Vengeful Seduction_A Submissives’ Secrets Novel

by Michelle Love

  I would never, ever make that same mistake again. “I don’t know if I should believe you. But I don’t know if it even matters anymore. You used your tragedy to make me feel sorry for you.”

  He winced, and I looked away. I had thought my heart was completely shattered, but it seemed there were a few more pieces big enough to break into smaller shards—ones that lodged in the back of my throat and made it hard to breathe.

  David didn't even deny the accusation. He was quiet as a church mouse. Was he not even going to try to talk his way out of this?

  “Well, I guess this is it. Our marriage is over before it really got started. But that’s how you wanted it, isn’t it? Didn’t turn out the way you’d planned though, did it?” I shook my head and closed my eyes, fighting back tears. My marriage was ending. Well, it had never really existed in the first place—not as I had thought it had.

  I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry over it. He’d already gotten too much of me, my dignity, my self-esteem, and my trust. I’d be damned if I would give him any more of myself.

  “Kaye, please …” David started, but I wasn’t going to have any of that. I had things I needed to say, and I held up my hand and gestured for him to be silent.

  His turn to speak was over. He’d lost that right. I wasn’t about to listen to anything he had to say. It wasn’t like I could believe a word that came out of his mouth anyway. “Give it up, David. What’s your plan now? To make up with me? To give our marriage another try, so you can keep what money you already had?” I snorted softly. “Damage control, am I right?”

  I looked at him, but only for a second or two. I didn’t really give him a chance to respond. After all, I didn’t really need to. He’d proven very decisively that all he cared about was money. Cold, hard cash.

  And it was a thing I cared so little for.

  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed having enough money to pay the bills, eat, and maybe even have a little bit extra for fun. But I’d gotten by with very little of it for years and money didn’t have the same hold over me as it obviously did over David.

  I could ruin him just as he had ruined me. All I needed to do was claim what was rightfully mine. Not only the money that had been left to me, but all of David’s personal fortune too. No one could argue if I did it.

  No one could say it wasn’t justice.

  Only it wouldn’t be—not really. It would be nothing but revenge—a way of me lashing out at David because he’d lashed out at me. He had been so angry when I’d gotten everything from his grandfather’s death. I couldn’t help but think a lot of what he’d done had been more for revenge than for money.

  I couldn’t claim not to be tempted. But if I did it, I would be no better, really, than Brent and David had been when they’d squared off against each other. I would be seeking revenge with lawyers, but the spite and anger would be the same.

  No matter what had been done to me, it just wasn’t in me to do something like that. I had been broken, but not so completely that I’d do something that just wasn’t in me to do. The money his grandfather left me should’ve been David’s. No matter what had happened between them, that is exactly how it should’ve been.

  I wasn’t blaming poor Theodore for what had happened to me, but it was his decision to change his will that had caused this. I just wanted out. I wanted out of all of it. Forever.

  “You win,” I commented softly and rose to my feet. My legs were shaking, but I was determined. “I offered you half before I even knew how much you wanted it. Well, now you can have it all. Every last cent. This house. The cars. It’s all yours. It’s not like I ever wanted any of it. It was thrust upon me, so to speak. Your grandfather never told me what he was doing with his will, or I would’ve told him not to leave a damn thing to me. That’s not who I am. I would’ve told him to leave it to you, even though I didn’t even know you at the time. I would’ve told him that he’d hate himself for his actions if he left you nothing at all. But I didn’t get a chance to, since he kept it a secret. It seems you Blacks are very good at keeping your secrets. I’m better off, I guess.”

  What did any of it matter to me, really? I didn’t want t—not when I knew just how much David did and how much he’d been willing to do to get it all.

  “Kaye …” his voice cracked and it made me flinch.

  God, I still hated to hurt him so much. Love was a wicked thing. A cruel thing. A thing that made people do the most idiotic things.

  I steeled myself, pulling myself up straight and trying to sound confident and strong. “I hope you’re happy.” Despite all of my best efforts, my voice broke and tears started to fall down my cheeks. I had been holding it together just fine, but now it was time to say goodbye.

  It was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life.

  His one word came out in a harsh breath, “No …”

  “You should be happy. You got the only thing you ever wanted—the only thing you have ever loved.” I paused and then added as I shook my head, “I will never trust another human being again. Never.”

  What else was there to say? I didn’t look at him, trying to avoid him seeing the tears dripping down my face. I just turned away, intending to leave. I would go right to my lawyer, ask for the divorce, and sign everything over to David.

  Or so I thought, until I heard the faint rustle of movement behind me. The next thing I knew, David’s large, strong hand closed around my wrist and pulled me back.

  David

  Kaye was going to leave.

  I could see it. I could tell it wasn’t a bargaining chip. She wasn’t trying to manipulate me. She really was going to leave after giving me freely everything I’d wanted.

  Everything I’d thought I’d wanted, anyway.

  I moved before I thought, and when I put my hand on her wrist and she spun around, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the anger in her face.

  There was no anger there. Only tears and pain. These horrible gifts I had given to her.

  “Don’t go,” I whispered, and if I had thought it would help, I would have fallen right down onto my knees then and there. I would have begged for her to stay, and I wasn’t the sort of man who begged. Ever.

  “Why?” Kaye asked, and she used her free hand, the one I wasn’t holding, to dash the tears from her eyes. They were swollen and red, but she had never looked more beautiful to me.

  Now that I was going to lose her, I realized just how crazy I really was about her and how thoroughly I’d fallen in love, despite all of my efforts to avoid it. I was utterly smitten, completely and totally hers.

  Too bad I had only fully realized it while I was losing her. But I had to at least try, didn’t I?

  “I have something more to confess to you,” I said quietly and watched as her eyes widened.

  More? I could pretty much guess she was thinking. What else was I going to drop on her now? “David, please,” she whispered, and I could feel her small body shaking. I didn’t let her go, though. I pulled her closer to me, gazing down into her beautiful face. Our bodies were so close that I could feel the heat radiating off of hers.

  “Please,” I echoed her. “Just hear me out. If you still want to go when I’m done talking, I won’t stop you.”

  I wouldn’t. It was definitely her right. I’d certainly put her through enough—she didn’t owe me even this much of her time.

  She glanced down at my hand on her wrist, then took a step back. She didn’t actually pull her wrist away, though, so I kept my grip on it. This might be the last time I ever got to touch her, after all.

  “Okay,” she allowed, and I took a deep breath. Against all odds, she was giving me this chance to explain myself.

  I didn’t deserve it, and I knew it, but I was going to make the best of the opportunity. “I love you,” I started. It seemed the best place to start—the best base to build my argument from. I saw the skepticism in her eyes and knew I deserved it, but I kept going. “I have almost from the
beginning. Since before our wedding. From the very first time we were intimate, or maybe before that.”

  “David, please.” Kaye was very pale as she looked at me. “Stop it. You don’t have to do any of this.”

  I shook my head. This was my chance to get out, to walk away with all of the money, and to not have to deal with the wife I hadn’t wanted in the first place. Only, now, I did want her. More than the money. More than anything.

  I just had to make her see that.

  “Look, Kaye, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I mean it. I have no reason to lie to you now. I love you. You’ve already said you’d give me all the money. I could just walk away, but I can’t do it. I need you. I’d burn the money in a huge bonfire right here and now if it would make you listen to me.”

  I looked at her, and she just looked back at me. I didn’t see belief in her face, not yet, but I saw something that made me think she might be on the right track. She was still listening. I couldn’t give up.

  Not until there was no hope left at all.

  “David …” she tried to say more, but I put my finger to her lips to make her stop talking. She couldn’t say another word until she’d heard what I had to say.

  “Kaye, if you leave—if you walk out of here—I don’t think I can handle it. I will sign whatever papers you want. Take everything from me. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I just care about you. Just you.”

  “David,” she whispered, looking at me, and this time I was sure of it. There was something like hope in her eyes. She still loved me. For some reason, she still loved me, and she wanted to believe what I said.

  My heart took the first hard beat it had since she told me she was leaving me. The smallest spark of hope formed and it spurred me on. “I want to be with you. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. I can tell you this truthfully—my life will never be the same if our marriage ends. And I’m not talking about money. I am talking about love. I’m talking about actually living. I’m talking about moving forward. I haven’t been my true self with you since our wedding. The stupid plan got in the way. I’m not actually such a workaholic. I’m not actually a moody man. And I’m not actually against starting our family. If you want to start a family with me, I want that too.”

  It was so strange, saying those words out loud, but I meant them. I had wanted all of those things before, though I hadn’t admitted it to her, or even myself really. “I’m sorry. If you try to forgive me, I swear to you that I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Please, Kaye. I want to be married to you. To really be with you.”

  Kaye took a deep breath, and I could see her struggling with herself. I could see she wanted to believe me, but for obvious reasons, she was having a hard time with it. “You don’t have to offer me a baby to get me to stay,” Kaye whispered. “I don’t want to be bribed into it. I only want to have a family with someone who really, really wants to have one with me.”

  “I want a baby,” I said bluntly. “I have since the moment you brought it up. I don’t know how I even managed to keep saying no to you.” I gazed at her and there was no longer any doubt at all. She wanted to do this. She wanted to continue our marriage. My heart took another hard, thumping beat.

  “Keep talking,” Kaye murmured, and I nodded. There were a few things I still had to say.

  “I love you, I need you, and I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Part of me is glad Brent told you. I wanted out of this whole lie, I wanted to be with you, and I just didn’t know how to tell you. I wish I had. I know this may sound like a lie, but I was actually about to confess to you this morning.”

  “Please, David,” the sound of her voice spoke to how hurt she was.

  I shook my head, not ready to let her talk yet. “I was going to tell you the horrible truth and tell you I want to have a baby with you—lots of babies with you and only you. I really was about to do just that. Even as early as last night, after we made love better than we ever had before. I was. I promise you that. But, in all honesty, I never expect you to fully believe that, even though it is true. I truly love you. I do. If you believe nothing else, please, I am begging you to believe that. I love you, Kaye Black.”

  “I love you too,” Kaye sobbed, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her free hand. I still held the other tightly, jealously guarding it and refusing to let go. “I love you too, David, and all I want is for things to go back to how they were before. How I thought they were.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I want you back, but the you I thought I married … does that man even exist?”

  “He does,” I promised. “I’m right here, and I will be the man you deserve. I swear to you. Just give me a chance.”

  I had never meant anything more in my life and I tried to put that sincerity not only into my words, but my face as well. I could see how she was looking at me, and maybe she was crying, but she was shrewd and her trust in me had been tarnished. She was watching me closely.

  Whatever she saw must have satisfied her. She suddenly smiled and launched herself at me. I released her wrist finally so she could wrap her arms around me, and then her slender, soft, sweetly curved body was pressed against me and she was hugging me tightly.

  “I’ll stay,” she whispered, and I could feel her heart hammering in her chest, that’s how closely we were pressed together. She clung to me, and I could tell by how eagerly she came into my arms that she had never wanted to leave.

  She just thought she had to. Well, now it was my job not to give her any reason to leave me. Not ever again.

  “I love you, Kaye,” I murmured tenderly, gazing down into her flushed face, my arms still wrapped firmly around her.

  “I love you too, David. We’ll work this out,” she vowed, and I believed her. One thing I had learned about this woman was not to underestimate her. She was sweet, yes, and kind, but she had a will of steel under all that softness.

  If she said we would work it out, I had every reason to believe we would.

  Just like that, she stretched up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine. I wouldn’t have thought it even possible for me to hold her closer, but somehow I managed.

  The kiss we shared then was a promise—an acknowledgment of the past as well as a commitment for the future. Our wedding had been months ago, but in a very real way, this was the start of our marriage.

  “No more secrets,” Kaye whispered, and I nodded, in full agreement. “No more lies. Promise me that and you have me forever.”

  “I promise.” It was a very easy promise to make. I’d seen what happened when I did lie to her and tried to keep things from her. I was supremely uninterested in having a relationship based on falseness.

  We kissed again, and it was strange at first, like we were both testing it out. Slowly, we relaxed into it, and I knew then for sure I had been forgiven. I didn’t deserve it, but I would spend the rest of my life trying to make sure she never regretted it.

  “Good,” Kaye said, beaming at me through her tears, but there was no more misery in her eyes. Her whole face was lit up with joy and this beautiful woman was mine.

  All mine, and I would never lose her again. I would never do anything to risk what we had. It had taken me a stupidly long time, but I had thoroughly learned my lesson and from here on out it would be honesty and consideration from me. Nothing less would be accepted by me or my wife, and I was great with that.

  Hold me accountable, Kaye Black.

  I had thought I couldn’t trust a woman—any woman—but I’d let my very real pain at losing my mother make me act like a dick. No more. I had been such an idiot.

  Without any further hesitation, I swept her up into my arms and held her bridal style. It seemed fitting, since this was, after all, the first day of the rest of our lives together. She might as well be my bride all over again.

  “Let’s go back to bed,” I murmured, and I knew from the slightly wicked smile on her face that she understood. She knew what I wanted and was ready to fully cooperat
e.

  “To bed, husband,” she whispered, her arms going around my neck and her weight nestled perfectly in my arms.

  “Thank you.” I meant it with all of my heart. She had no reason to give me another chance, but she had.

  She just gave me an enigmatic little smile, one that made both my heart and my cock throb, and without further ado, I swept her up the stairs and to our bedroom.

  All of the shit was over, it seemed. All of the ugliness was done, and our real marriage could begin.

  I had never felt more optimistic in my entire life about anything.

  Lesson learned—don’t think you can have a revenge marriage without falling in love in the process.

  The End

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  Vengeful Seduction Extended Epilogue

  By Michelle Love

  David

  Even after five years of marriage, Kaye was so damn beautiful, and I wanted her so much it hurt.

  That was a little bit of a problem, considering we were supposed to be paying pretty strict attention to something else.

  “David,” she hissed at me, though there was a smile on her face that made me think she not only knew what I wanted to do to her, but she fully approved. We had always matched in our desire for each other. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  I grinned at her and had to admit that I wasn’t particularly repentant. I scanned her up and down, enjoying the way her pretty, green, formal maid of honor dress skimmed over her slender body, emphasizing her small waist and the fullness of her breasts.

  “No,” I murmured, and then glanced downward when a little hand pushed its way into mine. Small fingers wrapped around mine and my eyes met the hazel ones of our daughter.

  Sophia was only three-and-a-half years old, but she was already the perfect little copy of her mother, except for her eyes. They were the mix of brown and green, which showed clearly just who her parents were. Well, and I would swear there was a hint of me in the shape of the child’s lips.