by Livia Grant
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgment:
About The Author
Blessed Betrayal
Copyright © 2015 by Livia Grant
Cover art by: Go On Write
Formatting by: Sweet 'N Spicy Designs
Editor: Jim the Brit
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America
Livia Grant
http://www.liviagrant.com/
BLESSED BETRAYAL
By Livia Grant
Blurb
Calista Bennett was supposed to be living happily ever after with her handsome husband, Kevin. But underneath the perfect exterior of their marriage lays an ugly truth Cali can’t admit to anyone.
Across town, Nicholas Mikos’ marriage isn’t going much better. When Veronica had shown up on his doorstep with the most wonderful secret years before, he’d planned their own HEA. Now years later, he feels his marriage slipping away and is helpless to stop it.
In one moment, all of their lives come crashing together, changing life forever. Has the universe conspired to bring two people together who deserve to be happy, or will fate deliver a final blow, sentencing them to a lifetime of sorrow? Can true love rise out of the ashes of the ultimate betrayal?
Dedication
What a privilege it is to be part of the talented group of authors who make up the Erotic Collective. Rarely do people get to be a part of such a supportive group of friends spread across the globe, tied together by our love of writing. Thanks as well to MJ, editor extraordinaire. A special thanks to Sophie and Myra who helped me set goals and then pushed me to achieve them.
Author's Warning
There is one sexual scene early in this book that has dubious consent. If such material is a trigger for you, you may want to pass on chapter one.
The worst part of having the person who betrayed you die is they can’t see how happy you are after they’re gone.
CHAPTER ONE
"I'm sorry, Cali. I know it isn't what you wanted to hear, but the test was negative."
Her hopeful apprehension morphed to dread. "Are you sure? Should we do another?"
Dr. Galloway smiled indulgently. "That won't be necessary. The tests are very reliable. I'm sure you took one at home as well, didn't you?"
"Yes." Her dejected reply was barely a whisper.
"Then you already know that taking it again would just be a waste." The OBGYN doctor wheeled his rolling stool closer to the exam table to pat Cali's knee in a fatherly way. "I know you and your husband are anxious to get your family started, but you're only twenty-four. You have plenty of time. We have a lot of options we haven't tried yet."
Cali struggled to hold back her tears. How could she tell her kind doctor how important it was for her to get pregnant?
He continued on with his instructions. "I think it's time for us to do testing on your husband. Since we haven't found any smoking gun on your side of the equation, it's time to take a look at Mr. Bennett's sperm count and mobility. That will help me decide our next steps."
"I don't know about that, Dr. Galloway. Kevin is so busy with his job. He joined his father's law firm last year and is working crazy hours. I doubt he can come in for an appointment." Cali didn't know how to tell the good doctor that her husband had made it very clear that giving him an heir was her responsibility and the only help he planned on contributing to the process was a 'daily hard fuck'. The array of bruises scattered across her body were proof he was living up to his hard promise.
Calista trembled as she realized her temporary veil of protection had fallen with the negative test result. Kevin was more gentle with her during the weeks of the month she might be in the process of forming a fragile new life. For the last year, each month the results were negative, he not only deemed it his responsibility to punish her for failing him yet again, but he then proceeded to make up for lost time. The next two weeks of her life were going to be hell.
No. She couldn't tell the kind doctor that.
"What would he have to do?"
The doctor got a wolfish grin. "Us men have it pretty easy, to be honest. You poor women get poked and prodded with all kinds of needles and drugs. Your husband just needs to come in and give us a deposit of his sperm. He'll have a private room and will be able to bring along reading or viewing material he might need to help. All in all, the men have it pretty good in this deal."
How right he was. "Okay, I'll talk to him about it."
"Sounds good. Keep your chin up. We've done a lot of tests and I see no reason why you can't get pregnant. It's gonna happen when the time is right and not a minute before."
She forced a smile to hide her growing sense of dread. "Thanks again, doctor. I'll see you next time."
As Calista redressed, she said a small prayer that Kevin would be in a good mood when he got home today. He'd been out of town on business the last two days. Since passing the bar exam, he had been working eighty hours a week or more and in truth, he was gone so much it made her life less stressful most of the time. Unfortunately, he still checked in at home often enough to dump his dirty laundry and contribute his duty to operation 'give me an heir.'
Sitting at a stop light on the drive home, Cali once again questioned why she stayed with her husband. He had changed so much since they got married almost two years before. He had always been dominant... demanding. The problem was he'd begun to take the definition of dominant to a whole new level. Cali used to think of herself as a submissive. Lately, she felt more like a well-worn doormat.
Cali was just doing a final check of her make-up in the large vanity mirror when she heard the garage door opening one floor below. She had taken extra care in her preparations for tonight's Bennett, Bennett & Moore post-holiday party. She knew how important it was to her husband.
She may not have understood why Kevin had singled her out when they'd met during her senior year at the University of Virginia, but she certainly knew now. Cali had been flattered when the president of the university's most prominent law organization had set his sights on her. As a final year law student, he had been charming, sweeping her off her feet with gifts, assurances of love and romantic gestures.
Now a few years later, she knew what a mistake she had made believing a single word he'd said. He had made it abundantly clear after she had said her 'I do's' that she was his showpiece. His grandfather and father were managing partners in one of Washington D.C.'s most prestigious law firms specializing in international tax law. The fact that Kevin had the last name Bennett had assured her husband a top spot at the large firm straight out of law school. It also meant that she was married to a man who had unlimited resources to make her life a living hell should she try to leave him. She ought to know. She had tried. Just once, a year ago. She'd learned first-hand that as ugly as it was being marr
ied to him, trying to leave him was worse.
Cali had been lost in thought, missing his arrival in their master suite. She caught his reflection in the mirror as he stood in the doorway. Her stomach churned at the sight of his predatory glare that reminded her of a hunter, about to pounce on his prey.
"You are as gorgeous as ever, my dear. I see you took my advice and wore red." His words may be complimentary, but they didn't distract Cali from the danger just under the surface of his handsome exterior. He had proven his mood changed on a dime.
"Of course I wore red. I didn't think it was a suggestion, but rather an order."
He took deliberate steps closer, never taking his eyes from her reflection. "Of course it was an order, but an obedient wife wouldn't be so crass as to point that distinction out. I keep warning you, Calista. You are being groomed. You're not going to hear other partner's wives talking in that tone tonight. You'd do well to watch and learn, my dear."
He had stepped up behind her as she sat at the make-up mirror, resting his manicured hands on her bare shoulders. His touch was deceivingly gentle. She never forgot how hard those hands could turn when he was angered, which was why she had made it her new life's mission to keep him as happy as possible. Just like a good little wife.
"Yes, sir. I'll remember that."
"You do that. What a shame. It looks like you're almost ready. I had hoped to fit in a little exercise before we left for the party."
She hated to exercise with her husband. It was his code word for delivering her 'daily hard fuck'. She had hoped he would delay at least until after the party if she was already dressed.
"I wanted to be ready when you got home. I know how much you hate to be late."
"How thoughtful of you." His steely blue eyes were cooling. "And here I am thinking it was because you didn't want to tell me the results of your appointment this afternoon."
Cali's heart was thundering so hard she felt the pounding in her ears. She was frozen with panic, made worse as Kevin's hands slid from her shoulders to circle her throat, slowly constricting until she had to fight for her next breath. She pushed against the marble counter top in a feeble attempt to free herself from his grip, but he pressed her forward, making her thrashing futile. Her husband cut off her airflow until she began to see stars, finally releasing her while leaning down to whisper menacingly into her ear. "You are such a disappointment to me, Calista."
Cali gasped, filling her lungs with precious air, hating the tears streaming down her cheeks from the exertion. Trails of dark mascara marred the reflection of the beautiful woman with long black hair staring back at her from the mirror.
His quiet rage was simmering hotter. "I only ask one thing of you. I plucked you out of poverty and gave you the life of a princess. Yet, you insist on keeping that ridiculous job teaching other people's children when what you should be focused on is providing me with the child I need to fulfill the requirements in my grandfather's will. He hasn't been well and I'm going to hold you responsible if the old man kicks it before I have time to claim my share of the pie with an heir."
Fear helped her fight down the urge to remind him she was trying to create a baby, not an heir. "I was disappointed too, Kevin. I was late this month and I really did think we had a chance." Cali should have stopped there. She didn't. "Dr. Galloway wants you to make an appointment to come in to be tested as well. He needs your test results to decide what the next course of action should be."
Cali knew immediately she had made a grave error. Kevin's blue eyes had turned to ice, venom flowing from them. "How dare you blame me for this, you bitch. You have one fucking job in this marriage and when you can't get it done, you decide to put the blame on me?"
"No... that's not... I mean it's just... " Her voice was quavering. "It's a formality, that's all. The doctor does this with all couples who have problems conceiving."
He wasn't placated. "Like I have time to go in to be poked and prodded. I'll be damned if I'm going to turn into a pin cushion because you can't do your job."
She wanted to scream that everyone knew it took two to create a child, but she wisely kept that retort to herself. "He promised you wouldn’t be poked or prodded. It's easy for the men. You'll just need to give a sperm sample."
"Ah, is that all? I just need to go jack off behind some lame curtain like a lab rat? Well, no thanks. I provide sperm samples each and every day I fuck you. In fact, I missed a day yesterday. I think you need a reminder of exactly how frequently I have provided sperm samples in this marriage."
She should have been prepared, but she hadn't expected things to escalate so quickly. Kevin gripped her biceps in a vice grip and yanked her to her feet just long enough to smash her body forward. She was sprawled across the marble counter top, smashing her forehead against the oversized mirror. Cali squeezed her eyes closed, trying to shut out the vision of her husband's icy eyes as she felt him flipping the skirt of her dress over her back just before he ripped the lacy underwear from her body. He insisted she wear stockings and garter belts with skirts so she was now bare.
It only took him a few seconds to fumble with his zipper before she felt his hard erection spring free. It was inside her in one hard thrust. She was grateful she'd been careful to lube both her pussy and ass thoroughly after her shower. She had learned the hard way to make sure her body was prepared at a moment's notice to take Kevin's punishing cock.
She tried so hard to hold back the scream, but failed miserably. His responding chuckle reminded her she was married to a sadist.
As he set a fast pace, Cali's fight turned internal. As much as her brain hated what he did to her and how he made her feel, there was no denying her body betrayed her time and again. Kevin liked to use the natural lubrication flowing copiously from her body as proof that she actually liked to be treated like his punching bag. Cali may have started to hate her husband, but she hated her own body more.
He fucked her like a machine, pistoning her to her first humiliating climax. She lay limp across the counter, receiving all he gave her, his ridiculing laughter only raising her humiliation. She was too lost in her orgasmic fog to recognize the few second intermission in the action. The piercing pain of his fleshy weapon shoved balls-deep in her lubed rectum consumed her. She barely made out his grunting words. "Lucky you lubed yourself. This would have hurt like a bitch if you'd forgotten."
Cali lay boneless, receiving her hard fuck of the day, knowing it was unfortunately early enough that there was a good chance he might go for round two when they got home from the party. She had learned the trick to surviving this particular exercise was to relax into it. Her husband had grabbed her hips, gripping her hard enough that she was sure he was leaving fresh bruises over the faded ones from past exercise sessions.
They were in a race. Her body was beginning to betray her again. She couldn't fight him, but she went to work, waging a war against herself, trying desperately to hold back her orgasm, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of dragging it from her. He didn't play fair. He leaned down and pressed his chest to her back. She wasn't fooled into thinking he wanted the added intimacy of their sweaty skin caressing each other. No. He only did this so he could reach her clit with his left hand. He wasn't trying to bring her satisfaction. Rather, humiliation as her body exploded into another strong climax. He joined her a minute later, collapsing on her, almost cutting off her breath again.
He added salt to her wounds as she lay recovering. "That's the only good thing about you not being pregnant. We have a few weeks before I need to start making deposits in your pussy again. I do love taking this ass of yours. It's nice and tight, just the way I like it."
He pulled out as abruptly as he had inserted, slapping her ass with his open palm while stepping away from her. "I'm gonna take a shower. Put yourself back together. We'll leave in thirty minutes."
He didn't wait for her answer. He didn't need to. He knew she was too afraid to do anything but what he asked.
CHAPTER TWO
&
nbsp; Nick pulled his BMW into the cramped carport of The Jefferson Hotel. Just a few blocks north of the White House, the hotel was one of the most prestigious in the city. The stately doorman opened his door, welcoming them to the historic property. Nick looked over the employee's shoulder to see a homeless man propped up against the building across the street. The man was shivering in the freezing cold January evening. The dichotomy of wealth and poverty were never far from each other in this part of town.
Nick circled the car, stopping to assist his wife from the low riding vehicle. He had offered to drive the family van so she would be more comfortable, but she'd looked at him as if he were from Mars.
We can't show up to a Bennett, Bennett and Moore event in a van, Nicholas.
He took his wife's elbow as he moved them to the door held wide by yet another employee. Only now did he recognize Veronica was in a fur coat he had never seen before. Between the coat, designer dress and new shoes, he wondered how much tonight's free dinner was costing him.
They made their way through the elegant lobby and past cozy seating areas where some of the country's numerous back-door business deals had been cut over a cocktail and cigar.
The overt opulence turned Nick's stomach. It was an in-his-face reminder of the cultural philosophy of the law firm he had been employed at for the eight years he had been a lawyer. Now was not the time for him to reflect on how he had ended up at this point in his career, questioning everything he had been fighting for. He had mistakenly thought working for the largest international law firm in the nation's capital might afford him the chance to help those less fortunate around the globe. Instead, he more often found himself representing those who would exploit the most helpless of the world.
If it weren't for his wife, he would have left years before. Appearances and status symbols ruled Veronica's life and he was under no disillusion. If he left BB&M to work at one of the many non-profit global organizations he longed to represent, he was certain his marriage would be over. If he only had himself to worry about, he might take the chance of going it alone. He didn't want to put his baby girl through an ugly divorce. Although, if things kept on the declining trajectory at the firm, he might not have a choice soon.
