Tattered on My Sleeve

by Autumn Jones Lake

  “Want some help back here?”

  Glancing up, I see Wrath and Roxy getting cozy. God, I hate that little bitch. Cookie slides up to him next, and he slips an arm over each of their shoulders.

  God-fucking-dammit. After hanging out last weekend, I thought maybe he was willing to let the past go and we might start again. But I see now how fucking stupid that was of me.

  His head turns slightly and his eyes narrow. Suddenly, I’m overly aware of how close Teller is standing next to me and what it must look like to Wrath.

  I step back to put a little distance between us. But it’s too late. Wrath’s leading the two of them to the couch. I know what’s about to go down, and I just can’t watch it again. He’s still paying me back for every time I fucked one of his brothers.

  But I can’t do this anymore.

  “Actually, yeah. I’m not feeling too well. I’m going to go to bed.”

  Teller cocks his head with concern. “Do you need me to get you something?”

  A gun so I can put a bullet in Roxy and Cookie would be nice.

  “Nah, I’m just exhausted.”

  “Okay.”

  Fighting tears, I push my way through the crowd. I’ll still be able to hear the party, but at least in my room, I can be alone. I’ve got some things to work on anyway. If I slip in my headphones while I’m working, I’ll never know what’s going on out there.

  I’m in the bathroom washing my face when someone knocks on my door. Ignoring it, I slip on my nightshirt.

  Whoever’s out there is a persistent asshole, though, because they knock again.

  Opening the door a crack, I find Wrath looming in my doorway. I poke my head out, looking left and right. “Where’s your fan club?”

  “You in there alone?”

  I close the door and step into the hallway with him. “You know I am.”

  He eyes me up and down, and suddenly, I’m self-conscious in my pink nightshirt with the little gray poodles dotted all over it.

  “Cute,” he says with a cocky smirk.

  “So what did you want?”

  His face turns serious. “Teller said you didn’t feel well. Do you need anything?”

  I’m not sure what to do with that. “I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

  He looks like he has more to say but isn’t sure about it. I wait for a second, but his head drops. “Night, Trin.”

  “Night, Wrath.”

  I only catch a glimpse of Trinity leaving the bar area. Her head’s down as she pushes her way down the hall. Roxy and Cookie are busy making out in my lap and trying to draw me into their clinch.

  I’m not feelin’ it tonight.

  Pushing them onto the couch, I rise and stalk over to Teller. “Where’d Trin go?”

  With a pinched expression, he jerks his head toward her room. “Said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go to bed early.”

  I don’t like that answer at all. Girl’s been running herself ragged ‘round here.

  Not giving a shit what Teller thinks, I head down the hallway. Faced with Trinity’s closed door, I hesitate. She might already be trying to rest and now here I am buggin’ her.

  On the other side of the door, I hear water running, so she’s still up. I knock and get nothing. After the second time, the door opens a crack. When she sees it’s me, she opens the door a little wider and sticks her head out, making a big show of searching up and down the hall.

  “Where’s your fan club?” she asks.

  She’s got her jealous up. Cute.

  Good, ‘cause I got questions of my own. “You in there alone?”

  She closes the door behind her, jiggling the knob to make sure it’s unlocked I guess. “You know I am,” she answers softly.

  When she steps into the hall, I get a good view of her and I’m overcome with how friggin’ cute she is. Hair’s all messily knotted on top of her head, face scrubbed clean. Christ, if she doesn’t look younger than when we met eight years ago. My gaze stops on what she’s wearing. Pink sleep shirt with little fucking puppies on it. How fucking adorable is she?

  I can’t help it. The corner of my mouth curls into a cocky smirk. “Cute.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest, and suddenly, it’s obvious to me she’s not wearing a bra.

  “So what did you want?” she asks, making me tear my gaze away from her chest.

  Reminding me why I’m here.

  “Teller said you didn’t feel well. You need anything?”

  The astonishment on her face sends shame slithering over my skin. “I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

  I want to ask why she left the party early and if it has anything to do with me. I want her to invite me into her goddamn room or come upstairs with me or something.

  Finally, I tell her good night.

  “Night, Wrath,” she answers back.

  But she doesn’t go inside. She’s still standing there watching me. Her hand reaches back and jiggles the knob again.

  Her eyes flutter shut for a second, and she whispers, “I just couldn’t do it again.”

  Confused, I take a step closer, and her eyes open. Glossy, like she’s about to cry.

  “Do what, honey?”

  She takes several deep breaths before finally answering me. “Watch you with them again.” She flicks her hand in the direction of the living room. “Any of them.”

  My first thought is, Good, now you know how I feel. Thank fuck I don’t blurt that out, because the next thing I think of is what her words mean.

  She still cares about me.

  I’m too dumbstruck to say anything. I want to tug her in my arms and kiss the fuck outta her.

  This is huge.

  She still cares about me.

  When I still haven’t said anything, she shakes her head and opens the door.

  “I’m sorry,” I finally manage to get out.

  “Me too.” And she shuts the door behind her.

  “You guys all good?” Trinity asks as she clears our breakfast dishes away.

  “Yup. Thanks, babe,” Teller answers while tickling her side.

  My fists clench under the table. Trinity’s eyes skip to me, but she doesn’t say anything.

  Murphy and Z watch her walk all the way back to the kitchen. “Christ, the fucking ass on her,” Murphy grumbles.

  Teller’s mouth kicks up, and my stomach lurches. I’m really not in the mood to sit here and listen to them discuss all the depraved things they’ve done to Trinity over the years.

  “Best thing that ever happened to the MC,” Z says with a chuckle.

  “Hell yeah.” Teller just has to join in. “Mouth for fucking days. Even with her weird ‘not on my knees’ thing.”

  My gaze snaps up at that.

  “Fuck, right?” Murphy jokes. “We been hittin’ that for what, seven years on and off, and not fucking once. Not even doggy. Makes things kinda limited.”

  “Whatever¸” Teller mutters. “She’s game for anything else. Ain’t ever heard you bitch about it before.”

  “True, she’s a spinner,” Murphy says. Whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean.

  “Except goin’ down on her,” Z reminds them.

  Murphy flashes a smug smile. “Fine by me.”

  Something painful clenches in my chest. The memory of the first night Trinity and I spent together. Her sweet, trusting honey eyes staring up at me, her coming on my tongue. I’d give pretty much anything to go back to that moment and do things over again. Fuck, I’d give anything not to be part of this conversation right now too.

  The guys finally notice I haven’t bothered to add to their disgusting gossip session. They turn to me expectantly. I want to keep my mouth shut, but something vicious inside me speaks instead.

  “Not the way I remember it at all, boys.”

  Although I get up quietly and push my chair in with a precise shove, rage blows through me. I hate the way my brothers talk about Trinity behind her back. I fucking despise the intimate details they know a
bout her. She’s mine. Don’t give a fuck if we haven’t touched each other in years.

  Mine.

  Storming up to my room with the intention of doing I’m not sure what, I stop dead in my tracks. Trinity’s at the end of the hallway, cleaning. Guess she went out the back door and circled around? Briefly, I wonder if she overheard the guys talking about her and decided to avoid us. Something painful twists inside me at the idea of her overhearing that shit. As furious as she makes me, she doesn’t deserve that.

  A soft chuckle eases out of me as I watch her dancing at the end of the hall. She’s got a mop or some shit in her hands and ear buds. She’s so fucking cute wiggling her rear and singing as she cleans.

  My fists clench and unclench. She turns and stares at my door, her mouth screwing up into a sad pout. Her hand lingers on the doorknob, but she doesn’t knock or try to go in.

  My patience snaps seeing her staring at my door with such a serious expression.

  I make it to the end of the hall in a few quick strides. She never hears me coming as I grab a fistful of her ponytail and shove her against my door. A short, startled scream is the only sound she makes. Hooking my index finger around the wire, I pop her ear bud out and put my mouth against her ear.

  “I’ll give you something to polish,” I whisper in her ear. Instead of getting pissed or fighting or even laughing at the absurd line, she relaxes into my hold when she realizes it’s me. Her response stokes the fire burning inside me even brighter.

  “We need to talk.” Sinking my teeth into her earlobe draws a moan from her, and her knees sag.

  My arm bands around her waist to hold her up. With my other hand, I throw my door open, pushing her inside.

  I kiss and suck my way down her neck hard enough to leave marks.

  “Do you remember when you got on your knees for me?” I ask against her throat.

  Breathless, she hums a negative sound and shakes her head.

  My foot kicks back, slamming the door shut behind us. Her body jumps at the sharp sound.

  “Bullshit. Don’t lie. You loved it. No way you forgot.”

  More head shaking until I grip her tighter.

  “You haven’t done that for anyone else since me, have you? Tell me the truth, Trinity.”

  “No,” she gasps.

  “Why?”

  She only whimpers and shakes her head.

  I rattle her harder. “You going to do it again if I ask you to?”

  “Yes.”

  “Anytime I want it, babe?”

  “Yes,” she cries.

  “Why? Why me?”

  “Because you cared about me and made me trust you,” she bursts out with a sob.

  Her words hit me like a fist in the gut, and I loosen my grip on her hair.

  “What?” This game I’m playing with her might have just gone too far.

  Her voice is husky as she lays it out for me. “You asked about my scars. You… kissed them. You made me feel pretty.”

  I swallow hard. “You’re fucking beautiful, Trinity. You know that.”

  She shakes her head sadly, breaking me.

  “What else?”

  “You went down on me until I came, even though I told you I couldn’t. No one else had ever bothered to try before.”

  Christ, the memory of the sexy sounds she made, the pure awe on her face as I took the time to learn what her body needed. “Sweetest fucking thing in the world, babe. I would’a stayed there all damn night. What else?”

  She sighs and relaxes farther into me. In a defeated voice, she answers, “You asked before you came in my mouth. I knew you’d stop if I’d asked you to.”

  Fuck me. What the hell had gone on in her life before I met her? No wonder she’s so fucking messed up.

  “No one ever asked before?”

  “No,” she whispers.

  I can’t dwell on how disturbing this admission is, so I change the course of the conversation a bit. “Did you like it?”

  “Yes.”

  Slowly, I turn her in my arms, releasing her hair and crushing my mouth against hers. She reaches up and grips my shoulders, clinging to me in a way that scares me senseless.

  Breaking the kiss, she eases down. Kneeling in front of me, staring up at me with those soft, sweet eyes that drive me nuts. I hurry to free my cock and shove it between her beautiful lips. Her fingers graze the sensitive skin of my balls, then tighten around the base of my dick. She pulls back, the pink tip of her tongue slicking along the head of my cock. Finally, she engulfs all of me. A breath of air hisses out of my lungs and my fingers twine in her hair. Her lush lips circle my cock as she takes me deep. Her sweet mouth a wet, warm paradise. Pleasure jerks my hips forward. She sucks her way back up, cheeks hollowing. Such a beautiful sight. I trace my fingers along her cheekbones.

  “You’re so pretty with my cock in your mouth.”

  She releases me with a soft pop, then slurps at the sensitive underside, pushing her tongue into my slit. Fuck, it takes every ounce of self-control not to blow.

  Anger still simmers through me as I pick her up off the floor. My hands reach out to grab her face and kiss her. When I pull away, she’s staring at me with a dazed expression. So compliant as I turn her to face the bed.

  I jerk her pants down her legs, past her knees, and leave them around her ankles. Bending her over, I slam my cock inside her. She yelps and scrabbles on the bed, throwing blankets, sheets, pillows.

  “Wyatt, you’re hurting me,” she finally gasps.

  No. Fuck no. I never want to hurt her. I don’t know why I’m so fucking angry. I pull out, completely ashamed I’d gone after her like a rutting beast.

  Nudging her into the bed, I yank her pants and shoes off, turning her over. She lets out a needy whimper as I kiss my way down her belly, then drop to my knees beside the bed. Gripping her thighs, I slide her to the edge, throwing her legs over my shoulders. Very much like the first time she let me do this.

  I run my tongue up over the soft pink lips of her pussy. I glance up to find her watching me. “Who else has done this for you?”

  She reaches down and runs her fingers through my hair. “No one. No one since you.”

  Holy motherfuck.

  Slowly, I make my way to her clit, tonguing and rolling it in a tight circle, then sucking. Her back bows off the bed. I grip her hips and hold her in place for my mouth. When she stops squirming, I move my hand to her soft belly. With my other hand, I tease her entrance, then slide one finger inside her, seeking and stroking that special spot I remember can make her go nuts.

  She lets out a sharp cry, and I smile against her pussy. I suck the tight peak of her clit into my mouth once more, and she rewards me. Shudder after shudder wracks her body as she thrashes around on the bed.

  “Wyatt,” she whispers.

  Fuck yes, the way she says my name unravels me. I kiss my way up her body, pausing to work her shirt and bra off. She won’t be needing those any time soon. My fingers trail over the tips of her nipples, then my tongue. I can’t stop touching every inch of her, kissing my way up to her neck and finally her mouth. Her hands fly into my hair and she drags me against her. Her legs wrap around my hips.

  I slide my hand between us and down her flat stomach with painstaking slowness. Payback for all the times she’s teased me. As I inch closer to her sweet little snatch, her head falls back and she sighs. Cupping her pussy tight in the palm of my hand, I thrust two fingers inside her, slide them out, then thrust deeper.

  A louder moan drags from her throat, so I reward it by stroking her clit with my thumb. I keep up the steady pressure until her entire body shakes with need.

  I can’t take any more.

  Slipping my fingers out, I grin like a devil when she whines in protest. The raging caveman inside me isn’t satisfied yet. I’d pushed her in here to finally fucking own her the way she’s owned me since the first time I laid eyes on her. I snatch a condom out of my pocket and kick off my pants.

  I kiss her cheeks, her
eyelids, her chin. “You ready for me now, Angel Face?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  I roll the condom on and drive into her with one powerful thrust. She contracts around me, squeezing my cock so fucking tight. I throb, eager to pound into her, but wait. When the tension melts from her body, I pull out and sink back in.

  “Trinity.”

  She quivers as I roll my hips down and start frantically pounding into her. Sweet sighs and moans fill my ears. She nips at my earlobe, and I lose it. Mindlessly, over and over, I thrust into her. I need her to recognize she belongs to me.

  “Open those angel eyes. Look at me.”

  She tips her head forward, her glazed eyes searing into me. “This isn’t enough, angel. You better be ready for a whole lot more.”

  Her inner muscles clamp down. “Yeah, you like that, don’t you? Your pussy’s strangling my dick.”

  She bobs her head up and down as a sort of dazed acknowledgment of my filthy words. I keep driving into her at this wild, frantic pace. While she writhes and shakes under me, I lean over, burying my face in her neck.

  “Fuck, you feel good.” I can’t get out any more words. Guttural grunts fill the air around us until I come like a fucking rocket.

  Waking up alone the next morning is unexpected. We spent the day and night together. Working each other over. I planned to wake up with a naked Trinity in my arms and do it all over again.

  But she’s gone.

  Checking the bathroom, I find no sign of her.

  I dress quickly and open my door. Hallway’s empty. It’s still early.

  Marching downstairs, I’m surprised I don’t pass anyone.

  I find Trinity coming out of her bedroom. Headed to the kitchen, I suppose.

  Words to beg her forgiveness well up in my throat, but I’m not even sure what I did wrong.

  Then the anger takes over. I corner her, pushing her against the wall. “Why did you leave?”

  She cocks her head and stares at me as if she has no idea what I’m talking about.

  “Trinity, I thought we finally had our shit figured out.”

  “We do. We’re friends again. I’m glad. I hate fighting with you.”

  Friends?