Page 69 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

Everett finally stops typing and glances over at me. I’m standing on the other side of his desk, crumpled, and used tissue in hand, and he tilts his head to the side for a moment.

His eyes travel up and down my body as he takes me in again. He loves my tattoos—hell, he paid for most of them as long as I agreed to let him sit in on the sessions because he didn’t want“some young punk” trying to steal me away from him. He was particularly pissed off about how I got the ones I got before I met him, and he wanted to make sure that I’d never have to resort to that again.

“You really are a beautiful girl, Meryska. Maybe one day, you’ll see yourself the way I see you,” he says, his eyes becoming soft.

My body burns crimson from the compliment. “Yeah, well …”

Everett chuckles as he shakes his head, then reaches under his desk for the wastebasket, holding it out toward me.

After I’ve deposited the dirty tissues he places them back beneath his desk and motions for me to come sit on the arm of his chair.

“So, how’s this?” he asks as he slides an arm around my waist and rests the side of his face against me.

I lean in slightly and start reading.

Female. Thirty years old. Decent looking, already trained. Fertile, three thousand dollars or best offer.

“You’re going to sell her?” I ask him curiously.

Everett laughs and shakes his head, “How else do you think I make money?”

“But the kids—what will they say when she never comes back?” I press cautiously.

He gives my side a gentle slap, “Up.”

I get to my feet and lean against the desk while he begins typing again. As I wait for him to show me his next grand idea, I inspect my dark, red nails and sigh.He’s right—this color does make me look like a damn whore.

“Alright, I think that does it,” he finally says as he reaches for me and pulls me onto his lap.

I raise an eyebrow as I begin to read his new listing.

Female, ten years old. Male, eight years old. Dimwitted, barely able to earn their keep, spends most of their time playingboard games and complaining. Unable to care for, willing to trade for a better set.

“They aren’t ours anymore, Meryska. We’ll find a pair of children that will complement our new little family and this way, we won’t have to answer any of their questions,” he tells me as he kisses my arm.

I shake my head.

Well, he definitely knows how to handle things,I think with a chuckle as I give the top of his head a gentle kiss in appreciation and approval.

A man that’s willing to restart his entire life over to be with the woman he really wants is someone worth holding onto.

After Everett posted the listings to the Devil’s Candy website, I went about cleaning up the house.

Once everything was nice and neat, I went into Anna Leigh and Maynard’s bedrooms and started packing their belongings while they slept.

I know it won’t take long before someone decides to take up Everett on his offer of a trade—especially not after I convinced him to post their pictures to sweeten the temptation.

Whoever gets them will be good to them, because like he said, they’re simple and are happiest playing in Candy Land and ignoring the world around them.

We’ll get the perfect children that will suit us just fine until I can give him some of his very own.

Everything we deserve will happen in due time because we’re smarter than everyone around us, we love each other, and nothing can stop us from being together now that there’s no one left to try.

Ostium

BLURB

We’ve been married for ten years and in the last ten months, things have changed.

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