Wreckless Intentions Read online

  “Please keep your distance,” Joe rumbled as Vlad approached, stepping in front of me to block the man’s path.

  “It’s no problem, I only wish to say hello to Mrs. Vidov,” said Vlad, causing me to stifle a giggle.

  Marie was right, he did sound uncannily like Dracula.

  “It’s alright Joe, I know who Vlad is,” I said from behind him.

  “Yes, as do I,” he responded coolly, still reluctant to move.

  After an awkward beat, he finally stepped slightly to the right, barely giving me enough room to step forward.

  “Mrs. Vidov, it’s a pleasure to see you again—and I see congratulations are in order,” Vlad said, gaze moving to my now flatter stomach.

  I hoped my smile looked genuine. “Thank you, Vlad. Also, thank you for taking care of our bill, that was very generous of you.”

  “It was my pleasure. How can I see a table of beautiful women having a meal and not pick up the check?” he said with a charming smile, assessing gray eyes making me feel uncomfortable.

  Vlad was actually an attractive-looking man, with straight white teeth and Nordic features. He was on the taller side; perhaps a shade just under six-feet, and he was athletically slim with not a lot of bulk. With his man-bun length blonde hair, thick eyebrows and piercing eyes, Vlad looked like trouble for any woman. However, there was a definite creep-factor there, he looked at me in a decidedly predatory way.

  “May I ask if you were blessed with a son or daughter?” he asked.

  “A son, named Roman.”

  “Ah…a son, Vidov must be a happy man, no?” he replied, confusing me as to whether it was meant as a question or a statement.

  “Uh, yes, he’s a proud father,” I answered anyway.

  “A beautiful wife and a new son, a man couldn’t ask for more. Only, that they stayed safe, perhaps.” His words sounded somehow out of place.

  “Mrs. Vidov will be on her way now, Vlad,” Joe said curtly.

  Thank God. I’d started to feel increasingly uncomfortable in the man’s presence.

  Vlad stepped back as Joe extended his arm to me and I gladly accepted. “Thank you again, Vlad, enjoy the rest of your night,” I told him before walking off.

  “Give Vidov my regards,” I heard him say behind us.

  Five

  C A M R Y

  Eyes snapping open to the darkened room, I lay blinking through the fog, listening, unsure of what had awakened me.

  It took a moment before it finally registered. Roman!

  Throwing back the covers, I scooted out of bed and hurried over to his portable crib; heart slamming in my chest when I was greeted with an empty space. Panicking, I pivoted and headed for the double doors that connected his room to ours—the ones we’d had installed as part of the nursery.

  When we returned from dinner a couple of hours ago, I had nursed Roman and fallen quickly asleep from exhaustion. I’d apparently slept through his crying.

  Entering the nursery, I rushed over to his crib only to be greeted with yet another empty bed. Calm down, Camry, Garland must be home, I told myself.

  Why I was panicking, I wasn’t sure. There could only be one reasonable explanation for Roman disappearing.

  But I knew, it was the guilt I felt from being away from him tonight. Also, just the guilt I felt in general. Ever since John, I haven’t been able to shake the ominous feeling of something terrible happening. Perhaps I was suffering from a form of PTSD.

  As I moved to exit the room in search of Garland, I heard the faint sound again, the unmistakable sound of my son. Stopping to listen, I cocked my head to the left, positive the noise had just come from our bedroom.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, I headed towards the door. Garland must have heard Roman fussing and had come to get him. How in the hell did I sleep through that? I must be thoroughly exhausted; God knows I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks.

  Pulling back one of the doors that lead to the balcony, I padded onto the tiles as not to startle them. Freezing in my tracks, I stood stock-still when I heard Garland speaking in a hushed voice; his back turned to me. From the position of his arms, I knew he held our son there.

  I listened carefully, wondering what he was saying. From the sing-song quality of his voice, I realized he was actually singing!

  Would miracles never cease?

  Surprised, I didn’t dare breathe as I strained to hear what he was singing, but couldn’t make out the words. I had never heard Garland utter a single tune before—not even in the form of a hum.

  Quietly, I took a couple of steps closer. I didn’t want to interrupt the moment, but I did want to hear my husband singing.

  I had to stifle the giggle wanting to burst forward.

  As the cadence of Garland’s voice became more clear, I realized the words of the song weren’t in English. Spanish perhaps? I remained rooted where I stood; listening and feeling my insides turning quickly to mush.

  My tough guy husband was lullabying his son.

  Roman let out a sound that I’d not yet heard him make; it wasn’t in the form of fussing or a prelude to crying. Intrigued, I took another step closer hoping to hear it again.

  “You liked that, huh? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Garland murmured to Roman in a soothing voice.

  I smiled, feeling like a voyeur interloping on their moment. Padding forward, I finally made my presence known.

  “Okay, who are you and what did you do with my real husband? Were you seriously just singing?” I asked with an adoring smile.

  Garland grinning down at me. “He was cranky, and I was desperate to soothe him.”

  “What were you singing?” I asked curiously.

  “Despacito,” he answered.

  I snorted a laugh. “Oh my God, that is not baby friendly. Were you singing Justin Bieber’s part?” I teased, unable to contain my laughter.

  “He didn’t like Itsy Bitsy Spider; I had to improvise,” Garland shrugged, looking smugly proud of himself.

  I stood on my toes to kiss him. “You are too damn cute, you know that? However, if my children start walking around the house speaking in languages I can’t understand, watch your back.”

  Garland laughed.

  He was already teaching Autumn words in Russian, now, he was singing songs in Spanish. I wasn’t about to download a damn Babble app just to be able to communicate with my children.

  “I can’t believe I slept through his crying, I must have been sleeping like the dead,” I said guiltily, caressing my son’s tiny sock-clad foot.

  “He wasn’t crying. I peeked into his bed to check on him when I got home, and he was lying there wide awake. I probably should have let him be, he didn’t get cranky until I brought him out here.”

  I looked at Roman, then back at him. “Uh, that’s probably because it’s at least eighty degrees out here and he’s wearing one-piece fleece pajamas,” I said, trying not to laugh.

  Men were so clueless, but he got points for trying.

  “Good point,” Garland grinned, looking down at Roman’s fully clothed body.

  It was chilly inside the house with the air conditioning continually running, but hot and humid out here. “Come on, let’s see if our darling son will nurse and go back to sleep. He didn’t sleep for very long, he should be tired,” I told him.

  G A R L A N D

  I turned my head in surprise when I heard the door opening behind me. Camry stepped inside the shower completely naked, a hesitant look on her face.

  Jesus.

  She blushed self-consciously as I ogled her naked body, but I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t seen her completely naked in fucking-forever. Not since before she birthed our son.

  But here she was, beautiful, sexy, and not pregnant.

  My cock rose instantly in greeting.

  “This is a pleasant surprise,” I murmured, turning to fully face her. “You’re as beautiful as ever, Camry, have you come to torture me with what I can’t have?”

  I
was maybe two seconds away from pouncing on her.

  “More like to torture myself,” she breathed; eyeing my erection.

  Stepping closer, Camry brushed her body against mine and wrapped her arms around my neck, then kissed me.

  I groaned, gripping the back of her hair with one hand and palmed her ass with the other.

  She had to realize she was unleashing a beast. We haven’t fucked in eons—in fact, the way she’d been avoiding me since Roman was born, I’d started to wonder if she’d ever let me touch her again. Something seemed to change this past week, though, she seemed to lower her guard and had been more affectionate.

  “What are you doing, witch?” I growled, pulling my mouth away from hers, “Do you have any idea how badly I want to fuck you against the wall right now?”

  The shit was torturous; I hoped she’d come to play because having blue-balls was no fun.

  “I’m sorry, this was probably a bad idea,” Camry said reluctantly, voice raspy with arousal.

  “You and I together naked is never a bad idea,” I told her, gripping her ass tighter.

  She sighed. “I know, but—it’s too soon. It’s just, I-I thought…” she murmured, words trailing off as she shook her head, face uncertain.

  “It’s just what, Camry? You didn’t think coming in here naked would make me want to fuck you? I always want to fuck you, naked or not.”

  She smiled up at me with a rueful look. However, the longer she stared at me, the more Camry’s smile gradually faded. I watched as her eyes clouded with a hint of sadness, as well as confusion.

  It was the same look I’d seen many times the past five weeks.

  Camry lifted a hand to my face and cradled my jaw, gently caressing it as if attempting to memorize its shape. Then, without warning, she slapped the hell out of me.

  Shit. The woman was a lot stronger than she looked.

  Momentarily stunned, I stood as still as a pole; eyes squeezed tightly shut as I breathed through the sting of her palm connecting with my face.

  Slowly opening my eyes, I gazed down at Camry; at the anger and tears swimming in her eyes, and wrapped her in my arms.

  I knew she was angry—knew that she’d been furious with me all this time. For the past five weeks, Camry has stayed silent, hadn’t mentioned once what happened, seemed intent on acting as if it didn’t happen. She pretended to be normal, but she wasn’t the same.

  Camry was distant, she often looked at me as though I were a stranger whenever she thought I wasn’t paying attention. I tried giving her time and space. That might not have been the best approach.

  “Did you get that out of your system?” I asked, squeezing her closer and brushing a kiss to her temple.

  She nodded her head in answer, indicating that she had.

  “Want to talk about it?” I asked again, rubbing a caressing hand across her back.

  Camry remained silent, arms tightening around my waist and face buried into my chest as she bawled. I let her cry it out. And it tore me apart to know that I was the cause of it.

  When she stopped crying several minutes later, Camry finally lifted her eyes to meet mine. I saw both resolve and remorse.

  “I’m sorry I hit you—I-I’ve never struck anyone in my life,” she apologized, fingers coming up to caress the skin they’d just assaulted.

  I braced myself, hoping she wasn’t about to strike me again. I’d give her only two of those.

  “I love you Garland, but, I-,” she paused, as if unsure of her words, head shaking back and forth as though warring with whatever she wanted to say. After breathing a resigned sigh, Camry lifted sad eyes to mine and said, “I don’t think I can handle any more of your truths. So, please, the next time I demand you tell me some shit you know I don’t really want to hear, fucking lie to me!”

  I stared at her like she was crazy. How in the hell was I supposed to respond to that? Women are fucking nuts.

  “I came in here tonight because I wanted to be with you—wanted to feel close to you again. I-I wanted you to hold me and assure me that everything would be okay with us…” Camry whispered, eyes searching out mine.

  “Everything will always be okay with us, sweetheart. The day we married, I promised my sole purpose on earth would be making you happy. That included protecting you. Until my dying breath, that’ll never change,” I said fiercely, refusing to apologize for it.

  I would do any-damn-thing for Camry. If that meant killing a hundred asshole McKellan’s, so be it.

  “I’ve been so confused—not knowing what to do or how to feel,” she murmured, a look of bewilderment washing over her face. “I-I can’t understand why every time I look at you, my heart still squeezes painfully with love instead of the aversion my conscience keeps insisting on.”

  Pushing her back against the glass of the shower, I crushed my mouth to hers. I missed this, missed us. It’s been two months since I was last inside of her; perhaps she needed reminding what that felt like. Maybe she needed a reminder of how absolutely perfect we were together.

  When Camry wrapped her arms around my neck and stuck her tongue inside of my mouth, I was done for. Palming her ass, I lifted her in my arms and forced her to wrap her legs around my waist.

  I stopped myself right before I pushed inside of her.

  “Fuucckk!!” I growled through tightly clenched teeth, emitting an agony-filled groan. I had forgotten just that quickly that she and I weren’t supposed to be fucking. Doctor’s orders.

  “Never, bring your naked body into the shower with me again unless you’ve come to give me a happy ending,” I growled, barely restraining myself.

  Fully-fucking-frustrated, I dropped my forehead to rest against hers as my breath came out in rapid, aggravated puffs.

  Camry giggled.

  I lifted my head to glare at her.

  “Marie wagered I’d be pregnant again in six to eight weeks,” she said on a laugh, “It’s looking more like five to six weeks.”

  That shit wasn’t funny.

  “I fail to see the humor in that when I’m standing here with blue-balls.”

  “I know—and I’m sorry,” she said with an apologetic smile. “Your self-control is admirable, because, I don’t honestly think I would have stopped you.”

  That’s just fucking great.

  Reluctantly, I lowered Camry back to her feet.

  She gave me a sympathetic look. “I’d love nothing more than for you to fuck me into next week; however, poor Dr. Schiller would be scandalized if I show up to my next appointment knocked up. So, thank you for that.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, I’m still considering scandalizing Dr. Schiller.”

  Camry sniffed a laugh.

  I wasn’t joking. A man could only take so much.

  “I want you too, except…it’s probably not a good idea just yet,” she sighed, eyes following her finger as she traced it down the middle of my chest to just below my navel.

  Cock tease.

  Gazing back up at me with fire in her eyes, Camry purred, “I’m not entirely cruel…so, prepare yourself, gorgeous, because I’m about to give you the best damn blowjob you’ve ever had.”

  Fuck yeah. I’ll definitely take one of those.

  With a slow, seductive smile, Camry’s eyes held mine as she lowered herself in front of me, palmed my dick, then swirled the tip of her tongue around its swollen head before taking it into her mouth.

  I must have died and gone to blowjob heaven. Best. Blowjob. Ever.

  C A M R Y

  That was dysfunctional as hell.

  I reflected on the previous night as I sat in Roman’s nursery rocking him to sleep after having just fed him.

  Everything that happened with Garland in the shower last night was as Bipolar as my postpartum hormones. My emotions were all over the place. How did we go from kissing to me slapping him, then crying, then wanting to fuck him before ultimately blowing him? That shit was nuts, though, not all that surprising. Garland tended to have that effect on me.
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  I don’t know what I thought when I got it into my head to join him in the shower. We hadn’t been intimate since I went into premature labor with Roman. Since the last blowjob, I gave him. It’s just; I wanted everything to go back to normal, to be the same as it was before. Pre-John.

  Realistically, I knew things would never be the same; knew that I would never be the same. But, I made my choice the day Roman was born. Now, I needed to finally make my peace with it and move on.

  I was trying damned hard to do that.

  If anything, though, last night proved absolutely nothing had changed between Garland and me; at least regarding out of control emotions and sexual impulses. My libido had been dormant for nearly two months, but that bitch was wide awake and roaring now.

  On that wry note, I rose carefully from the rocker as not to wake Roman and carried him over to his bed. After placing him gently on his back; I stood to gaze down at him, and felt my heart clench painfully in my chest. He was so beautiful, and tiny, and precious…and mine. He was also Garland’s. My heart clenched painfully in my chest when I looked at him as well.

  I shook my head, still not believing that I hit him. Now, if that isn’t crazy, I don’t know what is.

  After getting out of the shower last night, I laid awake at least another hour trying to figure that one out. Only, it didn’t need figuring out. I was angry. That’s what I’d felt in that moment. Anger. At Garland. For so many reasons.

  Mostly though, I was angry at him for making me compromise my morals and for making me have to live with it. Also, for making me love him despite it all.

  However, I knew I’d better get over it quickly. I’d made a lifelong bargain with the devil…and that devil was my husband.

  Six

  C A M R Y

  “You’re due to a fabulous post-pregnancy makeover and some sexy new clothes, put that credit card to use, woman!” Marie demanded from the back seat.