VENGEANCE IN HIS BED

if I saw Ethan, he would clearly see what was written across my face. But Ethan Vale wasn't a man yo

phone in my room chimed m

speaker. It sounded a bit different, thicker

f the night before. I smoothed my hair, squared my shoulders, and turned

ve peat, aged oak, and the sharp, medicinal tang of high-end scotch. The room was dark,

the same one he had stood the night I arrived here, same place he had masturbated. His jacket was gone, his tie discarded on the rug, and his white s

he murmured, no

I said, my voice soundi

ensity I hadn't seen before. He took a slow sip of the scotch, his gaze never leaving mine. He was slightly drunk, not the

here,

g into the plush carpet, until I was standing just a few feet from hi

t to work toda

idle." I stammered and watched his frame

You found the discrepancies. You're efficient, too efficient fo

ed. "I'm just a

but my feet felt rooted to the floor. He reached out, his hand hovering near my face befor

his face dipping closer. "But there's a fire in yours that sh

He was looking at me and seeing her, yet he didn't know. Or did he?

alking about," I breathed,

see the way you look at me when you think I'm not looking. You hate me, I know. But you also want

lid from my temple to the back of my neck, his fi

a question but r

ay. I told myself this was the man who killed my sister, but my body was a traitor. My hands, which should have be

I hit the edge of his massive mahogany desk, his hands sliding down to my waist and lifting me until I

ot beneath my ear. "Tell me to stop," he rasped against my skin, his breath hot

, a high-tension wire stretched to the breaking point. His hands were moving under the hem of my dre

ned away in the heat of his touch. I was just a woman, and he was just

tory movement, he flipped the fabric off my shoulders, letting it pool around my waist on the desk. I s

yes darkening until they were almost black. A slo

ith a teasing, dangerous edge. "No bra

swirling and sucking with a hunger that made my back arch off the desk. My fingers

e curve of my hips, while I twisted under him, my voice breaking in a series of breathle

the sight of him. He was a masterpiece of hard muscle and scarred skin, and as he grew hard, I saw just how much power

e rolled it on, before he surged back to me. It took a momen

urned into a rhythmic, carnal bliss. It was the most beautiful, intense connection I had ever felt in y

and increased his pace, slightly making me al

ned, throwing my

ere. I was certain I was going to get a hickey b

g and greeting, the raw, heavy gasps of two people drowning in each other. When he finally c

hat followed

nts. He didn't look at me, the heat was gone, re

d coldly, faste

rely stand, and grabbed my dress from the floor. I didn't try to put it on properly, I just clutched it to my chest and ran.

ator. I had forgotten my sole purpose here and let him use me to

ng up on the rug, playing with his toy cars. His e

he chirped, hol

ile as I ducked into the bathroom to dress and

d ever had. I thought of my exes, men who were either clumsy, have small dicks, or finished before I'd even started. I thought of the flings and the friends with ben

ands to him. He climbed onto the bed and I tucked him in, k

mommy." H

, I just sat there, lost in the dangero

ssure at my temples. I reached up and massaged the skin, trying to rub away the tension, but the pai

d I needed an aspirin to feel better. But as I deepened my hand in, the

I pulled it out, expecting to probably see another

k, ancient tarnish. My heart hammered against my ribs as I held it up to the

was happier there, laughing at someone behind the camera,

t it, was a symbol. It was a heart, the same imperfect, hand-drawn heart that Sarah had traced o

ernal

leave behind and felt the foundations of my hatred begin to crumble. If he was the monster who had discarded her like trash, why was he carrying

ll. By the time 8:00 AM arrived, my mind was a fractured mess of "what ifs." I hid the locket in the bag where I had kept th