The Marriage (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 3), Bethany-Kris [books for 8th graders txt] 📗

she sat hard on his cock to take it the way he demanded.

Karine’s cheeks were flushed as she stared back at him. Sweaty, and pinked.

He pushed some stray strands of hair off her shoulder and out of the way, then kissed the tip of her nose.

“You promised,” she repeated.

He did.

Still hard and jerking inside her with every jostle of their bodies, Roman said, “I am hopelessly, completely in love with you, Karine. I will never abandon you.”

Her breasts heaved after he’d pulled out of her, and she yanked him down on top of her on the bed again. She reached up to touch his face, tracing her finger along the sharp lines of his cheeks and jaws, not complaining about his weight on her.

Though it was substantial.

“I know that. I have always known that. You don’t have to teach me to trust you,” she finally whispered.

Didn’t he?

Trust like that was always earned.

*

Sylvia D’Souza, Karine’s head therapist in the Twin Rivers facility, stood beside Roman the next morning with a coffee in her hand. He had his own brown paper cup which he’d been sipping from while she droned on about policies and bullshit—and his complete lack of disregard for all of it.

“You know, we have strict rules in place regarding family contact, and we have them there for a reason. While we encourage family members to keep in touch regularly, and we are very happy to coordinate meetings—spending the night in a client’s room—well, it shouldn’t have happened.”

While Sylvia spoke, Karine was in the garden across from them. She was tucking some bulbs of something into the dug up soil, though he hadn’t thought to ask what. Even though she was probably aware of being watched, she chose to ignore them. She had to have known they were talking about her, too.

He admired her for that—for her ability to accept the fact that her life was the subject of discussion to the people around her whether she wanted it that way or not.

Roman took a sip of his coffee and shrugged. “Did they learn something?”

That question had the woman’s cheeks burning red. “They deleted the camera footage if that’s what you’re asking.”

He actually hadn’t been.

“Yeah, listen—I know it’s against the rules, but I’m sure you get that these are unusual circumstances.”

Sylvia looked at him with an almost indulgent smile. “Each of our guests are here because of the unusual circumstances of their lives. We cannot make exceptions. For the sake of your wife’s recovery—follow policy. Otherwise, we’ll have to discuss removing her from the program.”

Threats now?

“Look at her today. Does she look like a woman who needs any of this after spending the night with her husband?”

As if on cue, Karine turned her face up at the sun and shielded her eyes to look. They could clearly see the smile on her face, the pink in her cheeks—the life in her eyes.

Sylvia cleared her throat, muttering, “I’m sure she was delighted to see you, and I’m very happy that you were able to put aside your differences. Hopefully, that’ll help us here as well. However, Mr. Avdonin, you are going to have to leave again, and I sincerely hope that ... well, last night ... hasn’t taken us too many steps back in her recovery process.”

He knew she had a point.

They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk last night. Karine had fallen asleep in his arms after letting him lavish her with all the attention and affection she craved from him for as long as he could keep his eyes open. Only after she closed hers did he allowed himself to drift away, too.

It was the first night in over a week since he relapsed—that he hadn’t used just to stay awake, and was able to sleep. It was like his mind had been running on full gear and top speed, and Karine had a slowing effect on it. She made him push down the brakes, and his spinning mind came to a screeching halt.

Before he came here he wasn’t sure if he’d want a line, or if his hands would start to shake come morning. He didn’t want her to see him like that, but so far, he’d managed without a single craving clawing at his back.

Maybe that was it ...

That’s what he needed.

She was the drug he missed.

“I won’t leave this place until she’s calm. She won’t be back where we started,” he replied.

Sylvia appeared to be ready to argue, but she took one look at him and relented nonetheless, only nodding in silent reply. Frankly, she could only ask for so much. He couldn’t offer anything different than he did. Their hands were both tied.

“How has she been? The last time we spoke, you said she was resisting all help.”

That brought a smile to Sylvia’s face.

“I’m happy to say that has at least started to change—she’s made what I would consider to be immense progress in regard to just being here. Thankfully, she did only need time. I’m sure seeing you is going to have a huge positive impact as well. I see great potential for recovery in her.”

Roman’s heart dared to feel a little lighter at the thought. Drawn to even simply staring at his wife, he did just that. She was so tender and delicate with her work as she crouched in the soil on her knees. Her hair fell around her shoulders, and she worked with her gardening gloves on, inspecting each bulb before she put it into the ground.

He wanted to see her working in their garden. A big, beautiful blossoming garden where she had planted and flowered every bed herself. Adjacent to their warm home filled with children.

It took him a second.

The image ripped away his breath.

He bet she would make an amazing mother—the kindest and most caring. He wanted her to be the mother of his children; to see their little faces and find his wife’s familiar features staring back.

“Has she had any ... episodes?” he asked.

“There were a