“I’m sorry,” I gasped out.
But it wasn’t good enough. Ten more slaps came in rapid succession.
He prompted me again. “Who put his hands on you?”
I shook my head, refusing to let the name slip past my lips. Tears dislodged, wetting my cheeks and dripping from my nose to the floor beneath my head.
So, Joseph kept going. I squirmed, screaming and trying to get away from his large hand. But it was of no use.
I full-on sobbed, weeping harder than I’d ever wept before. I just kept apologizing like a mantra. When I started choking on my tears, Joseph stopped. He pulled me up against him and rubbed soothing circles on my back.
“Are you ready to be my good girl and tell me who hurt you?” Joseph murmured into my ear as I cried into his neck. “I already know, but I want you to say it. Tell me what happened. Say the name of the man who hurt you.”
“Logan and I got into an argument, and he snapped at me.” I whispered like a dirty secret. “It was my fault. I was egging him on. I should’ve known better.” I felt so sad. My heart was heavier than it had been in weeks. So much turmoil.
“Get those thoughts out of your mind. I like Logan. A lot. He was my male best friend. But he’s always been a loose cannon. It’s why I wanted you two to stay away from each other. But that wasn’t to be. So now we’re here—but not because I want Logan for myself. I don’t need Logan in my life—I am not obsessed with him the way you are. But I do needyouin my life. So if that means standing between you two until you all can resolve the toxicity that is your marriage, so be it. Because I have no problem controlling Logan on your behalf. So, I’m either in this with you, or I will have to remove Logan from our lives. Permanently.”
I shuddered at the darkness in Joseph’s tone. It made an odd bit of sense. I had been so blinded by jealousy that I couldn’t see that Joseph was doing something for me. He was protecting me. Just like he always did. Afterall, if he wanted Logan for himself, he could have already had him—long before I moved here.
“How can that be sustainable long term?” I was only asking what we both were thinking.
“I know it’s not conventional, baby girl. But we can make this work.”
I looked up to see Joseph offer me a smile in reassurance. My heart stopped aching and I reached up, grabbing the back of his head. Joseph lowered his lips to mine, and I saw fireworks from the brush of his lips. This wasn’t two friends comforting each other. No, this was a lover’sembrace.
I opened my mouth, allowing him further access inside of my body. I ground down on top of his throbbing yet constrained cock—hating the fabric that separated us. He’d been hard all through the spanking.
Without shame, I rubbed and grinded myself upon his clothed erection, reveling in the naughty sensations the friction produced. All the while, his tongue delved in and out my mouth, as I suspected he wanted to fuck my pussy.
In this moment, I wanted to him to fuck me as well. I wanted all the dirty promises his mouth offered to come to fruition.
“I need…I need—” I gasped into his mouth.
“I’ll give you what you need,” he growled.
Logan’s cold voice penetrated the heat we had created in the apartment. “What the fuck is going on here?”
Joseph caught me before I could fall off his lap, I was so startled. As he sat me upright, I realized what my husband was now seeing. Me nude as the day I was born on top of another man.
“Logan,” I tried covering myself up with my hands. “We didn’t hear you come in.”
“We, is it?” Logan walked further into the living room.
“What?” I snapped, sick of Logan trying to control me. “You can fuck him, but I can’t?”
“Is he what you want? You want Joseph all to yourself?”
Logan’s face gave nothing away. It was devoid of all emotion. “That wasn’t what I was said—”
Joseph cut me off. “Why does it have to be all or nothing? Can't she decide to be with both of us?”
“She’s my wife.Mywife, andshewants another man,” Logan growled.
“So do you,” I cracked back.
Then Logan laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant one. No, this was full of bitterness and self-loathing. “I just wanted something to pass the time with, but I’ll admit I was a bit curious.”
Logan looked towards Joseph with heat in his eyes, but all I saw was my best friend’s feelings hurt. I stood up, uncaring of my state of undress, and walked over to Logan until his eyes focused on me. When I saw I had his full attention, I hauled off and slapped him across the face as hard as I could.