Seeing that it was the end of the month, I normally tried to head home around seven in the evening, much later if there was a faulty, unresolved project. I was beginning to appreciate why Peter brought some of his work home, and I supposed I’d end up doing the same.

After the Thanksgiving dinner, I hadn’t had the chance to properly speak to Anahl about the vault in the basement. I’d been bombarded with work and personal obstacles, one after the other. It had rather taken a toll on me. I admitted, Gisele’s new role in my life was a blessing, but it’d also proved to be challenging. But even though I was stretching myself at both ends, I’d never been happier, and at the end of the day, it was what counted the most.

It was thirty before midnight when I dragged myself into the house, exhaustion seeping through me with each step. My neck and shoulders were tremendously throbbing, and I hoped Gisele would take pity on me and offer to rub it away.

The bedroom was dark upon entering. Treading carefully, I strode towards the bed area, double checking if she was asleep, and she was. My heart swelled at the sight of her sleeping figure before I retreated into the bathroom then turned the dial to shower.

Once finished, I dried off and didn’t even bother to don any form of sleepwear since I was most comfortable snoozing in the nude. Upon reaching the bed, I gently slipped under the sheets before pulling Gisele’s body against my own. Burrowing my nose into the base of her neck, I breathed her in as my hand tightened around her abdomen, pulling her lower body closer to my groin.

“Kitten?” I whispered as my hand glided around her bottom, parting it softly as I lodged my length in between the crack, guiding my mushroom head to her slit as I began to nudge her cunt lips to open for me. She merely needed her clit to be rubbed a good minute or so until her body properly lubricated her passage.

The tip of my shaft precisely slid up and down her button. I let out an ardent growl as the first burst of wetness trickled out of her opening. My lips nipping her skin around her neck and shoulders, my hand sought her bosom, massaging it gently before my fingers tightened around her pebbled bud. Then I began to lightly pull at it. My dick’s measured movements continued until her cunt was drenched.

Shifting my pelvis to a certain angle, I continued until the head pierced into her hole. The instant sensation of her muscle ring constricting around the tip sent a pleasure current running all over me. It didn’t matter if I ravaged her pussy every single day; it never failed to revert to its snug state once her body got a reprieve. Though it still felt like fucking into a well-fit glove, her passage could manage to accommodate me unlike before.

“Kitten…wake up…” My cock slithered in and out in furious thrusts. “Gisele,” I uttered. While my manhood was still buried within, I shifted my body so she was on her back and I was on top of her. Gripping her arse, my strokes deepened as I pushed farther into her depths, shoving past her barrier and into her womb.

“Jared.” Gisele let out a strangled groan, a mixture of pain and pleasure, as she slowly awakened.

My lips meshed with hers. It took her a bit of time until she kissed me back just as fervently while my cock began to fuck her in short, precise, deep thrusts.

“Hell, I can’t get enough of you and your snug cunt.” My length drove a relentless series of furious fucks, sawing in and out of her in a frenzy. Her moans grew in volume. My torrential pounding amplified. The telltale sign of orgasm gripped my scrotum before a heady rush of tingling ricocheted through my body. It went all the way down my spine, traveling lower in heightened pulses, before it momentarily throbbed in my balls, amplifying my thrusts into her body as my girth expanded into her tight tunnel then bursting out of my cock, drenching and bathing her womb with ropes upon ropes of my seed.

My mind-numbing release annihilated me, so much so that I had a momentary throb in the back of my brain before my lungs began to function once again as I heaved air into them. Her body never failed to gift me with such earth-shattering pleasure.

“My love,” I panted out, kissing her, intoxicated, drunk off my obliterating addiction to her body and the very woman herself.

“Do you like my pussy, baby?” Her hot breath brushed against my ear, hardening my half-mast state still stuck in her hole.

Stroking her gently, I readily said, “Yes. I love it. I can’t get enough of it.”

“I’m happy that you do. Remember how it feels because tonight’s going to be the last night you’re going to fuck me.” Her harsh voice made me halt as my troubled eyes linked with hers.

All the elation and sexual haze lifted off my fogged mind as I acutely bore into the eyes of my lover. “I don’t understand. I thought you said we were past it. Saturday night, I even came home to you. Am I missing something here, Gisele?”

“I will tell you, but first, you have to pull out,” she gritted out as she hastily tried to unsheathe her cunt, but my hips pinned her back down, confining her to where she belonged—with me.

“It’s either you speak or I’ll fuck it out of you. Take your pick, wife.” The nasty side of me was out. She was threatening to leave me again, and I wasn’t having it.

Bunched up hands tried to push me off, but I remained unmoving. “You selfish bastard! Even your mighty cock can’t solve this for you. The moment I wake up, those papers will be filed, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

“Spare me the bloody suspense and fucking say why, damn you!” I snarled into her face, hating the idea of how hard I was and, at the same time, wondering what I’d done wrong this time.

“I find it funny how your dear Rose looks like Paige.” She pinned me with scathing eyes. “Funny how you also didn’t mention you bought her a house and how you fucking moved her out here so you could conveniently see her whenever you felt the urge to fuck. And, oh! How can I forget? She was rather sweet to inform me, too, that you two were in the middle of trying for a baby before you left for Japan, so before you roar your head off, claiming all sorts of bullshit, I’m saving us both by releasing you.” She instantly looked away, hiding her tears from me. “I spent most of the afternoon driving around, wondering what I’d do or if I was even overreacting again, but the truth is, no matter how I try to convince myself that I love you too much to let you go…I don’t trust you. Having you in my life has caused me so much unnecessary pain, and if I don’t save myself now, you’re going to drown me. GOD!” she choked out. “You were planning to have a family together! How do you think I felt when she screamed in the entire café, labeling me a homewrecker, huh?”

Why had Rose left the facility, and why had no one informed me? Rose probably begged them not to. God knows what she had spewed into her caretaker’s ears to set her free.

How did I get myself out of this? Would she believe me if I tried to reason with her? She had already made her decision. She had the ball rolling, and based on her stubborn expression, she wasn’t going to be deterred.

Set her free…

How?

My chest tightened to the point where breathing became a difficult task. Not knowing what to do, I burrowed my face into her neck, memorizing her smell. Her chest quaked against mine as she silently cried.

“Since you’ve already made up your mind, I can’t force you to stay with me. I’ve held you down, fought you every time just so I could keep you. But this isn’t what I envisioned my future with you to be like, Gisele. You’ve had one foot out the door, biding for the right moment to eject me for good. We both know you’ve been trying to get away from me for quite some time now, and as much as my heart, my mind, and body repels the thought of losing you, I have to do the right thing this time.

“You are your own woman, and if I can’t make you happy, then there’s nothing I could do to alleviate the problem. But I do want to clarify some things. Yes, I gifted her a home. Since I had informed you about her, moving her closer to me made perfect sense because my punishing schedule prevented me from seeing her as often as I liked. And you’re right, I was drawn to her partially because she reminded me so much of Paige. Somehow, I had felt back then that I was actually trying to revive the same feelings as well, but it never happened. It didn’t take long until I realized why.

“The baby—her mad idea came about while we were having sex. After leaving you, I would see her sloshed and out of my mind drunk, and as harsh and unfeeling as this may seem to you, I just wanted a body to fuck. It didn’t matter what I agreed on so long as she let me into her body. I’d wake up the next day and squash the idea, but the same thing happened during night time. I drank myself into a stupor so I could drown you out of my thoughts, and it also helped to stop me from driving back to you, past caring if Rinaldi was enjoying your body, a body that should’ve been mine. You promised was mine. Everything shifted for me that night.

“I’m not making excuses for my past actions. They are what they are. I’m not perfect. I’ve made countless mistakes where you are concerned. To be quite frank, I honestly had no clue how to deal with my riotous feelings for you, and I admit I’m not proud of how poorly I handled it. I’m sorry for all the grief I’ve caused you.” The heavy-laden weight in my chest delved deeply into my soul. The despair and senselessness were almost unbearable. It felt as though death itself was breathing down on me, slowly suffocating me. “Whatever you need, whatever you wish, just say the word and it’ll be yours. My lawyers will grant you everything.” Slowly, gently, I lifted my face off her neck before my lower body withdrew from hers, retreating, then strictly staying to my side of the bed.

Gisele remained mum. I supposed she had said her piece, and there was nothing left for her to say. Drilling holes into the ceiling, I was left paralyzed as I listened to her soft sobs. For a grave hour, I endured the eviscerating agony of drowning in her cries, and the second it died down, I died along with it.

“Jared?”

My heart thudded, revived at the sound of her calling out to me. Had she changed her mind? “Yes?” I responded in a measured tone as hope slowly flourished within me.

“When the time comes, do you promise to teach me and take me under your wing once I’m ready to work for the company?”

There you had it. If I needed any other confirmation, this was it.

Pressing my temple, I heaved out. “Of course, I’m always going to be here for you, Gisele.”

“Thank you.”

The headache turned into a full-scale migraine. Sleeping was out of the question. Everything in me hurt, and as much as I wanted to prolong parting with her, if I didn’t get out of this bed, I might suffer a heart attack. Tensing, I mustered enough courage to shift my body and sought her for the last time. Her back faced me, and I was quite relieved that I didn’t have to look her in the eye.

Pressing my lips to the base of her neck, I breathed her scent once more, and for a brief moment, all the pain left me, only to return once my nose left her skin. “I love you, kitten.”

Gisele froze as she heard the words out of my mouth. I didn’t say it to change her mind. I did it for me.

Sliding out of bed, I rapidly scoured the closet for clothes, and in less than a minute, I was dressed with my keys in hand. Gisele knew I was leaving her, but she didn’t even turn around, utter a peep. She just carried on ignoring me. I stood a few feet away from the bed, willing her to turn around, to say something—anything—to keep me from leaving, but none came.

“I’ll have my things out of the house once I’ve purchased a home in the area. So, I’ll leave you be. Take care, okay? I know security does a good job keeping a close eye on you, so I won’t be doing any of that. Just—I…” My voice got stuck in my throat as emotions seized me, preventing me from speaking. Biting down on my lip, I longingly glanced at her form before turning around and heading straight to the door and out of her life for good.

I’d lost the most important thing in my life. As much as it pained me to admit the truth, Gisele had never wanted to stay, and I couldn’t go on wondering when she’d hurl the word divorce again.

Gutted, I drove to the Four Seasons, checking in for the next month since going home to my house in Pacific Heights was out of the question. With the obliterating migraine threatening to explode in my brain, I was glad the concierge provided me some pain reliever before I drowned myself in a bottle of cognac. I drank it all to the very last drop.

I went to work slightly drunk, but I needed to occupy my mind with work. And true to her word, my lawyers blasted my phone about the impending divorce. I simply commanded them to give her whatever she wanted. If she wished to take me to the cleaners, go right on ahead. I didn’t care anymore.

My day was already in the shitters, and when my phone rang and flashed Rose’s name, I shut it off completely. A man could only endure so much pressure before folding, and I’d rather invest all of my energy into work than dwell on my unfortunate misery of losing Gisele all over again.

I was sure she’d be seeking Wyatt once again. She might even have him back on our bed by tonight. The very thought of it made me want to murder them both.

Furious at the world, I punishingly worked until midnight before going back to the hotel to try to sleep. I hadn’t had shuteye in the last thirty-six hours, but the moment I tried, my body became restless, so I drank another bottle, numbing me completely. Drunk and surprisingly aroused, I palmed my cock as I recalled her tight sinuous body and how it eagerly responded to me. Even on our last night, her hate couldn’t prevent her from opening her wanton body to me. The soft choking cry she had made each time I went past her barrier brought more blood rushing into my manhood. I vividly pictured her with my eyes shut, plunging deeper as I took her willing cunt to do my bidding…We were like a wildfire—fiery and consuming, burning unchecked.

My wanton wife…

“Gisele!” I screeched, viciously jerking my length before I pettily came into my hand. The immediate feeling of senselessness enveloping me right after twisted darkly into the very fiber of my soul.

FUCK.

I wasn’t daft. I understood the gravity of my actions, and I was quite certain Rose had done her best to deliver the news with a blunt blade, prolonging Gisele’s misery. But all of this had happened before she and I had decided to be together. Surely, she could make some concession in regard to the blatant fact? I dreamed of her taking me back, that my phone would randomly get a call with her begging for me to come home. It had made me relatively delusional.

Not only did my heart yearn for the woman but also the sense of belongingness washing over me, the sense of completeness coming home to her. It was what I missed the most.

But it was all gone, and quite predictably, I was left to pick up the fragments of a shattered shell of a life.

Our impending divorce was in the works. It was like a black ominous cloud hovering in the distance. A bone-chilling cold wind gusted through me, a warning of a storm brewing ahead. It gradually closed in on me. Slowly. Steadfastly. And upon its menacing arrival, it would pull me down until I was stripped of all I came to be, all that I was. It would rob me of my love and whatever else I valued. It would drown me in every way possible. She’d be unforgiving, heartless, and cold.

Gisele was passionate in nature with equal strengths of ice and fire. When the fire dissipated, the cold settled. She burned ice. It would match her glacial frosty eyes that reminded me so much of a chilling winter dusk—barren to the naked eye but with underlying force hidden below their surface. She’d consume me unapologetically.

With Gisele’s unconcealed animosity towards me, it didn’t take a genius to grasp how she’d be. But alas, I had wronged her, and I was willing to pay the price of my misjudgments.

After all, the woman held the cards to my completeness, and she knew it, too. Lock, stock, and barrel.