He turned and stepped down from the microphone, not stopping as Bernard called after him, not stopping as he walked through the mass of people that had gathered, most of them drying tears from their eyes as their empathy began to suffocate him. He pushed out the door, shutting it firmly behind him grateful that the hallway was completely empty. Taking deep breaths of the emotion-free air, he took a few steps before collapsing onto the bench against the wall, dropping his head into his hands and trying to blink away the annoying wetness in his eyes. He was a mess of relief, sadness, and anger.
Where the fuck was Pierce? What had happened? The worst thought – was Ellie ok? Fuck. Pierce was going to–
“Tristan?”
His heart and thoughts stopped. His breathing ceased. He was afraid to move and have his hope shatter around him. His name had been spoken so softly, so tenderly that it couldn’t have been real.
Just when he’d convinced himself that it was his mind playing tricks on him – “Tristan.”
It wasn’t a trick.
The still soft, but confident ring of his name resounded down the hall followed by the soft pad of footsteps approaching him. His face jerked up out of his hands to behold the sight before him.
“Ellie?” he rasped, his voice hoarse with emotion and disbelief. He watched as walked towards him from the other end of the hall, the sunlight streaming in through the windows, reflecting off her vibrant hair, her emerald eyes alight with tenderness.
God, she would always be able to bring him to his knees.
She stopped in front of him and he stood, disbelief written all over his tear-filled eyes. “Are you really here?” he whispered, his hand raising just to the side of her face.
He could see that the vision in front of him was on the verge of crying, yet she responded, “did you think you’d be able to get rid of me that easily?”
His lips found hers because he didn’t have a choice. He loved her, he needed her and she was here. Her mouth opened beautifully beneath his, as though he’d never hurt her, never left her, never broken her heart.
He didn’t deserve her, but he would take her anyway.
He kissed her with every ounce of love and emotion that he’d kept from her, that he’d kept inside this past week, and she absorbed it all. “Fuck, Ellie,” he whispered against her lips, “I’m so fucking sorry, siren.” He kissed her again, unable to stop out of fear that she would vanish right out from underneath him. It was only when she finally pulled back that he let her breath.
“Shh,” she murmured, “it’s ok. I’m here.”
“I don’t know why,” he said hoarsely, losing himself in her eyes, “I was a fucking coward, gorgeous. Everything I said, and did – Christ, I’m such an ass.”
“Shh… I know why, Tristan. I know,” she tried to comfort him. Her understand clear in her glassy, green eyes.
“I love you so damn much, just tell me that you know that, and then I can let you go.”
She laughed softly, “I do know that, but I don’t want you to let me go. If I wanted that, I wouldn’t have come here.”
“Why are you here? After everything I did…said…” he groaned, agony ripping through him at the memory of how he treated her.
“Because I know it wasn’t the truth, I could see the hurt and fear in your eyes – I’ve seen it before. But, mostly because I love you…and because Pierce threatened me if I didn’t get in his car.” She said it with a laugh, trying to lighten the torture he was putting himself through.
“When you told the doctor about your cancer, all I could think about was when my mother died. She loved me, and I lost her and my father. I lost so much and I was hollow for so long, until I met you,” he paused to take a steadying breath, “and then you fucking filled me and lit up a world that I’d tried to pretend I didn’t want to be a part of. The thought…the fear that I would lose you to; it felt like my heart stopped and everything just went dark.”
“Tristan, it’s ok. I know, I’ve seen it before and more than tha—” Ellie tried to interject but he kissed her quiet.
“Just let me get this out, siren, then you can ramble all you want,” he loving teased as he placed soft kisses all around her lips. “I love you.”
“I know, I heard you tell everyone. Pierce had me watch from behind the stage, he said if you saw me it would ruin everything. You won, you know,” she whispered back with a loving smile. “You left before you heard, but they chose you. Well, me.” Ellie placed her hand over his heart. “They chose us. I love you, too, Tristan.”
“This past week without you has made me realize that it’s not your cancer that was a problem for me, it was mine. Fear has been my cancer. It damaged me to the point where I couldn’t even truly see myself anymore, I was just a shell, until I met you. You showed me the possibilities of feeling, of loving, of living. I wasn’t prepared for the thought that it could all be taken away, and in that moment, I gave in to my cancer; I won’t do that ever again. It’s not a life – to live in fear. I need you – I need you lighting my world every fucking day for as long as I can have you, no matter how long that is. I will be here with you, loving you, fighting for you, with you... I choose life with you. I choose love with you. Please, forgive me.”
His hands were cupping her face, his thumbs wiping away the tears that were streaming in full force from her exquisite eyes. She cried silently against his hands, so overwhelmed with love.
“Tristan,” Ellie choked out between sobs, “I already forgave you. I forgave you as soon as you left the hospital room. I knew why you said those things, which is why I left you alone, as much as it killed me. I stayed away because I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want the sight of me to bring you more pain. But, of course, I forgave you. I love you too much to let your stupid fear ruin everything that happened between us.”
He chuckled, resting his forehead on hers. “Of course, you did. You are so unpredictable. Unbelievable. You are so good. I don’t deserve you, but I will work every day to try to.” He paused and kissed her gently again. “Just tell me, what you want me to do. What do you want Ellie? I just want you to be happy, and if you want to feel alive, then I will spend every day making sure you are living life to the fullest; I will do anything for you.”
“Tristan, I just want you,” she replied simply, love shining in her face. “I just want you to live my life with. Feeling alive has nothing on feeling in love.”
“I will do that, siren. Starting right now,” he said as a hungry smile crept over his face.
Finally, she was his.
Epilogue
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The soft rapping startled Tristan; he’d been in bed, mesmerized by his sleeping siren, watching her rest peacefully after he’d kept them in bed all night. Carefully sliding out of the bed, he pulled on his sweats and padded quietly out of his bedroom not wanting to disturb her.
Opening up the door, he was surprised to see Pierce on the other side, holding a wrapped-up frame.
His mother’s portrait.
“I figured you wanted this back,” Pierce grumbled.
Tristan moved to the side and motioned for him to come in. “Yeah, thanks. I completely forgot about it.”
“Where is she?” Pierce asked, not seeing Ellie in the apartment.
“Sleeping.”
A knowing smirk crossed Pierce’s face. “Well, I just wanted to drop this off and let you know that you won.”
“Seriously?” Tristan responded, shocked.
“Don’t fucking rub it in. You knew you were going to win with her.” Pierce rolled his eyes, his words evoking more than one meaning.
“It was a little touch-and-go for a minute,” Tristan responded with a hint of annoyance. “You think you cut it a little close there? I honestly thought you weren’t coming.”
Pierce just laughed. “We were there the whole time. I just made sure you couldn’t see her.”
“Why?”
“Because you needed to accept how you felt
about her; you needed to admit it even when you felt like there was no hope left, that she wasn’t going to come. You’ve done nothing but doubt your fucking feelings and what to do about them. I didn’t want to have you see her when there could still be some of that doubt lingering.”
Tristan just stared at his friend, wondering where this perceptive person was buried underneath all of the layers of asshole that Pierce made a point of showing. “How did you even get her to come? To agree to that?” Tristan asked, his curiosity peaked.
“You don’t want to know,” came his friend’s dark response.
Pierce was right; he didn’t.
All he cared about was that whatever he had done had worked.
Tristan sighed, accepting that he might never know what had happened or why Pierce had done what he’d done. “So, you pissed that I gave up my name?” That was the other much smaller knot in his stomach, wondering if his friends would be mad that he revealed his identity without really consulting them first.
“No,” Pierce scoffed, “now, I get to win everything by default.” He laughed, as Tristan heard the slight twinge of sadness in his tone.
“Hey, I’m still going to be doing restorations. I can’t give that up and leave all those masterpieces in your not-as-capable hands,” Tristan shot back with a smile that emphasized his joke.
“I see that being in love has turned all your rational thoughts into delusions.”
Tristan cracked a smile, glad that he and Pierce had returned to their normal competitive banter.
“Delusions? Ha!” Tristan laughed. “I can’t fucking wait to see you like this – to see you in love.”
“Not possible,” Pierce answered simply. “Need a heart to be able to fall in love.”
“I think there’s one in there for someone to find.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it; I’m too much of an asshole remember?” Pierce tried to remind him. “Plus, the heart is dumb, I’m far too adept at scheming to be caught up in that shit.”
“Because your schemes always work out in your favor…”
“Hey! You shouldn’t be complaining here. My schemes just made you the happiest asshole this side of the nuthouse. It has left me with the opportunity to have my paintings be front and center at the exhibits, and now that you’ve recused your stiff ass from being involved, it means things are about to get a whole lot more interesting,” Pierce informed him confidently.
“Hey, even though I’m cutting back my involvement in that way, I’m still in-fucking-charge here. Don’t think this means you’re going to get away with any more than you were,” he warned Pierce.
“We’ll see,” his friend responded, slyly. “Looks like my schemes will just have to be transferred onto Sloane. He’s just really not as much fun to play with,” he finished lamenting pulling out his phone, a look of intrigue springing over his face.
“Good luck with that. I’m not even worried for Sloane, the man never lets anything get to him,” Tristan said, watching as Pierce seemed to be reading something over and over again, trying to process. “Everything ok?”
“It might be a lead.” Pierce’s dark eyes flashed.
A lead on the painting that had been stolen from him.
“Where?”
“I have to go handle this,” he replied sharply, the hardened edge of anger returning to his composure at the reminder of this unresolved issue from the past. “I’ll let you get back to—”
“Don’t,” Tristan said sharply, stopping his friend before the lewd comment that he knew was coming.
Pierce just snickered and headed for the door. “I’ll see you around.”
“Thank you for everything, seriously,” Tristan said sincerely.
“You know I hate it when you guys are serious about anything,” he retorted, “but, you’re welcome.” Pierce finally acquiesced to the gratitude as he punched the button for the elevator.
“Later.” Tristan closed his door, turning to face his portrait that had won the competition.
It still wasn’t as good as the real thing.
And that was ok because now he had the real thing, he couldn’t care less about the failings of the portrait. His mind drifted for a moment back to the Guild; this was the end of a chapter for them…or for him at least. His role would be changing, but they’d figure out a way.
Hey, at least no one could say that they’d fallen into a routine of predictability.
He was sure there was going to be a media shit-storm Monday morning, if it wasn’t already happening, about his reveal. But that was something for another day, something for Morgan to handle.
He began to walk back into the bedroom. Right now, he couldn’t find it in himself to care about anything except Ellie.
“Hey there,” she murmured when he walked back into the room.
“Hey yourself, siren,” he smiled, looking at the beautiful woman lying in his bed, right where she belonged. The soft late-morning sun streaming in through the window, setting her aglow with life.
She was exquisite.
“Pierce?”
“Yeah,” he answered, coming to sit on the edge of the bed by her. “He didn’t…cross the line, did he? To get you to come to the exhibit?”
Ellie’s eyes widened for a second at the suggestion before she quickly deterred that thought from his mind. “Oh, no. Nothing like that, I promise,” she reassured him. “He told me a story is all.”
His eyebrows raised, wondering what that meant, wondering if Pierce had opened up about his past to…Ellie? At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised. She just knew how to read people, to empathize with them without saying a word.
“What?” she asked, watching as he just continued to stare at her.
“You just amaze me,” he whispered, taking her hand to kiss the back of it. “I’m so in love with you.”
Ellie moaned softly, her deep green eyes looking up at him, a familiar shimmer glossing over their vibrancy. “I wish you were so inside of me,” she whispered seductively.
His body immediately turned to hardened fire.
“That wish, I can grant,” he said hoarsely, standing as he stripped off his sweats, his gaze never leaving hers; his body proudly erect before her. Grabbing the edge of the covers, he tossed them to the side, exposing her completely naked body to his gaze.
She spread her legs as he climbed between them. Pressing the tip of his erection against her slick entrance, he slipped easily inside of her. Tristan watched as her eyes closed with pleasure as he began to move.
“I love you, Tristan,” she moaned.
“I love you, siren,” he responded as he thrust in and out of her, the friction between them building as he took them both to the edge of their climax. Their love making the pleasure even more intense as they succumbed to their intertwined release; their bodies shattering around them just as their love brought them back together.
Looking down at the gorgeously sated woman smiling up at him, Tristan slowly bent his head to hers and kissed her like the sun rose in the morning – as if it was the only thing he ever needed to do to light his world.
The End.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed Tristan and Ellie’s story! I would love to hear what you think, if you want to head over to Amazon to leave a review! Reviews play such a big part in not just how I get feedback on my work, but on how other readers make their decision on whether or not to check out my writing. It would mean the world to me if you would share your thoughts!
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Xx, Rebecca
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Continue reading for an excerpt from the next book in the Gentlemen’s Guild series – The Sculptor’s Seduction!
The Sculptor’s Seduction – Chapter 1
This was not a good idea, Sloane thought as he took a generous sip of the scotch in front of him, watching his two best friends, Tristan and Pierce, bullshit each other across the bar table they were sitting at.
Collectively, they made up the Gentlemen’s Guild – world-renowned, anonymous artists, called on by museums around the world to restore and replicate priceless masterpieces like only they could. To the public though, they were famous for their once-a-year exhibit of incredibly emotional, and most times, erotic masterpieces auctioned off for charity. Their fans sought after them for their skills – both artistic and pleasurable; women sought, begged, and fought to sit for them…and sleep with them. And they got to pursue their love of art, keeping it entirely separate from their successful business personas. It wasn’t a bad gig.
It was changing now, though.
Sloane sighed, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. That’s why they were out tonight, celebrating; Tristan was getting married. He laughed at the thought, still hard to believe that it was true. Three months ago, Tristan had fallen in love Elsa Carter and decided that he needed to scale back certain aspects of his participation in the Guild – mostly in their annual exhibits. He’d seen it coming from the second he’d learned that Tristan had punched Pierce in the face over Ellie.
The Artist's Touch (The Gentlemen's Guild Book 1) Page 40