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“So to cut ed knife and no anesthesia? Had that been her intent in writing the note? Because if that’s what she’d been trying to do, she’d done a real bang-up job

In one long gulp I finishedlass against the wall It hit with such force it shattered, spraying bits and shards across the room It would require a hell of a clean up job, but I’d pay for it and sos and vacuuood as new

How about this fucking et cleaned up? I still held the poisonous note “I don’t need you anymore”

“Fuck!” I bellowed into the ey into the physical This sea storh overned Not this, a tornado of fury and pain whipping through me

“Fuck!” I swore again, grabbing the entire bottle of Jack Daniels and tipping it to my mouth Who the hell was she with? Who had bailed her out? How hadn’t I known about it? I took another swig, needing the burn and please God the ensuing numbness

I’d been such an asshole Played like a fucking piano How had I not seen this co? How had I let all of my defenses down, let myself become such a chu more She’d come to my office with bills to pay and asked for ht of that It was always about h times? That’s what it had been about the first time around, when Harlan had run h money

Funny thing, now I had so h for her

Froreat bellow of pain and anger I wanted to kill the hest bidder But most of all I wanted to kill that soft part in myself, the part that had been about to declare eternal love At least I’d been spared that humiliation How much more raould this feel, had I bent down on one knee and asked her to be mine?

She’d said it, earlier that evening She’d said she lovedout of the bottle of whiskey Easy lies, tripping out of her pretty mouth She’d probably said that to a dozen men, maybe more I’d been about to say it to her and I’d never once said it to another living soul

My gaze darkening, I looked out over the hotel room but didn’t see it Deep down, I’d always known this would happen I didn’t believe in happy endings This shit, this base betrayal, I believed in that This fit with my worldview The basics of supply and deer needed, once she found a better supplier, everything else burned

I bet it was Bruce That fucking twit Tilting the bottle up, I made quick work of it Bruce with his football jersey and college degree The fucking hometown hero He’d texted her the other day He’d probably sweetened the deal, paid her bills, given her a sure thing Bird in hand, as the saying went

I’d been about to help her I was going to do everything for her, buy her anything she wanted, do everything I could to make her happy I’d do it now for her if I still could In fact, maybe if I rushed, if I called her and told her I’d wire her some money, maybe she’d come back?

Oh, hell no I closed et pathetic, wouldn’t becoot left behind, begged to not be left alone I was Declan Fucking Hunt When soet even in this situation would be to not care at all

And ould Declan Hunt, entrepreneur playboy bachelor do if he didn’t care at all? He’d head out to a club, the kind that served his basest needs

If I was the beast in this story, the bad guy the girl didn’t ride off with into the sunset, I ht as well play the part Drink Fuck Send myself into mindless oblivion When you couldn’t be happy, at least you could forget

§

“How irl kneeled atbut pasties on her nipples She wore a collar with an e a master to clip his leash to her and force her to do his bidding In this New York BDSM club, anything could happen

I sat withmy options I could trace those plump, moist lips with my thumb, maybe make her take my cock out and suck it there in the ather, watching her go down on ed prick That et me off, her wet, hot mouth on me while others watched I bet she’d like it, too She’d likeher that way Many subs craved public humiliation

She liked awaiting , could tell in the way her nipples peaked with pleasure si herself up to hther head, forcing her down, the people around us watching Another do his sub to touch herself as she watched ht make his sub kneel and take his dick, too Or a separate side-showeach other’s tits, rubbing each other’s clits for everyone to watch

I could see all of that play out in this woman kne

eling beforemy orders, her eyes downcast in true sub fashion, not even looking her ame with the utmost of expertise

“Not tonight,” I growled I withdrew h her pretty face She’d wanted to get used by me But she kept her eyes downcast as she stood up and left me alone

I had every reason to throw rind myself into the physical, whip and torture and force submission The coiled tension insideoff of my back That sub could probably sense it and desperately wished I’d take it all out on her

But I didn’t want to do it You couldn’t do what you couldn’t do As much as I wanted to prove to myself that there was more to life than Kara, that she wasn’tthere, unable to assu it worse

So I left, alone, cloaked in restless, unsatisfied anger

There was only one thing to do I needed to get on a plane I had to know, had to see her with hie into h all my memories Maybe then I could walk away

But this wasn’t over yet I needed it to end, but not like this, not with a note and a whi

CHAPTER 2

Kara

Private planes rocked Last- a red-eye and long layovers sucked It tookin endless lines and trying to doze on hard chairs, I had a lot of time to reflect on how far I’d fallen and how fast Not to hts cost me about a thousand bucks I didn’t have To sit in the middle seat the whole way

On the final leg, reality returned full-force in the for baby I didn’t knohich I found , the way that she never stopped, just ratcheted up her distress to ever-higher-pitched octaves Or the way that she reet over Declan It had only taken me one week, just one week of nasty, no-holds-barred sex, and I’d gone stark raving ether, practically na out our wedding china,out “save the date” cards for our nuptials