Brand Me (Imagine Ink Book 2) (24 page)

B
y the time
they landed in the panhandle, Michael was as tired as an old coonhound that just ran a deer to ground. John insisted on driving him home, which was a good thing, since he didn’t think he would actually make it if he had to concentrate on traffic. He even fell asleep in John’s car a few times along the way.

He unlocked the door to his condo and stepped in, relieved to find Tonya was nowhere in sight. Maybe she gave up the fight and moved on.
Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt
. He chuckled as that thought formed, because it was something Tori would say. It was absurd to think Tonya would ever give up on anything she wanted. Whatever, he would deal with her in the morning, he was too beat to wait until she wandered back from whatever bed she was in, to have it out with her.

He was buying her out though, as soon as he could liquidate some of his inheritance, he was getting rid of her ass. It was a bittersweet thought, getting rid of her was worth any price, but selling some of the cabins, which now suddenly meant something more than a residual income source, was tough. Before this trip, he planned to keep them for that sole purpose, never expecting to visit again. But now, there were amazing memories balancing the bad. Sure, there were new shitty ones too, he could admit that, but his time with Tori outweighed it all.

Giving up the cabins to de-clutter his life and be the man Tori needed was nothing. He would sell his soul if he thought it was what she wanted, if he could even fetch a decent price for it as scarred as it was now.

Signs of Tonya were everywhere, little ones. Signs that most wouldn’t recognize as definitely feminine, but he could see them. It was like a dog pissing on its property, it reeked of her attempts to lay claim to his life; to him.

But nowhere was her attempt to usurp his existence more prevalent than his bedroom. Her lingerie was everywhere. He wasn’t fooled by the seemingly random arrangement. Everything she fucking did was calculated. He tossed his shit down in the corner and fell face down on the comforter, thinking not to stir again for twelve hours, but that plan was quickly smashed as soon as he inhaled.

He clambered off the bed like it was toxic goo, which it kind of was, and his curse cut through the serenity of the night. He’d have to not only steam clean the entire place, he’d have to buy a new bed, too. No way could he stand to have her be a part of his life, even after she gets her ass out of his house.

He stomped down the hall to his studio, snagging a pillow and cover from the linen closet on the way. It was the only semi-soft surface left besides the living room sectional, since he turned the spare bedroom into a gym.

In no time, he was asleep and dreaming of Tori. The nightmares that usually plagued him were paused, the demons, silent. Just the two of them making love in the cabin, frolicking on the beach, and growing old together. It was the sweetest dream he’d ever dreamt and if a man could make a vow in his sleep, Michael did that night. He vowed to make his dream a reality by fulfilling every one of hers.

One particular dream was especially realistic. Tori had him in hand and was pumping him slow and steady toward that pained edge of pleasure.
See, I don’t feel violated with her taking the lead, I’ve made it past that hurdle and I can enjoy this
. That thought pleased him, because it meant he wasn’t broken beyond repair.

He chanted her name. That, combined with her actions, drew him closer and closer. He reached for her, pulling her near for a kiss. In his sleep-soaked body, he missed and kissed the front of her throat. Not one to waste an opportunity, he suckled hard and fast to mark her as his.

It wasn’t until she said his name that he realized her skin didn’t smell right, too artificial. Tori didn’t wear that perfume, especially not in the amounts that were invading his senses, but maybe she had dialed it back being in the middle of nowhere.

As that thought fled and his focus narrowed to his cock, she said his name again when he kneaded her breast through her clothing, but her voice was wrong. Before he could puzzle out why she sounded different, he realized her breasts were different; again, too artificial. Michael was fighting the remnants of slumber, trying to regain enough coherency to find out what was wrong, when she kissed him on the lips.

She doesn’t taste like home. She doesn’t taste like home. She’s supposed to taste like home.
Shaking off the final vestiges of sleep, Michael thrust open his eyes and sat up abruptly, knocking a stunned Tonya to the ground.

“What the fuck, Michael?” Tonya screamed as she gained her feet and smoothed out her dress. “We were having a good time and you had to go all startled gorilla on me. What gives?”

Michael was up and pacing like a caged tiger and spitting on the floor. When that wasn’t enough, he pushed past Tonya to the bathroom to gargle. “What do you mean
we
were having a good time, I wasn’t with you and you know it. I will never be with you again.”

She leaned on the bathroom doorframe with arms crossed over her silicone chest and took on a haughty tone. “Well, it sure felt like you were with me when you were pumping your dick into my hand and sucking my neck.” Gargling, he looked at her when she pointed at her throat. He was horrified at the mark there. Clear as day and just off the center; a huge hickey. Michael felt sick. He spit.

“You know better, Tonya, I would never touch you. I was asleep and thought you were someone else.” He shouldered past her once again, went back to his studio couch and settled in, facing the back cushions so he didn’t have to look at her. He knew she would follow. She wasn’t done by a long shot.

“Ah, Tori, is it? She sounds perfectly…average? So, where did you meet this woman you cry for in your sleep? It had to be after you left, so is she a backwoods Volunteer, Michael? Really, I thought you had better taste?” Michael didn’t respond but he heard her enter further into the room and sit in his practice chair. Michael didn’t need a visual to know she sat with her legs crossed, probably inspecting her acrylic nails for dirt to complete the snobby air.

“Well, I hope she’s out of your system, because I will not be embarrassed by a cheating husband and I will not be degraded by listening to you pine away for her every night. If you need to, fly back to Tennessee and fuck her brains out if you must, but I want you focused on me and our wedding pronto. I have appointments for flowers and catering and just a million other things I thought I would be doing alone, but now that you’re home, you can play the part of a dutiful fiancé in public.”

Michael wrenched around on the couch and sat up, facing her down. “No, Tonya. We are not getting married. We are not dating or engaged. We are not picking out flowers and you will get out of my house as soon as I see the proper people and have them cut you a fucking check. Listen carefully we—are—through. We were done the minute I caught Shane riding your ass like a Shetland pony.”

“But Michael, the announcement was printed, the invitations went out. What will people think? I will be humiliated. I won’t be able to show my face in town ever again.”

Michael was done looking her in the eye like he was speaking to someone with equal comprehension; now, he towered over her, trying to convey every ounce of his anger. “Then you should have thought of that before you did all those things. You knew we were through. You made your bed by trying to force my hand, now you have to lie in it. I don’t care what the town thinks of you, or me, for that matter. The only person whose opinion matter to me now is Tori’s. And I swear if she is hurt further by your actions, I don’t know that I can keep it to myself any longer why we broke up in the first place. I’m sure you spun a pretty story to explain our on-again
engagement
while I was gone.”

Michael returned to the couch and took a seat, mirroring her haughty posture.

“I’m positive you didn’t tell them it was my best friend’s cock that came between us. No, you would have painted yourself the victim, am I right? Of course I am. So, this is how things will go down. The paper will print a retraction or a ‘oh, so sad, they broke up,’ or whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. The invitations will be rescinded and the appointments and venue canceled once again. I will allow you to decide the public story of why we aren’t getting married, so long as it doesn’t involve me cheating on you with Tori, or her in any way. If you go the we-broke-up-again route, fine, but you will write a letter for Tori stating the truth about this wedding and engagement—that we broke up long ago and it was all you from that point on.”

By now, she had started crying, but her tears no longer impacted him. “Dry it up, Tonya, your crocodile tears have no power over me.” The murderous look that crossed her face and dried her tears was expected.

“You can’t be serious, Michael, this is social suicide. I won’t do it.”

“Yes, you will. You will do all that and more. The letter I talked about can be notarized, written in blood, or a fucking YouTube video for all I care, but it will happen. I will not have Tori thinking I’ve been lying to her about you. On top of that, you will accept the deposits and expenses your father paid out for a fake wedding as partial payment on the house. Just add it to the payments I’ve already made per our
original agreement.
As soon as I secure the balance, you will sign to remove your name from the deed and pack your shit and leave immediately. If you do not follow through with these things, they will still happen, but I will destroy your name in the course. I will release the video of you fucking Shane while your engagement ring sparkled in the headboard mirror. I will explain the real reason we canceled our engagement ages ago and that this bullshit is your desperate attempt to trap me.”

Michael gave her a minute to digest the information before he continued, “Yes, dear, there is a video. I guess Shane never shared his little penchant for taping his encounters with you. Well, he damn sure shared with me. So, what will it be Tonya, publicly the poor, jilted fiancée or the cheating social-climbing slut?”

“Well, it seems you’ve thought of everything. What can I possibly say to my friends to explain this? Please, Michael just think about this. Give me time to…”

“No, you don’t get another fucking second. You had the months I’ve been gone to play the role you wanted, but you chose to pretend we got back together and re-scheduled our wedding. You moved back into my house despite my agreed upon payments to buy your half. Now, you’ve tried to take over my life, and force me into a loveless marriage. You’re lucky I’m giving you the options I am. The only reason is because I don’t give a fuck what the people in this town or any other think about me. That kind of stuff is important to you, but not to me, it never was.”

“So, is there anything I can do or say to change your mind?” Now this was the Tonya he expected—business and cold. She had a pattern: seduction, then if that failed to garner the desired results, manipulation, then, on to business.
God what did he ever see in her?

“No, nothing, but if it helps, I’ll be putting myself into a socially awkward situation soon, you can spin that to your advantage if you like, just end this.”

“Really, I can’t think of a situation big enough to offset the hit my family and I will take for this?”

“I was raped by a woman in Tennessee and I intend to go public. If you care, other than social advantage that is, I’m doing okay now, thanks to Tori and John, but I wasn’t at first.” Michael realized he told her this simply to cement what type of person she was in his mind, and braced for the reaction he knew was coming.

This was over the top though, even for a cold-hearted bitch like Tonya. When she was done with the most riotous part of her laughter, there were tears streaming down her cheeks, leaving whitened trails in her heavy makeup. He wasn’t sure why, but his first thought was that in all the years he’d known her, and the multitude of times she had cried for manipulation or effect or whatever, these were the first genuine tears he’d even seen from her. The crazy part is, they were in humor over something devastating. If he needed any further proof of what a horrible mistake he almost made with her, this was more than enough.

“Oh, God, Michael, that is rich. Seriously? And here I thought you didn’t have a funny bone in your body,” she managed to get out between bouts of renewed laughter until she bothered to look into his face. She stilled, unwrapped her arms from her waist, and unhinged her jaw. “Oh, God, you’re not joking. You’re serious. I knew you were off-balance Michael, but
this
? This is ridiculous. Women don’t rape men, they can’t.” Michael didn’t say anything in his defense. He let her go on and on. John had told him all the things people would say, and Tonya wasn’t missing a single one.

“You’re doing this just to punish me aren’t you? I never thought you’d sink this low, Michael. At least I can use this to save face, but I won’t be leaving this house until I have the check, so get used to it. If you’re smart, you’ll drop this ridiculous notion that you were raped. I’m sure your little Tori won’t like it any better than I do.” Tonya stood and puffed up, ready to make a dramatic exit.