He teased the bud, but her hand on his wrist stopped him. “I want to give you release,” he said.
“No, I don’t want you to.”
Wayne stared at her in shock. His fingers lay on her clit, not moving. “I want to give you this pleasure.”
“I don’t want you to, Wayne. You’re keeping something from me. I can feel it.”
“Let me give you this. Please.” He begged. This was his last chance to watch her come apart.
She shook her head. Tears fell from her eyes. Wayne pulled his hand away pulling her close. He wrapped his arms around her.
The connection between them had been broken, and he was the cause. He held her in his arms hoping he was wrong. She fell asleep without any sobs escaping her. He felt her silent tears on his chest. The pain pierced his soul at the depth of agony he’d caused. Tears fell from his own eyes. He kept her in his arms throughout the night.
Wayne kissed her temple, and when the sun came up he pulled out of her arms. Her father had the two youngest kids for the night while Blake was staying at a friend’s. He knew she’d be alone in the morning, but he needed to do this now while he still had the strength.
He stared down at the woman he’d fallen in love with all those years ago. Her body and face hadn’t aged a day. She looked so content and beautiful. The tracks from her tears distracted him from his thoughts. He didn’t bother to grab his clothes. There were enough items in his penthouse down town in the city.
In his office he sat down and wrote a letter detailing what he intended to do. He spoke of his love and then placed it near the kettle in the kitchen. It was the only place he could bear to see her read it. He left the house then put a call through to Richard.
“Hello,” Richard said. His friend sounded annoyed.
“It’s Wayne. I just wanted to warn you that I’m going through with it today.”
“Are you serious?” Richard asked. There was the sound of movement over the line.
“Yes. I think Lily will phone Scarlet. Will you meet me afterwards at my old penthouse apartment?” Wayne asked.
“Yes,” Richard said.
There was silence between them. Wayne felt his friend’s disapproval all the way from where he lived uptown.
“We’ll wait for her call,” Richard said before hanging up.
Wayne pulled out the driveway without looking back.
He knew he was making the right decision. He had to be.
Chapter Three
Lily woke up to silence. She opened her eyes and blinked against the morning sunshine pouring in from the open curtains of the window. After a stretch she got out of bed. She saw her negligee on the floor and put it on, then went in search of Wayne. When she knocked on his office door and got no answer she pushed it open to see the room was empty. She went through each room discovering it didn’t have Wayne. Frowning, she saw his car was gone and decided he’d popped out early.
After brushing her hair with the brush she kept by the hall mirror, she went in search of the kettle. She knew Wayne loved his coffee, but she’d turned into more of a tea woman in the years since they’d married. The coffee still turned her stomach after all the kids.
She went to the kettle and saw a letter with her name on laid up against it. A smile broke free. Wayne loved to leave her letters. She loved reading them. Once she filled the kettle, she made herself a cup of tea so she’d be able to enjoy what he’d written.
The moment her tea was made she took it to the dining room then opened the letter. She began reading, and her whole world came apart.
Dearest Lily,
First, I want to say that I love you with all of my heart. You have my love forever. My love for you is not disputable. It causes great pain for me to have to say this, but I feel I’ve taken something away from you. I blackmailed you into marriage, and now it is time for me to set you free.
What I did was unfair. I wanted you, and I did everything in my power to take you. For that, I am sorry. I’ll be in touch with a lawyer soon. You can have everything your heart desires, Lily. I want you to be happy. This has nothing to do with anything other than a man with a guilty mind. I was called the Beast, and with you I don’t want to be anything but the man you love. A beast is not what I want for you.
I hope with time you can forgive me.
Wayne
Tears poured from her eyes. The pain latched on to every sensitive cell inside her body and refused to let go. She didn’t know what to do or how to explain what was going on. Lily had known something was wrong with him. She didn’t think it had anything to do with him leaving her.
She reached for the phone. There was no way she could make sense of this letter. She dialled Scarlet’s number. Lily was shocked by her answering on the first ring.
“Lily, is that you?” Scarlet asked.
“You know?” The sob broke from her lips.
“I’m coming over.”
“He told you? When?”
“I’m coming to see you, Lily. We’ll talk then.” Scarlet hung up.
Lily glanced down at her sexy negligee. She hated it. Running up the stairs she ran into the bathroom and vomited in the toilet. Her body felt numb. She couldn’t think clearly. Nothing made any sense.
Once she’d flushed the toilet, brushed her teeth, she walked back into the bedroom. Lily couldn’t look at the bed. There were too many memories that hurt too much. She changed in a pair of jeans and a black shirt before moving down the stairs and waiting for her friend.
Half an hour later Scarlet was knocking on her door. Lily answered the door and saw Richard stood behind Scarlet. He stared at her with pity in his eyes.
They both escorted her into the sitting room. Lily sat on the floor unable to bear sitting on any of the furniture. The sofa where Richard and Scarlet sat was where she’d cuddled up to Wayne as he read her a story or where they watched the television together. In both chairs they’d made love. So many memories that were tearing her apart.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“He called, Richard this morning,” Scarlet sat down on the floor in front of her. Lily looked over her head at Richard.
“You knew before then?”
Her friend’s husband looked uncomfortable. “He mentioned something last night. I didn’t think he’d go through with it.”
Tears poured out of her eyes. “He’s feeling guilt for what happened back then. I don’t understand. I love him and forgave him for all that. It’s Christmas. What am I supposed to do?” Lily asked.