Only Trick

by Jewel E. Ann

  “What’s so funny?” Tamsen asks and starts to laugh too … just because.

  I lean toward Trick’s ear and cup my hands around my mouth. “I just realized how much I love it when you pull my hair. It messes with my vagina … in a good way.” I giggle. “I even liked being tied up and I love it when you fuck me hard. Does that make me a naughty girl?”

  I sit back in my chair and adjust the napkin on my lap. A smug smile steals my face as I glance up at Tamsen and Grady. The wide-eyed look of curiosity on their faces is priceless. I bet they’d love to know what I just whispered in Trick’s ear.

  As if on cue, both of them erupt into a bellowing of laughter, Tamsen covering her face with her hands and Grady hugging his stomach as he leans forward, barely breathing.

  Scrunching my nose, I look at Trick for insight into their odd behavior.

  He grimaces while digging his teeth into his lower lip. “I think it’s time to cut you off.”

  “Why?” I look at Grady and Tamsen again. They’re both wiping tears from their eyes. “What’s so funny?” I start to laugh too, because it must be something really good. Although I’m not sure how I missed it.

  Grady cups his hands around his mouth and leans toward Tamsen, mimicking what I did to Trick. “You got in whisper position but you forgot to actually whisper.” He cracks up again, letting his forehead fall to Tamsen’s shoulder.

  Turning, my face pulls into a tight, painful smile, looking for confirmation that I should crawl under the table and stay there until closing. Trick nods and I close my eyes, sinking down into my chair as the floor calls to me.

  “The answer to your question, sweetie, is yes. That might make you a naughty girl.”

  “Oh my God!” I cover my face before Grady finishes speaking. The room spins as embarrassment burns the surface of my skin.

  “Check please!” Grady hollers to the waiter with an impish grin.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  It’s childish, but necessary. I pretend to fall asleep as soon as Trick shuts the door to the car. I’m buzzed and relaxed but not tired … not yet. Right now I want to avoid any more embarrassment in front of Grady and Tamsen.

  Trick carries me into the house. Tamsen offers, with a giggle and hiccup, to forego our girls’ slumber party until tomorrow night. Trick doesn’t respond, but I imagine the look on his face could kill on contact. He takes me upstairs and sets me down on our bed. The moment I hear the lock to our bedroom door click, my eyes open. They’re heavy drunk with alcohol and lust.

  I. Need. Him.

  Sitting up, our eyes meet. He shrugs off his shirt. My intoxicated gaze drags over every inch of his sculpted, ink-etched, sexy as hell body. His wild animal eyes feed my addiction. Holding my gaze with an unwavering dominance, he continues removing his clothes. Piercing glare, controlled moves, and the most incredible body seduce me. Only Trick can bring me to my knees … begging … without a single touch.

  He sits on the bed, his back against the headboard. “Come.” One word, it vibrates over my skin sending chills up my spine and stealing a beat from my heart as something inside explodes. A million shards of desire ricochet to my very essence.

  Standing, I step out of my heels and release the halter tie to my dress. He fucking eats me alive with his eyes as I slide down my panties. Crawling up the bed, I fall victim to his compelling gaze. It says the only thing that needs to be said … there will be no more words.

  Straddling him, I grab his hair and cry out as his mouth seizes my breast. His flat palm slides up my back. Fisting my hair, he tugs it—hard. My head falls back and I collapse onto him. Another cry passing my lips as he impales me … possessing me.

  *

  That love … the one that’s too good to be true, and that passion … the one that feels like a wild animal’s trying to escape from within—I have that with Trick. The intensity we share, the sweat, the urgency, it’s righting all the wrong from our past—one look, one touch, one breath at a time.

  “Don’t move,” a rough, groggy voice warns as I wiggle under the blanket of his body.

  “It’s after eight and I have to pee.”

  “It can wait.” Trick rubs his sandpaper face over my chest, kissing the swell of my breasts. His hands slide up my sides and I feel the instant reminder of his insatiability.

  “My bladder disagrees. Besides we have guests and we should try to be hospitable.”

  “I need to be inside you.”

  I wriggle my way out. “I’ll urinate on you and even if you’re into golden showers, I’m not.” I walk to the bathroom.

  Trick buries his face in the pillow and groans. “Darby …”

  I smile, looking back at my inked pile of perfection, naked on our messy sheets. He’s mine—a truth I’ll never really get used to. A quick pee and a much needed tooth brushing gets interrupted with my husband’s morning need that will not be dismissed. He needs this release as much as I needed my bladder relief. I think it may have something to do with the mouthful of toothpaste I haven’t yet expectorated or the cold vanity top against my bare ass, but my orgasm doesn’t make an appearance. However, by the time we get out of the shower I’m more than sated.

  *

  “Mmm, what’s that smell?” I whisper to Trick as we make our way downstairs an hour after waking.

  “That would be Grady.”

  “Good morning, newlyweds,” Grady says with naughty suggestion in his tone.

  “It is.” Trick palms my ass with no discretion. I don’t even care at this point. Grady and Tamsen have to know by now that we’re either having sex, talking about it, or thinking about it. I’m not a drunk that suffers amnesia the morning after; my memory from the restaurant is all too clear. I’m a dirty girl that likes to be man-handled and dominated in the bedroom. Who knew? I did.

  “What are you two boys going to do today while Darby and I flaunt our stuff on the beach, watching the hot surfer guys?”

  “Excuse me?” Grady rests his fist on his hip, flipping it out with sass.

  “Okay … Trick, what are you going to do today while Darby, Grady, and I flaunt our stuff on the beach, watching the hot surfer guys?”

  “According to your description, it would appear I’m surfing today.”

  Co-cky!

  “You surf?” I raise a brow, cutting into my pancakes.

  Trick shoves a bite into his mouth, shaking his head.

  “The boy lived in New York then moved to Chicago. But I’m sure he could walk down the beach in board shorts while holding a surf board and the women won’t give a shit if he can surf or not.”

  Trick rolls his eyes at Grady, but his smile contradicts his feigned annoyance.

  *

  Trick foregoes the beach scene, opting to dig out his sketch pad and graphites instead. Grady puts on his own show for onlookers strolling down the beach. He may be in his forties, but his body is holding tight to its early thirties. Tamsen looks amazing in her string bikini with Brazilian bottoms, and the sun loves her skin as much as Grady’s. The sun and I? Not friends yet. My only beach friends are SPF fifty and a wide-brimmed hat, but I love the salty ocean breeze, and the rhythmic lulling sound of the waves crashing into shore, and the way the white sand massages my toes every time I curl them into the cool grittiness.

  “Tell me, Darby … why did Trick assault your father?”

  I tilt the rim of my hat and look at Grady reclined with his eyes closed. “What are you talking about?”

  “I can read Trick better than anyone, honey. Your father must have done something unforgivable. Trick’s not a hair trigger. Everything he does has purpose and control, but maybe not with you. I’m beginning to think you bring out a Trick I haven’t seen before.”

  With little consideration, I dismiss any idea of trying to deny Grady’s accusation, instead focusing on his interesting observation. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “In Grady’s book it is. He’s been Trick’s mentor for said ‘purpose and control.’” Tamsen laughs.


  “Shows what you know. I think Darby is exactly what Trick needs—a distraction.”

  “A distraction?” I look over again at Grady, but he remains statuesque.

  “At first I was pissed that he was leaving Chicago, but now I realize being here with you is the distraction from his past that he needs. An official letting go and starting over.”

  “I’m not trying to be a distraction. What if one day he wakes up and remembers everything? There’s nothing predictable about memory loss from head injuries. Anything could trigger his memory.”

  “Well let’s hope for your sake he doesn’t.”

  I sit up, turning to face him. “Why? What will I learn that will change us?”

  For the first time Grady rolls his head to the side, and peeks open one eye. “It’s hard to say, but what I do know is he was high most of the time and reckless.”

  “Where did all the expensive stuff in his garage come from?”

  Grady shrugs, aiming his face at the sun again. “Honey, you’re looking for the wrong answers.”

  “What does that mean? What are the questions to the right answers?”

  “There’s only one question.”

  “Which is?”

  “Which is … does it matter?”

  “It matters if Trick could be in danger! What if he owes someone something? Is he supposed to go through the rest of his life looking over his shoulder?”

  Grady moves his hand to my arm, eyes closed, lips smirked. “This much I can assure you. Trick’s past isn’t trying to catch up to him; it’s running away from him with the fear of God in its eyes.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Who the fuck is this?

  I’ve tried to sketch Darby but my hand makes all the wrong lines and angles. It’s as if the shadows of this image in my head are fighting to come into the light. With each stroke of my hand, she reveals a little more of herself.

  Who the fuck is this?

  There’s an unexplainable driving force inside that can’t be held back. I need to get her out. I need to see her. She’s the answer to a thousand questions, yet I fear her. What if I bring her to life and she steps off this paper and takes mine away?

  Who. The. Fuck. Is. This?

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Christmas arrives early in Todos Santos for Trick. His motorcycle has been delivered and I’m not sure, but I swear he gets tears in his eyes. Grady declares he’s riding bitch before Tamsen or I can slip a single word into the conversation. A quick peck on the lips and they’re off.

  “You have the makings for margaritas?” Tamsen asks.

  Blocking the sun with my hand above my eyes as I watch the guys ride off, I shake my head. “Sorry, I married an addict.”

  “Well then, it looks like it’s time to introduce me to your neighbors.”

  I raise a brow at Tamsen. “You think it’s a good idea to ask neighbors I barely know if they have ingredients for margaritas we can borrow?”

  She loops her arm around mine, tugging me in the direction of Declan’s. “They were at your wedding; they’re practically family.” She giggles.

  Thirty minutes later, we’re back home sipping margaritas on the veranda.

  “I can’t believe you agreed to go out with Wes in exchange for drink ingredients.” I shake my head.

  Tamsen shrugs. “It’s just breakfast, and Grady and I are leaving the next day anyway.” She takes another sip. “Mmm, and these are so good. It’s totally worth it.”

  I nod in agreement. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “What’s the connection between you, Grady, and Trick? I mean, Trick thinks of you as family and I know you got him into rehab, but surprisingly he’s never told me, and I’ve never asked how you three came to be so close.”

  Tamsen flips up her glasses. “Really? You don’t know?”

  I shake my head.

  “I was part of the team that responded to the accident the night he was hit.”

  “Oh…” I twist my glass by the stem “…so how did that lead to everything else? You were just doing your job. Doesn’t that end after you make the transfer to the hospital?”

  Tamsen takes a drink then rubs her lips together with a slow nod. “Yes, it does, but that night was an exception.”

  “How so?”

  “Grady was driving the car that hit Trick.”

  “What?” I set my glass down and sit up straight.

  “Grady said Trick was like an animal running out into the street. There wasn’t enough time to stop. Alcohol, drugs … it was all in his system. It was also the dead of winter and he had on a T-shirt, pants unfastened, and bare feet.”

  My forehead tightens. This is painful to hear. It doesn’t feel like she’s talking about my Trick.

  “Grady knew it wasn’t his fault, but he still felt responsible in some way. He wanted to talk to Trick’s family and let them know what happened, but when he discovered there was no family, he couldn’t walk away and leave him. Grady had to know he was going to be okay.”

  Tamsen stares down at her glass. “Grady is the one who took Trick home after he was released from the hospital. That’s when he discovered Trick’s world—the art, the drugs, the very expensive ‘stuff.’ I’m still not sure why, but he took it upon himself to make sure Trick got it together. I helped him into drug rehab while Grady was relentless with trying to piece together the mystery of Patrick Roth.” Tamsen laughs. “Grady knew Trick was officially ‘his’ when he brought him a slew of makeup and told Trick to make him look like a woman.”

  I smile, remembering the Don and Donna incident.

  “Deep down my brother has a heart of gold, but he’s always jumped at opportunities that are mutually beneficial.”

  Tamsen sits up and turns toward me, resting her feet on the ground. “Truthfully, it was easy for both of us to want to help Trick. He was so lost and helpless, like a child. Beneath the addiction and questionable actions, he’s a good guy, and in some ways we’ve felt like the memory loss was his chance to start over. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t help but wonder if it was fate that he and Grady’s paths crossed that night.”

  *

  The biker boys return and Trick heads straight upstairs to draw. I’ve been spoiled having all of his attention, but now that his bike is here and he’s started drawing again, I’m going to have to learn to share. By six I check on him to see if he plans on joining us for dinner. What I don’t expect is for the door to the spare bedroom to be locked.

  “Trick?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Just a sec.”

  Really?

  “Whatcha need?” He smiles, opening the door, but just a crack.

  I bob my head side to side to see past him. “What are you drawing?”

  He scrapes his teeth over his bottom lip. “Well, I’ve been trying to draw you.”

  “Me?” My eyes go wide to match my grin. “Let me see.” I step forward, but he blocks me.

  “You can’t. Not until it’s done.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t like people looking at my work before it’s finished.”

  I never took Trick to be the self-conscious type. He’s as cocky as they come with everything else, but with the one thing he has every right to be cocky about he shows vulnerability.

  “Am I naked in the picture?” I raise a single brow.

  “Sleeping.”

  “Oh … that’s … interesting.”

  He nods.

  “Well, we’re going to dinner. Are you ready?”

  He grimaces. “Would you be too mad if I skipped out tonight? I’m at real critical point and I don’t want to lose my focus by leaving.”

  I shrug. “Okay, I guess. You must be in the zone?”

  He nods.

  “Can we bring you back something?”

  “Nah, I’ll grab a snack later.”

  I feel my lips pulling into a frown, but I ma
ke a quick recovery so he doesn’t see my disappointment. “Well, I’ll see you later then.” I lean forward for a kiss just as he shuts the door … In. My. Face!

  “Have a good time,” he hollers from the other side of the door.

  It would appear as if the honeymoon is over.

  “Trick’s not going,” I announce at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Come on, we don’t need him. Besides I think it’s great that he’s engulfed in his art again.” Grady offers me his arm and I take it with a forced smile.

  “What’s he working on?” Tamsen asks.

  “Me.”

  “He’s drawing you?” Grady gasps.

  “That’s what he said.”

  “God, this love-hate relationship I have with you just keeps getting more intense.”

  I squint at Tamsen as we get in my car.

  “Grady’s been trying to get Trick to sketch him for years … nude, I’m sure.” We laugh but Grady slumps into the backseat with a pouty face. “But Trick won’t do it.”

  I pull out of the drive. “Don’t feel too bad, Grady. Trick’s not sketching me nude either. He’s sketching me sleeping.”

  “Yeah, but probably in the nude,” Grady grumbles.

  *

  I’m sad to see Grady and Tamsen leave. They’re starting to feel like my family as well. Yesterday, Tamsen kept to her promise and had brunch with Wes while Grady and I took an eco-tour of Todos Santos. Trick? Well, he’s been locked up in the guest bedroom, including sleeping in it. He insisted Tamsen and I have our girls’ slumber party—for two nights.

  “Take care of our boy.” Grady hugs me and I feel like he’s my “big brother” too. “Wander up the coast and see me sometime. It’s a fantastic drive.”

  “We will.”

  Tamsen pulls me in for a hug. “Love you, sweetie. I’m sure you’re missing Trick, but our girl time the past couple days has been the absolute best.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Are you sure you don’t want to move down here with us?”