Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
“You’re safe here, doll face. I’ll protect you.”
I throw my arms around his neck, and he wraps his arms around me tightly, holding me to him while I try to hold back a sob. I let him think he’s reassuring me. I’m okay, but I hold him, knowing he’s home safe. Something actually worked how we wanted it to.
“Shh.” He rubs my back. “You’re okay.”
I need him. There’s an ache between my legs and a pain in my chest. I need him right now. As his wife, as his whore. What I saw on those two videos was only ten minutes of his life. What else has he gone through? How many other times did they punish him? Was it because of Ashtyn or someone else? Pulling away, I gasp, needing to breathe, and he cups my face with both of his hands.
“I’m…sorry.” I manage to say through the lump in my throat.
He gives me a soft smile, running his hand through my hair. “Don’t be sorry, doll face.”
My husband thinks I’m apologizing because I almost turned him in. And I don’t correct him.
HAIDYN
“Come on.” I help her up and walk over to the bathtub. I turn on the faucet, and she goes over to her sink and brushes her teeth, followed by mouthwash. She’s still silently crying, but she’s not sobbing anymore.
She’s got herself so worked up that she’s made herself sick again. Poor thing.
I grab a towel and place it on the counter and then help her into the tub. She pulls her knees to her chest and stares down at the water as the tears fall down her cheeks.
“I’ll be right back,” I say and then make my way to the kitchen. Grabbing her a bottle of water, I return and set it on the edge of the Jacuzzi tub. “You need to drink something.”
She stays silent while I bathe her. Her tear-filled eyes remain on the water while I wash her hair and then her body. She doesn’t even ask me how it went at the cathedral. Which I’m glad. I don’t want to have to lie to my wife, but I will if she asks. I don’t want to upset her more than she already is.
Rinsing the conditioner out of her hair, I grab her hands and help her stand on her shaking legs. Then I dry her off and cup her face, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “It’s all going to be okay,” I assure her.
She nods as if she believes me, but we both know she doesn’t. And why should she? I’ve blackmailed her for my own selfish reasons. More than she knows. I’m almost sorry for what I’ve done to her. But like I once told Charlotte, I have no regrets. That’s still very true.
“I have something for you,” I tell her.
Her large, tear-filled eyes meet mine. I hate to see her so upset, but her eyes are gorgeous when she cries. She swallows nervously before licking her lips but says nothing. I drop mine to her left hand and remove the small ring the fake boy toy gave her earlier tonight. I feel sorry for the fucking bastard. That he’ll never get to have her…not like I’ll get to. I’m a proud enough man to know what I have, but I’m too selfish to let anyone else experience it. I set the ring on the black marble counter with the reminder to throw it away later.
Reaching into the pocket of my jeans, I remove the box and open it up. Her eyes drop to it, and she gasps when I remove the ring and slide it on her finger. “You deserved more,” I tell her.
“What…how…?” Her eyes go from mine to the wedding ring and back to mine again. “Haidyn it’s…gorgeous.”
“Just like you,” I say, pushing wet strands of dark hair behind her ear as my eyes search hers. “I want you to see what I see every time I look into your eyes.”
Her breathing picks up once again and I take her face in my hands. “Hey, it’s okay.” She’s starting to panic…regretting her decision to be my wife. It’s too late. She can have second thoughts all she wants. She belongs to me now and I’m not going to let her go.
“Can I have a minute, please?” she asks softly.
I lean in and kiss her forehead. “Of course,” I say and then exit the bathroom, closing the doors behind me and letting her do whatever she needs to do alone. Tell herself what she needs to hear to assure herself she did the right thing.
I need a drink. For some reason, my chest is bothering me more than usual tonight.
SIXTY-SIX
CHARLOTTE
“Iwant you to see what I see every time I look into your eyes.”
My hands tremble as I look down at the ring he just slid on my finger. It looks massive on me. A large sapphire diamond in the center with two tapered baguettes on either side of a silver band. Something tells me it’s platinum. The center stone has to be over five carats and it makes me sick to my stomach. What I almost did to him. How differently tonight could have gone.
Swallowing the knot in my throat, I go over and pick up my cell off the floor and make sure that the Lords deleted the emails they sent me. Just like usual, they’re gone. Never existed.
Sighing, I enter the closet and see the bags that are full of the things I bought today while shopping that Haidyn had brought in when we arrived back here to get married. Along with my two suitcases that I still need to unpack. But it all can wait.
Looking over his side of the closet, I reach up and remove a white T-shirt off the hanger and slide it on, inhaling his scent. It immediately calms my nerves.
I enter our bedroom and frown when I don’t see him in here. I make my way to the living room in nothing other than his T-shirt. All that money I spent on designer lingerie today and I’d rather wear a shirt of his than anything else. No matter how unattractive he may find it.
I’m now his wife. If I ever forget, the ring he gave me will serve as a reminder that I have the rest of my life to dress up for him.
“Broken” by Seether and Amy Lee filters through the house as the music continues to play on the TV. I make my way down the hallway, and I see the door to his office open. I come to a stop at the doorway to see him standing in front of his minibar. He pours himself a glass of bourbon before he throws it back. Setting the now empty glass down, I watch him reach up and rub his chest as he closes his eyes and sighs heavily.
“Hey?” I step into his office. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he states and begins to fill up the glass again.
I bite my bottom lip, knowing he’s lying, but I’m not sure what I can do to fix it. The video is still very fresh on my mind. What they did to him…that was just one time. How many other times has the man died and been brought back to life? That can’t be good on anyone. It has to leave some sort of lingering effects. Not only mental but physical too.
Is that why he tried to commit suicide? Because he wanted to end it on his terms? His way? I can see Haidyn being that type of man and taking matters into his own hands.
He finishes making his drink and then sits down at his desk. I exit his office to head back to the bathroom. I catch sight of the ring Wesley gave me on the counter. Picking it up, I toss it in the drawer and grab what I need before returning to his office.
Coming to stand next to his desk, I hold up the bottle of lotion that I brought from my house. He looks at it and then me. “Want to watch me rub one out, doll face?” The corner of his lips twitch with amusement.
The idea of him sitting there, legs spread wide and wearing nothing as he jerks himself off isn’t a bad image at all. But I shake my head. “Come here.” I take his hand, and he lets me pull him up and over to the black couch. “Have a seat,” I say.
He plops down. Placing his hands on his jean-clad thighs, he smirks up at me. “Doing this again?”
I frown, not understanding what he means.
“Where you try to get me to lay down and spill all my secrets,” he explains.
“No.” My frown deepens. “I want you to tell me things because you want me to know. Not because you think I’m going to use them against you,” I say truthfully. I’m no longer the woman I was when I walked into Carnage under false pretenses.
The smirk drops off his face, and I ignore it. Tossing the lotion onto the couch next to him, I reach forward and grab the hem of his shirt and pull it up and over his head. Thankfully, he helped me by raising his arms.
“Your turn,” he orders, his eyes going to the shirt of his that I wear.
“This is all I have on,” I say, motioning to the thin material.
“Even better.” He stands and grabs the shirt and doesn’t even give me the chance to fight him before he throws it across the room.
I cross my arms over my chest. “This isn’t supposed to be about sex.”
“Then what’s it supposed to be about?” he asks, placing his hands on my waist and slowly running them up over my ribs. My body instantly heats.
As my eyes search his, I get a lump in my throat thinking of that video the Lords sent me. I don’t know why I’m so emotional. Why I can’t seem to keep my shit together. I’ve never been this way before. Yet I’ve also never been blackmailed by a man and forced to hand him over, then decided to marry him to save my own ass either. I just keep telling myself to breathe. This is new for the both of us.
“I just want to take care of you,” I whisper. I want to do something no one else has ever done for him.
He frowns at my response. As if he’s trying to decide if I’m tricking him.