I made the worst possible choices today… again.
By the time Jake joined her fifteen minutes later, she was ready to jump out of her punished skin.
She was grateful for his silence as he worked at freeing her from the ropes. There was nothing he could say that could possibly make her feel better, and many that would make things even worse. When she got her first glimpse of him after she pushed upright from the face-plant in the cushion, she was comforted to see he’d already dressed.
When he finished removing the tape from her mouth and the bonds she found that, despite finally being free of the restrictive ropes, her legs had lost all feeling from being in her compromising position for so long. Masquerading as a gentleman, Jake scooped her up in his muscular arms and carried her to the bed, gently laying her well-used body down.
Bri wanted to hate him—to remember how awful he was and how he’d violated her body in so many ways today. Focusing on that would be easier than realizing how satiated she felt. Her brain fought the fear of losing her marriage, while the rest of her body relaxed into the unique afterglow only forced submission could produce.
Unfortunately, as he often did before his departure, Jake gave her a small glimpse of the man she’d been duped by so many times in the past. He leaned over her, wiping at her tears that continued to fall. Jake brushed her sex-mussed dark hair away from her face as he leaned in to give her a deceptively soft kiss.
The touch to her lips ignited her anger as he tried to intensify it. Bri turned her head, forcing his lips to land on her neck instead. Unwilling to lose his control over her body, Jake locked her head in a vise, forcing her lips against his in a violent assault. She resisted until his tongue pierced her mouth as urgently as his cock had invaded her body before.
The savage kiss lasted until she finally nipped at his invading tongue with her teeth to make him stop. Still, after pulling out of the kiss, Jake stayed close. Brianna slammed her eyes closed to avoid looking into his victorious eyes. She prayed he would just leave her to lick her wounds in peace.
“Open your eyes, Brianna,” he whispered, deceptively soft.
She waited as long as she could in the silence, but realized he wasn’t going to leave until she obeyed. When she finally opened her eyes, the emotion in Jake’s deep blue eyes confused her. She’d expected him to gloat over the conquering of her body, but instead, the odd emotion shining in his eyes looked more like tenderness. “I really have missed you, Bri. You have to see how great we are together. I unfortunately need to head out to meet some clients, but I’ll be waiting for your call when you finally get tired of playing house out in the suburbs with Vanilla. Don’t wait too long to come to your senses, baby. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to resist picking up the phone to enlighten him myself.”
Terror gripped her, knowing Jake wouldn’t hesitate to blow up her life if the fancy struck him.
“Why the hell do you even care if I’m married? You suck at relationships, Jake.”
“Maybe, but times change. I’ve had enough time away from you to realize just how perfect we are together. And if you’d be honest with yourself for one minute, you’d see that too.” He looked so damn confident. He actually believed the bullshit he was shoveling.
“You’re fucking crazy. The only thing we do well is sex. It’s true, you may know how to push my sexual buttons, but you don’t have the first damn clue about what makes me happy. Today was a mistake—a mistake that will never happen again. You promised me. Give me your phone and let’s say goodbye.”
The bastard had the audacity to laugh. “Right. I don’t think so, baby. I’ll be in touch next time I’m in town. I’m sure you’ll be bored enough with Vanilla by then to go another round or two with me.”
Jake leaned down and gave Bri one last violent kiss before releasing her and walking to the door, leaving her alone without a backward glance. The heavy hotel door slammed closed, releasing a fresh wave of remorse. She let the sobs she’d tried to hold back finally overcome her as she rolled into a ball on the king-sized bed.
There were so many thoughts swarming through her that it was hard for her to know what had her most upset. Was it the emotional and physical trials that Jake had put her through? Yes, he’d forced her, but even she knew it was her own mistakes that led her to this room. No one knew what Jake was capable of more than her. She’d been stupid enough to put herself into his path. Crushing guilt closed in.
But… the niggling fear fighting its way front and center was her worry that Jake just might be right—while she loved Markus with every fiber of her being, at the end of the day, his inability to please her sexually had the power to destroy their marriage in the long run.
After several minutes of wallowing in self-loathing, Bri forced herself to her feet, stumbling toward the bathroom for a quick shower but she gasped when she caught the first glimpse of her welted ass in the mammoth mirror.
“Damn you to hell for leaving marks, Jake,” she spoke out loud to the empty room.
Markus’ ringtone came from her bag just outside the bathroom door. He was calling her again, something he didn’t often do in the middle of the day, particularly on court days. But it was getting late… and he was looking for her.
Sheer terror of losing him almost debilitated her. She waited until she heard the ding of the voicemail he’d left for her before she rushed to the shower, turning on the water as hot as she could stand it before stepping into the spray. She needed to hurry, clean up, and get the hell out of there. She didn’t want to call Markus back from the room in which she’d betrayed him.
Chapter Six
Tiffany
Tiffany pulled her cell phone out of her smock, checking to make sure she hadn’t missed a call from Bri for the hundredth time that afternoon. It was getting late, and to say she was worried about her friend was the understatement of the decade.
She should’ve never let Bri leave with Jake Davenport. Regret for not calling the police when she had the chance closed in on her as she finished blow drying out one of Brianna’s clients, which Tiff had been forced to take care of when her BFF had left her high and dry hours before.
After the customer paid and left, Tiff snuck back to the salon office so she could try to figure out what the hell to do. The final customers of the day were being taken care of by the remaining employees and it was getting late enough that the salon would be closing soon. There was absolutely no way that Bri could have been gone this long and not gone somewhere she shouldn’t have with her ex. The thought of Bri going anywhere with the abusive asshole infuriated Tiffany.
How could she do this to me? To Markus?
She was just considering calling Markus back for help when the cell phone in her hand rang, making her jump.
She didn’t even give Brianna a hello. “It’s about damn time you phoned in,” she answered angrily. “While you were out fucking around, your husband called here twice looking for you. Damn you for putting me in this position, Bri. I love Markus, and I hate having to lie to him.”
Only when there was a long pause on the call did Tiff worry that it wasn’t Bri at the other end of the phone. Did Jake have her phone?