by Tabatha Kiss
“No,” he says, calmly shaking his head. “You weren’t born to live in darkness like me. You were born to be the one bright thing I left behind. You’re my baby girl, Bea. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about the first time I held you in my arms. You were so small, you fit in my goddamn palms.” He points a stiff finger at me. “I promised your mother I’d take care of you. It’s the one promise I never broke to her and I’m not about to do it now. I’m sorry, kid, but the answer is no.”
I look down, quickly wiping the tear from my cheek as it falls. “You lied to me,” I say.
“Yeah, that’s parenting,” he says, his eyes heavy. “Maybe someday you’ll understand.”
A man rushes up to stand beside us and I can already tell by the wrinkled cuffs of his pants that it’s Jerry. He’s out of breath and scowling at me.
“Miss Beatrix...” he murmurs with judgment in his eyes.
“Jerry,” my father says, raising a hand, “can you give us another minute here?”
I stand up. “No, it’s fine. I was just leaving.”
“Bea, wait.”
“Oh, so now you want to talk to me?” I say. “Or do you just want to string me along a little longer with an empty promise or two?”
He winces. “I did what I thought was best for you.”
“What about what I think is best for me? My whole life has been nothing but you making my decisions behind my back. Ma telling me that you said to do this. Gavin and Danny telling me that you said to do that. Marcus telling me that you told him that I needed to stop whoring around and be a good wife.”
“I never told him to say that!”
“I’m done.” I take a wobbly step back as my courage builds. “Find yourself a new lawn ornament. I quit.”
“Bea!”
I turn away to hide the tears streaming down my face. My father must have stood up because several guards pass me in a rush as I walk to the exit. I wipe my eyes to better navigate through the unfamiliar faces but the lump in my throat is so big I can hardly breathe.
“Trix?” Lance’s blurry face appears in front of me and he lays his hands on my shoulders. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I move forward. “I have to go.”
“Hey—” He gently takes my elbow. “Are you okay?”
I can’t answer. Not until I know the answer myself.
What am I even doing anymore?
“Trix.”
I cringe. God, not now...
Marcus bolts down the hall toward us from the entrance.
“What are you doing here?” he barks at me, ignoring Lance completely.
I shift backward but he towers over me. “I’m leaving now—”
He plants a firm hand on my chest and pushes me against the wall. “I said, what are you—”
Lance shoves Marcus away from me and plants himself between us.
“She said she was leaving,” he says, standing taller. “Let her go.”
Marcus rolls his fists but a guard clears his throat down the hallway. He eases back.
I wipe my cheek. “Lance, would you please escort me home?” I ask.
Marcus’ nostrils flare with rage. He stares down at me, his eyes bouncing between us.
Lance turns away from him and nods, once again taking my elbow with a soft, comforting grip.
“Let’s go,” he says.
Twenty-Three
Lance
Trix hasn’t said a word.
She stares out the car window with her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes are swollen and pink but she hasn’t shed a single tear since the hallway. She just looks at the city streets, her face hard and defiant, but I can almost see the thoughts swimming behind her eyes.
Does she regret going there? Or did she get exactly what she wanted?
“Turn right here,” she says, breaking the silence.
I do as she says and turn off into a parking garage, coming to a slow stop outside the gate. Trix reaches into her purse and withdraws a keycard.
“Swipe,” she says as she hands it to me.
I lower my window and run the card through the terminal outside. The gate starts rolling open. I hand the card back and she drops it into her purse.
“You can park in the visitor’s spots by the elevator.”
Park. She wants me to stay.
I think to say something, perhaps to excuse myself, but as I park in the spot by the elevators and unclip my seatbelt, I know my mind has already been made. We ride together to the fifth floor and I follow her down the hallway while she fishes for her keys.
I watch her closely as we walk in, her face still locked with the same cold expression. At least she doesn’t seem likely to burst into tears anymore but I’d still feel a little more at ease if she’d just say something.
Trix takes long strides across her living room to the windows and flicks the curtains closed.
“Trix,” I say. “Are you okay?”
She does the same to the kitchen windows and passes through the living room again to push open the double sun doors of her bedroom.
I take a single step forward to see her fling the curtains closed in there as well. “What are you doing?” I ask.
Trix peels her jacket off and tosses it over the couch. “Marcus has a nasty habit of spying on me,” she says, her words sharp. “I don’t want him watching right now.”
“Watching what?”
She kicks off her heels as she moves toward me. I can barely get another word out before she loops a hand around my tie and pulls me down to kiss me.
I betray logic again, leaning over and sliding my hands around her back when I should be pushing her away. I part my lips instead, kissing her back and pulling her body against mine.
Trix moves back, easily guiding me into her bedroom with closed eyes. “Stay with me,” she says as she loosens my tie.
She doesn’t need to ask twice. I break the kiss long enough for her to yank the tie over my head and toss it to the floor. Then I’m right back on her lips again, tasting her and relishing in the sweet feeling of her.
We tumble onto the bed and I lift her up and push her higher up toward the pillows. I remove my jacket, dropping it to the floor as she tugs at my belt.
“Top drawer,” she says, looking back at her bedside table.
I lean over to open it. There’s a bowl of condoms inside next to a hairbrush, a few books, and a vibrator. I grab a condom quickly and return to her, my lips longing to feel hers again.
My hard cock surges with blood as her legs spread and her knees hug my waist. Her skirt inches upward and I see her white panties peeking out, begging to be torn off her little body.
Trix pulls her blouse over her head and tosses it away. I admire her perfect, sun-kissed skin and her perky breast pressed tightly beneath her white bra. She starts flicking the buttons on my shirt but I take hold of her hands and lean across her to pin them over her head. I crush my mouth on hers, relishing in the warmth of her body a little longer, letting my mind stop and think about this one last time.
She pushes my pants down over my ass and wraps her hand around my cock, making me groan.
Fuck it.
I sit back on my knees, grabbing the condom and gripping her hips to draw her closer. Trix raises her hips as I hook my fingers into the elastic of her panties and pull them down to her ankles. As she opens them wide around me again, I see her swollen pink folds and her wet slit just waiting to be taken.
I tear open the foil wrapper and slide the condom over my throbbing cock head. I ease closer, hovering over her heaving chest as I guide myself along her warm entrance. She twitches beneath me, her body wracked with anticipation. I kiss her again, savoring every moment of it before sliding myself inside.
Her breath catches in her throat but it’s quickly forced out by the moan on her tongue. She wraps her legs around me, inviting me deeper and I can’t say no. I don’t want to. Every thrust brings me just a little closer to her.
She sucks on my
bottom lip to hold back her moans but I can’t silence the pleasure building in me. I feel her all over, from her face and neck and breasts. Her perfect, little body rocks against mine, meeting every hard thrust. We fuck in sync with each other, moaning and groaning and digging our nails into each other like animals. She nibbles my neck. I grind against her until I feel the clench of her inner muscles and moans spill off her tongue onto mine.
I tighten, feeling my climax coming with hers. One more thrust and I let go, digging my fingertips into her hip as I hold her to steady myself.
With a swift move, she spins me around onto my back and straddles my waist. She straightens her arms and plants her palms against my chest to hold herself up.
Trix takes a deep breath and holds it.
“Well, that was bad,” she says.
Twenty-Four
Trix
I slide off Lance and hop onto the floor. My knees quake beneath me, my limbs still riddled with excess pleasure as I try and bend down to find my panties.
Lance pushes up onto his elbows. “Not to be argumentative or anything but I thought it was pretty good,” he says.
I pull my panties up beneath my skirt. “An argumentative lawyer?” I quip. “Surely, you’re joking.”
He chuckles and sits up. “It wasn’t good for you? Because I kind of thought you...”
“Oh, I did. I definitely did.”
“Nice.”
I nod and look for my blouse. “That’s not why it was bad.”
“It was bad as in naughty bad,” he says. “Not quality bad.”
“Yes. Obviously.” I give up my search and pull a tank top out of my dresser drawer instead. “My father’s gonna kill me.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“He’s gonna kill you, too.”
“What?” He squints. “Seriously?”
“Maybe.”
He lays back down and rests his hands beneath his head. “Well, luckily for me, he’s in jail.”
I glare at him.
“Okay, bad joke,” he says. “It’s kind of ironic though, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“Well, I’m a lawyer,” he says. “I’m darn good-looking and self-sufficient. Educated. I went to Harvard Law.”
I shrug. “What’s your point, man?”
“I’m a catch!” he says. “Most dads love me.”
I chuckle as I bend down for his tie. “Good point.”
I fling it at him and it lands on his chest. He takes it and stands, pulling his pants up along with him.
I bite my thumbnail, holding back a primal urge as I admire him. “This is not good,” I say again, mostly to myself.
Lance walks to the bathroom and disappears behind the door. He returns after a moment, sans condom, and stands in front of the mirror in the corner and tucks his shirt in.
“Don’t you think you’re over-thinking this a little?” he asks.
“Honestly, I think I under-thunk it,” I say. “I think I did the same stupid thing I always do and damn the consequences. I’m immature and impulsive and the Daddy’s Girl in me is telling me to knock this shit off before it happens again.”
He buttons his shirt and lays the tie around his neck. “And what does the grown-ass, beautiful, independent woman have to say about that?” he asks.
My face screws up. “She kinda wants to do it again.”
He smiles at my reflection. “Just kinda?”
“Okay, she wants to strip down, roll over, and get fucked but like I said, she’s immature, impulsive, and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about consequences.”
He turns around and picks up his jacket. “Trix, I’m not a behavioral specialist or anything but it’s fairly obvious that what just happened was directly influenced by whatever it was you spoke with your father about today.”
“Yeah, well...” I exhale hard. “You’re probably right.”
Lance stares at me with soft eyes are he slides his jacket on.
“You sure you have to leave?” I ask. “I wasn’t kidding about the rolling over and getting fucked thing.”
He looks at his watch. “It’s Monday.”
“And?”
“And... Haley has a free block on Mondays, so I like to meet her on campus for lunch.”
“Oh.” I smile. “That’s sweet.”
“I could cancel, though. If you want to talk or... otherwise. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
“No.” I take a step back. “You go. Don’t cancel. Those lunches mean more to her than you realize, believe me.”
“You’re right. It’s Haley first,” he says. “Always.”
“Right.” I rub my forehead. “You should probably go anyway. This whole thing kind of screamed mistake from the start, right?”
“Yeah.” His throat clears.
We stare at each other, wondering what to say. What else is there? It’s admittedly nice to finally snap that tension that’s been building between us since the dance but after seeing my father today, I have to tread carefully.
Nothing is more important than family.
“I know I’ve already asked this but you never answered before, so...” Lance takes a step closer. “Are you okay, Trix?”
“Yeah,” I say, taking a breath as a rock settles in my gut. “I have no idea what I’m going to do next but... yeah, I’ll be okay.”
He leans in and kisses my cheek. “You know where to find me.”
I nod. “Thank you.”
“Bye, Trix.”
“Bye.”
I watch him leave, holding my breath as he opens the door. He turns back at the last second and looks at me with the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
The door closes and I realize that I’m smiling, too.
Twenty-Five
Lance
What happened back there?
Trix bolted away from her father with tears in her eyes. Gone was that strong, thick-skinned woman I’ve come to (sort of) get to know. One ten-minute conversation with her father and she almost dissolved. She couldn’t even stand up to that stooge, Marcus, even though I’ve seen her do just that before.
I’m not a violent man. I can count the number of times I’ve made a fist with intent to use it on one hand but seeing Marcus shove Trix against the wall like that made me realize what I might be capable of.
Hearing Trix moan beneath me and knew exactly why.
A familiar messenger bag drops onto my table and I look up to find Haley taking her seat across from me with a very tall cup of coffee in her hand. I throw on a smile, welcoming the distraction, as I push her lunch toward her.
“Hey, honey,” I say.
“Hey,” she says with a grunt.
I chuckle. “Uh-oh. You okay?”
“Monday,” is all she says before taking a long sip from her cup.
“Yeah... Monday.” I tap the tray. “I got you turkey with swiss. Extra mayo.”
She perks up and reaches for it. “Perfect. Thank you.”
I unwrap my own sandwich and take a bite as I glance around the crowded university center dining room. I didn’t realize how hungry I was between setting up that meeting at the jail and driving Trix home and... well...
I knew what to expect. Doesn’t mean I was prepared.
“Hey, Hal!”
A trio of young women pauses by our table. They look at me out of their peripheral vision, not wanting to make their obvious stares too obvious.
“Hey,” Haley says as flips open her bag.
“Who is this?” the ring-leaders asks, finally looking at me straight-on. “Is this your boyfriend?”
Haley’s face screws up in disgust. “Ew. No. This is my dad.”
Their expressions admire me with awe and wonder.
I grin and extend my hand. “Lance Tyler. Nice to meet you, ladies.”
They each shake my hand while Haley glares at me.
“Wow,” they swoon. “Your dad? No way.”
Haley withdraws a pink notebook from her b
ag. “Here, Lisa. Thanks for the notes.”
The girl takes the book but keeps staring at me. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you in class...”
“Bye,” Haley says.
The girls quickly scamper off, whispering among themselves with a few quick peeks at me.
I lean back and pat my chest. “Still got it,” I say.
Haley continues to glare. “Gross.”
“Hey, you said you were fine with me dating.”
“Yeah, someone age-appropriate — like that woman from the other night. Speaking of… have you talked to her yet?”
“Uh…” My lips twitch. “A little.”
She reaches for her coffee. “And?”
“And… it’s complicated,” I say. “She’s got a lot on her plate and I have my case — and you. Always.”
Her nose crinkles up. “You didn’t use the Haley first line, did you?”
I open my mouth and quickly close it again. “Well…”
Haley shakes her head. “I’m not a kid anymore, Dad. You can put you first sometimes.”
“For the record — no, I can’t. And also, to be fair, the last time I brought a woman home, we broke up a week later and you cried for a month.”
“I was nine!” she says, laughing. “I think I’m past that stage now.”
“Haley, you’re always going to be that nine-year-old to me. I just recently got over the fact that I’ll never see you in overalls and pigtails again.”
She winces. “I hated those overalls.”
“Uh, no. You loved those.”
“Hated them.”
“Then, why did you wear them?” I ask.
“Yeah, sure, I could always have trekked on down to Penneys for something else? You wouldn’t let me pick out my own clothes until I was fourteen.”
I point a finger. “Hey, I saw way too many of your classmates walking around in leggings with the word juicy sprawled across their asses. You’re damn right I dressed you.”
She cocks her head. I proved her point.
“Okay, fine. Whatever. Just…” I pause. “What were we talking about?”
She chuckles. “Senility’s a bitch, huh?”