Pure Illusion (35 page)

Chapter one

“Can
we dance for a bit?”

Isabel
face contorts into shock. She shouldn’t look so astonished. I’ll use any excuse
to touch her again, feel her body rubbing against mine.

“Dance?”
She’s smiling,
so I know she wants to.

Come
on.

Get
over here.

Attempting
to be blasé and indifferent, I shrug. “It only seems right.” I simply open my
arms, she comes right to me. Isabel isn’t conscious of her decision that just
ended her marriage before it begins.

She’s
mine.

I
wrap my arms around her. She nestles into me. I breathe in her hair, her scent.
My dick is instantly furious with me. We dance in small circles for a while
until I accumulate a plan.

The
tables have certainly turned.

If
I plant the seed of doubt in her head maybe it will thrive and I’ll win for
once. She’ll realize what’s standing right in front of her face.

What
else am I to do when my first love doesn’t want me anymore?

MINE.

MINE.

MINE.

Here
goes…

“Humor
me with a short game, okay?”

She
nods against my shoulder.

“What
if I told you that your lips were made only to be kissed by me?”

She
stiffens in my embrace. “Hunter, what kind of game is this?”

My
fingers dig into her sides. “Just humor me, Isabel.”

“What
if I told you that I’m happy now?”

Happy?

Yeah.

Fucking.

Right.

Isabel
doesn’t do
happy.

“What
if I told you that I’m too selfish to care?” I really am. Isabel shouldn’t
underestimate what I’m capable of; she’ll come out unscathed in the end for it.

Her
breath hitches.

Yes,
baby.

You
finally comprehend what I’m doing.

I’m
on a roll here. No need to stop now. “What if I told you that I’m willing to do
whatever it takes to have you to myself again?”

She
pushes back to look at me, her expression wary. “Even break my heart.”

My
girl gets it.

I
grin so wide my cheeks hurt.
“Even breaking your pretty
little heart all over again.”
Her eyes widen. She’s caught in my web,
and I’m closing in. “What if I told you that you belong to me and I’m willing
to sabotage your future with him just to have you in my bed at night?”

Her
face blanches. “Hunter, stop. I don’t want to play anymore.”

Taking
my time, I scrutinize every feature of her face. She always gets anxious when I
do this. Her chest swells and her brows always furrow like she’s trying to read
my thoughts. I still affect her. I hold her at arm’s length, smirking and very
proud of myself.

“I
have a Christmas gift for you.” She looks down at her closed fist.

I
let her go in fear that she might slap or punch me again. No doubt that I
deserve it.
“Really?
I feel bad. I didn’t get you
anything.”
Yet
.

“Don’t
worry about it. Here…” she seems nervous as she drops three thin bands in my
palm.

“Rings?”

Isabel
gives me an impish smile that she has perfected. “They’re for your thumb. Read
them.”

My
eyes turn into slants as I read the fine writing, placing them on my left
thumb.
“Three little angels.”
An intense white-hot too
indiscernible to explain pain spreads throughout my chest.

Shit!

“For
the babies,” she whispers as if in trouble.

“Isabel.
Our dehydrated marshmallows are getting cold.”

Fucking Max.

He
isn’t going to let her out of his sight for too long, especially with me
around.

She
peers over my shoulder and then takes a deep breath like Max has reminded her of
the new priorities in her life which isn’t me. Not anymore.

My
eyes quickly drop to the rings when her gaze shifts back to mine. I don’t want
her to know how much she has just destroyed me. “You don’t have to be happy,
Hunter. Just
be
enough.” Then she runs from me. How
can she run from me when she drops a bomb that’s going to annihilate my
shattered world?

“You
are my enough,” I say, turning just in time to see Isabel walking through with
a forged smile on her face. Max closes the front door, cradling Birthday in the
crook of his arm.

He gets my girl
and my dog!

This
isn’t how it ends.

No.

Fucking.

Way.

For
those of you who may not know me, my name is Hunter Knight, and I have a story
to tell.

Pure Perception
(Web of Deception #2)

Coming Soon

Thank
you so very much for purchasing and reading my novel. If you like what you have
read please leave me a rating (good or not so good) on Amazon.com and tell a
friend or two. I’m on
Goodreads
. Follow me on Twitter
if you like @
quiettamichelle

I’m
an independent writer from Charlotte, NC, attempting to tell the world my
stories. (The rest isn’t all that much significant.) My job is to entertain and
distract you from your problems. I promise to give you everything I have in
doing so.  

I
love you Grandma. Thank you for believing in me more than I believe in myself
sometimes. You are the origin of everything I am.

Thank
you to the rest of my family. Now that you all have read this, you can
understand and sympathize why I’m not fully in the present moment all the time
(Mother). I have no control over my characters. They demand to be heard.

Dare
to dream a dream and pursue.

Until
next time, my friends!