“I’m not sorry,” I exclaim abruptly, observing as Janice lifts her hand to touch her blushing cheek, which bears the outline of my hand on her pale skin.She glares back at me with her mouth forming an O-like shape, her blue irises light up with rage.“How dare you come into my house and put your hands on me!” She shrieks with wide eyes, disgusted by my actions. “I will have you arrested for assault.”I snicker with my brows drawing together as I look at her in a whole new light.— She can’t be serious right now? — I think to myself.But I’ll call her bluff, it’s not like I have anything to lose anyway.“Go on then,” I spit out as I pull my phone out of my bag and hand it to her. “I think you should also inform the authorities about the officer and judge you paid off regarding my brother and Sawyer’s death while you have them on the phone. I’m also pretty adamant that they’ll be genuinely interested to hear all about your good old friend Eileen. Who sexually assaulted then pimped your
All day, my mind has been a shambles. I have repeatedly replayed the conversations I had with Janice and Bernadette in my head, wishing I had the confidence to tell them where to go. I should have slapped Janice harder in the face so that my handprint would remain on her cheek for many days and cause her to remember me every time she looked in the mirror. But that's not who I am. Furthermore, I want to cry for Tobias's brother, Sawyer, whose existence I was unaware of until last night. Two lives were lost that night, but it appears that only one was mourned, and the other was merely a dirty secret that had to be concealed. They are the stains that ruin the lives of innocent people trying to make something out of nothing. I grit my teeth, irritated at the way Janice makes me feel. My heart has never felt so heavy with grief, yet simultaneously liberated from the shackles of torment and lies. It should confuse me, but my heart desires Tobias, so it doesn't. It pains me to know t
TOBIAS: I walk out of the bakery as quickly as I can. That conversation didn’t go as I planned, and I somehow managed to fuck everything up, like I always do. Keri has been through hell and I can’t keep dragging her through it because of my demons. I didn’t want to believe in love. Never wanted it. I can’t see the practical value and, to be completely honest, I was doing just fine without it. Until I went back into my past and started to look for Keri. My mind told me I didn’t need her, but my heart was telling me the opposite. Her smile, her strength, her intelligence, and her compassion. I missed it all. Even her stubbornness and hard-headedness with that quick tongue of hers. She fills the part of my soul I always thought would remain empty. Keri heals the scars I bear and those I never knew existed. It’s not that I didn’t want to believe in love. I’ve just subconsciously been saving it all for her. But my love comes at a price. There is a secret she isn’t aware o
TOBIAS: What the hell is Keri doing showing up at my office at this time of the night? I think to myself, needing to stop Keri from leaving without giving her an explanation of the shit show she just walked in on. As Keri takes the elevator, I take the stairs, running down them two at a time. I have to stop her and convince her that what she walked in on was Bernadette trying her best to seduce me. I had given her strict orders to go home once she was done at the bakery, and yet, I can’t suppress the feeling enough that she must have gone home to change because she showed up in a trench coat with red stilettos and a small box in her hand. Did she bring treats from her bakery? I don’t deserve her kindness. Fuck… I don’t deserve her altogether! My hands curl into fists as I replay what just happened. I put myself in Keri’s shoes; she has every right to think the worst of me. It’s not like I have been honest with her from the get-go and if I had walked into the bakery unannounce
I exit the elevator car on the lobby floor, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole. Heading towards the southern exit of the building, I don’t miss a beat in my steps. As I look down at the small, pitiful box of goodies in my possession, I shake my head and toss them into the bin on the sidewalk.“Keri!”I hear Tobias urgently call my name with a hint of panic in his voice.He followed me.Do I want him to keep following me?Either way, it’s not enough to make me stop and land myself in an awkward conversation with my husband, whom I just walked in on with his hands on another female’s breasts.As I dash across the street to my parked car, I check both directions before yanking the door open, slamming it shut, and locking it.I stare silently and rigidly straight ahead into the still night, attempting to comprehend what the devil just transpired, as a traitorous tear rolls down my cheek, leaving a trail of suffering in its wake. I came here to try to seduce my husband,
I attempt to control my breathing because I do not want him to notice how much his touch affects me.“To love you hurts, Tobias…” I whisper, turning my head to the side. “Tell me that love is enough. Tell me that loving you will get easier and that we will always be here for one another, regardless of what happens between us?” I ask him, but it comes out more like a plea.I watch his shoulders sag as Tobias takes a large step back from me, his eyes blazing with unrecognisable emotions and his nostrils flare. “Love is meant to hurt, spitfire.” He calmly speaks. “If you don’t fight for your love, then what kind of love do you have?”I bow my head and peer down at my hands, which are slightly trembling. “No…” I whisper, shaking my head, unable to agree with him. “Love isn’t meant to hurt, Tobias. Love is meant to make you feel safe. When you willingly give your heart to someone, that someone is supposed to be your home.”Slowly, I lift my head and look at him.Tobias appears before me, i
Slowly, I withdraw my fingers from within myself, trembling as the aftermath of my orgasm continues to ride me, igniting a fire that caresses every inch of my body.Watching Tobias touch himself as he watched me touch myself was…Exotic.Sexy.Fire.It was intimate on another level I have never reached before, and I’m bummed it’s taken me this long to experience such a thrill.Unexpectedly, Tobias grabs my hand and sticks my arousal-coated fingers between his lips, and he sucks on them, taking them deeper into his mouth- right up to my knuckles. The electricity wavering between us bounces off the walls, and the smell of our passionate desire lingers in the air.I nibble on my lower lip, gaping at him through heated eyes, and I gasp as he releases my fingers with a loud pop.“You taste divine, spitfire.” He growls, wiping his chin, which glistens from my love juice.I shuffle back, sitting upright on the countertop, “It’s only fair that I get to taste you in return.” I arch my brow an
I roll over, sighing as every muscle in my body screams out with discomfort, reminding me of the multiple ways Tobias took me last night; all night long. Reaching out, I feel for him, but I’m met with nothing but air. I pry my sleepy eyes open to find his side of the bed empty and cold, and a pang of disappointment licks my flesh.“Tobias?” I groan in my early morning voice which is a little croaky.Lifting my head, I look around the room and scoff when I realise there is none of his belongings left behind in the room. Not even a loose thread that lost its way.It’s like last night didn’t happen.Like the out-of-body experience, I endured time after time, was all but a dream…I sit up, leaning my back against the headboard, and I pull the sheet up around my chest—clinging to it like it’s my lifeline. Extending my left hand out, I look at the rings that adorn my wedding finger with my head tilted to the side.‘Is this how things will be between us?’ I think to myself as a lump begins