The Broken Vows: Zane and Celeste’s Story (The Windsors)

I sigh as I check my watch, noting the late hour. Normally, I’d already be in bed by ten, but these days, I often don’t even make it home until eleven. The only way I can ignore Celeste is when I’m not anywhere near her. She continuously provokes me at work, fighting with me over assets, hiring decisions, and even small details, like the way the slides for our next proposal should look. I’m not sure if she’s just trying to get on my nerves, but if she is, she’s definitely succeeding.

Three weeks of marriage, and I’m ready to walk away from everything if it means we’d stop fighting. She makes it so clear that she hates me, and at work that’s easier to deal with — at the office it’s easier to remind myself of all the harm she caused my company, only for it all to fall into her hands anyway. It’s inside our home that the lines blur, and my heart begins to guide me in a direction I won’t take. She fucking torments me, every single second of every fucking day.

I run a hand through my hair as I walk into the living room, only to freeze in surprise when she looks up at me from the sofa, where she’s lying back with a book in her hands, a sexy red nightgown riding up her body. Something tender tugs at me when I realize it’s the latest book in the endless series of romance fantasy novels that Sierra, Raven, and she’d been reading. Does she know Sierra and Raven still read them too? I got them both advance copies of the one she’s got in her hands right now, and each time I bribed the author, I thought of Celeste.

She tenses when I walk up to her, but she pulls her legs back to make space for me on the sofa. I hesitate for a split second before sitting down and grabbing the remote. I’ve been watching TV in here every evening, waiting for her to fall asleep before I join her in our bed. Somehow, going to bed with her is too hard for me, it makes the regret feel too heavy, the loss too debilitating. I usually stay here until I doze off and end up waking up again at around three in the morning.

She normally barely leaves the bedroom when she’s home, so I’m not sure why she’s here now. Did she figure out this is where I spend my evenings? Is this another attempt to annoy me? I sigh as I browse through the channels, knowing I won’t be able to focus on anything anyway — I never do. I end up thinking about her in my bed, wishing things were the way they used to be, and then I grab my laptop to drown her out with work.

Celeste’s feet brush against my thigh, and I glance down at her bright purple nail polish, wondering what she’s wearing tonight. It’s a cute habit I always loved, the way she’d frequently change her nail polish based on her mood.

She jumps when I grab her feet and place them in my lap, so she can lie back the way she did when I walked in. Neither of us says anything as I begin to massage her feet the way I used to, my thumbs circling the arch of her foot. She sighs happily, and I try my hardest not to react. For five years, I didn’t want anyone, yet the one woman my mind doesn’t want, my body can’t resist.

I see Celeste turn the page from the corner of my eye, and she repositions herself, the angle of her legs exposing her matching silk panties. I bite down on my lip as I imagine the way they’ll darken as I soak them through, and something twisted takes hold of me — a deep need to show her that despite all that hatred she throws at me, she still wants me too.

I stop massaging her feet and drape my left hand over her ankles while the other reaches for the remote again. She repositions herself, a soft gasp escaping her lips when her foot brushes against my cock. I tense, waiting to see what she’ll do, and sure enough, she rubs my cock slowly, the movement so subtle I’d have thought it was an accident if I didn’t know her so well.

I lean back on the sofa, my left hand drawing circles across the parts of her legs I can reach, almost absentmindedly. Celeste sighs and pushes against my cock harder, demanding my attention. I turn to look at her and raise a brow provocatively. If she wants something, she’ll have to ask for it.

Her gaze meets mine, and fuck, I’m enchanted. Seeing my wife spread out on our sofa in that silky red nightgown that clings to her body, the shape of her nipples visible through the fabric… It’s ridden up to her hips, her panties now clearly visible, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this tempted. Her book is now forgotten, its pages pressed against her stomach as she looks at me.

I lift my hand off her and drape it across the back of the sofa instead, putting the ball in her court. Getting involved with her again will do me no good, but I also can’t resist her when she looks like that. Her foot rubs my cock purposely now, almost painfully so, and I need to get out of these fucking suit pants. I need her to touch me.

“Where were you?” she asks, her voice needy. “Where are you every night, Zane? You leave work before I do, and I don’t see you at home at all.”

I clench my jaw and stare her down, my heart aching. The distrust in her eyes is obvious, and it hurts, but it fucking enrages me too. I take a calming breath and grab her ankle with my right hand, leaving my other hand on the sofa. Her breath hitches when I bring her foot to my lips and kiss the side of it, before turning my head toward her and kissing her just above her ankle.

“Answer me,” she demands, her voice wavering.

I press another kiss to her skin, moving up her leg. “I won’t,” I tell her, before turning my torso to lean over her and kiss the inside of her thigh. My hand wraps around her knee tightly as I nip at her soft skin. “Just who do you think you are, Celeste? Just because you’re my wife on paper doesn’t mean you have any rights to me. I don’t owe you any explanations, not anymore.”

Her expression hardens as she hooks her leg around my waist. In one smooth move, she’s in my lap, straddling me as she steadies herself with her hands on my shoulders, her book falling to the floor in the process. “You’re wrong,” she tells me, her tone threatening. “You’re mine, Zane. For the next three years, you’re mine.” Her fingers thread through my hair, and she forces me to face her, her gaze demanding and desperate.

I grab her waist and hold on tight. “I warned you,” I tell her. “I told you not to interfere in my private business.”

Pain flashes across her face, and every instinct tells me to take back the words. Her eyes fill with betrayal, followed by the sheen of tears, and it fucking guts me. “Who is she?” she asks, her voice breaking. “Who are you having dinner with while I sit here in your house, all alone? Who do you cook for these days, Zane?” A tear runs down her cheek, and I catch it with my thumb. I cup her face gently and sigh, all my anger draining away instantly. “I feel like I’m going crazy wondering,” she tells me, her voice breaking.

I drop my forehead to hers and swallow hard, my heart beating wildly. “Sierra on Mondays, Lex on Tuesdays, Luca and Val on Wednesdays, Ares and Raven on Thursdays, and Faye and Dion on Fridays. Saturdays you spend at your parents’ house, so I’m at home then, and on Sundays, I’m at my grandmother’s house. She’s actually warned me a few times now that I have to bring you with me, but I’ve just been ignoring her requests.”

She looks into my eyes, her gaze searching, a hint of suspicion taking root in her beautiful ambers. “Even if you do have dinner with them, you don’t… you never come to bed until late.”

Anger runs down my spine, and I grab her hips before flipping us over. She gasps when her back hits the sofa, and I settle on top of her, my legs between hers. I grab her wrists and pin them above her head, flames of fury licking at me. “So your first thought is that I must be cheating on you, is that it?”

She looks at me with the same anger burning in her eyes. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

I grit my teeth and lean in to nip at her bottom lip, my touch punishing. She freezes for a moment, and then she kisses me, her legs wrapping around my hips as she opens up for me, her tongue teasing, lapping. I moan and drag my lips off hers and down to her neck. “You’re fucking insane, you know that?” I murmur, before sucking down harshly, wanting to fucking own her. “I’ll never want anyone but you, Celeste. I never have.”

I drive my cock into her and push myself up enough to look at her. “Do you feel that, Celeste? Do you feel how fucking hard you make me, even when you piss me off to no end?” She bites down on her lip, her gaze surprisingly vulnerable. “Only you can do that to me, Celestial. Only you. No matter what phase of our lives we’re in, no matter what’s going on or how much I fucking hate you — I only ever want you.”

I’ve told her this so many times, and five years ago, I broke down and begged her to believe me, repeating the words over and over. I swore to myself I never would again when she walked away, yet here I am, once more desperate to take away her insecurities. I hate the power she holds over me. Fuck, I hate the way I still love her, despite everything.

I let go of her wrists and let my hand run down her body, cupping her breast. She gasps and reaches for me, her fingers trailing over the edge of my face before she pulls me closer, her lips finding mine with newfound desperation. I groan when she kisses me, her legs tightening around me, like she wants me closer. Celeste’s hands explore my body, tugging on my tie first, before rapidly abandoning that cause in favor of undoing my pants. I suck her bottom lip in between my teeth as she frees my cock and firmly wraps her hand around it.

I tear my mouth off hers to look at her, holding myself up on my forearms. We shouldn’t do this, but I can’t stop either, not when she looks at me like she needs me to prove something to her. Celeste looks up at me pleadingly as she pushes her underwear aside and guides my cock to where she wants it.

I inhale sharply at the hot wet feel of her, unable to resist slipping the tip in. She moans so beautifully, her eyes never leaving mine as I push another inch into her, my body and mind at war.

“For once, you’re right about something, Celeste.” Curiosity flickers through her eyes, before lust drowns it out when I push into her further. “I’ve always been yours,” I whisper, before thrusting forward and burying myself deep inside my wife.