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“David,” I whispered.
“He put the business in jeopardy,” he continued. “Those girls could’ve sued us into the ground. And our partnership flipping houses is done. I’ll lose money on our current project, but I don’t give a damn.”
I studied him a moment. “What did you mean by coercion?”
“I didn’t fight,” he said calmly, “even though I wanted to. I focused on you. On what losing control could mean for me and how it would affect you.”
I closed my eyes and whispered, “Thank you.”
“But I shook him up a little. A lot,” he corrected.
I pictured David lifting Arnaud’s slight body easily, maybe with one arm, and pinning him to the wall. It made me smile, but I said, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I should’ve listened the first time you told me how you felt about him.”
“What about Clare?”
“I apologized, said I didn’t know about Arnaud. She’s going to reconsider the lawsuit.”
I nodded. “Good. Can we go to bed now?”
“We’re not finished.”
Shit.
“Did I or did I not,” he intoned between gritted teeth, “tell you several times not to go see Bill without me?”
My throat felt suddenly dry so I only nodded.
His laugh was empty. “But why the fuck would you listen to anything I say?”
“I went to his office,” I said. “He would never jeopardize his job for me, and he was perfectly compliant.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he clipped. “I want to be there for that shit. If he lays a hand on you, if he calls you names, I promised I would be your shield. Why won’t you let me?”
I felt overwhelmingly exhausted in that moment, and I didn’t want to fight. “But it was good news,” I said to myself. “He agreed to the six months.”
“Six months and your share of the savings. Jerry told me.”
“It only makes sense. It’s my money.”
He took a step toward me. My breathing shallowed when his next step gave way to a prowl. “You’ll do whatever it takes to keep one foot out the door.”
“No.” It came out as a frightened whispered.
Everything about him was tense, including his hard expression. I jumped up from the couch, but he caught me by the waist and tossed me back onto it. He grabbed the undersides of my knees and dragged me to the end, positioning my pelvis so it was vertical against the arm. He licked his lips and looked into my eyes as he undid his pants. In his eyes I could see his need for me, and he needed me bad for whatever he was going through. I was only wearing my nightgown and underwear, so next he took off my panties and flung them aside.
He propped himself over me with one hand next to my head and used the other to feed himself into me. I grasped at tiny breaths as I took his length slowly, clutching desperately at each inch like it was the last time. He rooted himself as deeply as he could before his thrusts began. “You want me to leave you?” he asked.
“No,” I grated.
“Want me to throw you out with nothing?”
“No,” I said, and his drives grew harder, mashing me into the couch.
“Want me to break you, once and for all?”
I gasped. “No.”
“Then tell me so,” he said through his teeth.
“I love you,” I said as I watched him blur with my tears.
“Tell me you want me to stay.”
“I want you to stay.”
“Beg me,” he commanded with hardness in his eyes.
“Please stay,” I breathed.
“That’s not good enough.” Salty tears fell down my cheeks, and I bit my lip. He wrapped his large hand at the base of my throat to pull me onto him harder. “Beg.”
“Don’t . . . leave me,” I choked through a sob. “Don’t ever leave me, David, please, I’m begging you. I couldn’t take it. I love you and I need you, God, I fucking need you more than anything in the world, stay, stay forever, stay.”
As the pleas tumbled out, he straightened his back and levered my hips up in the air. His hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me into each harsh thrust. His eyes had glazed over in a way I’d never seen, but I trusted him, and I let him take me how he needed until I was squirming under him, fisting the couch, arching my back and mewling, sobbing, begging him to stay and finally, coming with shudders that were l
ost in the aggressive way he fucked me.
“I want everything from you,” he growled, “until you no longer know who the fuck you are because I have every part of you. I’m sick of asking for it, and now I’m taking it.” His need came faster, my body just a receptacle now, each thrust with a louder grunt until, like he was going in for the kill, his jaw set, his grip tightened, his head jerked up to the ceiling, and he erupted into me. He held me there for a while longer as his eyes remained fixed upward, his wet cock sliding in and out of me slowly, leisurely. Then he pulled out and dropped me back on the couch. I’d done hardly anything and I was breathing hard; his chest was heaving. Without a word, he turned and left the room.
I stood shakily and pulled my underwear back on. When I got to the bedroom, he was sprawled out on his side of the bed, over the comforter, in just his boxer briefs. He was already passed out. I climbed in next to him and shut my eyes.
~
I stand in the darkness of the night, the rebelling tide threatening to pull me out to sea with each lap at my ankles. There’s a presence behind me. It wants to protect me by consuming me. It slides itself around my neck, pulling me close until it’s so tight that I can no longer breathe. I try to pull it away, but it’s not the presence anymore that’s strangling me; it’s a snake, and the rough scales slither along my bare skin. I open my mouth to scream, but I am voiceless. As the presence dissolves, the snake untangles itself and swims away into the night. I dive in after it.
I jerked awake. Despite the cold, sweat trickled down my temples. I’d forgotten to close the blinds and moonlight streamed through the window, striping the comforter. David was serenely sleeping, his back rising and falling evenly in the position I’d found him earlier.
I took my phone from the nightstand and opened my e-mail.
From: Lucy Greene
Sent: Mon, November 26, 2012 04:16 PM CST
To: Olivia Germaine
Subject: Re: Hi
Dear Liv,
You know how much I’ve valued your friendship over the years. It’s rare to stay so super close after college. But I don’t feel like I know you anymore. Since you met David, you’re not the same person. Bill tells me that in the months following the funeral, you were upset because of losing David, not Davena. That is beyond me, especially considering the way you treated Bill during that time and even us too when we tried to help. Also, the Liv I know would never throw a drink in someone’s face. Not just someone – my sister.
The way you broke your vows makes me sick to my stomach. What you said at my wedding was beautiful but knowing that it didn’t mean anything is a slap in the face. I’ve always liked David, but he is a bad influence on you. Even though I disagree with your choices, I don’t want to see you get hurt. I know that the divorce is already underway, so I can only pray that you’ve made the right decision.
We have so much history, and I don’t want to dishonor that. At the same time, Bill and Andrew are closer than ever. I must respect Andrew’s friendship because at the end of the day, my loyalty is to him. I think it’s best we don’t speak for a while.
Best wishes always,
Lucy
