Chasing Heartbreak by Kat T. Masen
KATE
The bombshell explodes in what should’ve been this idyllic moment.
We spent the last few hours satisfying our own selfish needs in the sanctity of this hotel room. No one knows where we are, what we’re doing, and that’s how it has been for the last three years.
Whenever Dominic visits Paris, the trips are always short. His sole purpose for traveling was always due to business, leaving very little time for our rendezvous.
Never did I question nor demand more of his time. Dominic is correct in presuming I need sex without the additional strings. It suits my lifestyle, and we made sure from the beginning that boundaries were set and clear.
No one asked for more, and no one got hurt.
Between work, and well, work, I don’t have time for a relationship nor commitment. My sexual needs are pretty much satisfied by him, and what goes on in his life isn’t of my concern, just as he has no interest in mine.
But now, reality hits our bubble, the threat to burst too dangerous even to consider.
Of course, things aren’t working with his wife. He married her under false pretenses. Allegra’s father is a very wealthy man, and marrying her made good business sense. He needed capital, so attached to that came strings. Yes, she’s beautiful, and between them they make an attractive couple, but looks can be deceiving.
Allegra travels the world with her girlfriends, staying in luxurious hotels while being pampered, spending copious amounts of money on brands and labels from sheer boredom. Their marriage is built on paper agreements, a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. An opinion I’ve always kept to myself.
Yet now he has the audacity to tell me it isn’t working? What the hell am I supposed to say? Of course, it’s not working. You’re fucking me on the side twice a year.
“I’m sorry.” Feeling vulnerable, I distance myself and pull the sheet over my exposed breasts. “Marriage is complicated.”
I regret my words immediately. What advice can I give on marriage? It isn’t something I desperately need like everyone else. More so, it looks like hard work. And why should being in a relationship with someone be hard work?
I think of excuses to leave the room. Maybe an important business call may suffice.
“I may have an opportunity to visit more often soon,” he continues, much to my detriment.
And the aftershock continues, rattling everything we have built between us. A mutual agreement to have sex when he visited, and that was it.
No, I miss you.
No sentiments whatsoever.
Around Dominic, I treat him like a business associate with respect but keep my personal feelings aside. The last time I opened my mouth, I got burned and barely recovered. The lesson learned to take the good and ignore the bad.
He shuffles, so he’s sitting completely upright, crossing his arms as if angered by my silence. “You’re not saying anything?”
“Dominic, what would you like me to say?”
“I’d like to know what you think about me spending more time in Paris?”
“I think you have a wife back in the States who would probably have a problem with that unless, of course, you end your marriage.”
These talks always ruin the moment and burst the so-called bubble I had blown around this forbidden relationship of ours. Beside me, I can see his body tense from the nature of the conversation, although he raised the topic, not me.
“You want me to end my marriage?” he questions, though his harsh tone makes it more of a statement.
I slide up, sitting against the headboard to gain control of my thoughts. “I don’t want anything, Dominic. We made a deal. What happens in Paris stays in Paris. I don’t ask questions about your life, and you don’t ask about mine. We both get what we want, and that’s it.”
“But what if I want more?”
“You don’t know what more is…” I trail off, steering him off uncharted territory, which only leads to one thing—heartbreak.
“I know I want you, like this.”
His hands trace my collarbone, and as my eyes begin to close, my heart starts racing preparing myself for what he’s about to do. With Dominic, our relationship is purely physical. He satisfies me in ways no man has ever done. From the very first moment I met him, I knew I was attracted to him, but I didn’t realize how deadly that attraction could be and how it changed me in ways I never imagined.
Dominic made his intentions clear from the beginning, and he knew exactly what I needed.
Sex, no attachments, the whole reason for why he’s a successful entrepreneur. He knows exactly how to give people what they never knew they wanted.
And I’m no different. I want to give in to my desires, but now he wants more.
The four-letter word destined for trouble.
***
I sit on the edge of the bed, fastening the ankle strap on my heels. My muscles are tender and sore—hours spent on this bed being devoured by a man who just mentioned leaving his wife. All of which becomes a distant memory overshadowed by multiple orgasms.
“Kate, can we talk some more about this?”
From a man who hardly converses unless it’s about a sexual act, this sudden need to open up this closed channel between us comes as quite a surprise but not a pleasant one at that.
Things are fine this way, I want to tell him.
Four years ago, I wanted more—a relationship.
The attachment had consumed me and became a problem, landing me in more trouble than I ever dreamed of—the ill-fated threesome in his club, to the pregnancy scare. I had what felt like zero control over my life. All of which I’d rather forget ever happened.
And from the very first night when he showed me his secret hidden life, he claims to have known exactly what I needed, and he was right. I enjoy my work. I want sex, and being unattached gives me the freedom to live my life how I please.
I don’t need more.
Standing, I place the coat over my shoulders, running my arms into the sleeves while he sits up in bed observing me with a persistent gaze. His perfectly sculpted torso is exposed, making it hard for me to concentrate or resist the temptation to climb back into bed with him.
“Dominic, we agreed on nothing more,” I forcefully remind him.
I quickly check the time on my phone, noting I only have two hours to dash home, shower, and change before meeting with a client even though it’s Saturday. “I have to be somewhere.”
Searching on the nightstand, I make sure I have my purse and didn’t leave anything behind before he shifts off the bed and stands before me, completely naked. Taking a deep breath, I try to ignore how he towers over me, staring into my eyes like I’m the prey to his hunger. I dare not look below, knowing full well he’s erect and ready to retake me to prove a point.
“I have to go. I can’t be late for this meeting,” I reiterate while trying to keep my hands from touching his chest.
Taking a step back to leave the room, he shuffles quickly and latches onto my wrist before pulling me into him for a deep kiss. His tongue is forceful and steeped in passion, igniting the flame within me I have tried to control. But this time, it feels different. Perhaps, it’s the exact same kiss as always. Only now, my emotions are torn between his need to become more intimate and the possibility of what we could be because he wants out of his marriage.
The thought alone terrifies me, giving myself to him completely. The scar still remains, though hidden in the shadows and never truly leaving me.
Pulling away, I catch my breath before pushing him back. “I’ll call you later.”
I don’t look into his eyes nor turn back as I move closer to the exit. When I finally shut the door behind me, I take a deep breath to gain some composure.
Dominic is a mastermind when it comes to women. Perhaps, this is a game he plays while bored in his marriage. I’m not about to lose nor risk everything I have worked hard for.
I have to control my thoughts, not allow them to wander to a place that should never exist.
He may have rolled the dice, enticed me to play, but I’ll be damned if I get hurt in the process. There’s only one thing to do, despite my reluctance to do so.
The affair must end.
And I’ll make damn well sure it happens tonight.