Page 38 of Seeking Vengeance

“I’m sure you could, but I like having someone to indulge.” He shoots me a lackluster smirk, his attention skating over my cleavage to my stomach. “It’s been years.”

“A romantic? Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

It was meant as a joke, but the seconds that follow become far deeper than that. Tense. I’ve fractured the lust by bringing us back to the real world.

We both have information we could use against each other. Ammunition. The repercussions potentially run deep.

“And yours with me,” he promises and makes his way toward the hall. “I left a robe hanging on the back of the door. Take your time. Relax. Call out if you need anything.”

“And if what I need is you?”

“Then maybe hold off for a while.” He meets my gaze for a beat before returning his attention to the hall. “When we’re finally together, it won’t be fast. I assure you, Layla, you’re going to want energy in reserve.”

12

Layla

He pullsthe door closed in his wake, leaving me to picture exactly how long fucking him might take as I remove my clothes.

My shoulder protests the movement and once I’m naked, the angry red lines marking my body explain why. The purse strap had a free-for-all with my skin.

A quick glance in the mirror doesn’t come without a pained breath, either. My left cheek is viciously swollen along the bone, the puffiness almost reaching my eye.

I force myself to turn away, shoving my concern about Cole finding out to the furthest reaches of my mind, and climb into the bath.

The warm water is quick to soothe me, the heat coating my exposed skin in a sheen of sweat as the bubbles cuddle my chest all the way to my neck.

It doesn’t take long for the scotch to go to my head, numbing me perfectly, making the shaking stop. The silence will be my downfall, though.

The long stretch of quiet gives me too much time to picture this energetic sex Matthew alluded to. My imagination runs rampant with wild scenarios that aren’t entirely my forte.

It’s been a decade since I experienced passion. Even longer since I felt adored.

Benji and I made things work because of Stella and the family business. And we played our roles well. But below the surface, we were far from wedded bliss. We flatlined before our daughter was born. No romance. No energy. Little lust.

It wasn’t long until I discovered my husband was cheating on me, and I was okay with that. I always thought he was owed a mistress or two for what he was forced to give up. Especially when I would quit sleeping with him for months on end.

I kept the knowledge to myself, too. I never betrayed him to Cole due to fear of the punishment that would follow. Or worse—the death sentence.

Maybe it was wrong to pretend I didn’t know. Maybe Benji would’ve stopped if I asked. But I kept quiet for my own sake, too. Not just to keep my daughter’s father alive, but because it was a relief to rely on strangers to fulfill a duty that was meant to be mine.

Not once did I feel gnawingly hungry for sex like I do now.

Not once in more than nine years of marriage.

“How are you doing in there?” Matthew asks from behind the closed door.

“I’m good.” My chest fills with butterflies as I picture him in the darkened hall. “Do you want to come in?”

“You didn’t lock the door?”

I bite my lower lip. No, I didn’t. I thought about it, though. “Would the flimsy lock have stopped you from breaking in if you wanted to?”

If Matthew’s intent was to hurt me, he could’ve done it many times already. He could’ve whisked me out of the city while I was disorientated from the incident in the alley. He could’ve kidnapped me that night at the food truck. He could’ve forced me to do anything from his sheer masculine power alone.

The knob turns, the door gradually inching open to expose the man I’ve been daydreaming about for these unending minutes.No, for the last three weeks.

He leans against the doorframe, his gaze taking me in with hunger. “I made you another drink.” Another glass of scotch rests against his hip as those dark eyes devour me.

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