Fire & Desire (Hero Series)

by Monique Lamont

  “Hi. I’m Trevor Wayne, owner of Computer Bytes. Computer geek at your service.”

  Though he sounded as rich and soft as cherished leather, she also heard a dejected tone. His posture held a nonchalant bearing as he lounged with one shoulder against the doorjamb.

  Tiffany didn’t know which to believe. He claimed feelings for her one moment, yet he never revealed who he truly was.

  She didn’t trust herself to say more, so she stepped back to allow him to enter the house.

  After he crossed the threshold, she closed the door with a snap and led the way.

  Not a stripper. As she moved toward the living room, her mind was on the man who owned the echoing footsteps thumping behind her. He wore jeans like skin, snug, fitting and cleaving to every bulge and curve. Leaving nothing to the imagination. She didn’t need imagination; she knew what was held in those pants. She knew it by size, feel and shape. She knew it by how deep it could thrust inside of her until her eyes rolled back and it felt like her very soul had left her body on a cry of pleasure.

  Her sex pulsated. She yearned to be sitting so she would be able to squeeze her thighs together and calm its throb.

  Trevor. Even the sound of his name in her mind made her nipples tighten. She crossed her arms over her chest to hide the evidence of the affect he had on her. Reaching the living room, she sat down on the first piece of furniture she reached. A chair. Perfect. It would give her the distance she needed. Distance to keep her head clear. Distance, Tiffany repeated it like a mantra.

  Trevor chose the couch across from her. Sitting on the edge, he leaned forward with his elbows balanced on his knees.

  Ooh, man! Tiffany thought as she realized the view she had down his shirt. Crisp and white, with three buttons undone at the collar. Corded muscles and rope like veins traveled along the side, making Tiffany want to place heated, open mouth kisses on them. She couldn’t stop her eyes from dipping lower to catch a glimpse of his upper chest and pecks. Her tongue slid out of her mouth to glide across her lips as she remembered how each lick of his skin would taste.

  She cleared her throat abruptly. This is not the time, she berated herself. This may be Trevor, the man who took you into your first moments of pure ecstasy, but he was also the man who married, deceived and made you out to be a fool of the first degree.

  Her anger returned with full force. “Why?” she uttered past her tight lips.

  ~ML~

  Ah, hell. Trevor thought. Time to come clean. What he really wanted to do when Tiffany opened the door in her sweet lace trimmed camisole top and knee length skirt was lay her down in the foyer on the parquet floor and ply his tongue against her wet folds and capture her essence.

  Instant arousal hit him. He clenched his jaw to stifle the groan that rose in his throat. His manhood began to swell and extend, making his jeans feel two sizes too small. Man, you are not here for that.

  He was silent as he followed her barefoot trek down the hall across the gleaming wood.

  Unable to keep his eyes from watching the sway of her hips as the flowing material of her skirt brushed across her firm, round bottom. Everything in him yearned to run his hands underneath her skirt, to re-familiarize himself with the hidden curves of her thighs and butt. To touch the welcoming supple heat of her inner thighs and travel up them until he reached the part of her that was wet, and declared her level of excitement, would have been heaven.

  He was happy when Tiffany chose the first chair in the room and sat down. Giving him the time he needed to rein in his desire. The look on her face helped. She sat with her lips pursed with anger, her arms folded across her full breasts and her legs crossed. The pain and hurt that filled her eyes tore at his heart. He had put that there. Now, his omissions could be the cause of him losing the one person who meant everything to him.

  Gazing into those brown eyes that would be his judge and jury, he said, “I’m sorry. I never meant things to turn out like this.”

  She dropped her arms to her lap. “I don’t want to hear how damn sorry you are. I figured that out hours ago.”

  Ouch.

  “What I want is the truth. The unadulterated truth. If you can unravel all of the lies you have given me and find it.”

  Trevor knew he had this coming. He owed Tiffany this time of anger. He just hoped before the night was over he would be able to convince her to give him a second chance. Taking another glance at the set look of her face, he lost his confidence.

  “Where would you like me to start?” He opened his hands, and then clasped them together.

  “The beginning would be great.”

  Trevor sighed, leaned back in the chair and rested his linked hands on his abdomen. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Before I start, I don’t want you to have any doubt that when I told you I loved you, I meant it.”

  Tiffany opened her mouth to comment.

  “I meant it,” Trevor said emphatically, bringing to a halt any doubt she was going to voice.

  There was a momentary thick silence before Trevor began to speak. “In order to start this off, I have to tell you that this entire situation involves Manning.”

  “Christopher? What does he have to do with this?” Curiosity painted her face like a mural.

  “More than you could ever imagine.” Trevor cast his gaze toward the ceiling briefly, then looked across the carpeted floor at her again. Watch your words. Remember what Christopher means to her.

  “Manning and I went to undergrad together.”

  Tiffany started to speak, but Trevor raised his hand to cease it. He needed to get this out without interruptions. “Hear me first, Tiffany.” He took a deep breath. “We played football together, which is how I could even afford to attend the school. I was recruited. Not to brag on myself, but I had been warding off scouts since I was a sophomore in high school. I could have gone anywhere, but Leslie, my aunt, always told me to choose wisely. ‘You won’t be playing football your whole life,’ she’d say.”

  “The owner of Elite Entertainment,” she stated more than asked.

  Trevor noticed Tiffany’s arms were starting to relax. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head.

  “Yes. Leslie has always been there to support me. So I went Ivy League. Drakner College in New Hampshire. They didn’t rank even in the top ten schools for football, but that was okay because they were an Ivy League College.” Trevor stood and walked to the side of the couch. He was anxious, and he was just beginning with the story.

  Respecting his request, Tiffany remained quiet.

  “From the moment I got there, I knew I was out of my league. I couldn’t fathom how I would ever be able to relate with students whose parents and grandparents were corporate attorneys, stockbrokers, heads of hospitals, senators and Supreme Court justices.” Trevor looked at Tiffany. “How could I compete with that. My father was a longshoreman until he died, and my mother owned a small cleaning business, which went under after she died my freshman year. But I was going to stick it out because I was determined to make it.”

  Trevor sat down on the arm of the couch, and he looked down at his hands as they clinched in suppressed anger. “I think that’s why Christopher hated me.”

  “Hate is a very strong word.”

  “But perfect.” He glanced up at Tiffany. “I initially came under his radar being on the football team with him. I was good. As a freshman, I got the position of starting quarterback. I was the one who was going to take the school to victory. Christopher was second to me, and he didn’t like it. That’s when the pranks started.” Trevor got up, walked over to the mantle over the fireplace and placed both his hands against it, keeping his back to Tiffany. “For three years, I took the itching powder, tainted food, ruined clothes, defaced property and public ridicule.”

  “Christopher dropped off the team in his sophomore year.”

  “That just made things worse.” Trevor’s eyes went vacant as his thoughts drifted back.

  “The night we won our home
coming game, we were in the locker room celebrating. Things got rough and rowdy. Next thing I knew, I had a dislocated shoulder. I could never prove who did it, but I’m positive it was some of Christopher’s loyal buddies who were still on the team.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Nothing.” Trevor shrugged his shoulders in a matter of fact manner. “I was glad it was my right shoulder instead of my throwing arm. But that taught me quickly to watch my back.”

  “Why didn’t you report them?” Tiffany’s naïve faith caused Trevor to turn around.

  “To whom?” Trevor shook his head. “Their fathers were on the alumni board. Besides, if I had shown any hint they were getting to me, then it would have been worse.”

  Tiffany stood and walked toward him. “Trevor, what’s worse than what they did to you?”

  “Death.” The ominous tone heavily weighed Trevor’s words. He could see the shock and disbelief registered on Tiffany’s face as her forehead creased, eyes glazed over and her mouth dropped open giving her a daunted look.

  “Oh, come now, Trevor. Aren’t you being a bit melodramatic?”

  The comment hit Trevor with the impact of a large rubber mallet. It stole his breath and rendered him speechless for a moment. Trevor’s head hung low as he took a deep breath. He had to remember Tiffany didn’t know the real Manning. “Rebecca Camille Samuelson.”

  Tiffany’s face scrunched. “Who is that?”

  “She was my best friend.” Trevor tilted his head and made eye contact with her. “She died.” Trevor could hear his own voice, thick and quivering with emotions tenuously restrained.

  “She was my rock. One of the few people who looked beyond my athletic ability and saw me.”

  Trevor noticed the slight tremors in Tiffany’s hands as she fidgeted with the seam of her top. Her eyes darted around the room, touching everything but him.

  “This girl meant a lot to you.” She still refused to look at him. “What came between the two of you?” Her hands paused briefly. “Let me guess. This is why you hate Christopher so much. He slept with your girl?”

  Flippant was the word that came to Trevor’s mind to describe Tiffany’s tone, but the manner in which she toyed with her shirt hem told a different story. Even though she tried to hide it, he could tell the extent of his relationship with Rebecca disturbed her.

  “Manning didn’t just sleep with her. They were dating, and when he’d had enough of her, he got her drunk and passed her among his friends. She endured months of harassment before—”

  He cut his own words off. He needed a moment before he continued. He hadn’t spoken about her in years and only once to his aunt after the incident.

  “Before? Before what?”

  She sounded breathless, Trevor thought as he watched the slow rise and fall of Tiffany’s chest. He allowed his eyes a gradual stroll up her body, not missing the quickening pulse at the base of her neck as he passed it to rest his gaze on her face. “A 1960 candy apple red, white couch leathered interior, mint condition Corvette. That’s what.”

  Her eyes targeted him, and he watched them swell with recognition.

  “Oh, my God. That’s Christopher’s car,” she pronounced, her eyes stretched wide to the size of mini espresso saucers.

  “Tell her what she wins!” he sarcastically mocked game show hosts.

  “Talk to me, Trevor.” Tiffany’s hand reached toward him.

  ~ML~

  Trevor’s whole body went on awareness as Tiffany touched him. It was a simple act, but he was connected to her on a level he’d never known with anyone else.

  He took a steadying breath and focused on the far wall over Tiffany’s shoulder. He had to look anywhere but at her. Or he would lose it.

  “As they say in the movies, ‘It was the big game.’ My coach informed me at practice the night before that a minimum of four NFL scouts would be in the stands to watch me play. There was a rumor that at least two of them would most likely have the general manager on the line ready to set up a meeting to negotiate contracts. There were teams that wanted me bad. That was the main reason I had chosen Drakner; I wanted to stand out. I was considering whether to forgo entering the draft. I was well on my way.”

  He felt the squeeze of Tiffany’s hand on his forearm. He looked down and watched her thumb stroke his arm before it dropped back down to her side.

  “That night, Rebecca and I had gone to dinner at one of the restaurants off campus frequented by students. Everything was going great; during our dinner the atmosphere was charged. People stopped by the table dressed in assorted costumes of green and white to offer the team and me their support. Shortly before we left, Christopher and his chums came in.” Trevor felt the burn in his shoulders as the tension in his muscles consumed him. “I remember feeling fortunate they didn’t say anything to us. Just stared but left us alone.”

  Trevor leaned a shoulder into the stone of the mantel and closed his eyes. “It was a nice night, and we had decided to walk so I could burn off some of the excited energy coursing through my veins and focus on the game ahead.” Trevor opened his eyes and looked at Tiffany.

  Seeing the arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, caramel kissed skin, full lips and the softness of her face. “I will never forget the sound of screeching tires. It’s the sound of death on wheels.”

  Trevor shut his eyes again. “We saw the headlights. I immediately knew who it was by the antique shape of them. There were more lights behind him from his friends’ cars. I could still hear his laughter as he barreled toward us at high speed.” Trevor opened his eyes. Pain filled him as he looked off in the distance, still trapped in the memory. He relived the cool breeze of the night kissing his skin, and his hands started to shake.

  “By his speed, I knew he would never be able to stop in time. I grabbed Rebecca and attempted to get us out of the way. However, at the same time, Christopher slammed on his brakes and the car fishtailed. I was sideswiped. The doctors told me my body automatically braced for impact because of years of football training. Rebecca wasn’t so lucky.”

  Trevor pushed away from the mantle and began to pace between the furniture, clenching and unclenching his hands into fists. “She was caught by the tail-end of the car. The force of it propelled her body ten feet and head first onto the edge of the curve. She died instantly.” He stopped and turned to Tiffany, finally seeing through the fog in his mind.

  Tiffany stood frozen by the mantle. “Trevor, I’m sorry.”

  “I’m glad to know that you are because Manning never said or showed it.”

  “What? Didn’t he have to make restitution? Wasn’t there a trial?” The indignation of injustice colored Tiffany’s speech.

  The bark of Trevor’s abrupt laughter echoed through the room and ended in the same manner.

  “If I learned anything while lying in that damn hospital bed and undergoing months of rehabilitation, it was that the Mannings of the world can get away with anything. Even murder.”

  He sat down on the couch, his body weak with emotions. “All of my medical bills were paid for by Senator Manning. Rebecca’s death was ruled an accident. There was never an apology. Public or otherwise.”

  Tiffany walked toward him. “Did Christopher ever visit you while you were in the hospital?”

  A sardonic smile graced Trevor’s face. “Oh, I was honored with the presence of both him and his father. Two days after I came out of knee repair surgery.” He reached down and rubbed the reconstructed knee. “At least they put it back together. The Mannings stopped by. It was a short meeting to inform me the entire situation was an unfortunate accident. A misunderstanding between Christopher and me. They had witnesses to testify Christopher didn’t see us walking in the middle of the parking lot until it was too late. He attempted to swerve away from us both, but nevertheless it happened.” Trevor’s hands were vigorous as they rubbed over his face and baldhead. “After they left, I made a vow to Rebecca that one day I would get revenge.”

  ~ML~

 
Tiffany plopped down onto the cushion of her vacated chair. “That’s where I come in.”

  Confirmation. It was worse than she’d expected. “Nothing in Las Vegas happened between us by chance, did it?” She looked across the room at Trevor. She saw the pain and anger of the past still resident in his eyes.

  “No.”

  One word and she had her answer. She felt sick to her stomach as she thought about how she had fallen hard for Trevor over the last few months. How she had given herself to him unrestrained. “How did you convince your aunt to allow you to pose as one of her dancers?”

  “I was actually doing her a favor. Believe it or not, in the beginning I never planned for you to be my way of getting to Manning. I used to dance for Leslie every summer. That’s how I paid for part of my school tuition. Dancing allowed me to save a decent nest egg, allowing me to start my business. Even though I stopped dancing for her after college, she would occasionally call me if she was in a jam. I owed it to her. Leslie has always been there for me. I recently told her my company was up for a major contract, and I couldn’t dance for her any longer.”

  “Daddy’s old business.” Tiffany’s voice was vacant. “Why did you do the Vegas party?”

  Tiffany needed answers; every revelation tore another piece of her heart.

  “Because it was on the other side of the country.” His gaze pierced her. “It was you. The woman Manning was expected to marry one day.”

  A large part of her wanted to cover her ears and avoid hearing the truth. The other part of her had to know. She would need the truth to go on without him. Her eyes burned, the urge to cry was heavy upon her. Instead, she focused on squeezing her fist tight, burying her nails into her palm.

  “People shouldn’t believe everything the news tells them.” Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears. Tiffany glared at Trevor. “So before you left Virginia you had already conceived the plan to marry me.” Her laugh was just as empty. “That’s why you wouldn’t give me a quiet divorce.” Tiffany nodded her head, finally understanding as she looked anywhere but at him.