Page 43 of Forbidden Temptations

She wasn’t sure how long she floated there, but when she finally opened her eyes, never having actually realised she’d shut them, Richard was standing over her.

Whenhearrivedhome,the flat was dark and quiet.

It was only a short walk from the Docks, but he’d taken a detour to the 24-hour gym in the Gloucester Quay’s, for a quick shower. Free membership was one perk of working for Holmes & Raine, and Scarlet had been right. He certainly didn’t want to go home reeking of sex.

Freshly washed but still none the wiser as to what he was about to say or do, he’d practically dragged his feet all the way home. By the time he arrived at the tower block, the sun had long since gone down. Alice’s car was in its usual parking spot, but a quick glance at the dark living room confirmed there was no sign of her inside. Nor Alexander.

He checked his phone to see if she’d tried to message him, but the screen stayed blank. The battery had died.

“Shit,” he cursed quietly, the discovery winding his guts into a tighter string of knots. He’d been so out of it recently; he couldn’t even remember when he’d last charged the phone. God only knew when the thing had died on him.

Had something happened to her? What if she or little Alex had had to be rushed to hospital? What if...

What if something hadn’t happened...

What if she’d got worried because he was so late and tried to call him? What if, when he hadn’t answered, she’d decided to check on him?

Just the prospect sent a cold shiver down his spine.

Had she seen them in the window? He’d been half expecting to get his collar felt the moment he’d left the building. Anyone could have seen and reported them to the police. Or perhaps he just missed her when he left the building and she’d run into Scarlet.

He had to know. He needed to speak to her. Maybe there was still time to –what the fuck!

He flipped on the living room light, about to plug the phone into the charging outlet there, when he heard it. A moan. Low and husky andveryfamiliar.

Then the sound of wood creaking.

Bed springs squeaking

Someone calling.

Calling her name.

Then he was running through the room and down the hall totheirbedroom door. A hard kick sent it swinging inward, and he stopped dead, his eyes widening at the sight of the bodies tangled together on the bed.

Alice… and Rebecca!

Takinginthesightthat greeted him on the bed,theirbed, Richard didn’t know what to say.

It was a new experience for him.

Good or bad, he usually could always be relied upon to spit out some sort of asinine observation. Of course, it wasn’t every day you walked in on your wife riding another woman’s face to what could only be described as an earth-shattering orgasm.

Especially when it happened to just be their babysitter’s face she was riding.

The same babysitter who’d been under his desk sucking his cock that very morning.

Ironic, considering they didn’t even like sharing cutlery at dinner.

“Well, when you said you had a surprise for me, I wasn’t expecting this.” He forced himself to speak, the words catching in his throat, as thick and sticky as toffee as the sight of them tore at him. Tore and slashed with icy talons set aflame. The blaze scorched the surface to black blisters while the icy edge cut deeper than bone. It left him numb to the world but merged with the guilt of his own misdeeds to plague his conscience. “You’ve surpassed yourself this time.”

His voice’s flat tone and that detached look shimmering in his dark eyes quickly hit Alice in a cold cascade that twisted her stomach into knots of dread. She had never seen her husband look so… She couldn’t put a name to it. It was neither anger nor sadness, but something in between. Something that seemed to hone the sharp lines and smooth planes of his broad, handsome face, somehow making him even more devastatingly attractive. Lost, no, forlorn, that was it. She had never seen him look as forlorn as he did just then.

It tore at her heart to see him so wounded, and it hung a weight of guilt and regret about her neck. Whatever her reasons had been, she’d never wanted to hurt him.

However much Rebecca’s confession had stung her, the betrayal was only an idea, while he was seeing her with his own eyes. Just the idea of being in his shoes, of walking in without warning to find him going balls deep in the girl’s tight little cunt, was enough to make her feel sick.

He was taking it in his stride though and, for all her wanting to comfort her husband and tell him how much she loved him, she saw his challenge. Saw it and accepted it, refusing to falter under his cool glare, but met it head on. Her eyes were hard and challenging even as she gave him her best sexy, faux-innocent pout. “Surprise,Dick,” she purred sweetly, bending a hand down to stroke Rebecca’s hair. “Someone let slip about how you helped her the other night, and well, I decided she needed a little lesson in manners.”

---