Her Secret Betrayal (2 page)

I screamed into the sheets, muffled, and
explosions of pleasure and pain went off like fireworks behind my
eyes. The sounds he made were delicious. With effort he pulled out
and pushed back in, spreading me new each time he fit inside me.
The hand not holding my head down wrapped around one globed cheek
and massaged it.

He couldn’t last long. After his initial
thrusts he started panting and shaking, hot gasps mixed profanity
with my name. Inside me I could feel him jerking and swelling,
ready to fill me with his semen.

“Take it,” he grunted and tightened his hold
on my hair. “Take it all, Kara. God how I’ve missed you.”

Those were the last words he managed to gasp
before seizing up, pulling out abruptly, and coming all over my
upturned ass.

His body jerked against mine with each
ejection, but quickly he collapsed against me and we fell into the
sheets, a sweet, exhausted mess.

____________

Sean’s cellphone buzzed impatiently against
my side table, dragging me from my dreamless sleep. I cracked an
eye and saw Sean stretch languidly towards its bothersome crowing.
He grabbed it and seemed to consider crushing it against the table
top before sighing and lowering it down to where we’d bedded on the
floor after our post-sex shower. We discovered belatedly how much
of a mess we’d made of my sheets.

He tilted his cellphone above his head and
squinted at the text. He sighed, hit a button and tossed it up
somewhere on the bed, then wrapped the arm back around my shoulders
and pulled me into him once more.

A second later, the phone began buzzing
again, muffled this time in my sheets.

Sean growled and buried his face into my
still damp hair. “Zach.”

“Not T…”

“No.”

Morning and the rest of the world threatened
to invade our private island. Reality, nasty filthy god-awful thing
that it was, brought Sean’s Taylor, my Marcus, the restaurant
opening, and six years’ worth of separation and hurt back into our
sanctuary. He frowned and I closed my eyes briefly and there was no
helping what we both knew. Our night was over.

When Sean showed up on my doorstep last
night, storm soaked with desperate longing burning in his eyes, I’d
given him everything. Anything. His obnoxious girlfriend Taylor
Roth ceased to exist. And Marcus? I didn’t even know what we were
enough to know if I’d just cheated on him. He escorted supermodels
and actresses to his fancy events where paparazzi could photograph
him with the right kind of woman. They didn’t want to see the
handsome, billionaire bachelor dating a plus-sized nobody
librarian. And that wasn’t just his choice. I didn’t want opinion
columnists waxing on about how I just needed to join a gym and stop
eating ice cream and cookies every night. I didn’t want any gossip
blogger guessing at whether I enjoyed the kinky stuff Marcus
Giovanni was rumored to partake in.

I didn’t want anyone to find out that I
did.

But Taylor did exist and even though I found
her behavior to be atrocious, even if she was gorgeous in a way I
never would be, she didn’t deserve Sean’s ex-girlfriend sweeping in
and fucking him four (or was it five?) times in one night just
because she’d never gotten over him.

Or him her, apparently.

And it was bad enough that sometimes in deep
play scenes, especially the ones where Marcus had me tied and
blindfolded, I came screaming Sean’s name instead of Marcus’s.
Marcus had always been good enough to dismiss the slight
considering he pretended to date other women.

Guilt edged in. Guilt and longing and love
and anger and now, even after everything we played at last night, I
wanted answers on why he left me six years ago without so much as a
goodbye.

I looked up and found Sean gazing at me with
his serious blue eyes and I knew he was thinking the same
thing.

“You were always so beautiful the morning
after,” he murmured and reached to tuck a strand of blonde hair out
of my eyes. “You glow. I’ve never been with anyone who enjoys
pleasure as much as you do.”

I blushed and reached to take his hand from
my face. I kissed his palm. “Flatterer. We should get up.”

“No. I don’t want to.” He took my wrist and
pushed me over gently so I rolled onto my back. He flicked the top
of the blanket aside to expose my naked body in the morning
sunlight. He sucked in a breath and hesitantly explored my skin
with his fingers and eyes.

“Shit. Kara. I didn’t realize…”

I winced when he touched my tender nipple
and he gentled his touch when he outlined my heavy breasts. One
glance and I realized he’d left trails of soft, bluish bruises
across my skin where his eagerness and passion had gotten the
better of him. I usually didn’t like being marked, but this time I
didn’t mind. In fact, seeing them sent a tremble of pleasure
through my body and a throb of longing between my legs.

“They’re kind of beautiful, too,” I
whispered. He swallowed and made a soft throaty moan as he followed
the tiny bruises around the curve of my breast and along my sides
to my hips where they were slightly larger and darker.

He lowered his mouth to kiss a particularly
dark blue bruise. “I should have been gentler. You wear my marks
well, though. You always did.”

I held my breath, too afraid to move for
fear that he’d flee at the first indication that I didn’t want him
to. In the bright morning light I couldn’t help but notice how
wrong all this was, even if my body had never felt brighter.

Sean pushed himself up in one fluid
movement, his muscles working beneath his smooth, honey dark skin.
He leaned back against my bed, his knee raised and an arm propped
on it. He gazed down at me, his messy brown hair fell across his
forehead and he just killed me. That was one thing I’d never
forgotten, just how handsome he was.

Six years ago we’d had one last night
together and in the morning I woke and he was gone. No word. No
goodbye. No forwarding number. Just gone and me left without
answers.

“She’s beautiful,” I whispered. I knew I
should not have brought his girlfriend into my bedroom, but I
couldn’t help it. Morning brought all the ugliness of what we’d
done together and I couldn’t escape it. I pulled my blanket up
around my breasts to hide myself as embarrassment flooded my
cheeks.

Sean tilted his head and studied me
carefully as if he wasn’t sure I was the same girl he came to last
night. Like maybe I’d become someone else when he wasn’t looking.
“So are you, Kara.”

I nodded reluctantly, but it was hard to
swallow that we could both be beautiful. She was tall and very thin
with bony hips and large cheek bones. The first time I met her she
was wearing a three thousand dollar dress. I…didn’t own three
thousand dollars’ worth of anything.
Combined.
And if I had
bones beneath my skin, I’d never felt them.

But yesterday, before he’d shown up on my
doorstep, we’d finally come head-to-head with what happened to our
relationship. I’d sabotaged us by not ever believing I was worth
Sean. Never believed I deserved him, and in that fear I’d forced us
to keep our relationship secret.
For three years
. And in
that time I’d convinced myself Sean wanted us a secret. I’d been so
wrong and lost a lot of time because of it. I still felt like I
couldn’t play in Sean’s league, or Marcus’s for that matter, but I
couldn’t deny that they kept coming back for more.

He’d loved me, but couldn’t keep playing
this game where only I knew all the rules and held all the pieces.
Looking back, I had no idea how he accepted my neurosis for so
long.

That was then, though. I was young and
stupid and foolish and incomplete. I’d grown up, but he’d still
left me, and I was no longer foolish enough to forget that.

Sean’s expression turned guarded, cooled as
he memorized my face. “That man you were with. Who is he? Do you
belong to him?”

I sighed, embarrassment deepening. “His name
is Marcus Giovanni.”

“
The
Marcus Giovanni?” Surprise
widened Sean’s eyes, his pupils large in the dim room. “The
billionaire who owns most of the city?”

I looked up and nodded. His guarded
expression turned icy and distant. The way the sun spread across
his chest, I wanted to touch him. I wanted to crawl into his lap
and press my naked body against his. I knew I couldn’t, just as I’d
known I couldn’t kiss him in the men’s bathroom on the subway after
Sean rescued me from the mugger. This was not my Sean. He didn’t
belong to me.

“You traded up.”

“So did you.”

He said nothing but pushed to his feet, the
blanket falling away from his gorgeous, naked body. My eyes traced
the familiar dragon tattoo that crossed down the left side of his
lower abdomen, across his hard muscles to the cut, tender skin
along his hip bone. The blue-eyed monster looked razor sharp
against his tanned skin.

I looked away when he left our bed. His cell
phone buzzed again, angrier this time if that was possible. I heard
him put on his pants, his belt. I wondered if they were damp still
from the rain, and cold against his skin. A chill crept up my body
where his body heat had once been and was now gone.

I hated the cold. I rolled to a sitting
position and climbed unsteadily to my feet. Everything hurt, even
the balls of my feet, and I felt the stretch in my thighs where
he’d held me open all night long. I clutched the blanket against my
naked breasts, though modesty seemed a little ridiculous. Morning
had clearly made us both a little crazy.

When I tilted my head towards him I found
him watching me, a look in his eyes heavy but indecipherable. He
rubbed his hand across his rough cheek, new growth making him look
rugged and delicious.

“I have to go.”

I nodded. “I know.”

When he didn’t move, I turned my back on him
to peek through the blinds to the busy street below. Saturday
shoppers went about their lives oblivious to what was happening
above them.

Sean moved swiftly, grabbed my arm, and spun
me around to face him. His wolfish grin appeared as he tugged my
blanket away. He wrapped his large hands around my naked waist and
matched my hips to his. His erection was unmistakable through his
jeans and I mewled softly at the promise.

Without a word between us, he lowered his
mouth to mine and pressed a deep, slow burning kiss to my lips. Not
the kind of kiss he gave me last night where it felt like he was
trying to crawl inside of me. This one was meant to remind me of
how those felt and to burn his impression into me so I’d never
forget.

____________

Maris burst through the double brass doors
of the
Columbina
restaurant, trailing curtains of rain from
her raincoat and rubber boots. This was our first time at the
classy 1920s throwback restaurant, and she didn’t quite look the
part as the hostess tried to help Maris out of her coat and
galoshes. Everyone close to the front of the restaurant turned to
watch the spectacle, and I couldn’t help but giggle behind my
hands.

Finally free of her rain gear, she looked
more at ease in her straight black and white dress and giant
chandelier earrings. I waved and she hurried between tables with
her beaded clutch pressed against her stomach.

“So sorry I’m late, sweetheart.” She bent
down and dropped a single kiss to my cheek before shlumping into
her seat. The stares continued, as did the whispers, but neither
Maris nor I cared.

“It’s fine. I took the liberty of having a
bottle of wine brought over. I figured you wouldn’t mind.” I poured
her glass since the server was eyeing us warily from the other side
of the room.

“Not at all. Cheers.” We clinked rims.

“Watch out for the prices,” I warned when
she picked up her menu and let out a little ‘
Yeow
!’ when she
caught sight of how upscale this place was. It was totally out of
our usual comfort zone, but Maris wanted to do something fancy and
it seemed like a good enough place to tell her about Sean.

After we put in our orders I refilled her
glass before she’d had a chance to empty it. One dark eyebrow shot
up as she watched me do it.

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Kara?
Because I’m easy, darling. You don’t have to bother.”

“I have something to tell you about and I
figure you’ll take it better if you’re well lubricated.” I leaned
forward so I didn’t have to whisper my news any louder than
necessary.

“Shit. You’re pregnant with the
billionaire’s love child, aren’t you?”

“No! Why would you even think that?”

“Who knows what you two get up during your
secret rendezvous?” Maris waggled her eyebrows and scooted forward
in her chair. “So spill, you two-faced secret keeper. Don’t keep me
in suspense.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I took a deep
breath. “I spent the night with Sean Castle.”

“I think we’re going to need another
bottle.” Maris whistled softly. “Holy hell, Kara. Are you
sure?”

“What do you mean
am I sure
? Of
course I’m sure.”

Reluctantly I told her about the mural Zach
Castle, Sean’s older brother, had asked me to paint on one of the
walls of their new restaurant. I told her about Sean walking in on
me and then about the mugger in the subway Sean saved me from. I
told her about Taylor, the three thousand dollar Nathan Arctic
dress she wore. I told her about almost kissing Sean in the club
last night before the storms came, and how it broke down into a
screaming match over our failed relationship six years before. Then
I told her about him coming to my apartment in the middle of the
night, during the storm, and the desperation that followed.