Chapter 38
Serenity
I’D FANTASIZED ABOUT GETTING REVENGE on different people a handful of times throughout my life.
I’d spend sleepless, restless hours stewing in fake scenarios where I’d get even with everyone who hurt me—Scarlett, Courtney, Cassidy, John.
But I always left those imaginary sequences deciding that revenge would just stoop me to their level, and I wanted to be better than them.
So instead, I pictured certain characters in my books as each of them. These characters were always the assholes who eventually died or got defeated. They were also minor characters, because they didn’t deserve more than that.
Now, as I walked from my car toward Oakley’s, that sentiment was gone. Revenge was exactly what he deserved, and I couldn’t wait to deliver my sweet gift.
Prioritizing myself and my needs was still new for me, but each time I took a step in that direction, the easier the next step became until I was making actual strides toward something brighter.
Those steps currently had me waltzing up to the table Bradley sat at with his friends. I’d texted him, letting him know I wanted to meet, and he’d quickly responded that he was here. That was perfect. I wanted his stupid friends to see.
It was the first time we’d exchanged words in over a month.
I’d been too busy with finding myself as best as I could while he’d apparently been recovering.
He’d been out of work from some sort of accident that broke both of his hands.
That had made being at work easier for me, because I hadn’t been ready to see him, yet.
I was ready now.
Courtney spotted me first, nudging Cassidy with a snicker.
Cassidy’s haughty gaze traced my black minidress.
It was tight, exposing every curve, and a laced bow was all that kept it secured right over my cleavage.
Unlike the past, I didn’t let her, John, or anyone else’s disgusted looks stop me from holding my head high.
“Dollface,” Bradley greeted when I reached his side. Dark circles lined his eyes, but his smile was wide and eager, most likely because he thought I was crawling back to him again without him even having to love bomb me.
I grinned and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my body into his. His brows shot up, and he rested his hands, which were still bound in casts, on my hips to pull me closer between his legs.
“Damn,” he laughed huskily. “You really missed me, huh?”
Cassidy scoffed, and Courtney gagged around a giggle. Normally, I would’ve ignored those things and internalized the hurt they caused behind my mask. Not today. Today, they were facing a new Serenity, one with a demon at her back and a sword of confidence in hand.
With my arms still wrapped around Bradley’s neck, I looked at the two girls and met their condescending stares head on. “Do you have something to say?”
They stared at me. Courtney’s smile cracked, and Cassidy’s eyes narrowed.
“Did we say anything?” Cassidy snarled. “I don’t think so.”
I nodded slowly with a purse of my lips. “Ahh, forgive me. I heard the sound of two bitches and mistook them for you. After all, that’s what you two are. Cold-hearted bitches.”
Cassidy reared back like I’d hit her while Courtney’s jaw dropped. I’d never talked back to them. I’d never spoken up when they made fun of me under their breath or directly to my face. The shock of me doing so now left them speechless.
“Woah,” Bradley chuckled nervously, patting my waist with his thick casts. “Someone’s feisty tonight.”
I turned back to my old lover and flashed him a sensual grin. I tilted my head so that my long hair fell back over my shoulder and my cleavage stood out. “More than you know. Can we go to your place now? I want you to see just how feisty I’m feeling.”
Bradley’s breath hitched, and his lustful gaze zeroed in on the tops of my round breasts. John let out a low whistle, which earned him a hard shove from Courtney on his other side.
“Let’s go,” Bradley said with gravel in his voice.
I dragged my hands from his neck, down his shoulder and arm, before grabbing his wrapped hand, all while a confident smirk adorned my red-painted lips. He didn’t see the pacing tiger hiding behind the doe-like grin.
“What the fuck happened to her?” John whispered to Mark as I pulled Bradley away.
“Did she get hot or something?” Mark murmured back in a poor attempt at whispering.
The overheard conversation only emboldened me as I walked Bradley to my car. I should’ve stood up for myself a long time ago, because that shit felt good.
But not as good as what was coming would.
I drove us to Bradley’s apartment, my hand coasting up and down his leg as I did. He could barely contain how excited he was, telling me how he’d missed me and my “sweet hole.”
“I’ve seriously missed you,” Bradley told me. “It’s been torture recovering without you and not talking. It’s been a lot to function without my hands. I’ve been dying to get off inside your little sheath. Have you been dying for my sword, Dollface?”
“More than you know,” I lied with a salacious grin.
“Fuck yeah, you are,” he growled before telling me all the ways he’d been trying to get off sexually without the use of his hands.
Because, of course, that was what he was focused on. It was the first time we’d been alone together since I’d left Oakley’s that terrible night, and he had nothing substantial to say. No apologies, questions, or concerns.
All he cared about was his dick.
I parked at his apartment and grabbed the bag I had stowed in the backseat before following him toward the stairs.
“What’s that?” Bradley asked with a cheeky grin.
I ran a hand up his chest and grabbed his shirt collar to pull his face close to mine. “Let’s go to your room and find out.”
“Fuck,” he practically moaned against my lips.
I huffed a small laugh and barely contained my eyeroll as I led the way to his apartment. I’d never seen Bradley move so fast, shutting us inside, and dashing to his bedroom with me on his heels.
“Doll, I’m so fucking happy you’re here,” he panted, the tent in his jeans painfully obvious. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. I love you and want you so bad right now.”
“I bet. I’m feeling extra … what was it? Feisty? So …” I reached into the bag to produce black rope. “Wanna try being tied up?”
His eyes grew wider with excitement while he kicked off his shoes. “Hell yeah, I do.”
“Take off all your clothes for me,” I purred, pulling out the rest of the rope.
His cock sprang to attention as he tore his clothes off, and he leapt onto the bed where I tied his casted hands to each post and moved to the foot of the bed to tie his feet. Precum leaked from the tip of his pink cock, and he practically moaned as I finished securing all of his limbs.
“I thought this would be fun,” I said as I propped his head up with all of his pillows. “After all, I know you like being tied up.” Grinning deviously, I staddled his hips and teased his pecs with my nails. “Harper told me.”
Bradley’s flushed smile twitched before falling. “Why are you bringing her up?”
Why? It was part of my revenge. I’d asked Harper for the details of what happened between them, letting her know what I planned to do with the information.
It had been painful listening to the details, because he had been my boyfriend that I loved more than anything at the time.
He’d been lying to me, treating me like an idiot who waited around for a cheating prick.
It was only because I’d moved on and found something far greater and deeper than the kind of love we’d had that I was able to overcome that pain and turn it into this—sweet vengeance.
I moved my hips against his erection, which earned me another small groan of delight from him. “Should I sit on your face like she did?”
“Would you stop it?” he hissed in annoyance, though his hips couldn’t stop shifting in an effort to get friction between my legs. “She’s a liar. You’re going to kill the mood if you keep going on about those baseless rumors.”
I shrugged. “Fine. I won’t talk about the times you cheated on me.”
I slid down his body, taking care to run my palms down his torso, around his twitching cock, and over his trembling legs. His dick bobbed, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Looks like you’re almost ready,” I surveyed from the foot of the bed. I tapped my finger against my lip as I feigned thought. “Ahh!”
Perking up, I went back to the bag to produce a gag. I held it up, and when I saw his obvious delight, my grin widened. I hummed happily as I moved to his head and secured the ball in his mouth before fastening it tightly behind his head.
“I believe Harper blindfolded you, but I won’t do that.” I yanked the knot harder than necessary before grabbing his face and turning it to mine. My sickly sweet smile fell, and I gritted out, “I want you to watch everything that happens.”
I tossed his head to the side. He glared at me in confusion as I went back to the foot of the bed to stare at him head on. Silence fell, and my naked ex-boyfriend kept glancing between me and his stupid dick.
“Do you want me to touch you, Bradley?” I asked with a small laugh and shake of my head.
He nodded hard, even as perplexity swam in his blue eyes.
I sighed. “That’s all you’ve ever thought about, huh?
That’s who you’ve always been. You made me feel like this was all I was worth.
” I gestured at him with an unimpressed hand.
“A boyfriend, who liked making fun of me with his friends. A partner, who only cared about their own needs and never mine in any capacity. Sexual, emotional, mental. You made me feel ashamed of my body, my mind, and my dreams.”
Old wounds tried reopening, but I quickly covered those cuts across my soul. I smiled, and this one wasn’t part of a mask or facade. This was all me. I crawled onto the edge of the mattress between Bradley’s parted legs to settle on my knees.
“I won’t be that girl anymore. I won’t let you make me that girl anymore. Instead, I’ll be his.”
The bedroom door opened behind me. Bradley’s eyes tripled in size, and anger flashed across them as he fought against his restraints.
But it was useless. His chest rose and fell hard, tracking the person who had just joined us until those wide eyes were locked right over my shoulder.
Large hands slid over my hips while a firm torso pressed into my back.
I grinned as one hand wrapped possessively around my throat and the other slowly tugged on the bow securing my dress.
Bradley locked eyes with me, realization paling his face.
I laughed darkly and hissed, “I hope you enjoy the show.”