“Doing what?”
“Playing a game.”
“Exactly what kind of game?” Beck tried not to sound as suspicious as he felt. Seth had never explicitly admitted his kink, but the fact he leaned toward consensual non-con hardly thrilled Beck.
“Well…” She glanced up at him with a wide grin. “Seth dressed me in this tiny little apron and the shoes you bought me in Vegas, then we pretended I was his servant. I couldn’t do anything well enough to please him.”
Beck scowled. “And I suppose he punished you?”
“He did. A lot.” And she sounded terribly happy about that. “On my knees, on my back… He could do anything he wanted to me, and I couldn’t stop him.”
Forced servitude and non-con? Oh, that fucker had some explaining to do…
“Sounds like a blast.” Beck tried not grit his teeth, tried not to let her hear the bubbling fury.
“Hey.” Heavenly gently splashed him. “I enjoyed it, just like I enjoyed tonight with you.”
Beck didn’t care. He still didn’t like the sound of that. But no sense in picking his fight with her. “Stand for me.”
She took the hand he offered and he helped to her feet. He swallowed a groan as the white bubbles slid off the crimson welts adorning her pert ass. He traced his fingertips over the raised lines, loving the way she shivered and moaned, before he bent and skimmed butterfly kisses across his marks.
Finally, he stood and scraped his teeth over her shoulder before reaching for a stack of towels. After shaking the terry cloth open, he squeezed the water from her hair, then twisted it on top of her head before plucking up another to dry her body, carefully patting her backside.
Beck quickly toweled off and drained the tub before taking a seat at the vanity, where he lifted Heavenly onto his lap. Her eyes slid shut, a sated smile curling her lips. He watched her reflection in the mirror while he brushed and blow-dried her long, pale hair, enjoying the way she completely gave herself over to him.
Heavenly was nearly asleep when he lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed. “Sweet dreams, little girl.”
She mumbled something and drifted off. Then Beck loped downstairs and started pacing, wondering when that cocksucking PI was coming home so they could have it out.
* * *
Thursday, April 18
At just before five a.m.,exhaustion tugged at Seth as he slid the key into the front door and turned the lock. All he wanted was to peel off his clothes and fall into bed. After a long damn night, he’d finally captured the evidence he needed. His client wasn’t going to be happy that his wife was, in fact, cheating on him. The guy would probably be surprised to learn her lover was another woman. But that wasn’t Seth’s issue. He’d done his job.
Pausing in the kitchen, he pulled a notepad and pen from the drawer and quickly jotted a to-do list for Heavenly. He’d been texting one to her every day since their night alone. So far, she blossomed under his structure. She definitely behaved as if she was less anxious. He’d even seen her relax after finishing her homework.
Quietly, he climbed the stairs. At the top, he flipped on the hall light and peered into the bedroom, expecting to see Beck and Heavenly curled up in slumber. Or maybe enjoying an early-morning quickie he could join before the doctor left to make his rounds.
But when he glanced inside the room, he stopped dead in his tracks because that wasn’t what he saw.
The hall light above cast a bright-white glare on Heavenly’s ass, which had been pale and unmarred before he’d left for work. He ought to know; he’d cozied up to it not long before he’d gone. Now it was a mottled red, lined with angry welts from hip to hip, and from the upper swells of her ass all the way past her sit spots.
What. The. Fuck.
Anger, white and hot, exploded in his veins. “That motherfucking son of a bitch. I leave for one goddamn night, and he goes all sadist on her.”
Hands curling into fists, Seth bent closer to get a better look. Heavenly’s skin wasn’t broken—thank god for small favors—but that was the only damage Beck hadn’t managed to do. Cocksucking asshole.
At the sound of the shower running, Seth turned his head. Good, the prick hadn’t left yet. While Seth hadn’t come home intending to send the doctor to the hospital via ambulance, now it would be a fucking miracle if Beck’s morning didn’t end with two broken legs, internal bleeding, and a black-and-blue face.
Stewing, visions of assault dancing in his brain, Seth crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
A few minutes later, Beck stepped from the bathroom. Seth met him with a furious scowl. He managed to contain his urge for violence—barely—and jerked a nod toward the hallway. They were going to have some harsh words and probably some bloodshed, but not near Heavenly.
Beck raised a brow at him, mouth flat and mute, before he paused at the dresser mirror to adjust the already impeccable knot on his tie.
Seth clenched his jaw. He didn’t appreciate the surgeon fucking with him on top of all the shit he’d done to Heavenly. The bastard was just digging his own grave…