Leah Braemel - Deliberate Deceptions

“I was there.”

“No. You weren’t. Not like me.” Thalia rolled her chair forward, until Lauren was forced to step back. “You should have backed him a hundred percent for having the guts to go against orders to protect me. Instead you questioned him, argued with him about it. When that video got out, you should have held up your head and proudly admitted you submitted to him. That he was your Dominant. Yet you didn’t.”

The video. She’d often wondered how the press had managed to get a video camera into their bedroom. “You did that, didn’t you? You placed the camera in our bedroom.”

“It had to be done.”

“Why? Goddamn it, Thalia, why?” she shouted. “Why would you do that to us? Violate our privacy like that?”

“Because you didn’t agree with Chad about his decision to protect me. To protect the club members. He saved my life with that decision, you selfish bitch,” Thalia bit out. “If it had been up to you, I would have died. But all you could think about was your pitiful career.”

“I understood why he felt he needed to protect you, but there were other ways to protect you. More official ways. I knew how much his career with the Bureau meant to him and he sacrificed it for you.” Lauren’s nails dug into her palms. “If he’d come to me, we could have found some other way to help protect the club. It was his not telling me what he’d done that was the issue between us. That’s why I felt betrayed, because he didn’t come to me first.”

“He didn’t tell you because you were too busy blaming him and everyone else for Emily’s death,” Thalia snapped. “It was your fault my niece died. Your fault.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

They both looked to the top of the stairs where Chad stood, his good hand on the bannister, his gaze locked on Lauren. How much had he heard?

Thalia lifted her chin as Chad walked down the stairs to join them, but Lauren didn’t miss the way her throat moved, the way the vein in her neck pulsed. Her sister-in-law was nervous.

“I heard about what happened. About the shooting.” Thalia rolled her chair forward. “I can move in here and care for you. I can bring some of my people over to help out. You don’t need her here.”

“Is Lauren right? Are you the one who put that video camera in our bedroom?”

Thalia looked away.

“You were, weren’t you?” Chad’s scowl deepened, his eyes grew dark as a thundercloud when he stopped in front of her. “Then you sent it to that goddamned gossip site who put it on the internet. Let it go viral.”

“They had to see,” she whispered. “You had to see her for what she was.”

“What she was? She was my wife.” He grabbed the armrest of her wheelchair and leaned until their noses were an inch apart. “You damned near irreparably damaged both of our reputations. You made it impossible for either of us to walk down the street without people making snide comments. If it hadn’t been for Sam deciding to start Hauberk, I probably would have ended up a mall cop or asking a customer if they wanted fries with their order.”

“I did what was necessary.” Thalia’s chin went down a half inch before she jerked it back up. “You need someone strong. Someone willing to get down on their knees and submit to you the way you deserved.”

“That’s your kink, not mine.”

Lauren stifled her sigh when Thalia shook her head and persisted. “She’s not good for you, Chad. Why am I the only one who can see that?”

“It’s not your decision to make. It’s mine.” He moved to stand beside Lauren, slipped his arm around her waist. “I’ve asked Lauren to move back in with me. Whether we’ll make it, I don’t know yet, but hear me now: I will not tolerate any more interference. Because so help me God, Thal, if I find out you’ve been lying to me or withholding information or manipulating either of us ever again, I will cut you out of my life forever.” Chad glanced at Spencer. “Take your wife home and don’t bring her back unless you personally hear me invite her.”

He waited until the door had closed behind the couple before he spoke again. “I had no idea it had been Thalia who brought the divorce agreement to you, or that she’d told you I was marrying someone else.”

“I know.” Now.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was Thalia? Were you afraid I’d believe her over you?”

“No. To be honest, that never occurred to me.”

“So these past few days, why not say ‘Thalia lied to me’? Why did you keep referring to her as ‘someone’ or ‘I heard’? Why protect her after what she’d done to you? To us?”

Wasn’t it obvious? “Because she’s your sister. I didn’t want to come between you.”

“And you’re my wife but that didn’t stop her from coming between us.” He wrapped his good arm around her and tucked her head beneath his chin. “Between Thalia with her lies and her videotape, and Jenkins stealing your letters…it’s enough to make you wonder if they were conspiring to keep us apart.”

She snuggled closer, enjoying being back in his embrace. Now that Thalia’s manipulations had been brought into the light, the lingering guilt of not telling Chad dissipated. She felt like she could fly. Or burst into song. Neither of which would be pretty. “Paranoia, party of two, your table’s ready.”

“Even paranoids have enemies.” Chad steered her to the stairs. “Think about it, Lauren. If Thalia hadn’t taken that video of us, Tom may not have taken the letters trying to save you from me. If I’d read even one of those, I would have hopped on a plane and gone after you and-”

She pulled back and placed a finger over his lips. “Sssh. You can drive yourself crazy thinking like that. We can’t change what’s already happened or what others do as much as we wish we could. We can only control our own actions.”

He touched his lips to her hair. “I know, but they kept me from the most precious thing in my life. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive them for that.”

“Give yourself time.” They had all the time in the world now and she planned on not wasting another second.

Neither of them spoke when she took his hand and led him upstairs and into the bedroom. No words were needed as they undressed each other. Or when their lips touched. Or when he lowered her onto the bed, rolling beneath her, letting her take charge just the way he’d promised earlier.

Taking care not to touch his shoulder, Lauren stretched over his body and reclaimed his mouth. The outside world disappeared until only the two of them existed, filled with their languid explorations of each other, with gentle touches and soft sighs. Time slowed and stretched as if they’d never been apart.

When she could hold off no longer, Lauren positioned herself over Chad and bore down, taking him into her body an inch at a time. They both exhaled when their hips touched. His eyes dark, Chad caressed her breast, touching her reverently, carefully, as if she might shatter. She met his gaze, quickly losing herself within his deep gray depths.

The desire and passion of the very first time they’d made love flooded Lauren’s soul. It twined itself around her heart and held fast.

With a light touch to her back, he drew her down until one nipple hovered above his mouth. When his lips closed over the sensitive bud, the sensation streaked through her and down to her pussy as if she’d been struck by lightning. His hands smoothed over her belly, following its path, his fingers finding her clit, pleasuring her until she could stay still no longer.

Whenever she started to speed up, he slowed her down. He stroked and suckled and teased until her whole body was quivering, heated until she was sure she would spontaneously combust. A simple touch of his thumb to her clit triggered an orgasm that shattered her into a thousand pieces of pure sensation.