Page 58 of Vengeful Seduction
Brent looked back at me and there was still this look. Something about Kaye. I couldn’t quite read it, but I was fairly certain it could mean trouble for me.
No. I didn’t care about Kaye. I didn’t love her, and I never would. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her as my wife—our marriage wasn’t real. What did I care how Brent was coming to feel about her? It was probably just my imagination anyway.
What could the chances even be? Brent would never fall for any woman, but if he did, it wouldn’t be someone who still held on to so much of her innocence. Brent would be bored to tears by a woman like her.
Of course, I would have thought the exact same thing about myself.
One thing was utterly crucial. I couldn’t fall in love with her. It was the one thing I would never, ever allow myself to do. It loomed in my mind even larger than the money did. I had to keep my head about me. I couldn’t let her into my heart.
I would do anything to keep myself from doing that. I would pull out all the stops. I would force my wife into my best friend’s arms, just to keep myself from really, truly falling for her.
It wasn’t too late.
So we made our plans, and I fought down the sickening feeling trying to claim me.
Chapter 17
Kaye
I put my book aside when David came into our room. There was a strange, restless sort of energy in every movement he made and every step he took, and it would have been impossible for me to read him even if I had tried.
Was it possible he had given more thought to what I’d asked him about us starting a family? Had he maybe rethought his position?
I sat up in bed, my eyes fixed on him, barely daring to breathe. I didn’t speak. My entire focus was on David, because whatever he said next, I knew I wasn’t going to want to miss even a second of it.
A baby. I wanted it so badly. I had always wanted to have children eventually, like most women. And here I was, married to the love of my life, and eventually felt like it should be now.
So I waited, and eventually, David spoke. He stood over me, hands on his hips, looming, refusing to sit on the bed.
“I’m inviting Brent into our bedroom.” His gaze was forceful, almost defiant. “Just like when we were together at the club.” There was a brief pause and then he added, “Now.”
My head spun and the whole world seemed to reel crazily around me. The first time we’d ventured into uncharted territory in the BDSM world, it had felt like I’d had a choice. Like I could walk away from it all and nothing would happen.
Not this time. This time, I was being informed it was going to happen. Informed by His Majesty, King David. Told about it, as though he just assumed I would be compliant.
Did he seriously think that I was that weak-willed? Did he believe in his heart of hearts that he had married a woman who would be submissive at all times?
I would be submissive only when I decided to. And that would not ever be a permanent thing.
Anger had never been an emotion with which I was particularly familiar. I could do annoyance, and maybe, if pressed, irritation. Full on rage, however, was something I honestly couldn’t remember ever feeling before.
I felt it then as I looked at my husband, his chin jutting out defiantly. His chest puffed out as if he was lord and master of me. Well, he was about to find out just who he had married. For better or worse.
“No,” I stated, no hint of compromise in my voice. “No, Brent will not be coming into this bedroom, not now—not ever.”
Enough was enough. Hadn’t I just decided, after what had happened with Brent, that I would never allow him to touch me again? He would certainly never see me naked.
“Kaye …” David’s voice took on a tone of warning, but I wasn’t interested in hearing it. “Listen to me.”
I shook my head. “No! You listen to me,” my voice had turned into little more than a hiss. It was strange to hear, but I wasn’t about to let it stop me. “I’m telling you.” I glared at him, letting him know I was not to be played with. “Brent will never be welcome in our bed. Not ever.”
He looked at me as though stunned. His lips parted, then closed. King David was finding out his crown was but a ploy. He was ruler of no one. “Not ever?”
I frowned, studying his face. What was going on here? Why was he so caught up in this obsession with sharing me with Brent again?
“Sometimes,” I spoke very slowly. “It’s like you’re trying to push me away. Like you want me in his arms instead of your own. I don’t get it.”
I gazed at him, taking in every bit of him. His handsome face, his strong, muscular body, and the tormented look deep in his dark eyes. He didn’t deny what I said, and I sighed softly and shook my head. “What is this, David? I love you. Are you trying to push me away for some reason? Please don’t.” He still didn’t say anything, so I whispered, “I love you. Flaws and all, I love you.”
