“You’re right.”

“No, Declan. I’m wrong. You punish me out of love. It’s not the same. I’m sorry I implied it was,” I tell him. “You don’t hurt me like he does. With him, it’s nothing but fear, but with you . . . when I’m with you, it’s the only time I ever truly feel safe.”

“My mind is fucking with me here. Especially when I see the way you look at him. When I see the way he touches you. Do you have any idea what that shit does to me when all I want is you?”

Taking his face in my hands, I affirm with fervor, “I love you, Declan. You. Not him. He’s not a choice for me, you are.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you,” I lie. “Only you.”

“This can’t last forever, you know? Me on the side while I sit at home knowing you’re fucking that piece of shit.”

“I know. But right now . . . Declan, he’s in the other room. We have to go back. We can talk about this back in Chicago. He leaves for Dubai in a couple days.”

His lips collide with mine, taking me in an instant, filling my mouth with his tongue. He’s urgent and needy, hands on my tits, groping them firmly. I grip his shoulders when he presses his hips into me.

“You feel that? What you do to me?”

“Yes,” I breathe as he grinds his erection against me.

“Hike it up,” he demands, and I quickly grab the hem of my dress, pulling it up as he swiftly undoes his pants. With his hands firmly on my ass, he hoists me up against the wall, reaches between us, and yanks my panties to the side before thrusting his cock urgently inside of me. “So wet, baby. Always ready for me,” he grunts, and the truth of his words hurts as I wonder why my body betrays me like it does for him.

His overwhelming aura has my mind losing focus as he pounds into me, a beautifully brutal display of his love. With my arms tightly wrapped around his shoulders, I hang on, burying my head in the crook of his neck while he fucks me mercilessly against the wall. The small room is filled with our labored breaths and the familiar smell of our sex.

This is Declan’s arcane display of his primal need to mark me before sending me back to my husband. He’s possessive and makes no apologies about it.

“Put your fingers in my mouth and then touch yourself,” he instructs and I do, pushing two of my fingers past his lips so he can wet them for me before I slip my hand between us and start rubbing my already slick bundle of nerves.

“Ohh, God,” I exhale.

“That’s it. Make yourself cream all over my cock.”

“Declan . . .”

“Do it,” he commands as he hungrily slams inside of me, hitting me just right that I fall into a suspended reality.

My pussy pulses in waves of pleasure around his cock as I lose my breath in release.

“Fuck, yeah,” he growls as he shoots his hot cum inside of me, claiming me as his. He drops his head to my chest as he begins to slow but still pumping small thrusts inside of me.

I let my head fall back against the wall, and when he looks up at me, his request is clear when he says, “Give it to me,” and I slip my fingers back into his mouth so he can taste my arousal.

When he lowers me back down, holding on to me as I steady myself on my feet, his cum slowly seeps out of me, wetting my panties as I slip them back in place. We don’t speak as we rush to pull ourselves together. I check myself in the mirror, swipe my fingers under my eyes, and then run them through my hair in an attempt to smooth it down. When Declan has his pants back on, he wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses me tenderly under my ear, moving his lips along the delicate skin, telling me, “I love you. So fucking much.”

My heart is racing, not just from the abrupt sex, but also from the fear of knowing Bennett is in the other room. I turn in his arms, slightly out of breath, and soothe him the best that I can before I walk out of here and return to my husband.

“I love you too. If I had my way, I’d hide away with you in here forever.”

He presses his lips into my neck, and then unlocks the door. “You go ahead. Give me a few minutes.”

I run my hand along his jaw, taking in the feel of his whiskers and giving him a soft smile before leaving.

“There you are. I was about to come looking for you,” Bennett says when I walk back to where I had left him.

I walk over to where he sits on the couch and take a seat next to him. “I’m sorry. Just needed a moment.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yes,” I say, and then turn to Cal, who’s sitting with Camilla on the adjacent couch. “I apologize for my uncouth outburst. I don’t know what came over me.”

“No need to apologize. You have a spicy bite to you, nothing wrong with that,” he says and then nods to Camilla, adding, “You should hear this one when she gets a fire under her ass.”

“Calum!” she squeals, slapping his knee as he starts to laugh.

Bennett and I join the amusement in their exchange when Declan walks in. He quickly glances my way, scowling when he sees Bennett’s arm wrapped around me as I’m cuddled up next to him.

“There you are, son. Where the hell have you been?” Cal questions in annoyance.

“Had to take a call,” he answers. “I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to call it a night here. Father, it was good seeing you,” he says as he walks over to say his goodbyes to Cal and Camilla before turning in my direction. Bennett stands to shake Declan’s hand, totally unaware that he was just inside of me. I stand, nervously, next to Bennett, and when the two are finished saying their quick and stale goodbye, Declan takes my hand in his, bringing it up to his lips for a chaste kiss.

“Nina, always a pleasure.”

“Likewise,” I respond as casually as I can, and when he drops my hand, I watch as he turns to leave.

The rest of the evening passes by easily, but I can’t help but wonder about Declan. I shouldn’t be wasting my time worrying about how he’s feeling, but I can’t shake it off. After we leave and get back to the hotel, I pull out my phone and open up the text app that he had installed on my phone while Bennett showers.

Where are you?

His response comes quick.

Out.

His clipped text agitates me, but at the same time hurts me to know I’ve upset him.

I’m so sorry about tonight.

It was my mistake for being there.

I stare at the screen, not sure what I should type next, but it soon vibrates with another message from him.

Are you okay?

No. I miss you.

I miss you too, darling.

When I hear the water to the shower turn off, I quickly type out my next text.

I have to go. I love you though. I need you to know that.

I do know. I love you too.

I shut off my phone after I read his last text and slip it back inside of my purse. When Bennett comes to bed, his hands are all over me. And even though I was just with Declan, I don’t deny Bennett. So as we have sex, I numb myself to him. I act out the motions as I always do, but inside, I turn every part of me off. The only thought I allow to float through my head is one that brings me a dark sense of satisfaction, knowing that this man I hate so much has his dick covered in another man’s cum as he fucks me.