A Fragile Wife: Billionaire Romance (13 page)

“Perhaps if you want to save money, your husband should stop harassing his help.”

Inid sniffed. “You know how men are. They chase tail. Be grateful you don’t have kids. Ken wouldn’t think twice about straying from you if he saw you as a mother.”

“Inid,” Juliet said sternly, the first thing she said in twenty minutes.

Lana pursed her lips. Her sister never stood a chance against her. “It’s not kids that would do it, sweetie. It’s the fact you haven’t had a personality since you popped out the first kid.”

“Lana!”

Maybe this was why Juliet Losers was on so much Xanax – raising these two assholes she called daughters.
At least one is filthy rich and the other gave her grandchildren.
That’s all that mattered to a woman like her.

Lana didn’t have a chance for peace until later that evening, when she excused herself to go to bed. The next day was Christmas, and although some in-laws would be scattering to see other family in the area, most of the brood would be at the Losers Estate to exchange presents. Lana wished she could remember what she got anyone…

“…She’s going to lose her mind when she sees it.” Ken’s voice, in the library with his younger brother Travis. The two were always friends growing up, and things hadn’t changed now. If Ken were to have a private conversation with anyone at a family gathering, it was
him.
“Chloe is already in love.”

Lana stopped in the hallway.
Don’t listen, idiot.
That’s what her common sense said. Her gut? It made her stand outside that door, one ear completely open.

“Who’s Chloe?”

“The maid. Man, listen for once. That’s what I’ve been telling you this whole time.”

“You sly ass dog.

Ken laughed.”Don’t I know it.”

“Does Lana know about it?”

“Of course not. Would spoil everything.”

“And this from the man who says the secret to a successful marriage is being open about and sharing everything.”

“Trav, if I shared this with Lana, I may not
have
a successful marriage anymore.”

“Good luck with that. I mean it. You’re a crazy fucker, but good luck.”

Lana moved on to the bedroom.
I see.
Ken was definitely keeping
something
from her. Something to do with Chloe. That if Lana found out about it? May mean the end of her marriage.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed when Ken arrived, all smiles as he said a chipper good evening to his wife and disappeared into the bathroom. When he reemerged a few minutes later, he had his hand clasped around a black box with a red ribbon.

“I know it’s not quite Christmas yet,” he said, sitting next to Lana on the bed. “But I wanted to give you this away from family eyes.”

Detached from reality though she was, Lana took the box into her hands.
Jewelry.
The man had given her countless pieces of jewelry over the years. Earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets… watches. Barrettes. Hairpins. Even a pair of nipple clamps one year. Yet she always counted on it being a carefully selected piece that her husband thought out well ahead of time. He never bought her something for the sake of buying it, or because he didn’t know what else to get her. Like the finch pendant he gave her for her birthday. According to their mutual personal assistant, Lana’s husband bought it two months before her birthday when he came across it in a store and thought of her.

The man has thought of me that recently…

“Thank you,” she said graciously, pulling the ribbon off the box and popping the lid. “This is sweet of…”

She looked at a silver collar.

Then she looked at her husband.

“Go on. Take a closer look.”

He said it so easily, as if it were no big deal for a man to buy his wife a sub collar for Christmas. Well, perhaps in their marriage it wasn’t. For ten years they had been kinky to the max, after all.

Lana lifted the collar out of the box and inspected it. A simple, silver collar at first glance. Of course, the quality was superb. Nothing but pure silver, and a tiny chain for gentle tugging. This wasn’t a collar to wear for serious play. It was the kind of collar for her to wear to The Dark Hour. The highlight, however, was the inscription on the inside.

“My Bunny.”

Something swelled in Lana’s heart. Or maybe it was in her gut.

“I know it’s not much, darling,” Why was Ken sounding so apologetic? Not every woman could say she got this kind of treatment ten years into her marriage. Most women were lucky if their men threw diamond earrings at them ten years in. “But I wanted to get you something special. For us.”

He gently took the collar from her hands, unclasped it, and held it up to her neck. Lana pulled her hair aside and felt the snug collar enclose around her neck. “Thank you. It’s lovely.”

She knew what this meant. She doubted she was modeling her new present. Ken wouldn’t have given it to her
tonight
if he didn’t have something in mind.

“It looks good on you. How does it feel?”

“Fine.”

“What’s wrong?”

Damn him for being so intuitive. Briefly, Lana wished she had the kind of husband who didn’t know his wife from being sick to healthy. Someone like Inid’s no good husband. The bastard who also cheated on his wife. Seemed to be a running thread in life.

“I suppose I’m feeling a bit glum lately, Husband.”

“Why is that?” His frown almost warmed her heart over. “Is it the… you know…”

Hilarious! They could talk about cum and saliva and God knew how many other body functions without flinching or blushing, but Kenneth Andrews still couldn’t say “period” without tying his tongue in a knot. Men were hilarious when they weren’t infuriating. “I suppose. I miss you.”

“Miss me? Ah…”

He caught on quickly, especially since they had been sexually separated a lot longer than usual, but Lana knew he wasn’t connected to the full story. And now was not the time to bring up her paranoia and suspicions.

Even now, her brain was churning in excuses. Reasons that she was being paranoid and there was no reason to worry about her sweet, friendly husband turning on her and fucking the maid behind her back.

And if he was…

How many other women had he seduced without Lana’s presence or knowledge?

Sometimes it was more difficult than it was worth, being in the type of marriage she was. It was the only type of marriage she would accept, having the sexual appetite that she did.
A life without threesomes and swinging? Kill me.
Then there was the communication. That was the hardest part. Not communicating, but dealing with her partner’s whims and own desires. It wasn’t enough for Lana to say that she wanted to have a threesome with a man, and, oh, would her husband please suck the other man’s cock for her amusement? No. Ken had to be in the mood, or at least open to the suggestion. He had to like the same man that his wife did, especially if he were the one doing most of the interaction. He had to like anyone they chose to play with. He had to understand where his wife was coming from. He had to have the energy and wherewithal to say, “Yes, Bunny, let’s gang up on some lucky guy. Or girl. It doesn’t matter.”

Lana often told him stories about the years before they met. Her high school years. Her college years. Those glorious years of her mid-20s when she fucked any man who moved enough to satisfy her. Ken was not only the first man to keep up with her, but the first man to openly embrace the type of lifestyle and marriage she wanted.
I want a partnership. I want a husband. I want someone I can be a terror team with.
Someone she could always count on. Someone to always be by her side, even if other people came and went, as they always did.

They didn’t have long-term girlfriends or boyfriends on the side, and the mistress didn’t count. She was an amusement for them both to enjoy. No, what Lana meant was a truly polyamorous relationship, not swinging. Ken never asked about getting a girlfriend, and Lana was never interested in being serious with another man. Until now, it wasn’t even something she considered. Why would she
want
another man like that when she had her husband to fulfill all those needs? It sounded bothersome.

When Ken kissed her that Christmas Eve night, Lana felt both relieved and apprehensive. A part of her desperately wanted to make love. Slow, gentle love that would open her heart and reassure every part of her that worried… and that was a lot of parts.

Yet Ken wasn’t in the mood for slow, gentle love. His wife could tell that from the way he gripped her arms, possessively, his heavy kisses pushing her back toward the bed and overtaking her lithe frame. Yeah, he was about as in the mood for slow and sensual sex as Lana was in the mood to find out he was cheating on her.

Her husband being hungry enough to devour her should have been riveting. And yet here Lana Andrews was, wishing she wasn’t… as enthralled with the idea as he was.

“I missed you too,” he said into her ear, his breath so heavy that she almost shuddered to feel it. “I hope you’re feeling well enough to let me in tonight.”

Let me in.
They had many code words. Such words were necessary in the public sphere, where they loved to incessantly flirt and make plans for kinky times later on. In front of people who would be appalled to know it, no less.
Let me in
not only meant fucking her, but in the sort of way that most frequenters to The Dark Hour would be excited to watch.

“Kenny,” she said. “We can’t. This is my mother’s house. There are children down the hall.”

“So? You think I haven’t thought of that?” Ken chuckled, his hand going up her abdomen and brushing against her breasts.
Damn you both for responding to him so readily.
“I already knew I was going to ask you to be… shall we say… silent?”

Shivers went down Lana’s spine. Ah, her husband posed a challenge. The type of challenge she would normally jump in joy to take on.
“Be as quiet as a mouse, Bunny. I only want to hear whimpers and little moans come from those pouty lips. That’s your goal… fulfill that, and I will give you the orgasm of your life.”

Usually Lana Andrews enjoyed the possibility of being caught mid-coitus with her husband. Locked up in her parents’ house with a bunch of relatives around was one of the few times she
didn’t
want that.

“You ask a lot of me right now, baby.”

“I thought you might like it, actually. You’ve been so down recently, between holiday stress, work, and your illness. I’ll do all the work.” Ken flicked the tiny chain leash hanging from her new collar. “I know you like asserting yourself most of the time, but I think it’s good for you to relax once in a while and let your husband take care of you…”

“Take care of me?” Lana had to laugh at that. “The way you’re talking right now, Kenneth, I know you’re not thinking of anything slow or easy. You want to fuck my damned brains out.”

“Bunny, you know me too well.’ Ken sucked the bottom of her earlobe, his fingers circling one of her nipples through her sweater.
Damn it for feeling good.
Even if she weren’t paranoid about her marriage, would she be in the mood for this?
Probably.
Damn it! “Is it so bad for a man to want to completely dominate his beautiful wife? I guess I’ve missed you so much that all I can think about is taking you to the point you want to scream… but can’t.”

“You’ve thought about this.”

“Yes.”

A lot of people had the wrong impression about their dynamic. Those looking at them from the outside tended to assume that Lana was the dominant one in the relationship, even when she was being dominated
by
her husband. As if she were some total power bottom getting her way. In truth, Lana truly loved being dominated, especially by Ken. It was a facet of their relationship, but a powerful one. Sometimes all Lana could think about was her husband putting her “in her place,” providing domestic discipline, and spanking her until she was pink and raw.

She wasn’t sure that tonight was one of those nights.

“I love you, Bunny.”

He said it so sweetly that she nearly melted.
Be careful, Lana. Your heart.

It was that blasted heart that sent her straight to Ken’s arms. It was that neglected body that succumbed to whatever he wanted to do. No, it was her mind that was the most vulnerable. Her mind knew what a bad idea it was, but it held no power in this situation. She was Ken’s, body, heart, and soul. He would never possess her mind, and normally that was okay. Lana could reconcile that. Yet tonight, as her husband stuffed her mouth with one of his silk ties and bound her to the headboard, Lana cursed her ability to separate her mind from the rest of her. Everything else inside her could go along with Ken’s plans for her. She could feel love. Aroused. Fulfilled. So why couldn’t she let her subconscious in on all the fun?

Because deep down, I know.
She probably wasn’t the only woman Ken tied up, gagged, and fucked until she was begging for orgasm. There may be other women out there he claimed to love as much. Maybe he told them he was planning on divorcing her and marrying them. Were those girls dumb enough to believe it? How dare they! They would never be as good as Lana Losers, the original Mrs. Andrews.