Power Couple (5 page)

Josh chuckled, and I could tell he was enjoying my anger. “Listen, play nice with Azaria. She knows people in high places,” he cautioned.

I let out a sound of displeasure. “Last I heard,
Cookin' with Cori
was my show. That bitch better figure out a way to play nice with
me.”

“Did Ellie tell you that we're shooting some promo stuff with you and the judges after we wrap up this evening?”

“No, she didn't. But I can't do it…not tonight. Mav and I have big plans, so you'll have to postpone the promo shoot.”

“Everything has already been arranged,” Josh whined.

“I have plans with my husband! Besides, I don't want to interact with that obnoxious Azaria Fierro.”

“Okay, we'll shoot around you and fit your piece in with the rest of the cast. Are you available Sunday?”

“That's my day off and I'm not giving it up.”

“Well, what's a good day for you?”

“Anytime except tonight and Sunday.”

“Okay, I'll get back to you.” Josh gave a groan, not bothering to hide his irritation with me. I didn't give a damn about his pissy attitude.

By the time Ellie returned with my food, I'd lost my appetite. I could feel it in my bones, Azaria was going to be a thorn in my side, and I had to figure out a way to get rid of her.

CHAPTER 7

T
hat goddamn temperamental Josh was such a backstabbing cretin. I despised him with every fiber of my being. Well aware that it would infuriate me, he asked Azaria to stand in for me while the promo material was being shot. She was more than happy to take my place in front of the camera. She performed my famous double-flip of food in a skillet so damn well, I wondered if she'd been rehearsing my moves.

Unable to bear watching that hussy wearing my apron and standing in my spotlight, I agreed to work late. Azaria wasn't supposed to be in the promo piece at all, but she finagled her way into a segment with Norris Buckley. The two of them sat at a table, nodding and smiling as they enjoyed crispy fried chicken, okra, and buttery corn on the cob. Viewers would assume the judges were eating a meal that had been prepared by me, but the food had actually been whipped up by our in-house chefs.

Enjoying herself immensely, Azaria hammed it up, teasingly licking her fingers while batting her eyelashes. Even while acting silly, her stunning beauty was apparent. The bitch looked absolutely radiant and I hated her with a passion for outshining me.

When she began sultrily dabbing at her lips with a napkin, I couldn't take any more of her bullshit. “This is a family-oriented show—not a porn channel,” I chastised.

The director of the piece had been grinning at Azaria and clearly
enjoying her antics, but after I voiced my complaint, he sheepishly told her to tone it down.

Already, Azaria was pretty well-liked, and it was clear that I was going to have to hatch a hell of a diabolical plan if I wanted to get her ousted from the show.

We didn't finish shooting until after eleven. I'd been trying to talk to Maverick all day, but my calls had all gone to voicemail. I'd left several messages, informing him that I had to work late and apologizing for missing our dinner date. I didn't mention the escort because I had every intention of canceling the appointment with Katya.

Unfortunately, filming became so intense and hectic, I never got the chance to contact the agency. As close as I was with Ellie, I didn't dare assign her the task of calling the agency and cancelling. The decadent threesomes that Maverick and I occasionally partook in were nobody's business, and were something I'd take to the grave.

• • •

Upon arriving home, I heard a low groan coming from our bedroom, and I placed a hand over my heart as dread crept into my chest. A part of me realized there was a possibility that I might find Maverick in bed enjoying the little gift I'd mistakenly given him, but my heart sank anyway. I had hoped that after hearing my messages explaining that I'd been detained, he would have had the good graces to tip the hooker and send her on her way. But no…his selfish ass went right ahead and indulged.

Moving down the hallway, I was so upset, I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I began to feel lightheaded. I paused briefly, forcing myself to fill my lungs with large gulps of air.

I stood outside the closed bedroom door for a few moments
and listened to the moans and groans. Maverick was dead wrong, but what could I say when I was the one who'd arranged for the prostitute's services? Resisting the urge to flee, I bravely gripped the door handle and pushed it open.

The smell of sex was thick in the air. Maverick's and the hoe's comingled scent was so pungent, it made me queasy, almost causing me to retch.

The scene inside the bedroom hit me like a gut punch, nearly bringing me to my knees. But I kept myself standing upright by pressing a palm against a wall. My eyes went from the two naked bodies on the bed and then down to the jumble of clothes on the floor. Intermixed with Mav's clothes were a red dress, black panties and bra, and one red stiletto. The other stiletto had been kicked away from the pile of clothing and was resting against an African sculpture.

Unable to look at the disgusting scene that was taking place right before my eyes, I found myself focusing on the floor, staring at my husband's shirt, his shoes, his tie. Clothing that was as familiar to me as my own attire. Yet, the man who had shed those clothes seemed like a total stranger to me.

I'd always known my husband had unusual sexual desires, but I thought the fetishes he mentioned while in the throes of lovemaking were merely fantasies—twisted shit that he'd never act upon in real life.

But there he was on his hands and knees, his face pressed into Katya's buttocks.

It took a few moments for my brain to register what was going on. At first I thought he was burrowing his tongue deep into her asshole, and I gawked at him with my face crinkled in disgust.

Then I felt a huge wave of relief when I realized he was biting her butt cheek, not licking her ass. Had I stumbled upon my hus
band being in the midst of licking a dirty whore's ass, I'd never be able to stomach kissing him again.

The escort service had charged an exorbitant sum of money for Katya to fuck and suck my husband and to eat my pussy afterward. But here she was—doing a lot extra—facedown with her golden hair splayed out around the pillow, and her skinny ass tooted upward in Maverick's face.

Using both hands, he palmed her buttocks, holding them in place as he bit into her flesh.

Loving the savage mauling she was getting, she moaned, bucked her hips, and cried out in passion as Maverick covered her ass and thighs with bite marks. His wedding band glimmered mockingly in my direction.

I wanted to shield my eyes from the depravity. I attempted to run out of the room, but I was transfixed. My husband, the father of our unborn child, was groaning in ecstasy as he sank his teeth into a stranger's ass.

“Mav.” I spoke his name in a quavering voice.

He didn't answer me. The way his body tensed and his refusal to respond informed me that my presence was an irritant. He was finally living out one of his twisted fantasies, and he was too caught up to stop and include me in what was supposed to be a ménage à trois.

He and the Russian whore were lost in their own world, completely oblivious or simply uncaring of the fact that I was standing in the bedroom gawking at them.

In shock and disbelief, I could hardly breathe. My voice came out in a choked whisper as I uttered his name, again. He continued to ignore me, and my body sagged against the wall.

I was near tears, but then I suddenly got mad. I became so enraged, I was about to leap on the bed and start fucking up both of them. I eyed the lamp on the nightstand, thinking about knocking Mav
erick over the head with it. Then I imagined myself yanking that skinny ho out of my bed and stomping the shit out of her.

On the verge of acting the damn fool, I had to remind myself that Maverick wasn't technically cheating. I had hired the prostitute that was writhing around in our bed.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking from the overwhelming urge to wring a bitch's scrawny neck, so I tried to convince myself to get a grip and focus. I glanced at my watch and smiled with jubilation when I realized that the two hours I'd paid for had elapsed. The bitch was working overtime and I wasn't having that.

I cleared my throat. “It's time for Katya to go,” I said to Maverick, digging my nails into his shoulder as I tried to pull him off of the hooker. He was in a weird zone and was no longer behaving like a rational human being. Ignoring me, Maverick continued gnawing on her bony ass. Then he flipped her over and sank his teeth into her shaven pussy.

Apparently, getting her pussy lips ravaged was a major turn-on for Katya. “Oh! Ooo! Maverick, baby. You bite the cunt so very good for me,” she purred in broken English.

“Her time is up, Mav. Get off of her!!” I screamed as I smacked the back of his head. Maverick and I had always been quite civilized and neither of us had ever laid a hand on the other, but he was out of control and clearly required being brought back to his senses in a physical way.

Like an animal fighting for its food, Maverick bared his teeth at me. “I told her I'd pay cash for an extra hour. You're fucking with the vibe, Cori. Are you going to join us or just stand there and watch?” he snarled, practically frothing at the mouth.

To witness my husband reveal such a primitive side of his nature was startling. I shuddered as I took several steps backward. “You know I'm not into that shit.” My lip was turned up in disdain.

“You hired Katya so she could show me a good time, right?”

I nodded.

Katya twisted to her side and stared at me, waiting for my response. Seeing her face in person was unsettling. Those close-set eyes of hers weren't the true-blue they'd seemed in her photo on the website. Not that it mattered, but it seemed rather misleading that she was touted as having ice-blue eyes when they were actually a grayish-blue. And they were frighteningly close together, not attractive at all. For some odd reason her eyes reminded me of those of a Siberian husky. I hated those dogs. And I hated Katya.

“Cori, if you're not going to join in, would it be okay if Katya and I had some privacy?” Maverick asked in a pleasant tone.

It was a reasonable request, I supposed, but I felt like I was in an altered state of reality as I awkwardly left the room. At first I stood outside the door, wondering what the hell had just happened. Then I started debating whether or not I should go grab a knife from the kitchen and go back in the bedroom and start slashing up both their asses.

I made my way to the kitchen, but instead of picking up a sharp knife, I ended up leaning against the island, swilling organic wine straight from the bottle. When the wine didn't calm my nerves, I started working on the plate of chick pea salad and creamy avocado spaghetti squash that Tamara had set aside for me.

There was a terrific punch of flavor in the meal, but I couldn't enjoy it. Not with Maverick committing adultery right down the hall. I dropped my fork on the plate and gazed longingly at the knife block on the counter. Though stabbing Maverick in the heart was tempting, I had too much to lose and couldn't allow myself the pleasure of murdering my husband.

• • •

The next morning I awoke to the feeling of Maverick's hard body pressed against mine, blanketing me with his heat. With an
arm wrapped around my waist, he had molded himself to my spine. His hot hands roamed my body; his fingers seared my skin. Adrenaline flooded through me and I became wet. But when I opened my eyes and realized we were in the guestroom, I remembered the travesty of last night, and I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow.

“Don't fucking touch me! I was forced to sleep in the guestroom, and you have a lot of nerve crawling in bed with me,” I hissed with my back turned to him.

“Why're you so upset? You hired that escort, not me.”

“We were supposed to have a threesome, Mav! But I had to work late. I had the shittiest, most grueling day, ever…and then I had to come home to more bullshit.”

“But it was your idea. You set the whole thing up.”

“If you had listened to any of the messages I left, you would have heard me tell you to tip the damn hooker and send her on her way. I planned to reschedule at a later date when we could all have fun together.”

“My bad.” He massaged the back of my neck, trying to get me in the mood, but my body stiffened. “Babe,” he whispered, inching up on me from behind, pressing his hard-on into my ass. “I had a long, exhausting day at work, too. And when I finally got home, Tamara had an awesome meal waiting. I dug in and wasn't paying any attention to my phone. I really expected you to walk through the door at any moment. When Katya arrived, I figured you'd be right behind her.”

I turned around and faced him. “But the way you were acting…growling and biting her. What was that about?”

“You're exaggerating. I wasn't growling.” Mav said, laughing.

“Okay, what the hell was all that biting about? It wasn't exactly sensual. You were going at that girl with such ferocity, it was disturbing. Your teeth marks were all over her body.”

He shrugged. “She asked me to bite her. At first I thought she was kidding, but she repeated the request and told me she loved having her ass and pussy bit.”

“You didn't have to do it, though.”

“You know me, always a gentleman, willing to give a lady what she wants.”

I glared at him.

“Look, I did what she requested. The chick went crazy, begging me to bite her titties and everything else. I was hesitant, but then I got into it.” He leaned closer. “You want me to bite your pussy, babe?”

“Fuck, no, you perverted animal.”

“Come on, Cori. Let me bite your pussy. There's nothing wrong with a little experimentation. After ten years of marriage, we need to explore more.”

“Kiss my ass! I'm not letting you bite me.” Appalled, I tried to get away from him, but he held me tight. “Let me go, Mav. The driver will be here to pick me up in thirty minutes. I have to get ready.”

“Can't I get a quickie?” he asked, stroking his dick.

“No! You had more than enough sex last night.”

“But I'm still horny.”

“Jerk yourself off or take a cold shower.”

“Last night with Katya was only about sex. I want to show you my feelings. Don't you want to feel how much I love you?” He took my hand in his and then brought it up to his lips, covering it with soft kisses. I made the grave mistake of looking into his eyes, and my anger instantly melted and was replaced with an unexpected wave of affection.

“Mav, I'm late. I don't have…”

Before I could finish the sentence, his mouth abandoned the
top of my hand and found its way to my neck, and then down to my collarbone. A mixture of irritation and excitement surged through me as his hot mouth sought out my breasts. I could never resist Maverick's lips on my body, and I let out a breath of resignation as I surrendered to him.

I wanted to reach for my phone on the nightstand and text Josh and let him know that I'd be running late today, but with Maverick whispering lustfully and rubbing on my pussy, I relinquished the idea. It was my show, and I'd get there when I got there, I told myself as I spread my legs.