Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

Cutting steak into bite-sized pieces, Dark stabs a succulent bit with his fork and raises it to my lips. Smiling like I’m smitten with him and his gentlemanly ways, I slide my lips sensually across the tines and draw the steak into my mouth. I chew thoughtfully, and he stabs another juicy, medium-rare piece for himself. Playing the dutiful pet, I turn in his lap to pat his lips with a white cotton napkin as he chews.

“Thank you.” He smirks and leans in to press a simple kiss upon my mouth. My eyelids flutter at the connection, the sizzle, the flutter in my belly. Not done, Dark draws his tongue across the seam. I gasp, core clenching as he hums in deep, hungry satisfaction. “You’re fuckin’ perfect,” he mutters.

The compliment soaks into me like a sponge, into places it doesn’t belong, and for a moment, I believe it’s genuine. For a moment, it’s just us, our lips, and our dinner. The others drinking, feeding, and fucking their pets are background noise to the heat of his body seeping into mine and the wisp of his breath fanning over my lips as mine part to taste where his tongue touched. Shyness mixed with a thousand other unwelcomed feelings burn my cheeks as Dark turns me in the chair with little effort and drapes my legs over his lap to give him better access to my mouth.

“I need this.” He whispers a breath before sealing the soft warmth of his lips over mine. The kiss is sweet. It’s perfection. It’s Hell. But I’m far too drunk on expensive wine to care.

Dark’s touch lingers for what feels like forever. His breath fans my face, scented with beer. Turning into him, I rest my palm on his thick pec, and he groans as if it’s painful to be touched.

Neither of us move.

Neither of us press for more.

It’s us and the kiss.

Simple.

My heart thuds harder and harder as a murder of crows takes flight in my belly. Dark’s hand presses my shoulder, and I gasp at the simple touch, breaking the spell. Noises flood back in of moans and groans, happy chatter, and knives scraping plates.

Dark hums in deep contentment as he draws away, lids heavy, wearing the sexiest, lopsided, punch-drunk grin I’ve ever beheld.

And I’m done for.

That smile.

Those impossibly beautiful eyes.

My resolve crumbles to ash at my feet, and I let him touch, kiss, and feed me. We’ve played this game of cat and mouse for hours, and this mouse is exhausted.

He wins.

I give up.

After the pool, I collected my things from my stateroom to bring to his and changed into another dress, a white virginal-looking baby doll style with poofy sleeves. He swapped out his messy suit for a green Henley and dark denim jeans. We’ve been inseparable since. I sat at his feet during a poker game and curled in his lap over drinks with the men. Now we’re back in the dining room, no longer an employee but his plaything.

Romeo served filet mignon for dinner with a fancy, buttery, garlicky potato masterpiece and a side of asparagus. One plate for us both. Unlike the others, Dark is happy to share. Because, unlike the others, he also gives a genuine shit about me. Which is odd when you think about it, given our unusual relationship.

When he returned from his run with Lily and Abby in tow, nothing stopped him from moving on with his life, moving somewhere else, starting a new family, and never looking back. Men do that. Make new lives with new women. But he didn’t. He moved two houses down and tried to be a father to the boys and a friend to me. Even if he’s annoying sometimes, that doesn’t stop it from being true. All my stereotypical male household needs are met between him and Sunshine—roof repairs, car maintenance, lawn mowing, gutter cleaning, and even raking leaves in the fall. I don’t have to ask. It just gets done. Just as I don’t have to ask for my wine to be replenished as the vicious Maxim Drake snaps his fingers, and just like that, my cup is refilled by Romeo, who refuses to look at me out of anger or something else entirely. I guess I’ll never know.

When the lithe, blond sous chef I saw Romeo screwing pauses at our side of the table, Dark asks me, “Are you full, babe?”

I nod, melting into him, letting him hold my weight.

“We’re done.” Dark swishes his hand for the sous chef to collect our plate.

Across from us, the gray-haired man Dark was chatting with at the bar fucks his dark-haired pet over the table. Her bare tits bounce with each thrust, and I stiffen at the closeness of their debauchery. I’ve never been one to participate in public sex. Not that I care if anyone else does. It’s Darmond’s kink, and something tells me it’s one of the many reasons these men purchase women from him the way they do.

My ex grips my chin and forces me to look at him. “Eyes on me.”

I want to ask why, though it’s not like it matters. I’ve seen sex parties before over the past month, maybe not this close, but on the periphery of Mr. Cassiano’s weekend gatherings.

“Has anyone ever told you, you have a perfect body?” Dark asks, and I blush. I know it’s because it’s unexpected, but my eyes widen in surprise anyhow, and he chuckles.

“No?” he prompts, waggling his dark brows. “Well, whoever you’ve been with before was a dumb fool for ever letting you slip away.”

He’s not wrong. He was a dumb fool.

“I didn’t slip,” I remind him.

“No?”

I shake my head. “Nope. He cheated.”

“Idiot.” Dark huffs, smirking like a sex symbol.

“My thoughts exactly.”

“His loss.”

“I know.” On that, we agree.

“My gain.” He winks in a flirty, I-should-want-to-kill-him-but-don’t way. Ever the fool, I press my lips together to keep from smiling. Because, of course, Dark would say that. His gain. Ha. He’s the asshole who got us into this mess in the first place.

“I suppose so,” I deadpan, and he throws his head back and barks a deep, rumbly laugh. His entire body vibrates beneath mine, tugging the smallest grin to my lips. He's such an idiot—an unbelievably hot one—but still an idiot. He’ll pay for this. Oh, will he pay. Becoming his plaything will come at a price.

To prove as much, I grip the outline of his cock over the front of his pants. It’s far bolder than I should be given our history, but sometimes a girl has gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. My touch morphs Dark’s laughter into a long, throaty groan.

“Babe,” he grits through his teeth.

“Hmm?” I act innocent when we know I’m anything but.

His nostrils flare, and somehow, even that’s sexy. It must be the wine talking. “What the hell are you doin’?” Dark’s eyebrow hikes in question.

“I don’t know. What am I doin’?” I play coy as he thickens beneath my ministrations.

“Not here.”

“Why not?”

“You’re drunk.”

Pft. Like that’s ever stopped him before.

“Not that drunk,” I remark, though I am pretty drunk.

“Christ.” The curse is a prayer upon his lips.

“This is what you want, isn’t it?” I massage his cockhead through the denim. He wants compliance. He wants sex party sex. I’m merely doing what is expected of me.

Eyes squeezing shut as if he’s in agony, Dark’s head shakes. “No.”

“No?” I scrape my nail around his crown. Teasing. Taunting. Driving him mad.

“I said, fuckin’ no,” Dark snarls, ripping my hand off his thickness. Shoving his chair back from the table with me still seated on him, he abruptly turns me around, forcing me to straddle him. My outer thighs cut into the chair arm, and my dress draws up as Dark’s hands cup on either side of my face, and his eyes bore into mine.

“Wh—” I begin but am abruptly cut off.

“Look at me.”

“I am.”

“Keep your eyes on me,” he stresses, holding my head firmly so I can’t move it even if I want to without causing a scene.

I understand why when the screaming starts.

“No!” a female wails, and my eyes round in horror as a different woman screams—Dee. I’d know that voice anywhere.

Pressing my lips together, I chew the inside of my cheek as the familiar sound of fists pounding flesh erupts.

“Babe.” Dark jostles me to ensure I’m paying attention to him when all I can do is zero in on the sounds. I can’t help it.

Tears well in my eyes.

“Don’t fuckin’ look.”

I nod just enough for him to understand that I promise not to as the first woman’s shrill scream makes my ears ring.

“No. No. No! Don’t! Please!” Dee begs.

There’s a harsh slap, fists, and then the snapping of something. An eerie chill tingles my spine as I keep my eyes on Dark, only Dark. His thumbs draw circles across my cheeks, and that’s when I realize I’m openly crying, and he’s wiping away the evidence.

“That’ll teach you, bitch,” Elden roars, and I stiffen at the cold, cruelness in his voice. He’s a monster.

“Eyes, babe. I’ve got you,” Dark reminds me, showing little emotion—as if he’s cold as ice, as cold as Elden. According to Romeo, he is. Is this what Dark does, too, when I’m not around? Do I want to know? Do I believe he could do such a thing? No. But… his face is unreadable.

Fuck, women are being hurt, and I can’t help them.

He can’t help them.

We’re sitting ducks as someone chokes in pain before a wheeze pours from their lips.

“I—”

“Shhh.” Dark cuts me off with a firm shake of his head. “No. Talking.”

Okay.

I won’t.

Dark’s brow wrinkles in the middle as he watches both me and something over my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” a different woman says to who I assume is Elden.

“When I said stick my dick in your ass, I fuckin’ meant it, bitch!” the monster roars.

The woman wheezes again.

Someone snaps their fingers.

“Give him your gun,” Darmond announces.

My back goes ramrod straight, and I grip the bottom part of Dark’s shirt, twisting it in my fist.

What’s the gun for?

What’s the gun for?! My eyes beg Dark to tell me, to make it stop, to make them stop. They can’t… can they? They wouldn’t… right?

“Shhh. You’re mine. I’ve got you, babe. You’re mine,” my ex whispers harshly.

Another rush of tears trickles down my cheeks, and he brushes them away with the pad of his thumbs.

“Please. No. I said I was sorry!” Dee screeches. “Please!”

“I’d rather fuck you when you’re dead,” Elden states with no inflection in his tone, just like a serial killer, and I jump as the gun unloads once, twice.

Fuck.

Dee’s dead.

He… he killed her.

“You are safe,” Dark reminds. “You. Are. Safe.” He jostles my shoulders to get his point across.

But I’m not safe. Not really. That man is a fucking monster. If I took this job on my own without Dark, that could have been me.

I overhear Elden speak to Darmond and his men.

“Clean up the mess,” the boss orders.

“Bring the body to my room,” Elden requests.

“You’re sure?” Darmond asks.

Don’t say yes. Don’t say yes.

“Yes. I paid fifteen million for this bitch. The least she can do is take my cum.”

My lips waver as even Dark’s eyes round in disbelief.

“Very well.” Darmond snaps his fingers, and I hear his goons move into action.

“Cover her head,” Elden orders.

“Yes, sir,” one of Darmond’s men responds.

Chin dropping to my chest, I blow out an emotional breath as the scent of pennies suffuses the air. The men clean up Elden's mess before carting the corpse to Elden’s room.

“Sorry about that, everyone.” Darmond laughs awkwardly. “It doesn’t usually come to that.” He clears his throat. “Bring in the dessert, Chef.”

As if Dee wasn’t killed and another woman hurt, dinner and dessert resume. The sous chefs fill drinks and deliver sweets by the plateful.

Dark hooks a finger under my chin to force me to look at him. “Babe.”

“Yes?” I croak, voice thick with emotion.

He wipes away what’s left of my tears. “I want to shower and fuck you,” he announces loud enough the people at the table can hear. Then, in a lower tone, he leans in and whispers, “We need some time alone.”

Yes.

Time alone.

Away from these men.

Time to plan.

Time to get my head on straight.

Time to sober up.

Offering a shallow nod, I agree with this plan, and Dark snaps his fingers like Darmond.

A sous chef rushes to our side. “Sir?” the younger male asks, standing at attention.

Rubbing his fingers up and down my sides to calm me, Dark looks up at the chef. “We’d like a tray of all the desserts you’ve prepared tonight. Deliver it to my room.”

“Every dessert, sir?”

Dark purses his lips for half a beat as if he’s irritated by the male questioning him. “Yes. Is that a problem?” he growls.

“No. No,” the young chef recovers quickly. “It’s just we’ve prepared ten different kinds.”

“Then deliver the ten,” Dark states, as if that shouldn’t be an issue.

“Yes. Sir. No problem.” The sous chef scurries away, and Dark turns his attention back to me. Gripping my sides, he helps me to my feet, then smooths out the sides of my dress when I stand. He offers me the crook of his elbow and flicks his gaze there. “Ready?”

I slide my arm through his. “Yes, sir.”

“You’re leaving so soon?” Darmond asks as he approaches us with his new prize in tow.

“Yes. That was…” Dark hums in his throat, trying to find the right word.

“Unexpected?” Darmond supplies.

My ex nods as if that word fits just right when that isn’t the word I’d use. “Yes, unexpected. I don’t want that to ruin the mood, so we’ll have dessert in my room.”

“Dessert, eh?” Darmond smiles as if dessert is code for something else entirely.

“Yes,” Dark confirms and pats my arm tucked through his. “A dessert to pair with my other dessert.”

“I like the way you think, Max.” Darmond pulls his pet in front of him, her back to his front, and cups her large breasts.

Not sparing the woman a single glance, Dark barks a laugh. “Let’s just hope she can suck cock just as good when it’s covered in cake.”

“Yes. Let’s hope,” Darmond replies with a chuckle and bids us a goodnight.

Knowing where to go, Dark leads the way back to our stateroom. Once inside, he locks our door and presses a finger to his lips, indicating I shouldn’t speak.

Not sure where he’s going with this, I nod in understanding as he groans and stretches both arms over his head. “Man, that was an eventful day. We should shower before I get your lips around my dick.” Raising both brows, Dark gestures for me to reply.

Oh. Right.

“Sounds great, sir.” I pull the response out of my ass, wondering why we’re still acting our parts in the confines of the bedroom.

“Great. Let’s get you washed up.” Not missing a beat, Dark tugs his shirt over his head, hot-man style, by tugging the back over his head, and my mouth almost comes unhinged at the sight of all those muscles and tattoos on full display as he unbuttons his jeans and tugs them, along with his boxer briefs, down to his feet in one swoop. Then he unlaces and pulls his boots off. I watch it all. Because this man has gotten far hotter with age. The six-pack he had when we got married is still very much there. Only the groves are somehow deeper, yet he has a thicker layer of just enough cushion over them. I don’t know how that works, but damn, it looks like any woman’s wettest of wet dreams, and now I have to shower with this body.

Not paying a lick of attention to my less-than-objective perusal, Dark folds his clothes neatly into a pile and sets his boots in the corner. Then he looks up to see me still dressed, and that’s when I get the biggest eyeful of… everything. Sweet Mother Earth, what is she feeding this man? Did he sell his soul to the Devil to look like that?

Redness blots Dark’s cheeks when he notices me noticing him. His cock twitches. Not that it has to do much. He’s always been a shower. You know those men who wear sweats, and you can see their entire thing outlined? That’s him. Only it’s about twice in length and extra girthy once he’s hard. I don’t want to say this because it’s totally wrong, but he and his father are hung the same. Not that I’d tell either of them that. Unless they brought it up themselves. Like father, like son—in most departments. Eek.

“Babe,” Dark croaks, covering his growing member with both hands as he sways uncomfortably.

Only then do I blink out of my hot-man trance and peek up at his face.

“If you keep lookin’ at me like that, you’re gonna end up with my dick inside you in the next thirty seconds. Get naked and meet me in the shower.” Grumbling to himself, my ex walks with a purpose into the bathroom. His bare feet slap the tiled floor as he turns on the shower. I do as I’m told—slip out of my dress, bra, and panties, as my insides go haywire, and my pussy… purrs.

This is a bad idea.

It's a very, very, very bad idea.

Gathering my clothes, I set them and my boob rocks on the small couch to deal with later and turn to face the open bathroom door. Clenching both hands down at my sides, my feet fuse to the floor. If I go in there, I’m going to be naked, fully naked, with my ex. He hasn’t seen me nude since… you know when. I’m older now. My body isn’t what it once was. I’m not like the others. Sure, with my clothes on, they cover up the imperfections, and normally I wouldn’t even give a shit, but this is… I don’t even have words for what this is. It’s heavy. There. That’s what it is. Heavy.

“Babe. Get your ass in here,” Dark calls from under the shower spray.

I stall because maybe he’ll get out once he starts to prune, and then I won’t have to stand in a small shower stall, sharing water with my ex-husband, his intoxicating male scent, those muscles, that ass, and just… all of it, trapped in there behind the glass door.

No amount of alcohol or talking myself up will make this any less embarrassing and less… heavy.

“Now. Babe. The water is hot.”

If that water is hot, that means Dark wants to shower with me, and he’s willing to bathe in the waters of hell to do it. Dark likes warm water, the tepid kind—not water that leaves your skin ready to peel off. That’s a woman thing.

His loud curses jolt me into action.

I don’t want to fight, and I did promise to follow his lead.

In the bathroom, I approach the stall like a turtle. Shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle . I stare at my feet, not at the clear glass.

“Shut the door, would ya? Don’t want to let all the steam out,” he calls.

Following his orders, I do just that. Once we’re locked in together, he pushes open the door, and I look up. Under the spray of water and the overhead canned light, there’s the man I fell madly in love with and that smile reaches into me and fists my heart as his cock bobs hard and inviting in front of him.

When I look closer, because there’s a lot of yummy man to ogle, there’s a tattoo by his… member.

A pair of red lips.

Those weren’t there the last time we had intimate relations, which can only mean…

Oh.

Fuck.

I take a step back as reality crashes down on my shoulders.

He’s Abby’s.

He’s cheating on his woman with me.

I’ve now become the other woman.

I’m the home-wrecker.

My back hits the door as I retreat, and Dark’s out of the shower in a flash. “Babe.” His arms wrap around me, his face in the crook of my neck as I begin to sob. It’s unexpected and ugly.

I’m the other woman.

I’m hurting Abby.

What have I done?

What. Have. I. Done?

“In the shower. Now.” Dark drags me against my will into the steam and under the rush of hot water.

“I’m the other woman,” I whisper in horror, hands trembling at my sides.

“Fuck. Babe. No. No. Fuck. No.” Securing my face in his hands, Dark forces me to look at him. No matter how hard I fight him and try to wrench away, I have nowhere to go. My back is pressed against the far side of the shower, too far from the door, and his impossibly big body crowds me. “You can talk in here. The room is bugged. Just be quiet. Only whisper. The water will drown out the noise.”

“I…” A pained hiccup tears from my throat.

“Aw. Sweetheart. You’ve done so fuckin’ good today. I’m so fuckin’ proud of you.”

“You…” I glance down at Abby’s lips and back to his face.

“Ah. Shit.” Dark rubs the tattoo with two fingers and squeezes his eyes shut. “It’s not what you think. I can explain.”

“You…” Trying to regain my composure, my bottom lip wobbles. “Don’t have to explain. She’s your… You know.”

“Wait. What?” He pauses a beat before those gray eyes finally round in realization. “No. Noooo. Shit. These aren’t Abby’s lips. They’re yours.” He pats the tattoo right there, next to his very erect dick.

“They’re what?” I whisper-screech.

“Yours.”

I frown so hard my face hurts. “No, they’re not.” That’s not possible.

“Yes. They are.” The asshole chuckles as if I’m ridiculous, and he thinks it’s cute. Any second now, he’ll pinch my cheek, and I’ll bite his finger off like a rabid dog. “Do you remember you used to put cards in my bag before I left for a run? You kissed the cards. I had Pix make a copy and tattoo it on me. It’s the same size and everything.”

“You tattooed my lips by your...” I gesture to his anatomy. This isn’t happening. This isn’t real. Those cannot be my lips. He’s a complete fucking idiot if they are. Though, I do remember putting cards in his bag before a run. It was our little thing. I did it for Sunshine, too. A bag of healthy snacks, a crystal, and a card or note. Nothing sappy. Just quick and sweet to remind him who he was missing when he was gone because I missed him like crazy when he left.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?” He looks at me as if this is perfectly acceptable and I’m the crazy, irrational one.

“We aren’t together,” I remind him for the billionth time.

“You’re my wife.” Dark sighs as if he’s tired of having to repeat himself. “You will always be my wife.”

That’s not how it works. “Dark,” I start, but he slashes his hand through the air.

“Enough. Not now. Not here. You can kick my ass tomorrow. Okay? I wanted to bring you in here so we can talk. So, I can see how you’re doing, given how today went.”

So that’s what we’re talking about. Fine.

“You kissed me and put your fingers in places you don’t belong. How do you think I feel?” Used. Oddly satisfied. Violated… and a smidge icky. That about sums it up.

Leaning into my space, as if he could get any closer, he slaps a hand against the shower wall above my head. “You know I had to. Right?”

“I do. But you didn’t warn me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.”

“Are you really?”

“Honestly?”

I roll my eyes. Since when do I not want honesty? “Yes. Obviously.”

“Well. Then. No. I’m not sorry that I got to make my wife come again after almost a fuckin’ decade. No. I’m not sorry I got to kiss you. Just as I’m not gonna be sorry when you suck chocolate cake off my dick or when I fuck you tonight.”

That’s definitely not happening.

“We aren’t having sex, Dark.” I press my palm to the center of his wet chest and stand my ground.

“We have to, or Darmond will think something’s up. He’s gonna listen in. He might even jack off to your moans. The guy might like blondes, but don’t think for a second he doesn’t have a sweet spot for you. I’ve known the man for years. He isn’t nice to his female employees.”

“And you sent me here anyway, knowing that?” I hiss and suppress the urge to knee him in the balls. Because who does that?

“I had a hunch.”

“No, you didn’t,” I argue.

“Yeah. I did. Do you think I’d take you away from Lily for a month and risk your safety on a whim?”

When he puts it that way…

“Well. No,” I relent, even though I don’t want to. Dark won’t put me in danger on a whim. Even if he hated me, I’m the mother of his sons, and that means something to him.

He cocks his head to the side in that cute, dog-like curiosity. “Do you think anyone else could have worked this job as well as you?”

“I guess not.” I shrug. Someone could probably do a better job, but I don’t know that person, so maybe not.

Staring at my breasts as the water washes down the front of me, Dark pushes my wet hair over my shoulders, and I shiver despite the moist heat. “You can be pissed at me tomorrow after you finish the job. Tonight, I need you to be Hannah. Suck my dick. Let me fuck you. Yeah?” As if he can’t help himself, he reaches out a tentative finger to touch my nipple. I slap his pervy hand away, and his stupid erect cock twitches as if he likes the attention.

I cross both arms over my breasts so he stops staring. “I don’t want to fuck you.”

Truth.

I don’t want to.

It complicates things.

This is already complicated enough.

“Sweetheart.” Once again, the jerk looks at me like I’m cute, and it does nothing but make my hackles rise.

“What?” I glare, knowing damn well he’s gonna say something stupid.

Dark brackets his hands on the wall on either side of my head and looks down at me from his imposing height. “Do I need to say it? It’s gonna make me sound like an asshole.”

Refusing to be intimidated by anyone, especially him, I tip my head back and meet his cocky gaze with a fire stoking my own. “You’re already an asshole. So, you might as well say whatever you wanna say.”

“Who knows your body better than I do?” His brows waggle suggestively.

Oh. Fuck him. That’s a low blow. I know it. He knows it. That’s not fair.

“Shut up,” I growl.

A single brow arches, and the tiniest smirk hooks at the corner of Dark’s lip. “Admit it,” he goads like the dick he is.

A high-pitched, irritated noise wrenches out of my throat. “Fine.” I shove him in the chest, but the bastard doesn’t move an inch. “That might be half-true,” I lie. It’s more than half-true. It’s true. You don’t spend two decades with a man and him not know your body inside and out.

Dark draws a single finger down my cheek and neck. Stopping at my collarbone, he traces across the delicate line and down the front of my chest to the valley between my breasts. “Then let me do what I do best. It doesn’t have to mean anything to you. It’s just sex. It’s just a cock.” Said member flexes and brushes my stomach.

“You mean touch the world’s biggest asshole’s cock?” I snort at my terrible jibe, then sober because this is serious. “You know I’m gonna need therapy after this, right? I was celibate for two years after what you did. I’ve only just started having regular sex in the last year or so. This is gonna?—”

“Be amazing,” he finishes with a cavalier smile that shouldn’t be as panty-melting as it is.

“No.”

“Yes.” To further prove a point, Dark presses his heavy, muscled body to mine and traps his hardened length against my belly. His eyes bore into me. “I love you. Let your husband take care of his wife.”

“I hate you,” I mutter.

My ex shakes his head as if he doesn’t believe me. “Consent, Kali. Give it to me. Tell me. Dark, I want you to fuck me. Dark, I want your cock in my mouth.”

“No.” I turn my head away, unable to look at him. I don’t want to. I don’t want to say anything. I want him to go away.

He drags his nose up my cheek and pauses at my ear, where he whispers, “Say. It.”

“No.” I’d rather swallow the semen of a thousand whale dicks than say it.

Nipping my lobe, Dark draws back, grips my throat, and forces me to look at him. “Tell me, dammit.” He applies pressure. Just a little. A squeeze. An assertion of dominance.

Swallowing under his hold, I blink up at him in defiance. No. I won’t tell him. I won’t agree to this. Even if my pussy clenches in need. Even if I want him in my mouth again. I hate him for making me even want it. I hate him for everything. Why do I still find him attractive? Even that’s annoying and pisses me off.

Not backing down, my ex puts his face in mine. “I will fuck you tonight. You will come on my cock. Do you hear me, you stubborn, fuckin’ woman? Do you fuckin’ hear me?”

“Try it,” I dare. Try. It.

It’s one thing to get away with fingering me in public, where I can’t break character. It’s quite another when we’re in the bedroom together. Where I have the upper hand. Angry with this entire day, I bite his bottom lip. Snapping it between my teeth, I draw blood, and Dark moans so loud the sound reverberates through the bathroom as he grinds his cock against my wet stomach.

The metallic tang lingers on my tongue as I reach up and grip his throat, too. I don’t know who moves first, me or him, but the tension snaps like a rubber band, and suddenly we’re kissing, tongues dueling for supremacy, as we touch everywhere. His hands grip my ass and lift me until I wrap my legs around his waist. His cock nestles against my pussy lips as we fumble out of the shower and drip water across the floor, our mouths fused in explosive hunger.

In the bedroom, Dark drops my back onto the bed with a bounce, and he’s there with me. Reaching between us, he pulls back just enough to sheath himself in my heat, and I’m a goner. Neck elongating, my eyes slam shut, and I sob into our kiss as he drives home. It’s glorious. It’s hell. It’s the best worst decision of my life, but right now, I don’t care. I wrap my legs around him, dig my heels into his muscular ass, shut off the logical parts of my brain, and let him have his way with me, consequences and guilt be damned.

“Fuck,” Dark growls into our kiss. “Fuck.” He wrenches his lips away and stares down at me. A tear leaks out of the corner of his eye. “Fuck.” He swallows thickly and licks his bottom lip, where I drew blood.

Not wanting him to ruin the moment by talking or acknowledging what we’re doing, I brush his tear away as if it doesn’t exist and smile softly. “Come here.” I lock my fingers around the nape of his tattooed neck and draw him closer. Dark doesn’t fight me when his chest connects with mine, and his heart pounds through my breasts.

I nudge his nose with my own. “Kiss me, you fool.”

Expelling a deep, needy groan, my ex does just that. Uniting his lips with mine, I’m transported to our bed, where we made love. Where he didn’t hurt me. His big palm cups my ass as he tilts my hips up to hit that sweet spot and grinds his pelvis against my clit. Moaning into his mouth, we both struggle to draw breath as my ex fucks me into the mattress with glorious thrust after thrust. The bed squeaks. Skin slaps skin, and he fills me like nobody else can.

And I love it.

Every moment is just what I need.

What I long for.

When he draws back to suck another mark onto my neck, I hold him there, wanting him to brand me forever, to fuck me forever, to make me come.

“Max,” I gasp when he cups my breast and draws a nipple into his mouth. As I glance down at him, he smiles like the wicked man he is and sucks.

My toes curl at the sight, at the shimmer in his gray eyes, at my… husband—the man I used to love with my whole heart. In this moment, he’s here with me, drawing pleasure from me because he can, because it’s his life's purpose.

“I’m gonna eat your pussy all night, babe. But you gotta come for me first.” Dark hooks my legs over his shoulders and drives to the hilt, hitting that spot.

Gripping the bed cover in my fists, my back arches as air stutters out of my chest.

“That’s it,” he encourages. “Come on my cock.”

“I… I…”

“Now,” he demands, slamming his hips home. Bending to his will, I shatter into millions of pieces as I scream through my climax. But he doesn’t stop. Of course, he doesn’t. Dark yanks himself out of my core, and then he’s there, licking my pussy and sucking my clit, moaning like it’s the best meal he’s had in years.

Two fingers curve inside me as he kisses my clit like they’re long-lost lovers, and they are because she responds just like he expects, but for me, it’s too much, too fast, too sensitive.

“No. Too much,” I whimper, heels digging into the bed as I try to scoot away.

Chuckling like a madman, Dark removes his digits to hold me in place and attack my clit.

“No. No.” I rip at the covers, trying to get away as everything coils too tight, too much, too, too fucking much. “Please. Stop,” I screech and hold my breath as Dark sucks and sucks and sucks on her. “No!” I gasp.

And the bastard. The horrible, horrible man doesn’t relent. Not when I writhe on the bed. Not when I pluck violently at my nipples. He sucks and toys with her. He kisses her, and she loves it.

“Please!” I claw at his hands to let go. Desperate for relief.

And it comes.

Oh. It fucking comes.

When Dark lashes my clit and kisses her deeply, he hums in his throat as if he knows this is it. This is the end of me.

And he would be right.

Eyes rolling to the back of my skull, I convulse as a train wreck of the purest pleasure rips through every inch of my soul. Fluid squirts from my center, and Dark moans, lapping it up as I try to stay conscious through my hoarse scream.

The world goes black.

“Babe.” Dark pats my cheek.

Shivering, I blink up at him, dazed and unfocused.

The sweetest, cockiest grin quirks at the corner of his swollen lips. “You passed out.”

“I did not.”

Looking down the length of his muscular form, I zero in on his cock. It’s flagged a bit, not fully, but he’s not as hard as he once was, and there’s no residue of cum, only the sheen of precum on the head of his member.

He didn’t even finish, which means…

“I passed out,” I amend.

“Yes.” He chuckles. “You came really fuckin’ hard.”

Blinking a dozen times, I wet my lips and heave a wrung-out sigh. “Gee. I wonder why.”

“It was stunning. You’re stunning.” Sitting on the bed beside me, Dark lightly traces his fingers up and down my form. Goosebumps pebble in his wake. When he reaches the apex of my thighs, I squeeze them together to keep him from going any further.

A noise of disapproval percolates in his throat, and he nudges them apart. “Now. Now,” he teases, drawing a single digit through my soaked slit to my core, where he swirls around my entrance. “I’m gonna fill you with my cum tonight. But… right now, I’ll settle for a kiss and another shower.” Leaning over, Dark caresses my lips with his own before dropping the sweetest peck there, and I melt like a fool, because this is… not what I expected. He delivers a second swipe before he rights himself and offers me his hand, palm up, patient and waiting. “Let’s go. Do you think you can stand?”

With Dark’s help, I sit up and scoot to the edge of the mattress, where he pulls me to my feet, and my legs wobble like a newborn colt. Chuckling to himself, my ex curls an arm around my shoulder as we slowly make our way to the shower, which is still running. Whoopsie.

No words are exchanged this time as we bathe with the complimentary shower supplies. Dark washes himself with a washcloth as I scrub my face and hair. When I move to switch places so he can bathe in hot water, Dark steals my washcloth out of my hand and pumps the neutral-scented body wash on the rag. “Let me wash you.” He suds up the cloth and doesn’t wait for me to reply when he drags the soapy fabric across my throat and down through the valley of breasts to the intricate tattoo low on my belly, where our birds stand on the skull. He washes my raven with the utmost fascination, then his.

“I miss you,” he whispers to himself. “I miss you every day.”

My heart clenches at the admission, but I don’t respond because there’s nothing to say. We have tonight. We don’t deserve it, and it’s wrong, but we have it. It’s here. Things will be different tomorrow, and I’m okay with that. I can move on, knowing we had a moment. And for that special moment, things are good.

Dark cleanses me with care. When he reaches my pussy, he doesn’t cross any lines for once and gives her the attention she needs, despite his hard-on.

When we’re through, we dry together in the small bathroom, sharing shy looks and small smiles before we return to the bedroom, clean and refreshed. When I sprawl out on the bed, we don’t speak as Dark retrieves the chocolate cake from a fancy cart that was somehow delivered when we were otherwise occupied. Naked, I prop myself up on my elbows and watch as he coats his erection in the sugary goodness. With one hand to keep his cock from swinging and making a mess, he uses the other to carry the chocolate cake to the bedside table, where he sets it before he kneels on the bed by my head.

Dark points his frosting-and-cake-coated dick at me and urges me over with the crook of his finger. My mouth waters, and I lick my lips as I scoot closer, my stomach giddy with anticipation. Carefully, as I lay back and tilt my head to the side, he positions himself and presses the tip of his cock to my mouth.

Eyes briefly sliding closed in nervous pleasure, I part my lips and welcome him inside. The tang of precum and chocolate coats my tongue as he slowly fucks into my mouth with shallow thrusts. Dark’s thighs quiver as I watch his hooded eyes watch where his cock disappears. His lips part in such wonder, and raspy gasps erupt as the heat of my mouth draws him deeper.

Dark brushes my cheek with such reverence my nose burns with the urge to cry. “Beautiful.” He bites his wrecked bottom lip, and I swirl my tongue around his thick glans, gathering all the precum from the tip.

“That’s it,” he groans, sliding his shaft deeper. “Fuck.”

Wanting this to be the best blow job he’s had in years, I suck him, lick him, and let him fuck my mouth however he pleases, and it turns me on. My pussy aches, and my clit sparks to life as he uses me, my mouth, my body. I grow hotter and hotter until I can’t take it anymore and slip a hand between my legs for relief as my heels dig into the mattress.

Dark bats my touch away. “No. That’s for me.”

I growl in frustration around his erection.

Tapping my cheek, he gestures to his face. “Up here.”

Obeying, I make eye contact.

Pulling his cock from my mouth, Dark traces the bow of my lips with the tip. “I will take care of you, babe. Now suck my dick.” He slides in until he breaches the back of my throat, and my eyes widen at the loss of air. Cupping my head, he holds me in place. “It looks pretty in your mouth.” Dark brushes two fingers across the apple of my cheek. “You’re gorgeous.”

For as long as he desires, Dark fucks my mouth. In and out, slow and steady. His body shudders, his nostrils flare, and he moans but never comes. Over and over, he recoats his shaft in chocolate cake and feeds it to me. I savor it. The flavor, the smooth glide, the connection. I don’t think, I feel, and when I rub my legs together, needing some friction, needing more, Dark pulls out, goes to the bathroom, washes up, and returns to fuck me.

All night, we kiss, we connect, and we come.

I lose count of how many times he gets me off.

And when he fills me with cum, I want more.

Need more.

Crave it.

Stomach flat on the bed, his body hovering over mine, Dark’s body stiffens as he pours another load into me, and I sigh at the pulse of his cock emptying, at his hot breath on my neck, and his scent, our scent, hanging in the air, making me high, or maybe that’s the orgasms talking.

His body still inside mine, Dark cuddles me and peppers kisses across my shoulders as he tries to breathe. “Damn,” he huffs, pushing my hair away from my neck to kiss me there. “I’m drained.”

“Me, too.” I yawn and squeeze my pussy around his shaft. It pops out, and we both groan at the loss.

Taking that as a cue to get up, Dark washes in the bathroom and returns with a warm washcloth moments later. “Roll over,” he orders.

Doing as I’m told, I transfer onto my back, and he spreads my legs. Kneeling on the mattress, he pays special care to my lady bits, cleaning and washing them as if they’re the most precious thing he’s ever seen. When I squeeze down, another rush of cum dribbles out of my center, and he flattens his stomach to the bed and surprises the hell out of me when he licks me clean.

“What are you doing?” I gasp, trying to shove his head away, which gets me nowhere.

“Tasting us.” To fortify his statement, Dark runs his tongue through my folds and pays special attention to my entrance, where he spears my well-used hole and presses his palm to my lower belly. I clench down again, and he hums as if I just deposited another morsel for him to savor.

With a final lick, he sits up between my legs and leans over me.

Pressing his lips to mine, he whispers, “Open.”

My mouth parts, and his tongue, coated in us, slides over mine. It tastes incredible—salty and sweet. Fresh.

“We taste amazing. Don’t we?” He flicks his tongue across my lips.

Savoring us, I nod in lazy agreement because we do.

Heaving a long, sad sigh, my ex drops a final kiss on my lips and retreats. He pushes my legs back together and lounges beside me on the bed. I turn to face him, and he brushes the back of his fingers across my bare breasts. “Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day, babe.” He absentmindedly swirls a finger around my nipple, and I let him. “We gotta rest. You good if I spoon you naked?”

Not wanting to ruin our night together by feeling feelings or overthinking… my happy, mushy, post-orgasm brain doesn’t revolt at sleeping next to Dark, us spooning, or even what we did tonight. Going with it, I turn over and press my ass against his soft cock. Dark throws the thick, white duvet over us and curls around me, his knees pressing into the back of my mine as he sucks and bites another mark into my shoulder before he kisses the sting away.

“Goodnight, beautiful,” Dark utters as he presses his palm into the center of my stomach.

I rest my hand over his and give it a gentle squeeze. “Goodnight, Max.”