Page 5 of Master

“Seriously,” Conor interjects. “You literally just married one of the hottest fucking women I’ve ever seen. Why the fuck are you sitting here with us assholes?”

“I happen to like the lot of you,” Finn replies. “And Cat begged me to give her a few hours to study in peace without me trying to distract her.”

“And you listened?” I over-exaggerate my surprise.

“I did.” Finn laughs. “It was a trade-off. In exchange for her few hours alone, she’s going to read to me when I get home.”

Conor turns on his barstool, and his face contorts in confusion as he exclaims, “The trade is that your gorgeous-as-sin wife is going to read you a bedtime story?”

“Yup. Catlin has to readLady Chatterley’s Loverfor her Lit course. So, she’s been reading it to me.” Finn downs the final sip of whiskey in the glass before him as he stands from his bar stool. His ever-cheeky smile spreads across his face, and heshares, “More correctly, Catlin tries to try to read it while she sits on my face.”

“I really fucking hate him sometimes,” I huff as Declan takes Finn’s now-empty seat.

“Just sometimes?” Declan chimes. “I could beat the piss out of him at least twice a day.”

Taking a sip of my whiskey, I turn to the woman at the end of the bar and am relieved to find that another man has garnered her attention. Hating the semi-accuracy of Finn’s jokes, I slide my half-finished glass before Declan and mutter, “I’m going to head out.”

“Please tell me you didn’t blow off that gorgeous blonde to go home and pine over a ghost,” Conor grouses.

“No,” I scoff. I don’t sit at home and mope over the woman I thought was going to be my wife.Until tonight, it’s been nearly a year since she has flittered through my thoughts.“I’ve just had enough of your ugly mug for the night, and I’m sure Dec is only a drink away from talking about how he needs to knock up his wife again.”

“Already tried this morning,” Declan smirks, “and again before I came to the club.”

“Jesus.” I sigh with a laugh. “I was fucking kidding. You know it can just be a fun kink and that you don’tactuallyhave to make Quinn birth an entire rugby team.”

Leaving Conor and Declan at the bar in the lounge, I walk from the club to head home. It’s nearly 2 a.m., my shoulder is fucking killing me, and by the time I reach my bedroom, all I can think about is stripping out of this suit and climbing into bed.To sleep.

After tossing my suit jacket to the settee at the foot of the bed, I remove my cufflinks as I make my way across the room. I pull the second one free as I reach the dresser. When I pull open the drawer to the valet to put them away, my eyes are immediately drawn to the blood-crusted diamond ring tucked in the corner.

I should get rid of it. Sell it. Pawn it. Or simply flush it down the fucking toilet. Any sentimental attachments I had to it are long gone, like the love I once felt for Ella. These days, it merely serves as a reminder:

Never again.

CHAPTER FIVE

SASHA

ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO

“Your drink, Sir.” I place Shawn’s freshly poured vodka and tonic beside him. It’s the fifth very heavy pour I’ve filled for him in a couple of hours, and he’s already quite drunk. Placing the other two glasses before Isaac, I inform him, “And your two doubles of tequila on the rocks.”

Isaac looks at the glasses and back at me as he wraps his fingers around one. His eyes not leaving mine, he slowly slides it across the table toward me. “That’s for you, beautiful. I loved watching you suck him off, but I would prefer your mouth didn’t taste like Shawn’s cum when I stick my tongue in it.”

Shawn has always enjoyed sharing me, but he has never shared me with any of his friends this frequently. In the beginning, Isaac visited from New York every couple of weeks, but lately, I see him at least twice a week. This trip was unexpected, and the first time that Isaac has stayed for more than a night. The two of them have passed me between them, at Isaac’s behest, for the past three days.

Something happened between them—something I’m not privy to—but Shawn is clearly not in charge anymore. The man who used to fuck me every morning and night has barely touched me for the past three days.And he only does when Isaac tells him to.

Not enjoying a sloppy fuck, Shawn has kept me sober the entire time he’s owned me. I glance at him as I lift the glass from the table, but he doesn’t so much as blink when I press it to my lips. Parting them, I swallow a mouthful of the clear liquid. It burns as it slides down my throat. “Finish it.” Isaac’s hand envelops mine, and he tips the glass, forcing me to finish the remaining shot in the glass.

“She seems to listen for me,” Isaac snarks as he roughly pulls me into his lap. His lips crash against mine, and he aggressively pushes his tongue into my mouth. He kisses me hard as his hands roam my body with the same forceful need. Retreating from our kiss, Isaac holds my lower lips firmly between his teeth. It’s teasingly light. Playful. And very not like Isaac. I whimper into his mouth as nips at my lower lip. My mewl quickly grows into a pained cry when he slowly bites through the thin flesh until my mouth fills with the bitter taste of copper. He sucks at the painful bite, soothing my discomfort and drawing my blood into his mouth with a groan of delight.

There’s the Isaac I know.

“It’s a shame you’re all the way up here in Connecticut.” Isaac pulls my camisole over my head and haphazardly tosses it in Shawn’s direction. He leaves a trail of painful bite marks on my shoulder and down to my bare breasts as he shares, “I’d prefer to have you locked up in my penthouse in Manhattan, where I could enjoy you like this whenever I wanted.”

He grabs his glass of tequila from the table and takes both shots into his mouth before pulling me back into him. Squeezing my jaw, the tequila burns over the fresh wound in my lip as he spits the contents of his mouth into mine. He holds my face up, forcing me to swallow back the mouthful of tequila. A wicked smile spreads across his face and he praises, “That’s a good girl.”

Fuck, I love that!Shawn never tells me what a good girl I am for him.Actually, he never praises me.He tells me how to be good for him and then lets me know how I’m not doing well enough.

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