled into him.

“I’ll arrange it, then,” I continued smiling. This was going to be fun. It had been a long time since I’d done something that was just for fun with my friends, and hopefully if all went well, I’d end up helping one of them out too. Joan, maybe? Or Angela?

Or maybe neither of them, if they didn’t like Brent. I honestly didn’t see how they couldn’t, though. Even when he’d been slightly less than appropriate with me, his behavior had really only been questionable because I was already married.

My friends didn’t have the same impediment, and I couldn’t help but grin as I thought of it. Even if nothing happened, it should be a good time.

Something told me the party would be eventful, though. I wasn’t sure what it was. Call it some sort of intuition. I just had the idea something would happen, I just wasn’t sure what.

Hopefully, it was something good.

Clinging onto my husband, breathing his musky, masculine scent, I wanted this for everyone. For all of my friends. I wanted them all to be even half as happy as I was, and that went for Brent too.

It went for everyone in the whole world.

I held David and he held me, and for one moment at least, everything was completely perfect.

David

Kaye wanted to set Brent up with someone.

Damn it. She was supposed to be thinking of Brent at least somewhat romantically by now. Or, at least, she was supposed to want him sexually. What on earth was she doing wanting to hook him up with one of her friends? It defied all of my expectations.

And made me far too happy. Happiness was dangerous, and I knew that for a fact. Dad had been happy with mom once upon a time, until she’d left us both behind to do only God knew what. She had never bothered to let us know anything about her, other than that she wanted a divorce from my father and didn’t want custody of me.

I thought maybe I had accidentally shown just a little bit too much of my disappointment to Kaye. There had been a look in her eyes, sort of thoughtful, that made me think I hadn’t hidden my emotions as well as I might have wished.

How amazing would it be if Brent did fall for one of Kaye’s friends? I’d met them a few times and they all seemed lovely. Nowhere near as perfect as Kaye, of course, but who was?

Brent would fall for one of them, maybe, and then …

And then what?

I’d be out a lot of money.

To say I was conflicted was a definite understatement.

I didn’t know how to feel. I should be pissed off because Kaye was trying to set Brent up with someone else, but I was actually kind of relieved about it too. Confusing, to say the least.

“Hey, man.” Speak of the devil. Or, in this case, think about him. It was Brent, poking his head into my office, strangely reserved and almost sheepish as he slunk in when I waved to him.

“What’s up?” I asked, and I could tell something definitely was. I had rarely seen Brent as agitated as he was, fiddling with his own fingers and running his hands over his legs as he seated himself.

“I have a confession,” Brent admitted, and he focused his eyes on mine, but it was like he was forcing himself to do it.

“Spit it out.” I tried not to grit my teeth. Whatever this was, I was absolutely certain by his reaction I wasn’t going to like it. Better to get it out of the way so we could focus on damage control.

I had no idea what to expect, but what he said next wouldn’t have made it onto my list of ten guesses, if I had made one. It wouldn’t have made it even onto a list of a hundred.

“When I seduce Kaye, I want to keep her,” Brent spoke quietly, as though ashamed of himself, but firmly, as though resigned to the shame. As though what he was saying was worth it.

“You want to do what?” I asked, feeling suddenly quite faint, my head spinning. I couldn’t have heard him right, or he was messing with me, or I was misunderstanding.

This can’t actually be happening.

“I like Kaye a lot. I think I might even …I’ve never loved a woman before, but if I could love one, it would be her.” He looked at me, and I looked back, utterly dumbfounded.

This was Brent—the most devoted bachelor in the world, one who was never seen in the company of the same woman more than a few times. The things coming out of his mouth were absolutely ludicrous in the face of his entire personality.

“You want to keep her?” I didn’t even recognize my own voice. It came out small and stifled and my heart barely seemed to be beating. My breathing was very slow as I almost held it to listen to his response.

“She’s one in a million,” Brent murmured, and he got this little smile on his face, one I could almost swear couldn’t be faked. I’d never seen him smile in exactly that way before and it would have been fascinating in any other situation. “I hope it doesn’t offend you, but I want her. I just …wanted you to know. I’m going to keep her for myself.”

He wasn’t even asking my permission, I realized. This was something Brent fully intended to do, and what he was telling me—in his own subtle way—seemed to be that he had no intention of changing his mind, no matter what I thought about it.

And I was taking it pretty well, all things considering. Or I thought I had been, until I found myself on my feet, looming over Brent’s seat, bending over the desk, and glaring at him as though my expression could somehow keep this all from happening.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I said. Well, no. I didn’t say it. I yelled it, and I was glad for the good construction of the house, which should keep this conversation relatively private.

But my voice kept rising and I fought it for a short time, but ultimately lost the battle. I was soon screaming at him, looming over him, and he rose to his feet to face me.

“You can’t just take my fucking wife, you son of a bitch,” I growled, and I only realized my hands had clenched into tight fists when I saw his doing the same. He was getting ready to protect himself against me, and I wasn’t entirely sure he had no cause.

I wanted to rip him apart. My rage roared through me, a wild beast that wouldn’t be tamed. This man dared to come into my house and tell me he was going to just keep my wife! Of course I was going to be mad.

“David …”

Brent still wasn’t backing down. The bastard was standing his ground, even in the face of my anger. More than ever before, I found myself having to fight down the urge to tear him apart.

It was another battle I was losing, I feared.

When I saw his defiance, I moved around my desk, almost jumping over it as though it wasn’t even there. It had been all there was to protect him from me, and in seconds, it was behind us both. I stood in front of him, hands still clenched into fists.

I was going to destroy this man. Maybe I would even kill him for the things he had dared to say about my Kaye.

“Shut up,” I snarled. “Don’t talk to me, you son of a bitch. You stay the fuck away from my wife.”

Brent didn’t cower back. He probably didn’t have it in him. He was naturally a dominant person, even more than I was, and he stood up straight and tall, icy cold in the face of my fiery fury.

“You’re acting crazy,” Brent commented, almost offhandedly, where most people would have been trying to get away from me. I could be sort of intense, even when I wasn’t this utterly furious.

I just snarled at him, anger robbing me of my voice. My body tensed, flushed through with a fury that actually felt pretty good and numbed everything else I could be feeling. But he was once more undeterred.

“David, calm the hell down,” Brent demanded, and I tensed up, my whole body wanting to launch itself at him. I held myself back. Barely. It was quite hard not to knock the living shit out of the man I had considered my best friend for years. “You’re acting completely insane. Why do you care so much?”

The question took me aback, and I actually stepped backward a few paces. Something about his certainty undermined me, and I listened, still furious but not quite as unreasonable about it—a little bit back from homicidal.

Why do I care so much?

The plan was for me to have a legitimate reason to leave Kaye after all. Why couldn’t Brent keep her?

Oh, yeah, because I fucking love her, that’s why!

“I just do.” I managed to find my voice, and Brent actually had the nerve to smirk at me.

“That’s bullshit. You’re acting like a jealous husband. Like this marriage is real to you or something. Are you really in love with her?”

He was so bold, and it froze my tongue again, making me choke back any words. To hear my conflicting feelings said aloud by another human being freaked me the fuck out. I had only ever said those words to Kaye, and I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone else. Especially not Brent, who was supposed to be in this whole thing with me. Instead, he was busy falling for Kaye, too. Things had officially gotten too messy for me to deal with. “I …I …I …” that was all I could muster.

A smirk curved his lips—lips that wanted to kiss my wife. “If you do love her, then you need to think about what you’re doing.” Brent was actually lecturing me, and it should have infuriated me more than ever. Maybe it did, on some level, but I was also just listening to every word he said. “You could call this plan off right here and now and just be with the woman you love.”

He had purposely provoked my jealousy. The sneaky bastard. And one hell of a best friend.

I backed off as the urge to hit him retreated. I fell into my chair and my eyes were fixed on him, but I was hardly seeing him.

Why wasn’t I calling the whole plan off? From what Brent was saying, he would back right off if I made the decision not to go through with it, and I could have Kaye all to myself.

I was in love, but what it came down to was simple. Love wasn’t forever. I had my own mother’s example to prove it. She had been in love with my father once, at least presumably, and I knew he’d been in love with her.

Love doesn’t last.

What did last, at least if managed right, was money—money and the legacy I would build in my grandfather’s name. My father’s too. Women wouldn’t stay around, but the money would.

“Fine.” My voice was dull and flat, and I refused to look at the other man. “Fine. I don’t give a shit. Take her. Do what you want with her. It’s none of my business, as long as you hold up your end of the deal and seduce her in the first place.”

If Kaye ever did cheat on me, as the plan was meant to make her do, I couldn’t be around her anyway. She had held out this long, but what were the chances she would continue to do so? She was sweet and loving and loyal, but she was also human.

“Are you sure?” Brent asked, and I could hear eagerness in his voice. He was a good friend, though, I supposed. He cared enough to let me know what his plans were, so that was something. “I’ll back right off. You just need to give me the word and she’s all yours.”

Tempting. Far more tempting than I ever would have thought when I put this whole thing into motion in the first place. In the end, though, old habits won. Brent would seduce her—I couldn’t imagine a scenario where she didn’t eventually give in to him—and then I would want nothing to do with her anyway.

“I’m sure,” I said, then sighed softly. “Get out of here, man. I have work to do.”

Mercifully, he left, leaving me with my own shattered, depressed thoughts.

I’d made the right choice. I knew it. But if that was the case, why did it feel so very wrong? Why did it nag at the edges of my mind, no matter how I tried to ignore it?

Should I have told him the truth—that I loved Kaye and probably always had?

Chapter 20

Kaye

I’d gone all out, decorating the lounge with some funky purple and green Mardi Gras decorations I’d found at a thrift shop in town. I didn’t want it to feel pretentious. My friends weren’t wealthy, and I didn’t want anyone to feel any different than anyone else. It was working—everyone was getting along well.

The party was hopping—the music was fun and upbeat. People were dancing, talking, drinking, and mingling all around me, but there was something very important missing from it for me.

Something. Or, to be more accurate, someone.

David wasn’t there.

He’d said he would be here eventually, and I settled in to wait. At least the party was fun, and I got to watch Brent meeting my friends, talking to them, laughing, flirting, and just generally seeming to have a good time.

Eventually, he and Angela paired off, and I smirked to myself. I’d sort of called it. My guess had been that, if he was going to be interested in any of my friends, it would be her. They had the same sort of sense of humor.

The drinks were flowing freely and I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Angela and Brent would want to get to know each other better. They certainly seemed to be talking intently about something, though the music was far too loud for me to be clear on what it was.

After awhile, Angela broke away from Brent and grabbed herself a fresh drink. She came to sit down on the couch with me, and I smiled at her. She wanted to talk to me, obviously, and I thought I might have some idea why.

What she said, however, was not something I expected.

“What’s Brent’s deal?”

I frowned. What did she mean? I arched an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue. “What do you mean, what’s his deal?” I really had no idea what she could mean. They seemed to be hitting it off so well.

“I mean, what’s his obsession with you? Is he in love with you or something? David must be pissed off about that.” Her words dropped my heart into my feet.

Was Brent really in love with me?

And why the hell would he be? Why would he do that kind of thing to his best friend?

Blushing, I shook my head. Angela didn’t know what she was talking about, that was all it was. Once, I might have thought she was right, but I’d had a really good talk with him and I thought I had made myself quite clear about where we stood.

“No way,” I insisted, and Angela gave me a deeply knowing look, one that irritated me immensely.

“He does. He has a thing for you. He wouldn’t stop talking about you and asking about you …” Angela smirked at me. “You have yourself a problem, pretty lady. Married lady. Wow, two completely hot men have fallen in love with you right at the same time. What are the chances of that happening?”

I had no idea what those chances might be. But I did know one thing for absolute certain: I loved David. I loved my husband. Brent was not going to derail our marriage, no matter how he felt about me.

I bit my lower lip and looked over at Brent. He was looking over at us and he did seem to have a somewhat besotted look on his face. He could have been looking at Angela, though.

“You’re crazy,” I told her affectionately, and she grinned at me and shrugged a little, as though to concede the point. But I wasn’t thinking she was the crazy one. It was probably Brent who was the nutty one.

“Maybe. But it’s probably good David’s not here anyway. He strikes me as a bit of the jealous type.” She frowned and looked around. “Where is your Prince Charming, anyway?”

I bit back a sigh, covering it with a bright smile. No need to let her see how upset I would be if I let myself. It bugged me, though I would try to hide it. My husband couldn’t even be bothered to show up for our first party.

“He’s just busy. He’s upstairs, doing work stuff.” I kept the smile pasted onto my lips instead of giving in to the frown trying to take over. I got it. David was obsessed with work and with making his company into a big deal. But so was Brent, and Brent was right there across the room, having a good time, and putting work to the side for a little while.

Why couldn’t David do that too?

“Huh.” Angela turned her gaze to me, and I wanted to shy away from her knowing eyes. She always did see too much, but I’d never had much I wanted to hide from her before. “Don’t you think that’s a little …well …strange?”

I sighed softly. Truth be told, I did. It’s what I got for being married to someone who was so career-focused, though. I had known it wouldn’t always be easy. But I didn’t want anyone to think badly about my new husband. “No, it’s not weird for David. He’s a driven man. That’s what you get when you marry a man like him. I don’t mind it—really, I don’t.”

Our conversation was interrupted, making me look up in surprise. “Hey! Kaye, Angela, are you in?” At some point, while we were talking, Brent had walked over to us. I had been so wrapped up in the conversation with my friend, I hadn’t even noticed.

The man was stealthy, I had to give him that.

“Are we in for what?” Angela pulled herself together before I did and even managed a slightly flirtatious smile for the handsome man. She always had enjoyed the sight of a beautiful male, and even I could see that Brent fell into that category. I wasn’t interested, but I had eyes. I wasn’t blind to how attractive he was. But David captivated me. Brent was merely nice to look at, and most of the time, nice to be around too. But my heart truly belonged to my husband. Of that, there was no doubt.

“One of my favorite bars is just a ten minute or so drive away.” Brent grinned at us impishly. “They have karaoke there and we’re all just drunk enough to find it fun. Wanna come?”

I’d had just enough to drink to make it sound like a lot of fun. It had been a long time since I’d done something just because it sounded like a silly, fun, good time, but I knew I couldn’t go.

“You guys go ahead.” I smiled at Angela. It was easy to tell she wanted to go. We were surrounded by people from work, and she was bound to have a good time. I couldn’t claim not to be at least a little bit envious though.

“Are you sure?” Angela asked, and she leaned over and hugged me when I nodded firmly. Yes, I was sure. It sort of sucked, but it was the right thing to do.

“Yeah, I’m sure. When David gets done with his work, we’ll catch up with you guys, maybe.” I smiled at both of them and watched as people trailed out of the house, off to the next fun thing.

As everyone else filed out, I turned off the music. Silence ruled in the house and I let out a soft sigh to release some of the tension I was feeling.

“Hey, you okay?” Brent asked, and I turned around, surprised. I had thought he’d left already, but there he was, standing a completely proper distance away from me and looking worried.

Angela’s suspicions raced through my head, and I searched his face to try to see anything inappropriate. I didn’t. He just seemed a little concerned. Nothing more.

“Yes, of course,” I murmured, and just to have something to do, I started to clean up after the party. It was better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself. After all, this was my choice. David hadn’t forbidden me to go, or I surely would have gone just to spite him.

Of course, in order for David to forbid me to do something, he would have to be around. I’d barely seen him at all, he’d been so lost in work.

“You want to come,” Brent commented, and he wasn’t really asking a question. More making a statement of truth, and I couldn’t even deny his words. I did want to go do something silly and brainless, but I couldn’t.

“Yes,” I admitted. There seemed little point in denying it. He obviously already knew the truth.

“So, come. David won’t mind,” Brent coaxed. “It’ll be so fun, and way more so with you there. Everyone wants you to go. David’s so busy that he probably won’t even notice if you’re here or not.”

Ugh. Probably true, as well. With how busy David was, I could probably strip naked and do a belly dance for him, and he wouldn’t even notice. He got snarly when I even came into his office while he was working.

So why not go?

I could. Even if David did notice, I could send him a text or something, inviting him to come if he wanted to. I would be able to perfectly defend my actions, too, if he got into it with me.

The least he could have done was come down to say hello to our guests. The more I thought about it, the ruder I found his absence. He could’ve at the very least come in for a few minutes, said hello to everyone, then excused himself. Hell, his friends were there too. But he hadn’t even bothered to do that much, and he’d known how much I was looking forward to this get-together.

Brent was charming and breezy, and being around him would lead to a good time. With him and all of my friends around me, I knew I would have a much better time than if I sat around here sulking and cleaning up the mess.

Maybe I should just do it.

I looked down at the garbage I’d been collecting and I could picture myself doing it. Drop it. Deal with it later. Go out and salvage this evening for myself.

“No,” I suddenly said, not without regret. Maybe David was caught up in his work and he could have easily lost track of time. I often had to brave his wrath to bring him food, or he wouldn’t eat enough. I tried to think about how I’d feel if I got off of a long shift at work, only to find David had ditched me to go hang out with his friends.

It would suck for him to come out of his work-induced fog, only to find himself alone in a very messy house. I wasn’t particularly happy with him, but I didn’t want him to go through that either.

“Kaye …” Brent took a step closer to me, and I just as quickly took a step back, maintaining my distance from him. Once more, my friend’s words rang through my head.

Was Brent in love with me?

Better not to know. Better to think Angela was just being her typically dramatic self. I could be an ostrich with my head in the sand if I wanted to. There was really nothing wrong with that, if it saved a friendship, that is.

“No, I’m just going to stay here and wait for my husband.” I made sure to emphasize the last word. My husband and Brent’s best friend. He really needed to keep those simple facts in mind.

Even if he did have feelings for me, it was never going to happen, and I utterly refused to give him any false hope on the matter. I was alone, and I was pretty miserable at my own party, but I wouldn’t do anything that might even have a chance of hurting David.

“Okay.” Brent gave me one of those shiny, flashy smiles--the ones I’d already noticed he used to cover up whatever his true emotions were. In this case, I was just as happy to let him do it.

If he did have any inappropriate feelings for me, it was just as well that he hid them from me, from David, and even from himself. He couldn’t help what he felt if he did feel anything, but he needed to know it was hopeless.

“Have fun.” I gave him a big smile in return. I wasn’t as good at hiding what I was feeling as he was, but I did my very best.

Gathering up handfuls of trash, I went into the kitchen. I could have found a different garbage can, of course, but I thought it best if the conversation with him was cut off right then.

When I came back out to keep tidying up, he was gone. Despite my annoyance at having to miss the karaoke bar, I was glad he’d left.

I had done the right thing.

David had every reason to be suspicious of women, and I wanted to give him no reason to doubt me. No reason at all.

David

What was it going to take to get Kaye to be disloyal to me, in even the smallest of ways?

What sort of woman was she that she would continually pick me? I kept giving her every possible reason to pull away from me, and yet she kept trying to stay close.

I watched that night as the party ran its course. From a hidden place on the stairs, I watched and waited for the inevitable to happen. Brent was being so charming and Kaye would surely respond in some way.

She never did though.

Oh, she was sweet—as she was to everyone—and polite to Brent. I could tell she wanted to be friends with my best friend, but there was nothing more than that in her eyes when she looked at him. Not the slightest hint of impropriety in anything she did.

She didn’t even go to the karaoke bar. Brent had clearly cooked up a plan to get her away from the house and maybe to get more booze into her, but she was having none of it.

Why didn’t she go?

It made me feel funny when I heard her sweet voice turning Brent down once more. Even when she was assured I wouldn’t mind, she decided to stay, and I had to close my eyes to fight down a treacherous lurch of my heart.

She loved me. If there had been any doubt at all remaining inside of me, it would have been blown away with this certainty. She loved me enough and was loyal enough to me to stay home while everyone else went out to have more fun—even when I was being a jerk to her.

And she’d be right to go without me. I had purposely kept away from the party that I knew she wanted to be perfect. I wasn’t working like I’d told her I was. No, I was watching and hoping for complex things—things like that she’d show how she truly felt about me. Things like that she’d finally show that side of herself that we all have—the bad side. But Kaye didn’t seem to have a bad side.

Could anyone be this good?

Was it possible for anyone to be the angel Kaye seemed to be?

But all I could feel was absolute pleasure that she’d turned Brent down all on her own, telling him she wanted to wait for her husband. It sent chills down my spine as the love I had for her grew a bit more at that very moment in time.

There probably should have been some anger mixed in with my pleasure. After all, she’d completely denied Brent the opportunity to try to get her into bed without my presence looming between them. She’d completely thwarted my plan once again.

There was no room for anything but joy in my heart. Joy and guilt. What was I doing to her?

I watched her move around the room, tidying it.

Why not just tell her?

I could almost picture it in my head. I could walk into the room, pull her into my arms, and kiss her with everything I had in me. I could tell her I needed to speak to her about something important.

But then what?

I had no idea how to even form the words. How could I tell her how I had planned to use and betray her? How could I watch the love in her eyes turn to hatred? I was nothing but a coward, but I couldn’t do it.

Kaye put the messy room into order quickly and turned toward the stairs—the stairs where I was hidden. I couldn’t help but think it would be pretty obvious what I was doing there.

Time to go.

Swiftly and silently, using the bend in the staircase to my advantage, I slipped away before she saw me. I saw her face, lovely but so tired and just a little sad, and then I was walking down the hallway to our bedroom.

The storm that raged inside of me only grew as I paced around the room. I should tell her. I couldn’t tell her. I would for sure lose her if I did. It was the right thing to do though.

I couldn’t settle on anything, and when Kaye walked into the room, I went to her immediately. I kissed her as though she could somehow soothe the fight going on inside of me, and the hell of it was, she did.

She was so calming. When I was with her, kissing her, and cupping the full weight of her beautiful breasts in my hands, it seemed somehow like it would all be okay. She stoked the fires of desire in me while soothing my emotional torment all at once.

How was any one human being so damn perfect?

“David!” she gasped, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t trust myself to utter a single word. I just swept her up in my arms and brought her to the bed, kissing her frantically the whole time.

“Oh, God, David,” she whispered, lying there, her lips swollen from my eager kisses, her breathing fast, and her lips parted. “David, sometimes you seem to want me so much …”

Always.

I always wanted her. But seeing how loyal she’d been to me when she could have easily chosen to go out and have fun made me want her more than ever.

It took me a matter of only a few seconds to strip off, but with her, I took my time. As I removed each article of clothing and covered every inch of the revealed skin with kisses, claiming her with every movement.

By the time she was naked, completely bare for me, we were both breathing as hard as if we’d just run a marathon. She was so hot against me as I took her nipple into my mouth and started to suckle it, and when I slid my fingers down between her legs, I found her folds slick and wet, slippery with her desire.

“No, God, David, no, please.” Kaye was babbling in her urgent desire and damned if it wasn’t the hottest, most arousing thing I’d ever seen. “David, please, inside me. I can’t wait.” When she said that in the breathy tone she always used when she was the neediest and when she reached down and gripped my cock, stroking it a few times and playing with my rigid length, I realized I couldn’t wait either. Not for another second. I needed to be inside her.

I needed to feel the connection to her—the one I always felt while buried inside her tight, welcoming body. The one that had terrified me once, but that I craved now more than anything else in the world.

Love. Desire. Acceptance.

That intimate embrace gave me all of those things—all the things I had always wanted without telling myself or anyone else—and so much more on top, too.

“Now,” I finally growled, the first word I’d said to her since she’d entered the room. I kissed her once more, and as I did, I pushed deep inside of her, feeling her body grip me and her channel tighten around me, accepting me.

I loved this woman. I loved her so completely and totally, and when I was buried inside of her—when I felt her clenching and rocking rhythmically around me, when I pulled almost all the way out, so just the tip was buried inside of her, only to slam home once more—it felt somehow like it wasn’t all hopeless. Like somehow, the situation could all work out.

The bed rocked with the force of the fury with which we slaked our thirst for each other. She was just as eager as I was, wrapped around me, moaning, shaking, sweating, and straining to get closer.

Almost from the beginning, I saw the signs in her. She was close, and soon she was thrashing, moaning, and arching up against me as I took her over and over again. Her head was flung back, her hair spread out over the pillow as she rocked up onto me again and again.

“David!” she cried, her nails a slightly sharp sting against my shoulder. She clung to me as the shudders of her orgasm started to wrack her slender body, her legs tangled with mine as her pleasure wrung my own from my body.

The way her internal muscles contracted around me and the way she cried out, moaned, and rocked recklessly on me was all I needed. My own orgasm shook through my body, liquid fire rocketing through my veins, and I growled softly and kissed her again as I spilled inside of her.

Even once my orgasm had subsided, I couldn’t make myself pull out of her. I needed to be linked as closely to her as was possible for two human beings to be linked, though I did roll onto my back and pull her on top of me so I wasn’t smothering her.

“David,” Kaye moaned, and then she shot me a sassy little wink. “I don’t suppose you want to go out for karaoke?”

I laughed softly. Neither of us were in any state to go anywhere. I doubted I could even walk and I couldn’t think she was in a much better state—not from the way her body was trembling with little aftershocks from her orgasm.

“No. Let’s just stay here,” I whispered, and it was the perfect time. I knew it. If there could be a perfect time to tell someone you had only married them because you were after their money, but you’d fallen in love with them and just couldn’t do it anymore.

Well, there was no perfect time for something so terrible, but if there could be, it would be right after such an amazing time in bed together—after sharing such an intense orgasm.

So now. Now was the time. I would do it.

I couldn’t lie to her anymore. I didn’t even want the money. Not if it meant losing her. Besides, I was no longer at all convinced she would ever sleep with Brent. She wasn’t anything like the other women I’d met in my life.

“Kaye,” I whispered, and she raised her head from where it had been resting on my chest to look at me quizzically.

This was my chance. This was the moment and all I had to do was seize it. I just had to say a few words and the nightmare—the conflict deep in my soul—would be gone.

One way or another.

“What is it?” Kaye asked, and I should have known she would be perceptive enough to see when something was bugging me. She seemed to notice almost everything, which had only made this whole plan much more difficult.

I could free myself from all of this if I just told her. I parted my lips and wet them with my tongue, trying to fight past the terror of losing her enough so I could say those few words.

“I love you,” I whispered, hating myself even as I spoke. It was true. I did love her. But I had wanted to say something else—to tell her about everything. I found I didn’t have the nerve.

Most things, I could face down. Fear didn’t have a hold over me most of the time. This one small woman, though, made me afraid—to afraid to lose her to take the chance.

“I love you too, David,” she said, smiling, and I nodded. This was the right choice. I could talk to Brent. Tell him the whole plan was off. Kaye didn’t need to be broken. She didn’t have to know I had ever had any intentions toward her other than loving her.

Let her keep her innocence.

It was probably the thing I had valued about her the most, at least from the time I had been convinced that her innocence was actually genuine. She really thought the best about everyone and everything, and I didn’t have it in me to take any of it away from her.

Smiling, I finally rolled her off me, though I wrapped an arm around her shoulders to hold her close. This was perfect. The perfect solution. I would promise myself to give this relationship a good, solid year, and if it was still as amazing as it was now, I would let myself give in completely.

Either way, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to let Brent put his hands on her. No matter what happened, Kaye was mine.

Chapter 21

Kaye

Karaoke had nothing on my husband. I was glad I had ended up staying, given how things had worked out.

Nestled in close against David, I closed my eyes and let myself bask in the moment, floating on a wave of satisfied arousal and love. I had been right. Staying home had been the right choice and I didn’t regret it at all.

I felt so close to my husband right then and I could swear he felt the same. There was a look in his eyes, one that was loving and affectionate. Maybe it was the time to bring up something that had been bothering me for quite awhile now.

“David …” I steeled myself for his reaction. He hadn’t been particularly open to this idea before, but things had changed, right? Surely the experience we had both just had would have drawn us closer together than ever.

“What is it?” he murmured, his voice sleepy. He seemed satisfied, and I smiled to myself. There were definitely worse times to bring things up than right after some incredible sex.

If he would ever be receptive to this idea, it would be while the sweat from our joining was still on us, slicking our skin.

“I want to talk about the baby.” There. It was out there. It came out a lot easier than I had expected it to. After our huge fight over it before, I was a little hesitant about saying anything about wanting a baby again. God knew I did not want to mar the perfection of the moment.

The silence that fell between us then made my heart clench and my stomach churn. I didn’t even dare look at him, despite the firm tone of my voice. I took in a big breath, gulping it down, then shook my head.

No. If I was going to champion this, I needed to be willing to stand firm for what I wanted. I had to be able to look him right in the eyes and tell him. Otherwise, how could I expect him to take me seriously?

So I raised my gaze and looked right at him. What I was expecting to see, I didn’t quite know, but not the torment I saw there.

“Kaye,” he whispered, and I thought maybe I had won him over. Perhaps he was finally willing to consider this seriously. Maybe he had finally realized there was no point in waiting. Waiting for what? We were already married, we had the money, and we were deeply in love.

We would make an amazing home for a child. It seemed like he might finally see what I did.

“Kaye, stop it.” His voice was so dismissive suddenly, despite the conflicted look in his eyes. “I told you. It’s too soon.”

“David, it isn’t. Why is it too soon? When won’t it be?” I asked, hating the desperation in my voice. I sounded like I was begging him, and in a way, I was. Not for the baby—not really—but just for some sort of reasonable explanation for why it couldn’t happen now.

“Not one more word about the baby for a year. For at least a year.” David froze me with his words, which stabbed into my heart like icicles—bitterly sharp and cold—freezing me to my very core, then he rolled over.

Rolled away from me.

Shut me out.

I was dismissed. The intimacy between us was utterly destroyed, and I still didn’t have my answer. He wouldn’t tell me why we had to wait, and worse, he wanted the baby. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. I could see it in his eyes, maybe—his eyes, which contradicted the words that spilled from his lips.

Tears came to my eyes and I didn’t try to shut them down. I needed the release of crying if I were to somehow remain sane through all of this. So I let myself cry, but in utter silence.

David was facing away from me. I refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing how thoroughly he was breaking me.

What was with him, anyway? He was so loving, affectionate, and cuddly sometimes, and the sex, of course, was amazing. Then there was this whole other side to him, cruel and irrational, holding things I wanted back from me, seemingly as nothing more than an act of spite.

What was wrong with him? Or with me? Maybe it was me.

Soon enough, David’s breathing changed, and it made me sob harder to realize he could sleep at a time like this. But why shouldn’t he? It obviously wasn’t his dream to have a baby.

I had to stop this. I had to pull myself together.

Dashing the tears from my cheeks, I slipped out of bed and found a robe to slip on. I needed to calm down and lying beside David’s unresponsive back wasn’t going to be the best way to do it.

It was late, I realized. I might have gone out to the karaoke bar, but it was probably closed by now, which was actually too bad. I could use some distraction, but it seemed it was just me, alone in the kitchen, wondering what kind of marriage I really had.

David was kind most of the time, but he did have awful bouts of moodiness and even a bit of meanness to him. But, still, I loved him. I was wondering if we’d ever be able to have fun with our friends or if that was something we’d never do, since he was always so busy. But, still, I loved him. And then there was the big thing between us about me wanting a baby now and him wanting to wait a year before we even considered it. Would I feel this lonely and alone forever?

Just as I was thinking about how alone I was, a knock came at the door. I was pouring myself some milk, getting ready to heat it up with some vanilla—there was really nothing better when sleep was elusive—when I heard the sound. Frowning, completely confused about who could be coming by at three in the morning, I went to answer it.

I left the chain on. I liked to think the best of people, but I wasn’t an idiot. It was awfully late, and I wasn’t expecting anyone. It could be a robber, or worse. Not that many robbers or murderers knocked on a door before they come in.

I chuckled to myself as I pulled the door open a crack. “Brent?” I asked as I saw his face on the other side of the door and quickly fumbled the chain off. Brent didn’t look so good. His cheeks were very flushed, his eyes were dull, and he couldn’t quite seem to hold himself upright. He had to hold on to the frame of the door to even keep himself from falling over.

“I can’t drive home,” he slurred the words out, and I realized what was going on pretty easily. I’d done a brief stint as a nurse in the ER, so this wasn’t the first time I had seen someone completely drunk out of their mind. “I almost crashed just getting here. Can I stay the night?”

Well, there was really no question about what my answer would be. Of course he could stay. I wasn’t going to send him off to risk his life in a car accident. It wouldn’t be fair or right, not only for him, but for anyone he might run into. Literally. “Of course.” I opened the door and let him in, and when he staggered, I even propped him up with an arm around his waist. He was big and strong, yes, but again, this wasn’t my first rodeo. I knew how to help a drunk man walk.

“Why are you still up?” he asked as I deposited him carefully onto the bigger of the living room couches. I made sure he was settled, then went to sit on the other couch.

I didn’t think he would get any ideas, but I’d been groped by drunk men before, and besides, I couldn’t help but remember what Angela had said to me. The words she spoke echoed in my head, a clear warning.

If Brent was in love with me, or even if he just thought he was, I didn’t want to encourage it at all.

As I got myself settled, Brent looked at me. His eyes were dim with the alcohol, but it didn’t seem to cut down on his powers of perception very much. Either that, or I just looked much more terrible than I would have thought.

With him being as drunk as he was, it was probably the latter. I touched my face discreetly, finding it hot and my eyes swollen. I must be a complete mess.

“Why are your eyes all red? Are you okay?” Brent sounded genuinely concerned, and the tears I’d so valiantly fought back were right back again. I tried to blink them away, annoyed with myself, but they wouldn’t stay back.

Just a tiny bit of kindness from Brent and I was sobbing again. It was pathetic, but I couldn’t help it. I was so confused, so utterly filled with misery, that it came out, regardless of my desires on the subject.

“It’s David,” I whispered. Maybe I was being disloyal by talking about this at all, and of course, this man was my husband’s best friend. David might not want Brent knowing all his personal business.

I could no more hold back the words than I could my tears. “I want a baby,” I kept going, and even just saying the words out loud felt healing to me. I had been trying to hide the desire, even from myself, but I just couldn’t do it. “I want a baby so badly, but David …”

“David doesn’t want a baby?” Brent asked, and I sighed softly and shook my head in denial.

“No. If he just didn’t want a baby, it would be much easier,” I murmured. “He looks at me and I see he wants it. But then he tells me we have to wait for a year. Why? We’re married, right? Forever and ever? I don’t know why we have to wait. I wish I knew …”

“Okay, fuck this shit,” Brent swore, and I jumped, stunned by the crudity. He was drunk, I reminded myself, and focused on the content of what he was saying instead. “I’ve had just about enough of this.”

Enough of what?

“Look, I’ve had too much to drink and I know it, but …maybe I’ll hate myself for this in the morning when I sober up.” He wasn’t making any sense. I looked at him, trying to figure out what all his rambling was about. Something told me not to speak, though. Brent knew something, and I wanted to know what it was.

If it pissed David off, I’d just have to deal with it. “Hate yourself for telling me what, exactly, Brent?”

“He only married you to get your money,” Brent slurred, looking right into my eyes. I saw the sincerity in his. Drunk or not, he wasn’t lying, and it was then that my world started to fall apart around me.

He told me everything—the plan he and David had made and how he was supposed to seduce me. How I was supposed to fall into his arms, sleep with him, and get caught by David.

David had made a plan to destroy me.

The hell of it was, the plan had worked. Oh, maybe the money was safe, if I cared about that at all, but my heart had shattered into little pieces in my chest, with a pain as sharp as if I’d actually been shot there.

Brent may as well have reached into my chest and ripped my heart right out, and from the look of remorse and pain on his face, he knew it.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. You look like you’re about to lose your mind, Kaye. Don’t. Don’t go crazy over this. Don’t let it break you.” His words came fast as he stared into my eyes. “You’re too good to let this destroy you.”

“You’re right. I am too good to let this destroy me. But you were right to tell me. Things make so much more sense now, don’t they?” I tapped my foot anxiously as I looked at Brent. “So it was all an act on your part as well, wasn’t it?”

“At first. But I have grown to care about you. You’re a great person. The best woman I’ve ever met. I respect the shit out of you, Kaye. But all the flirting and the moves I made, those were made up. I actually admire you and your ability to put a man like me in my place. But I don’t want you. Not sexually. Not that you’re not a knockout, but I know where your heart is.”

I was stupefied. I had been duped so completely by two men at the same time. I was beyond naïve. I felt so stupid. So completely fucking stupid it made me think I had brain damage I’d never been aware of.

How could he do this to me?

And what was I going to do about it now?

David

My hand touched nothing but smooth, cool sheets when I rolled over the next morning. I expected to find Kaye, warm and fragrant and sleepy, but she wasn’t within the grasp of my groping hand.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see her lying just inches away from me in bed, out of reach of my hand, or to see her brushing her long, dark waves of hair.

But I saw nothing.

Frowning, I woke up completely. It was strange to not find her there. It was early yet and I knew she didn’t have to work. She would normally wait for me in the bedroom, because more often than not, we breakfasted together.

A sense of foreboding stole through my entire body, trailing icy fingers up my spine. Only, I was being ridiculous and I knew it. Kaye had probably gone to go start breakfast herself.

She probably didn’t want to be around me much, and I couldn’t even blame her. I was being ridiculous about this baby thing. I did want a child with her. More than one, if she was okay with it.

Any child she had any part in would be nothing but an utter delight. I had never had much interest in having a child before, but with her, I wanted kids.

So why was I waiting, anyway? I shook my head as I grabbed a pair of sweats and pulled them on. I had no idea. Probably for the same stubborn reason I’d kept insisting to myself, and to Brent, that I was only after Kaye’s money.

Long after I had known it wasn’t true, I had kept on with the charade. Maybe it was time to break this cycle before it got even more ridiculous than it already was. What was I trying to prove here, anyway?

Kaye and I were together. For life.

So maybe it was time for me to go prove it to her. To both of us.

With a huge smile on my face, I left the room. I probably looked like an idiot, but I didn’t even care. I would find Kaye and we could talk—maybe get started on the baby right away. Though she would probably have to stop taking her pills first.

I had no problem with practicing, though.

“Kaye?” I called out, walking down the stairs toward the living room. There was no smell of coffee and I shook my head. Kaye was, if anything, more addicted to caffeine than I was. It was the whole nurse thing, she’d told me.

Whenever she woke up, she put on a pot of coffee. Always.

“David?” Her voice was sleepy and it came from the living room. Remorse gripped me. She must have come downstairs to sleep on the couch, unable to handle being in the same bed with me after how cruel I had been to her.

And then I saw Brent.

My so-called best friend was lying on our couch, dead to the world and snoring softly. On the other couch, my wife was just sitting up, rubbing sleep from her lovely green eyes. She looked startled to see me.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, looking between the two of them. Brent was only slowly waking up, and as he opened his eyes, I felt my anger growing, bursting a dam deep in the pit of my stomach, and flooding me with white-hot fury and something close to hatred.

“What the fuck is going on right now?” My voice thundered through the room and it was enough to wake my best friend up. My former best friend, that is. Kaye looked at me, obviously startled, but she didn’t recoil back the same way Brent did. “Someone answer me immediately,” I hissed, approaching Kaye. To my stunned surprise, Brent got up off the couch and stood right in front of her.

Protecting her.

Protecting my wife. From me.

“I won’t let you hurt her anymore.” Brent stood firmly in front of Kaye, who poked her head around him so she could see me. There was a distance in her expression—one I wasn’t used to seeing. Not from her.

It was like she was already pulling away from me.

The anger I’d felt before was nothing. It paled in comparison to what raged through me when I realized what was going on. Brent was protecting Kaye, who was pulling away from me. “You fucked her, didn’t you? You son of a bitch, you fucked my wife,” I screamed, and my hands clenched into fists at my side, hard enough to leave little bloody marks. I had to keep myself under control. I knew that, at least on some level. Otherwise, I might just kill Brent.

And how badly I wanted to at that moment. I would gladly rot in hell before I saw him with the woman I loved. He was in for the fight of his life if he thought for one second I was going to let him have her.

“No, we didn’t,” Kaye whispered, and her face was very pale, other than two patches of color high on her cheekbones. For the very first time, I was seeing my wife furious.

“You did!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I knew what I was witnessing here in our living room. I knew she’d left our bed and come down here to meet him. Why else would they be down here? When had they concocted this little rendezvous?

Unlike me, she didn’t get loud. She didn’t scream. She got very quiet instead. Terrifyingly quiet. I had to listen very closely to be able to hear her at all when she spoke. “We didn’t. I would never have touched another man,” Kaye continued, her voice still so soft and quiet that I had to lean forward to listen. “I love you. I loved you.”

Loved?

Past tense.

She had loved me, which seemed to imply, with the way she said it, that she didn’t love me any longer.

I think I knew then. Deep down, in a place I didn’t acknowledge at the time, I knew that she knew. I didn’t know how, but what else could it be? What else could have taken my devoted wife from me?

“I’m going to file for divorce.” Kaye’s voice was still so terrifyingly cold and calm, and her words stabbed into my brain. “I know, David. I know what you were trying to do to me, and since money is all you care about, it should really hurt you to know I’m going to get all of it. Every last penny.”

“How?” The rage was gone and I stammered out the one word. How had this all happened, was what I meant to ask, but Brent didn’t take it the way I intended.

“If you think she can’t make it happen,” he told me firmly, “he can. If you fight this, I am more than happy to tell a judge what we had planned. I can’t do it anymore, David, and I won’t let you do it either.”

My whole body clenched with agony, as though all of my nerves sang with the pain of my sudden realization.

It was over.

Oh, it had been over either way, because I had come to the same conclusion as Brent had. But my way, Kaye never would have known and I could have kept her. I would have stayed wealthy, and I would have had everything Kaye had been offering me—stability and a real family. They were things I’d never had before and hadn’t known how much I’d wanted until they were abruptly taken away.

I stood there, frozen, the icicles of her words having paralyzed me to the ground. I couldn’t even open my mouth and my throat refused to work. I just stared at my former best friend and my wife, no hint of the heat of rage anywhere in my body anymore.

My wife--soon to be ex-wife—looked at me with cold eyes that told me what we had was over. I had ruined it. It was entirely my fault. The woman would take me to the cleaners for hurting her like this, and she deserved every fucking penny I had. I knew that then. I wouldn’t even fight her. I was a bastard, I didn’t deserve one God damned thing, and I knew it.

But was it really all my fault? Hadn’t Brent been the one to come up with this plan? Wasn’t Kaye a smart woman, capable of seeing through things like this?

No matter how much I tried to convince myself that this wasn’t all my fault, I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t. I could talk about building a grand legacy in my grandfather’s name, I could mention my mother and how faithless she’d been, but none of it mattered.

My grandfather had wanted the money to go to Kaye. It hurt to accept it, but it was nothing but the truth. And that, too, was my fault, for my inability to handle my father’s death.

In that one moment, it all became clear to me—all the things I had been trying to deny, and not just over the last few months, either. Hindsight, they say, is a bitch. I could vouch for the statement.

Just as I was paralyzed now, so had I been for the last decade. More than a decade—ever since my father had died, yes, but even before. Ever since my mother had left me.

I’d let it shape my view of women. All women. I had been too wrapped up in my pain. It all seemed so shallow as I looked at the face of the only woman who had ever broken through all of it—the walls I’d put around myself, the pain, the sorrow, and the distrust.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, barely audible enough for me to hear my own voice. There was no way she would be able to pick any of it up. “I’m an idiot.”

Such a ridiculous idiot.

Yes, bad things had happened to me, but they had happened to Kaye, too. She had been just as alone as I was, but she’d been willing to let herself fall in love without reservation.

She trusted too much, and now she was paying the price. I wished to God I hadn’t been the one to demand it of her.

Maybe it would be the biggest tragedy of this whole thing. Kaye would lose some of her innocence because I hadn’t been willing to just call this off sooner. No, even calling it off wouldn’t have been enough.

I should have been brave enough to tell her about it myself so Brent wouldn’t have had any chance to.

Now I’d lost everything because of my greed and my cowardice. I’d lost the money, yes, but somehow it seemed the least important thing.

I’d also lost my best friend, which stung. Brent had done the right thing before I had, and I felt even more like an asshole knowing that. Of course, he’d gotten drunk to do it, which must have made it easier.

The biggest blow was Kaye.

I’d lost her. The only woman I had ever loved and the only woman loyal enough to stand by me even when I was deliberately being a dick to her—she was gone. I could see in her eyes the distance that had widened between us.

We were strangers.

No. We were less than strangers, because I had hurt her. I didn’t have her trust, and I didn’t have her love.

My legs went out and I fell onto a chair, pretty much collapsing onto it. I could try to lie, I supposed, but what was the point? She was smart enough to put the pieces together, especially with Brent having told her what he had.

I didn’t want to lie anyway, even if she would believe me. She knew me for what I was, and maybe it was for the better.

For a moment, we were all just frozen there. Frozen in place and trapped in this moment in time by the horrible situation.

The situation I had caused.

Chapter 22

Kaye

Part of me had hoped David would deny it. Part of me had hoped he would look me right in the eyes and tell me I was crazy—tell me Brent had made it all up and I was a fool to believe him.

Please let him tell me that.

If he had, I probably would have believed him. If I hadn’t read the truth in his eyes anyway. What I’d read in those dark eyes instead had shaken me right to the core, until I felt I had been robbed of my breath—possibly of my very soul.

Brent was telling the truth.

As I lay on that couch after Brent’s confession, I kept praying that this was all just a terrible nightmare and that I would wake up on our bed, in David’s arms, and everything would be okay.

Or I might wake up and find my husband hadn’t lied and Brent had. I was okay with hating Brent, but not with hating David, my husband, the man I thought I knew.

But the sad and sorrowful truth was that David had never loved me. He had lied to me—used me—just for money. He was nothing more than a ruthless capitalist who had been willing to do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted. He had married me for money, not for emotion. Not for love, the way I thought he had.

Love was the reason I had married him. I didn’t care about the money that his income would give me if our marriage didn’t work out. I always knew it would work out—I would never let it go. But I had been dead wrong, hadn’t I?

“How could you?” I whispered, and the only thing I could think of to do, suddenly, was to get out of there. Watching David collapse onto his chair as his plan came undone around him should have been deeply rewarding.

It wasn’t.

Even after everything he’d done to me and everything he’d tried to do—even with how he’d tried to cheapen me and use me and ruin me, I couldn’t hate him. I knew I should. I knew what Angela, or Joan, or any of the other women I worked with would say.

They would tell me to get mad. To get revenge. To take the man who had hurt me for everything he was worth.

I got to my feet, walking around Brent, but on the side that was furthest from David. I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t speak to him. I had really said all there was to say, and maybe it would be best to leave with the tattered remnants of my dignity.

What little there was left of it, anyway.

I walked up the stairs, still so stunned by how quickly everything could fall apart. There was anger there, too, but it was cold and remote, not lending me any of its strength or fury to do what I had to do.

“Kaye! Wait!”

David was on his feet as I turned back around. My heart was completely broken, but it still recognized the sound of his voice. I was going to have to watch that.

“Damn it, you’ve done enough,” Brent hissed, and he launched himself between the stairs where I still stood and David, who was walking toward me. Brent actually pushed himself between us before David was even close to me.

“Get out of my way.” David squared off against his best friend and my shattered heart lurched in my chest. God, no. Please let this not evolve into a physical altercation. On top of everything else, I wasn’t going to be able to handle it.

Brent threw the first punch, and I let out a startled little shriek. In my line of work, I’d seen the end results of more than a few of these quarrels and I knew it wasn’t headed anywhere good.

Something broke through the chill of betrayal when I saw Brent’s fist connect with David’s face and when I saw David clench his hand into a tight little ball and start to swing it at the man who had been his best friend.

I still loved David.

I cared about Brent, too, but David held my heart. I didn’t want either of them hurt, though, and I ran down the stairs so fast it surprised me when I didn’t trip and go flying down them.

Without hesitation or conscious thought, I wrapped my arms around David and swung my body around his, deftly inserting myself between the two of them before either of them could land another blow.

“Brent, get out of here,” I yelled, with my arms around my husband’s body, which was shaking with rage. The muscles of his arms were bunched into tight little knots with the desire to hurt Brent. Possibly to beat him to death. No, I couldn’t let David or Brent do anything that might rob them of their freedom. I didn’t want to see anyone in prison, or worse, over me.

“No way. He might hurt you,” Brent shouted back, trying to duck around me to get a clear shot at David.

“He’s hurt me as much as he can,” I replied, my voice quieting a little, but I was no less resolute. “What else can he do to me? Just leave. I can handle David.”

I was sure I could, too. He had never hit me, after all, and I’d never even been slightly concerned he might. Even now, he could push me away if he really wanted to, but he wasn’t.

“Kaye …” Brent sounded reluctant, but when I turned my head to look at him, I saw he had backed up a few steps. I was getting through to him.

“Go!” I demanded, and I heard his footsteps retreat as he left the room. The front door slammed shut, and only then did I cautiously, very cautiously, release David. Maybe he would go running after Brent, but somehow, I didn’t think so.

I was right. Once we were alone, he slumped down, coming to rest on the bottom step. He covered his eyes with his hands, and if he hadn’t utterly betrayed me, I would have felt sorry for him. He looked so miserable. So desperately sad.

Was it because he actually had come to love me and now he was going to lose me? Or was it because I was going to take everything away from him? Every last cent of even the money he had worked hard to earn on his own.

“So this was all about money,” I whispered. “That’s all I’ve ever been to you.”

He glanced up at me, and I had to harden my heart to keep from feeling for him. His eyes were bleak and it seemed like he couldn’t form words at that moment. I sighed softly as I looked at him. I didn’t—couldn’t—approve of his methods, but I’d always been a sucker for someone who was suffering.

“Did you tell me the truth about anything?” I asked, settling down on the step with him and feeling too weak—too utterly worn out—to even make it over to the couch. “Your parents? Your mom? Or was it all just a lie to get me to fall for you?”

If it had been, he’d done a really incredible job of it. I had fallen ridiculously hard and fast.

“Yes. I told the truth about my parents.” All the life seemed to have gone out of David’s voice, and I frowned slightly.

How could I believe him? How could I know if anything he ever said again was true?

Searching his face, I had to shake my head. I had no way of knowing. I’d been so sure he loved me and I’d been completely wrong. I had thought I was a good judge of character, but then I found out Brent and David had plotted against me this whole time.

My marriage was a lie. It was just that I had apparently been too stupid and trusting to see it.

I would never, ever make that same mistake again. “I don’t know if I should believe you. But I don’t know if it even matters anymore. You used your tragedy to make me feel sorry for you.”

He winced, and I looked away. I had thought my heart was completely shattered, but it seemed there were a few more pieces big enough to break into smaller shards—ones that lodged in the back of my throat and made it hard to breathe.

David didn't even deny the accusation. He was quiet as a church mouse. Was he not even going to try to talk his way out of this?

“Well, I guess this is it. Our marriage is over before it really got started. But that’s how you wanted it, isn’t it? Didn’t turn out the way you’d planned though, did it?” I shook my head and closed my eyes, fighting back tears. My marriage was ending. Well, it had never really existed in the first place—not as I had thought it had.

I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry over it. He’d already gotten too much of me, my dignity, my self-esteem, and my trust. I’d be damned if I would give him any more of myself.

“Kaye, please …” David started, but I wasn’t going to have any of that. I had things I needed to say, and I held up my hand and gestured for him to be silent.

His turn to speak was over. He’d lost that right. I wasn’t about to listen to anything he had to say. It wasn’t like I could believe a word that came out of his mouth anyway. “Give it up, David. What’s your plan now? To make up with me? To give our marriage another try, so you can keep what money you already had?” I snorted softly. “Damage control, am I right?”

I looked at him, but only for a second or two. I didn’t really give him a chance to respond. After all, I didn’t really need to. He’d proven very decisively that all he cared about was money. Cold, hard cash.

And it was a thing I cared so little for.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed having enough money to pay the bills, eat, and maybe even have a little bit extra for fun. But I’d gotten by with very little of it for years and money didn’t have the same hold over me as it obviously did over David.

I could ruin him just as he had ruined me. All I needed to do was claim what was rightfully mine. Not only the money that had been left to me, but all of David’s personal fortune too. No one could argue if I did it.

No one could say it wasn’t justice.

Only it wouldn’t be—not really. It would be nothing but revenge—a way of me lashing out at David because he’d lashed out at me. He had been so angry when I’d gotten everything from his grandfather’s death. I couldn’t help but think a lot of what he’d done had been more for revenge than for money.

I couldn’t claim not to be tempted. But if I did it, I would be no better, really, than Brent and David had been when they’d squared off against each other. I would be seeking revenge with lawyers, but the spite and anger would be the same.

No matter what had been done to me, it just wasn’t in me to do something like that. I had been broken, but not so completely that I’d do something that just wasn’t in me to do. The money his grandfather left me should’ve been David’s. No matter what had happened between them, that is exactly how it should’ve been.

I wasn’t blaming poor Theodore for what had happened to me, but it was his decision to change his will that had caused this. I just wanted out. I wanted out of all of it. Forever.

“You win,” I commented softly and rose to my feet. My legs were shaking, but I was determined. “I offered you half before I even knew how much you wanted it. Well, now you can have it all. Every last cent. This house. The cars. It’s all yours. It’s not like I ever wanted any of it. It was thrust upon me, so to speak. Your grandfather never told me what he was doing with his will, or I would’ve told him not to leave a damn thing to me. That’s not who I am. I would’ve told him to leave it to you, even though I didn’t even know you at the time. I would’ve told him that he’d hate himself for his actions if he left you nothing at all. But I didn’t get a chance to, since he kept it a secret. It seems you Blacks are very good at keeping your secrets. I’m better off, I guess.”

What did any of it matter to me, really? I didn’t want t—not when I knew just how much David did and how much he’d been willing to do to get it all.

“Kaye …” his voice cracked and it made me flinch.

God, I still hated to hurt him so much. Love was a wicked thing. A cruel thing. A thing that made people do the most idiotic things.

I steeled myself, pulling myself up straight and trying to sound confident and strong. “I hope you’re happy.” Despite all of my best efforts, my voice broke and tears started to fall down my cheeks. I had been holding it together just fine, but now it was time to say goodbye.

It was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life.

His one word came out in a harsh breath, “No …”

“You should be happy. You got the only thing you ever wanted—the only thing you have ever loved.” I paused and then added as I shook my head, “I will never trust another human being again. Never.”

What else was there to say? I didn’t look at him, trying to avoid him seeing the tears dripping down my face. I just turned away, intending to leave. I would go right to my lawyer, ask for the divorce, and sign everything over to David.

Or so I thought, until I heard the faint rustle of movement behind me. The next thing I knew, David’s large, strong hand closed around my wrist and pulled me back.

David

Kaye was going to leave.

I could see it. I could tell it wasn’t a bargaining chip. She wasn’t trying to manipulate me. She really was going to leave after giving me freely everything I’d wanted.

Everything I’d thought I’d wanted, anyway.

I moved before I thought, and when I put my hand on her wrist and she spun around, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the anger in her face.

There was no anger there. Only tears and pain. These horrible gifts I had given to her.

“Don’t go,” I whispered, and if I had thought it would help, I would have fallen right down onto my knees then and there. I would have begged for her to stay, and I wasn’t the sort of man who begged. Ever.

“Why?” Kaye asked, and she used her free hand, the one I wasn’t holding, to dash the tears from her eyes. They were swollen and red, but she had never looked more beautiful to me.

Now that I was going to lose her, I realized just how crazy I really was about her and how thoroughly I’d fallen in love, despite all of my efforts to avoid it. I was utterly smitten, completely and totally hers.

Too bad I had only fully realized it while I was losing her. But I had to at least try, didn’t I?

“I have something more to confess to you,” I said quietly and watched as her eyes widened.

More? I could pretty much guess she was thinking. What else was I going to drop on her now? “David, please,” she whispered, and I could feel her small body shaking. I didn’t let her go, though. I pulled her closer to me, gazing down into her beautiful face. Our bodies were so close that I could feel the heat radiating off of hers.

“Please,” I echoed her. “Just hear me out. If you still want to go when I’m done talking, I won’t stop you.”

I wouldn’t. It was definitely her right. I’d certainly put her through enough—she didn’t owe me even this much of her time.

She glanced down at my hand on her wrist, then took a step back. She didn’t actually pull her wrist away, though, so I kept my grip on it. This might be the last time I ever got to touch her, after all.

“Okay,” she allowed, and I took a deep breath. Against all odds, she was giving me this chance to explain myself.

I didn’t deserve it, and I knew it, but I was going to make the best of the opportunity. “I love you,” I started. It seemed the best place to start—the best base to build my argument from. I saw the skepticism in her eyes and knew I deserved it, but I kept going. “I have almost from the beginning. Since before our wedding. From the very first time we were intimate, or maybe before that.”

“David, please.” Kaye was very pale as she looked at me. “Stop it. You don’t have to do any of this.”

I shook my head. This was my chance to get out, to walk away with all of the money, and to not have to deal with the wife I hadn’t wanted in the first place. Only, now, I did want her. More than the money. More than anything.

I just had to make her see that.

“Look, Kaye, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I mean it. I have no reason to lie to you now. I love you. You’ve already said you’d give me all the money. I could just walk away, but I can’t do it. I need you. I’d burn the money in a huge bonfire right here and now if it would make you listen to me.”

I looked at her, and she just looked back at me. I didn’t see belief in her face, not yet, but I saw something that made me think she might be on the right track. She was still listening. I couldn’t give up.

Not until there was no hope left at all.

“David …” she tried to say more, but I put my finger to her lips to make her stop talking. She couldn’t say another word until she’d heard what I had to say.

“Kaye, if you leave—if you walk out of here—I don’t think I can handle it. I will sign whatever papers you want. Take everything from me. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I just care about you. Just you.”

“David,” she whispered, looking at me, and this time I was sure of it. There was something like hope in her eyes. She still loved me. For some reason, she still loved me, and she wanted to believe what I said.

My heart took the first hard beat it had since she told me she was leaving me. The smallest spark of hope formed and it spurred me on. “I want to be with you. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. I can tell you this truthfully—my life will never be the same if our marriage ends. And I’m not talking about money. I am talking about love. I’m talking about actually living. I’m talking about moving forward. I haven’t been my true self with you since our wedding. The stupid plan got in the way. I’m not actually such a workaholic. I’m not actually a moody man. And I’m not actually against starting our family. If you want to start a family with me, I want that too.”

It was so strange, saying those words out loud, but I meant them. I had wanted all of those things before, though I hadn’t admitted it to her, or even myself really. “I’m sorry. If you try to forgive me, I swear to you that I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Please, Kaye. I want to be married to you. To really be with you.”

Kaye took a deep breath, and I could see her struggling with herself. I could see she wanted to believe me, but for obvious reasons, she was having a hard time with it. “You don’t have to offer me a baby to get me to stay,” Kaye whispered. “I don’t want to be bribed into it. I only want to have a family with someone who really, really wants to have one with me.”

“I want a baby,” I said bluntly. “I have since the moment you brought it up. I don’t know how I even managed to keep saying no to you.” I gazed at her and there was no longer any doubt at all. She wanted to do this. She wanted to continue our marriage. My heart took another hard, thumping beat.

“Keep talking,” Kaye murmured, and I nodded. There were a few things I still had to say.

“I love you, I need you, and I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Part of me is glad Brent told you. I wanted out of this whole lie, I wanted to be with you, and I just didn’t know how to tell you. I wish I had. I know this may sound like a lie, but I was actually about to confess to you this morning.”

“Please, David,” the sound of her voice spoke to how hurt she was.

I shook my head, not ready to let her talk yet. “I was going to tell you the horrible truth and tell you I want to have a baby with you—lots of babies with you and only you. I really was about to do just that. Even as early as last night, after we made love better than we ever had before. I was. I promise you that. But, in all honesty, I never expect you to fully believe that, even though it is true. I truly love you. I do. If you believe nothing else, please, I am begging you to believe that. I love you, Kaye Black.”

“I love you too,” Kaye sobbed, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her free hand. I still held the other tightly, jealously guarding it and refusing to let go. “I love you too, David, and all I want is for things to go back to how they were before. How I thought they were.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I want you back, but the you I thought I married … does that man even exist?”

“He does,” I promised. “I’m right here, and I will be the man you deserve. I swear to you. Just give me a chance.”

I had never meant anything more in my life and I tried to put that sincerity not only into my words, but my face as well. I could see how she was looking at me, and maybe she was crying, but she was shrewd and her trust in me had been tarnished. She was watching me closely.

Whatever she saw must have satisfied her. She suddenly smiled and launched herself at me. I released her wrist finally so she could wrap her arms around me, and then her slender, soft, sweetly curved body was pressed against me and she was hugging me tightly.

“I’ll stay,” she whispered, and I could feel her heart hammering in her chest, that’s how closely we were pressed together. She clung to me, and I could tell by how eagerly she came into my arms that she had never wanted to leave.

She just thought she had to. Well, now it was my job not to give her any reason to leave me. Not ever again.

“I love you, Kaye,” I murmured tenderly, gazing down into her flushed face, my arms still wrapped firmly around her.

“I love you too, David. We’ll work this out,” she vowed, and I believed her. One thing I had learned about this woman was not to underestimate her. She was sweet, yes, and kind, but she had a will of steel under all that softness.

If she said we would work it out, I had every reason to believe we would.

Just like that, she stretched up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine. I wouldn’t have thought it even possible for me to hold her closer, but somehow I managed.

The kiss we shared then was a promise—an acknowledgment of the past as well as a commitment for the future. Our wedding had been months ago, but in a very real way, this was the start of our marriage.

“No more secrets,” Kaye whispered, and I nodded, in full agreement. “No more lies. Promise me that and you have me forever.”

“I promise.” It was a very easy promise to make. I’d seen what happened when I did lie to her and tried to keep things from her. I was supremely uninterested in having a relationship based on falseness.

We kissed again, and it was strange at first, like we were both testing it out. Slowly, we relaxed into it, and I knew then for sure I had been forgiven. I didn’t deserve it, but I would spend the rest of my life trying to make sure she never regretted it.

“Good,” Kaye said, beaming at me through her tears, but there was no more misery in her eyes. Her whole face was lit up with joy and this beautiful woman was mine.

All mine, and I would never lose her again. I would never do anything to risk what we had. It had taken me a stupidly long time, but I had thoroughly learned my lesson and from here on out it would be honesty and consideration from me. Nothing less would be accepted by me or my wife, and I was great with that.

Hold me accountable, Kaye Black.

I had thought I couldn’t trust a woman—any woman—but I’d let my very real pain at losing my mother make me act like a dick. No more. I had been such an idiot.

Without any further hesitation, I swept her up into my arms and held her bridal style. It seemed fitting, since this was, after all, the first day of the rest of our lives together. She might as well be my bride all over again.

“Let’s go back to bed,” I murmured, and I knew from the slightly wicked smile on her face that she understood. She knew what I wanted and was ready to fully cooperate.

“To bed, husband,” she whispered, her arms going around my neck and her weight nestled perfectly in my arms.

“Thank you.” I meant it with all of my heart. She had no reason to give me another chance, but she had.

She just gave me an enigmatic little smile, one that made both my heart and my cock throb, and without further ado, I swept her up the stairs and to our bedroom.

All of the shit was over, it seemed. All of the ugliness was done, and our real marriage could begin.

I had never felt more optimistic in my entire life about anything.

Lesson learned—don’t think you can have a revenge marriage without falling in love in the process.

The End.

* * *

David

Even after five years of marriage, Kaye was so damn beautiful, and I wanted her so much it hurt.

That was a little bit of a problem, considering we were supposed to be paying pretty strict attention to something else.

“David,” she hissed at me, though there was a smile on her face that made me think she not only knew what I wanted to do to her, but she fully approved. We had always matched in our desire for each other. “Stop looking at me like that.”

I grinned at her and had to admit that I wasn’t particularly repentant. I scanned her up and down, enjoying the way her pretty, green, formal maid of honor dress skimmed over her slender body, emphasizing her small waist and the fullness of her breasts.

“No,” I murmured, and then glanced downward when a little hand pushed its way into mine. Small fingers wrapped around mine and my eyes met the hazel ones of our daughter.

Sophia was only three-and-a-half years old, but she was already the perfect little copy of her mother, except for her eyes. They were the mix of brown and green, which showed clearly just who her parents were. Well, and I would swear there was a hint of me in the shape of the child’s lips.

“Daddy, when do we get to go?” Sophia asked. We were standing at the church, just outside the sanctuary. Our little daughter was the flower girl, dressed all in white and clutching her basket of petals as she looked up at me, completely trusting I would know the answer.

It had taken me awhile to get used to the whole thing. Sophia not only relied on me and Kaye, but she also adored us. It had grown on me pretty fast, though, and I knelt down in my suit to hug her. I just couldn’t resist.

“Soon,” I promised my daughter. Just then, we were given the signal by the priest to walk in.

Sophia went first, beaming with pride and scattering petals around with a sort of solemn joy. She took her job seriously, obviously.

The bridesmaids, all of my wife’s friends from her former job, walked in next, escorted by the ushers, who were friends of mine from work. Then, it was my turn, and I offered my gorgeous wife my arm.

It had taken four-and-a-half years for Brent to convince Angela he was good husband material, but it had been inevitable. Perhaps almost as much as Kaye and I belonging together.

Almost.

As we walked down the aisle together, I couldn’t help but remember that day five years ago when we had had our own wedding. This one was much bigger, but I still felt nostalgic as I walked Kaye down to the alter before we took our places to wait for the bride to step out onto the red carpet.

“You still act like you’re newlyweds,” Brent whispered to me, and I grinned. I couldn’t help but admit it was true, but part of me was never going to get over the fact that I still had Kaye. She’d chosen to stay with me, and God knew I’d given her every reason to give up on me.

I would never forget it and I would never give her any reason to doubt me again. Whenever I realized how much I loved and needed her, I let her know, right then and there.

I was pretty sure she had forgiven me long ago. Still, I wasn’t taking any chances. I’d almost lost her once, and I just flat out refused to let it happen ever again.

“You and Angela will be the same way,” I predicted, smiling over at my best friend. Things had gotten pretty crazy there with us for a while, and it had taken a bit for us to make friends again, but we were closer than ever.

Of course, it had helped when he fell for Angela and his interest in my wife had ebbed down to a nice, comfortable friendship. I knew it was a relief for Kaye, too, who had never wanted him to be interested in her in the first place.

The bride appeared then, cutting off whatever smartass comment he had been intending to shoot back at me. Angela was beautiful. I was completely in love with my wife, of course, but the bride did seem to glow, dressed all in white.

Even so, I couldn’t help but shift my gaze back over to my gorgeous wife and saw her looking right back at me, a fond look on her face.

It continued for the whole ceremony. We tried to be good—we really did—but I found my eyes drawn back to her time and time again. Each time, I saw her looking right back at me, her gaze warm.

I had to keep my breathing slow and regular, because even after all the time we had been together, I knew I could get an erection far too easily, just by looking at her looking at me.

The reception was lovely, and I really was happy for our friends on their wedding day. Truly, I was. It had been a long time coming, and all I wanted was for everyone to be as happy as I was. So, yes, I was thrilled for them.

I also wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

It wasn’t just that the twins were tired, either, though that was a factor. They weren’t even one yet and it had definitely been a long day for them. Even Sophia was nodding off, though she tried to fight it off with everything in her. Three sleepy children under the age of four seemed like a bad idea, though.

So, yes, part of it was wanting to a good father. There was also a not-so-secret desire on my part to get my incredibly sexy wife into bed as soon as possible. Seeing this wedding had made me remember more than ever how much I loved her, and I always wanted to express that love physically.

Still, Kaye was fun to watch, chatting animatedly as she held our son, Braden, and cradling him as he nestled sleepily in her arms. She was talking to Joan and Angela, and I couldn’t help but smile at how happy she looked.

I gazed down at Brody, the other half of the twin set, who I held in my arms. Twins. It was hard to believe sometimes. I’d ended up not just with my wife and one child, but now we had three.

However, Sophie was past the slightly whiny point and had actually found a corner to curl up in. She looked like a little angel with her black hair coming down from its ponytail and surrounding her face like a soft cloud. Her white dress poofed around her, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Kaye, love, we have to go,” I whispered. “We have three very tired children to get to bed.”

“Of course,” Kaye smiled, looking around as if surprised to see how much time had passed. She had left her job when Sophie was born, and I knew it was mostly a relief to her. She was the most maternal person in the world and she was a great mother to her kids.

I knew she missed her friends sometimes, though. I made a mental note to throw some sort of party or watch our kids after work so she could go out. I knew I would have to convince her to go, though, or she would want to spend every second with our children.

No mother could be more devoted, and I knew how lucky I was—and how lucky Sophie and the boys were. As we left, I had no hands to touch her with. One arm was filled with the baby and I held Sophie’s hand in my own, so I made sure to give her a warm, affectionate look so she knew I was thinking about her.

“David Black.” Brent said, coming up to me with his arm wrapped around his radiant bride. “I never would have thought to see you with three kids.” He was teasing a little, but just a little, and he softened it by admitting, “It suits you.”

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling at both of them. “Enjoy your honeymoon.”

“We will,” Angela smirked a bit at me and gave her husband quite the fond look, her head resting on his broad shoulder.

“And maybe in nine months or so,” Brent added. “We’ll provide your kids with a friend.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful.” Kaye smiled, her delight obviously completely unfeigned. “We could have playdates.”

Playdates.

Once upon a time, the idea of being around for children to play together would have made me snort. I would’ve been too scared to open myself up to my emotions or to let myself feel those sorts of feelings, and I never would have let myself want something like that.

The children were asleep in their car seats about ten seconds after they were buckled in, and I shook my head, a wry smile on my lips. I knew very well they would be awake the moment we got back home, and it was going to be hell to get them to go back to sleep.

I was half right. Or maybe one-third right.

The twins slept right through, which was a relatively new thing and one both Kaye and I were pretty ecstatic about. They curled around each other in the one crib—they refused to sleep apart—completely out, and I heaved a sigh of relief.

Too soon.

Sophie had gotten just enough sleep in the car to take her back to the cranky phase, and when Kaye tried to tuck her into her bed, she sat right up, pushing the blankets up.

“Thirsty,” she announced, and I tried not to roll my eyes. I was smiling at the same time, though. She had no idea how transparent she was or how easily we could see through her little act.

The name of the game was ‘stay up as long as possible and drive your parents insane.’ Sometimes she won and sometimes we did.

I was pretty determined on this particular evening, though. It was quite late and I wanted to bundle my pretty wife off to bed with almost indecent haste.

Still, little Sophie had a will of iron, sort of like her mother. And a little bit like me, I suppose. I had learned early on it wouldn’t do to go head-to-head with her—that would just work her up and we’d be up all night, listening to her scream.

I wasn’t going to let her wake the twins up. It just wasn’t going to happen. So we compromised, at least a little, and while Kaye got her the requested cup of water, after making her ask nicely for it, I settled down on her little bed and got out her favorite story, Goodnight Moon, reading it to her as she solemnly sipped her water.

Just as I had known would happen, her eyes soon started to droop. Kaye sat nearby, and buoyed up by the love of both of her parents as well as her favorite story, her eyelids started to close.

After three years of this, though, I was no beginner. I knew better than to stop reading until she was completely out, or she would be up for hours. A few more pages and she was completely out, breathing softly, very soundly asleep.

Kaye and I gave each other triumphant smiles, then very, very cautiously sneaked out of the bedroom. Kaye checked on the twins, and as she did, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and, yes, it had to be said, I groped her just a little bit. I cupped her full breast in my palm, stroking over the sweet curve of it.

“Mmm, David,” Kaye murmured, her eyes flashing warmly at me, though she made sure to speak quietly. As soon as she’d verified that our twins were fine, though, she shut the door firmly, turned to me, and gave me a scorching, heated kiss, her arms wrapping around me.

I pushed her against the wall, groaning at how hot and pliant in my arms she was—how willing she was to let me molest her. My hips sought hers out as I showed her just how aroused I was, rubbing my erection on her so she knew in no uncertain terms what I wanted.

How we made it to the bedroom, I had no idea. With her rubbing up against me, it was a wonder I didn’t pin her to the wall, heft her up, and take her right there. The fact that our daughter didn’t always manage to stay in her room all night, however, was a good deterrent. Sophie really didn’t need to see something like that.

With the door safely shut, however, it seemed safe enough. I picked my wife up, and she filled my arms just as delightfully as she always had, warm, curvy, and smelling like sex and Kaye and mine. Without hesitation, I brought her over to the bed, and she wrapped her arms around me and clung to me, drawing me down onto the bed with her.

It was heaven to lie with her, our legs tangled together, as we stripped each other of all the fancy clothing we had donned for the wedding. It was complete perfection to reveal each inch of her lovely body and stroke over it, following each brush of my fingers with a kiss. I pushed her onto her back, my lips finding the hard, little nub of a nipple and wrapping around it to suckle firmly, loving the way it made her arch her back toward my touch.

“David,” she moaned, which only encouraged me. I repeated my treatment on her other nipple, enjoying how she laid back and accepted it.

Often, she seemed to think she needed to be touching me too for me to get off on it. I hardly minded being touched by her, of course, but sometimes all I wanted was to make her feel good. It seemed she was willing to let me that night.

I intended to take full advantage. So while she moaned and pressed up against me, I kissed down her chest, over her rib cage, down her stomach, and lower. Her warm, musky, feminine scent filled me as I breathed deep, and I was soon buried between her legs, crouched between them, running my tongue over the hardened, slick nub of her clit.

From the first moment I tasted her, I’d become addicted. She was incredible, and her noises were, if anything, hotter and sexier now than they were the first time, when she’d still been a little bit inhibited. I slid my tongue between her slick lips, separating them before starting to suck on her clit.

“Oh, God, David,” she moaned, and I smiled a little. She had to keep it down a little, of course, because the kids were sleeping, or at least we hoped they were, but those beautiful noises were totally audible to me and that was all I cared about.

My fingers caressed over the smooth, soft skin of her hips, then I pinned her down, hands gripping those well-rounded hips of hers. She still liked it when I got a little bit possessive—just a tiny bit kinky—with her, and it was a normal part of our sex life.

“Oh, God, David,” she whispered. “God, don’t stop. It’s so good.” Her hips rose and fell, as though she had a cock deep inside of herself and she was fucking herself on it.

I fell into a rhythm, my tongue tracing shapes over her swollen, sensitive clit, but I should have known it couldn’t last. Kaye was a giver, and she was soon squirming around, shifting her beautiful body so her pretty lips were right by my straining erection.

Having her right there reminded me of what I had been missing. I’d gotten so wrapped up in pleasuring her, but my body was screaming its own arousal at me. When I paid attention to it, it was overwhelming.

So when she wrapped her mouth around me and started to work my erection between her lips, there was no way I was going to be able to make myself want to stop her. I moaned and rolled onto my back, letting her get on top of me so we could go down on each other at the same time.

Kaye was so impossibly beautiful, and I loved being buried deep inside of her. I could wait for it, though, because I also loved being linked with her in this way, giving her pleasure with my mouth as she did the same to me.

The way she moaned around me sent vibrations through my cock, making it throb, leak, and ache in her mouth. I worked on her more determinedly, because the way she was sucking me, it wasn’t going to be long until I was coming and I needed to make her come with me.

As always, the way the heat built between us was utterly irresistible, and I moaned as I pushed my cock gently between her lips. As much as I tried to hold back, I knew it was going to happen. There was no way I could resist the pleasure, and from the way she was moaning, rocking her hips, and grinding her most sensitive areas against my lips, she wasn’t far off either.

So I let it happen. I let the pleasure coil through me until it exploded and I filled her mouth with my fluids. At almost the exact same time, her body tensed and I felt her convulse as she cried out around my twitching cock, then relaxed abruptly.

All I would need was a few minutes to recover and I could go again. I had never been that way with any other woman, but with her, it was the truth. So I panted and pulled myself together, and in the moment of silence that followed, we both heard something that made us scramble off of each other and under the covers.

Tiny little footsteps approached our door, and I was just thankful we had closed it. But we never locked it, because Kaye, always cautious, was worried about it being a fire risk. It being closed gave us both a few precious seconds to adjust ourselves, and with the thoughts I’d been having of continuing, I definitely needed the time.

“Mommy? Daddy?” Sophia’s little voice came, and despite my irritation with her, I couldn’t help but be touched, as always, when I heard her speak that word. Daddy. It was a special title, and it always reminded me just how lucky I was.

Not that she was off the hook. It was far too late for her to be wandering around the house.

“What is it?” Kaye asked with a mixture of concern and displeasure that told our child she was loved, but also that it was not okay for her to wander through the halls of our house after midnight.

“I had a scary dream,” Sophia whispered, and her little body was shaking. I could tell she wasn’t faking it, though she, like most kids, did enjoy staying up as late as she could manage.

Leaning out of the bed, I found my pants, then discreetly slipped them on.

“I’ll take her back to bed,” I murmured, and maybe then we could continue what we’d started. I knew how it was with me and Kaye, and once we got started, we could both go hours. It was just one of many ways in which we matched each other perfectly.

It only took me about ten minutes to get my little girl settled into bed, but by the time I came back, Kaye was completely passed out, her hair spread over the pillow, her lips parted, and her gentle breathing.

Oh well. I had been hoping for more action, but now that I looked at her, she did look awfully comfortable, and it was so late. I lay down and was out within seconds, only lasting long enough to wrap my arms around my beautiful wife and hold her close.

Kaye

When I woke up in the morning and remembered the events of the night before, I couldn’t help but feel pretty badly about it. I knew David had been hoping for more fun, and honestly, I had been right there with him.

However, with the emotion of my best friend finally getting married, and then the long party and taking care of the kids, I had been worn out. I honestly hadn’t intended to fall asleep, but somehow, it had happened anyway.

So when I woke, I was especially careful not to wake my sleeping husband up. I got out of bed, called in a few favors, and soon had the children taken care of for the morning.

The wedding the day before had made me feel sort of romantic and very lucky to have my own amazing husband. We’d been through so much, but we’d made it through stronger than ever, and I wanted to show him I appreciated him, because each and every day, he made me feel appreciated.

So I did something that I didn’t usually have time for. I made David breakfast in bed, then changed into some sexy lingerie, which I never had any time to wear anymore, before finally settling down onto the bed and waking him up.

I knew I looked good, with my breasts still full and round from my pregnancy with the twins and displayed to good advantage by the red teddy I wore. I wore my hair down, letting it fall heavily over my back and shoulders, and when I shook him gently awake, his eyes settled on me with appreciation.

“Mmm, that’s not a bad way to wake up,” he commented, and then his eyes fell on the breakfast I’d made him and they lit up with delight. “Hey. I think I’m in love with you. Want to get married?”

I laughed, pleased to see him in such a good mood. I knew it was something he didn’t show to just anyone. He tended to come off as a bit brooding and serious, but he had quite the sense of humor when he trusted someone.

He’d softened quite a bit, too, since becoming a father, and it was all in a good way. I’d been in love with him for years, since even before Sophie was born, but he’d changed in that time quite a bit.

I loved him now more than ever, though, and it felt like every day I just fell in love with him more. Each moment I thought I must have reached the top level of loving him, but the next moment I proved myself wrong by loving him more.

With how independent I’d always tried to be, it was still sometimes a bit strange for me, but I had never—not even once—regretted staying with him after everything had come out between us.

Smiling, I settled into bed beside him and we started to eat breakfast together.

“Where are the kids?” he finally thought to ask, and I smirked a little bit at him. Sex was never far from his mind, but to be fair, it wasn’t exactly something I tended to avoid thinking about either. “I keep expecting Sophie to show up, summoned by the food.”

I laughed softly, because it was accurate. It seemed like our lovely daughter only wanted to belong to someone else, and as soon as either of us fixed a treat for ourselves, she would be right there.

“Hmm, Mr. Black,” I purred, deliberately flirtatious. “Is there a reason you want to know where the kids are? Like do you, perhaps, have intentions which aren’t entirely honorable toward their mother?”

Shooting him a broad wink to let him know I was joking, though I knew he already knew it, I finished my breakfast and snuggled close to him, my head on his chest, listening to the thump of his heart.

I heard the rumble of his laughter in his chest, too, and felt the flex of his muscles as he moved the breakfast things aside, off of himself. I wasn’t entirely surprised when he pulled me onto his lap instead.

“I’m your husband,” he murmured, his hands resting on the curve of my hips as he pulled me closer to him. “I assure you, everything I want to do to you is completely honorable, because you’re my wife.”

The rapport between us was so easy. After so many years together we knew each other so well, and I laughed softly as I rested my forehead against his and looked into his beautiful, dark eyes.

They had looked so mysterious to me once. Not anymore. I saw the warmth, the love, and the smoldering arousal that was ready to burst into full flame with the slightest provocation. Those eyes were beautiful, yes, but not enigmatic. Not anymore.

“So, seriously, Kaye, where are they? I need to know how loud we can be,” he murmured, and I grinned at him. Honestly, I’d been hoping for just this reaction, and I teased him just a little bit more.

“Why, Mr. Black!” I pretended to be shocked, though we both knew I wasn’t. His desire didn’t shock me. It more thrilled me than anything else.

“Damn it, woman,” he growled as he slapped me lightly on the ass, just enough to sting a little bit—not too loudly or too hard. “Tell me where our children are so I know how much I can make you scream.”

The tiny little bit of pain from that spanking was enough to make me squirm with delight. It had been awhile since he’d gotten a little bit rough with me, though we added some light kink to our sex life from time to time. It seemed he was in the mood to make it happen, and I felt myself grow wet and ready just from the thought.

“The kids are gone. They’re on a playdate,” I assured him, my voice strange and breathless. The vibrations of that spanking, as brief and light as it had been, were enough to make me ache for him.

“Good,” he whispered, and then he suddenly pushed me off of him and onto the bed. Without hesitation, he pinned me down onto it, gathering both of my wrists into one of his big hands and holding me tightly as he slipped on top of me.

Part of me wanted, more than anything else, for him to just slip inside of me and take me right then and there. I knew I would love it. I knew he would make it good. My body clenched, wanting to be connected to him.

When I saw the devilish glint in his eye, though, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t going to get what I wanted so easily. He was in a playful mood, and I was in for a bit of a rough time.

“Do you remember our safeword?” he asked, and it was then I knew for sure. This was going to go beyond just holding me down as he took me, and I clenched my legs together tightly, moaning as I thought about all the things he might do to me.

It had been too long.

“I remember,” I whispered, and he kissed me again, but this time, it was slow and thorough. It was still deeply intense, though, and by the time he pulled away again, my whole body was tingling, then pulsing, with the burn of desire.

“Good. Roll over,” he murmured, and I smirked to myself as he let me up. I should tease him, I thought, but I couldn’t do it. Something about the tone of his voice, which had changed, getting darker and more dominant, made it impossible for me to deny him in any way.

So I rolled over, baring my back and my ass to him. Vulnerable, I tried to look over my shoulder, only for him to bring out a soft, black strip of cloth to tie over my eyes. Soon, my sight was completely cut off and the feeling of intense vulnerability increased.

He had only robbed me of my eyesight once before, almost five years ago. At the time, Brent had been there, too, and it had been during the time in which David had still been trying to convince himself he could resist falling in love with me in order to get all of my money.

Remembering that time, I had to think I was in for even more of an intense experience than I had thought.

Maybe it should have been scary, given how things had been the last time we’d done something like this. It was only in that moment I realized just how much I did trust my husband and how thoroughly he had been forgiven, because it didn’t freak me out at all.

I loved him, yes, but then, I’d loved him all along. I also trusted him. I had known my trust was growing back, but I hadn’t realized just how fully I would put myself in his hands until that moment.

He was waiting for me to make some reaction, I realized, before he did anything else. He, too, had to know what he was doing and he must have memories of his own. David, the sweetheart, just wanted to make sure I was comfortable before he would feel good about continuing on with anything else.

As the moments stretched on, I became more convinced I was right. David touched me, but only lightly, his fingertips caressing over the smooth, sensitive skin of my ass, and I thought he would wait forever for me to make some sort of sign indicating whether he should stop or continue.

It only made me trust him more and fall even more deeply in love with him. There was really no doubt about what message I would give him, and I pressed my hips up toward the hand that had so far only teased me.

“Please,” I whispered. It was pretty clear, I thought, and he seemed to agree. I could sense his pleasure, even with my eyes being covered, and as soon as I said the one word, I could feel the rustle of his movements.

First, he slid off the little pair of panties that I had put on with the teddy, and raised the skirt up so my ass was bare. The warm air of the room hit my skin, making it exquisitely sensitive and inciting a low moan.

The first time, well, it had been the first time I’d ever had anything like that happen. I’d been nervous—terrified even. Not this time. I knew more what to expect, and I looked forward to the daze of pleasure I knew he could give me.

“David, please,” I repeated, and I felt him move away. It briefly confused me, but then he was back and I felt the kiss of leather over my body and down my back as he drew what was obviously a flogger over me.

Moaning, I let myself fall into it. The sensation wasn’t quite pain, but could have been with slightly more force. I was soon pushing my hips up to meet each stroke of the flogger, and I heard David’s slightly sinister laughter as I rocked my body toward him.

“Mmm, my pretty girl,” he murmured, and we both knew it was true. I was his with everything in me, but I knew he also belonged to me.

The flogger stopped and I found myself actually whimpering with protest. Once more, I heard David step away, but he was back a few seconds later, adjusting my body, drawing my hands up to the head of the bed, and cuffing me there.

He was tying me up. Restraining me. And all I could think about was how perfect it was—how I wanted to be completely and utterly helpless for him. The thought made me moan, shiver, and tug at the bonds—not to try to get, away but just to prove to myself I couldn’t.

Soft, silken rope wrapped around my ankles, spreading my legs wide as he attached one foot to each bottom corner of the bed. I was completely restrained, and even when I squirmed, I could barely move at all.

“Now you’re really mine,” he whispered, and no one else in the world could say such a thing to me. If anyone had tried—if anyone had even suggested they would tie me up like this—I would have screamed bloody murder.

With him, though, I loved it. I couldn’t get enough of it. I tugged harder, twisting my wrists and my ankles, and delighting in my helplessness.

“David,” I moaned, the juices of desire running down my thighs. My husband got me going pretty easily, but I could swear I had never been so desperate for him, or anyone, in my entire life. I clenched my thighs tightly, trying to give my eager pussy some stimulation.

He touched me, but with his hand this time, not the flogger. The sound of the loud spank echoed through the room, as did my gasp of delight. Again, he hit me, and I moaned this time, pushing my ass up as close to his hand as my bonds allowed me.

The blindfold made it impossible to see anything, so I had to focus on the sting and on the warmth which radiated through my ass, instead of what I could see. It made it all so much more vivid, so real, and I slipped into it without effort.

I was already into it when I felt the touch of fingers as they glided over my sopping wet pussy lips.

David stopped spanking me so he could grope me instead, and my legs were flung so wide open and held there that he could easily find my clit and rub his fingers over it.

As worked up as I was, pleasure started to build inside me quite quickly. Just as I was gasping and moaning, about to be flung over the edge, he withdrew his hand and started to spank me again.

Over and over again, he tormented me. He would get me so close, and each time, I would be positive it would be the time he finally gave me what I needed. Each time, he took his hand away right when I was just at the point of no return, and I actually started to hurt with need to come.

“David, God, David, please.” I heard the sound of my voice without being aware I was going to speak at all. It was as though the arousal had taken my whole body over and I had no control anymore. David had all the control, and it only made me want and need him more.

“What do you need, pretty girl?” David whispered, and he pushed a finger inside my needy channel, fucking me slowly with it. It was good, so damn good, but it wasn’t enough. Not even close. “Tell me what you need from me. Beg for it. Beg me for what you want. Desire. Crave.”

Normally, maybe such a thing would have been degrading to a woman. Not with fire racing through my veins, though, and I whimpered and tried to find the right words—the ones which would have me filled by something much bigger and thicker than the finger he slowly fucked me with as he kept spanking me.

“Say it,” he insisted, and I moaned and started to speak, unable to think about the perfect words any more.

“Fuck me, David,” I whispered, and even though I rarely said that word, it didn’t bother me to say it. It felt deliciously naughty, if anything, and I knew without needing to see that it aroused David as well. So I kept going. “Fuck me. Fuck me hard, David. Take me. Show me who it is I belong to. Show me who my one and only Master is. Please, please, don’t leave me this way. In torturous need of your fat cock planted deeply into my soaking wet cunt that aches for only you, my Master.”

I heard his groan, soft as it was, and I could easily picture what his face would look like, had I been able to see it. I had seen how he got when I really managed to turn him on, and my begging had done it.

A sense of power flowed through me. Yes, he had control over me and my body was at his mercy, but I could still spur him on, just with my words. So I kept talking, pleading, and begging him to push inside me. I would keep doing it until he slid his large cock inside me—until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Fuck, Kaye, I love you,” David whispered, and I smiled. Even when I was tied up and at his dubious mercy, he would tell me those three sweet words. He would remind me of his love, and I felt safe with him because of it.

“Please,” I whispered once more, using the only word I could get out. His fingering wasn’t enough, but it was getting me distractingly close. Just a tiny bit more, a little more, and I would explode around his finger …

He pulled it out of me, and I cried out. I was so tense and worked up, right on the edge of pleasure which had been building for a long time at this point. It was going to be good—so damn good. I was already breathless with the force of it, but he wouldn’t give me the last little bit of what I needed.

“David,” I moaned, intensely frustrated, and I heard his chuckle, knowing he knew exactly what he was doing. He was driving me utterly insane on purpose and it was working. He was playing me as though my body was a musical instrument and his deft fingers knew exactly what to do.

Just when I knew I couldn’t take it anymore, when my muscles were tensed and I was tugging on my bonds as though I would break them any second, I felt David’s weight on me and then he was pushing inside of me in one deep, hard, claiming thrust. Oh, yes! His cock was there, filling me like nothing else could. No dildo on Earth could match what his flesh and blood cock did for me.

It was perfect.

It was everything I had needed and then some. He filled me up completely, stretching me wide in the best way possible. We fit together flawlessly, two parts of one greater whole, and I shoved my body up to try to get him even deeper inside of myself.

“David …David,” I moaned, and he leaned in and kissed me. I had no warning it was going to happen because of the blindfold, which only made it so much more amazing for me.

“Kaye, come for me,” he whispered, and he didn’t have to say anything more. Those words were all it took. I clenched around him, writhed, and cried out over and over as I came hard for him.

One orgasm built to the next, and I devolved into nothing more than a mass of sensations, each peak of pleasure only the launching place for the next, flinging me up into the stratosphere. My internal muscles gripped him tightly, and I rocked with him—no longer Kaye, no longer truly myself, but part of the unit of Kaye and David.

Finally, one last, shuddering, wracking surge of pleasure jolted through my body, and at the same time, I felt him tighten and convulse. Hot jets of his cum bathed my feminine channel. He gave a hoarse, sexy little cry of his own as he filled me.

“Thank you,” I whispered, when I could speak again. He tenderly untied me, and then we were wrapped up on each other, coated in sweat and both of us gasping for breath.

“No, Kaye. God, no. Thank you. For everything.”

I smiled at him and rested my head on his damp chest, closing my eyes with satisfaction. There wasn’t a moment, or any unit of time even in its smaller measure, when I regretted staying with him.

He was the love of my live, and I knew I was his too. It had been nothing short of flawless, and I knew it would only get better.

David and I had made it through something most wouldn’t have. We had done it. Out of revenge came love. Out of revenge came a marriage. Out of revenge came a family that we both adored in a way neither of us knew possible.

It all came out of revenge. His seduction of me was vengeful. That was true. But the love that came from it was anything but that.

David and I had found our happily ever after. And we both knew we’d live that way forever.

The End.