Burned by Passion(31)

“Cheating – lying – faking – bitch!” he’d gritted out, each word punctuated by a punch aimed indiscriminately on her face and other tender parts of her body that her hands could not protect.

The shock of what was happening to her made Kira feel incapable of trying to fight back or escape. And Terry was too strong. Too full of rage.

Fear, disbelief and agony filled her whole frame and when she finally felt herself hit the floor still he came after her, almost pounding her into the ground.


“You whore!” he bit out, and the blows suddenly stopped. But now Kira found herself wishing he hadn’t, not until he’d made her senseless to the suffering that made it impossible to even let out a single scream.

She winced as she felt him wrap his fist around her wrist and then savagely wrung the engagement ring from her finger with his other hand.

“To even think I gave you this,” he snarled. “My grandmother must have been turning over in her grave.”

Kira found enough strength to cover her face with her arms, her body curling into a fetal position in fear that he’d continue his onslaught. Each breath felt like it was splintering her ribs.

“After this you’d better think twice about cheating on any man,” he said in her ear, even as she trembled when he muttered, “Just be happy I didn’t f*cking kill you.”

She heard him leave and had almost wished he had killed her; the pain of living had turned unbearable. Tears streaming down her face, she sank into a welcome pit of unconsciousness.

When Kira thought of all she’d been through in the past several days she knew she was lucky to be alive. Lucky too that even with all that happened, her pregnancy was safe. That was the first thing she’d asked the doctor once she’d regained consciousness and he’d assured her that no damage had come to the baby. Only then had Kira felt true relief that her own life had been spared.

Now she felt nothing but anger, especially at Blake for even thinking he was blameless in any of this. “I still don’t understand why you’d do something like that,” she breathed, staring at him with eyes brimming with tears. “Why Blake? Was my rejection so hurtful that you just had to strike back? You saw my chance at happiness and you just had to destroy it. That’s why you sent that...that present of yours.” Accusation dripped from every word and she was glad to see him wince as if slapped.

“No, no,” Blake denied fiercely. “I was mad at you, yes. But I never meant for this to happen. How would I even predict that it would get to this? Did Terry do this? I’m going to f*cking kill him! How did Terry find out about it?”

Kira glared at him. “He was right there with me when the gift was delivered,” she said. “He opened it and read your note before I could stop him. He wanted answers and I couldn’t give them to him. So he...snapped. You can imagine the rest.”

Blake’s head bowed for a moment and Kira glimpsed the shadow of pain that crossed his face. He sighed raggedly and then lifted his gaze to meet hers. There was fury beneath the bleakness in his eyes but she knew his anger was not against her. “Believe me; that I never guessed Terry would be there when you got the gift. I guess it was just bad timing; a costly miscalculation I’ll regret for a long time to come.”

“How does that make this any better? You wanted to make your point by sending the underwear and you did,” Kira said bitterly.

He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them with warm pressure. “I can’t blame you if you think I’m the worst creature to walk the earth. I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused. And I’m going to remedy all that; if only you’d let me. Please let me try.”

Kira gave him a suspicious look. “How?”

“Marry me, Kira. Be my wife.”

Kira’s breath caught and she stared at him in disbelief. Then almost immediately she was shaking her head firmly, her heart growing cold. “No. Forget it. Go away. Leave me alone.”

“Kira, please think about it,” he said with tender persistence. “Just give me a chance to show you I really care about you. Always have.”

“You?” Kira sneered. “You care about me? That’s funny! I’d have thought your nice little stunt with the note and gift was enough proof to show how much you actually hate me. And the way you practically ignored me these last few months...”

“The only reason I sent that was to make sure you hadn’t forgotten about me – about us,” he said gruffly. “I mean, damn it Kira. You were all set to marry this guy. I was so desperate. I felt that if I made you remember what we shared it would make you see what a lie you’d be living if you settled with Terry. You can deny it all you want but we had something Kira and it was worth fighting for. As for those times I ignored you...that was just protective measures. You’d hurt me with your rejection more than once and I’m not made of stone, my love. It really hurt when you turned away from me. The way you’re doing now. It’s like a dagger through my heart to see the look in your eyes. To see how much you hate me right now.”


He drew her palm up and kissed the base, close to her wrist. Kira shivered as she watched the emotions playing across his handsome face. “I was ready to do anything to make you see things my way,” he added quietly. “I never in a million years thought something like this would happen.”