Page 8 of The Devious Husband

Her breath hitches when I kneel in front of her and drape her leg over my shoulder. She’s never looked more beautiful.

“Answer me.” My lips hover over her inner thigh, and she squirms, her breath coming out in little pants.

“I can never follow your thought process,” she whispers. “What are you talking about, Xavier?”

I grab her hips and look up to face her, my heart racing. “Before you left me standing on that dance floor, you told me that I should treat my date better. Who were you referring to?”

She hesitates, all desire draining from her gorgeous eyes. “Valeria.” Her entire body tenses, and she looks away, remorse crossing her face, as though she’s only just realized how intimately entwined we are.

I sigh and slide my hands up, until I’m holding her waist. “Valeria?” I repeat, the puzzle pieces falling into place. “Interesting.”

She clenches her jaw, her eyes cutting to mine. “Interesting? Interesting? That’s all you have to say? You’re a pig, Xavier Kingston. What do you think Valeria would think if she saw us right now? You have no respect for her, and you don’t deserve her.”

“She’d be fucking horrified, that’s for sure,” I say as I look into Sierra’s eyes. She looks furious and incredulous, but beneath that lies something else, something she’s trying to hide, something that looks an awful lot like jealousy.

I’ll be damned. I didn’t think there was anything major that Sierra didn’t know about me, but I was wrong. So wrong.

Eight

Sierra

My heart is pounding wildly as I follow Xavier into his living room, my hands still bound behind my back. I have no idea what I’m even doing here. I should’ve told him to let me go, and he would have… so why haven’t I?

Why can’t I ever walk away when it comes to him, even when I know it’s the right thing to do? This is exactly why I’ve just avoided him altogether for so long. Nothing good ever comes from being around him.

“I have a feeling you know this place as well as I do, so make yourself comfortable,” he says, and I rattle my handcuffs, reminding him that I’m still cuffed like some kind of damn criminal. It just makes him laugh, and for a moment, I stare at him. I completely and utterly despise how handsome he looks when he smiles. How dare he have dimples? Dimples are meant for adorable and kind human beings, not this piece of shit.

I throw him my filthiest, deadliest glare, and plop down on his sofa dramatically. “Aw,” he says in response. “Is my little kitten angry? You’re so adorable when you glare at me like that.”

“God, I hate you,” I mutter.

“No, you don’t,” he retorts as he sits down on his marble coffee table, facing me. “You wouldn’t be here if you did.”

“Debatable. I’m quite prone to ill-thought out decisions, hence my current outfit and the handcuffs.”

He leans in and places his index finger under my chin, forcing me to face him. “Perhaps so, but only ever when it pertains to me.”

I look into his dark eyes, wishing I could deny his words. Xavier smirks as his finger glides down my neck, to the strap on my shoulder. “Now, let’s have a chat, shall we?”

“Do you often have to handcuff women just to get them to speak to you?”

He bites back a smile as his index finger glides down my arm, his touch featherlight. He has no idea how fast my heart is beating, how hot his finger feels against my skin. “Only you, Kitten. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?” I raise a brow in confusion, and he sighs, our eyes locking. “I’m not dating anyone, Sierra. The fact that you thought that, for even a single second, is fucking insane.”

Pure indignation crashes through me. “I know.” I grit my teeth and tear my eyes off his, reality suddenly sinking in. “You’ve always been crafty with words, but you’ve outdone yourself this time. I know you’re not dating anyone, Xavier.”

He runs a hand through his thick hair and stares at me in confusion. “What am I missing here, Sierra?”

“Mrs. Kingston,” I snap, my heart clenching painfully. “That’s what it said on your alarm system when I broke into your garage. I know you’re married, Xavier.”

He stares at me wide-eyed, like he didn’t think I’d ever find out, and all of a sudden, shame washes over me. What am I doing? The last time he bailed me out, I ended up right here, on his sofa, his lips on mine… How could I have come here again, going along with his stupid games when deep down, I know it’s inappropriate? I told him he isn’t treating Valeria right, but I’m in the wrong too.

“Undo the handcuffs,” I tell him as I rise to my feet, my stomach turning. “I… I just can’t do this anymore. We should go back to our ceasefire, to avoiding each other.”

He stands up and moves behind me, his hands brushing over mine as he does as I asked, and all the while, my heart aches painfully. I pull my hands to my chest the moment the cuffs come undone and walk away from Xavier, but I’ve only taken one single step before he wraps his arms around me from behind, his forearm pressed against my chest and his free hand splaying over my stomach.

“I’m not married,” he says as he pulls me flush against him, his voice low, dangerous. “I’m not seeing anyone, not dating anyone.” His lips brush over my ear, and I take a steadying breath. “Are there any other verbs you’d like me to add in there? I’m not romantically involved with anyone, Sierra.”

I turn in his embrace, our eyes locking. “Tell me again.”

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