With Every Heartbeat

Cora’s jaw fell open. “I cannot believe you just called me that.”



Yeah, well, I couldn’t believe that’s what she’d ended up being. Setting my hands on my hips, I glanced away. “If Ten was right, if the only reason you came here was to get me back, you should just go now. We’re not getting back together. Ever.”



“Are you sure about that?” She stepped closer and lifted her hand to run her index finger down the center of my chest.



She was lucky I didn’t break her finger for touching me. But I managed to restrain myself. I settled for catching her wrist in a viselike grip and sending her a glare.



“What?” She giggled and sent me a flirty smile, stepping closer. “You can’t tell me it wasn’t amazing between us, especially in the bedroom.”



I glanced away dryly. “I’ve had better.”



I didn’t realize what I revealed until she gasped.



A split second later, her free hand came around to crack me across the cheek with a stinging, loud slap.



Totally not expecting that to happen, I couldn’t stop it from cranking my face around.



Jaw on fire from her palm, I slowly turned to stare at her.



“You fucked someone else?” Fury oozed from her pores. “When did you fuck someone else?”



I closed my eyes, calling myself ten kinds of idiot. She knew she’d been my first. She’d always known she was my first. When I opened my lashes, I found her quivering as she glared at me.



“Don’t worry,” I assured her with a cold, hard voice. “Unlike you, I didn’t cheat.”



“But...” She shook her head, her eyes showing me how furiously her mind worked to calculate the time in her head. “We’ve only been apart a day. How could you find someone else in a fucking day?”



I shrugged. It seemed like something Ten would do at a time like this, and I could certainly do with a little bit of Ten’s attitude right about now.



“Oh my fucking God,” she roared. “I cannot believe this. You stuck your dick in another woman. You fucking bastard.”



When she curled her fingers, claws extended, and went for my face, I caught her wrists again, stopping her. Then I propelled her away from me. She must’ve realized I wasn’t going to let her hurt me, because her next strategy was to grasp her waist and double over as if in extreme pain before she burst into hiccupping sobs.



The weeping was so extreme, I arched an eyebrow because it was so obviously fake.



In the past, tears had always melted me. I absolutely could not stand watching a woman cry. But Cora’s put-on tears enraged me. And the crude way she’d described what Zoey and I had done sent me right over the edge.



I leaned forward. “Imagine how I felt yesterday, finding out you’d let other men stick their dicks in you.”



When she looked at me as if I’d betrayed her, I shook my head. “Are you forgetting which one of us was faithful?” I jabbed a finger at her. “You cheated on me, Cora. You betrayed me and slept with I don’t know how many other men while we were together. So I moved on. How dare you stroll in here, without a single apology, and just expect me to...I don’t know, thank you because you’re willing to give us another try? Well, no. It...is...over. It was over the minute I read that text. And whatever I’ve done with anyone else since that moment is none of your damn business.”



“But...you’re mine.” She stomped her foot, the pinch in her eyebrows a pathetic glare. “I created you. I—”



“You what? You created me?” My mouth fell open, wondering what the heck that was all about.



“Yes.” She hissed at me. “You were nothing. A pathetic little naive, gullible nobody. So malleable and easy to control. Just like Zoey.”



“Zoey?” I croaked. I didn’t like hearing her name come from this woman’s mouth, this woman I thought loved me and loved being with me, this woman who’d lied to me and broken my trust. “What does Zoey have to do with this?”



“Nothing.” Cora shrugged. “You just reminded me of her. That’s why I chose you.”



I shook my head, more confused than ever. “Excuse me? Did you say you chose me?” She made it sound like she’d taken a trip to the pet shop to pick out her next lapdog.



A sick nausea churned in me when I realized that’s exactly how she’d always treated me. Like a lapdog, someone to fetch her slippers, rub her feet, make her breakfast, lick her pussy.



She sent me a proud, triumphant grin. “The night of the auction, I did choose you. Like a shy, lost little puppy. It reminded me of how Zoey had always been. So I knew I could do to you what I’d always done to her.”