by J. S. Luxor
“I’ll be right back, sir,” I salute while jumping up to change. He shoots me a warning glance. Maybe I’m a bit too rambunctious for him tonight.
When I return to the couch, Tristan has already put a pillow and blanket out for me. He’s been wearing his sweats for a while.
I sit down beside him and gingerly kiss his cheek. “Joanna, your lips feel wonderful on my skin, so please don’t stop,” he urges me with a hoarse voice.
Then, I do something that surprises him. I crawl onto his lap, facing him. My legs bend at the knees as I straddle his hips. Then, I lean forward to nibble gently on his earlobe. I avoid all contact with his cracked ribs. He moans with pleasure. I carefully take his chiseled face in my hands and slowly kiss each of his facial features: both eyelids, then his nose and finally, his sexy sculpted lips. He’s so gorgeous.
Tristan melts with each soothing caress of my mouth. His irises grow large and black with desire. Soon, my lips move from his face to his jaw and down his neck. He’s lost in the moment and closes his eyes to allow the sensations from my mouth to wash over him. We don’t speak. It’s all about feeling and it’s amazing.
After an unknown amount of time, Tristan takes my face between his hands and returns the favor. His breathing grows heavy and his kisses are a bit more intense than mine but it’s incredibly endearing. We spend a long time making out that way. By the time we’re finished, it’s after ten pm . We’re both feeling cherished. I’m in my happy place and it looks as if Tristan’s floating among the stars. Our eyes are gleaming with satisfaction as he finishes kissing me. I rest my forehead against his as an angelic smile lights up his face.
When I finally slip off his lap, I merely arrange my body in a perpendicular position to Tristan’s legs. He’s sitting up and I’m sleeping with my head on a pillow in his lap. His graceful hands rest on my shoulders and in my hair.
“Goodnight, baby,” he coos, as I pull the blanket over my body.
“Sleep well, Tristan,” I say as I kiss my fingers and then put them on his lips.
The next morning, I wake up to find Tristan staring down at me with a boyish smile on his face. His hand gently massages my head. I’m curled up with my head on the pillow and my body in a fetal position facing the front of the couch.
“Morning, Tristan,” I mumble and stretch a bit. “When did you wake up?”
“Not long ago. I slept so well just knowing that you were here,” he whispers and pets my back.
“It feels good to see your face first thing in the morning, Tristan,” I admit with a shy smile. His lips curl into a grin.
“I could watch you sleep for hours, Joanna. Your face is pure innocence,” he observes with satisfaction.
“I’m getting less innocent all the time since Kristen Powers entered my life,” I huff.
“Don’t remind me of that witch,” he snarls and makes a gagging noise.
“Will you tell me what we’re going to do about her, today?”
“Yes, but let’s eat breakfast first,” he suggests as we both stand up from the couch to start our day.
“I’ll take a shower first,” I announce with energy. A wistful expression crosses Tristan’s face. “I should be cleaning you in the shower but I just don’t have the strength or the self-control right now. I’d love to see you naked, baby.”
I give him a sexy wink and wiggle for fun. He nearly growls with desire.
“Soon, Tristan. I look forward to scrubbing and spraying every inch of your gorgeous body,” I admit while running my tongue across my lower lip. He stares at it for a count of ten.
“You’re playing with fire, Prime, and my ‘tool’ is taking notes,” he threatens with a sly smirk.
“I hope so, though we’ll both have to pass an exam on shower etiquette, first,” I joke with a naughty tone to my voice.
“You’ll have to study, hard, for this exam,” he promises and then swats me gently on the rear. We’re having so much fun today.
After a full breakfast, we settle down on the sectional again as Tristan carefully positions his body on the chaise portion of the couch.
I take a deep breath and then begin with my questions as I sit directly across from him. “OK, Tristan. Tell me about your relationship with Kristen,” I ask and note that I’m almost holding my breath.
He pinches the bridge of his nose for a bit and sighs before starting, “At this point, we’re business associates. Until she started harassing you, I thought of her as my friend. We have a long history though,” he adds.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask with caution.
“Kristen and I have been sexual with each other since I was fifteen years old. I was drunk and at a party when we first met. She was a friend of my brother’s. I can’t remember all the details. She was aggressive and seductive and I found that exciting. We became friends with benefits. She’s only a couple of years older than I am. At the time when we first had sex, she was seventeen.”
“You weren’t even at the age of consent?”
“No, it occurred a few months after my fifteenth birthday. I remember that I wanted to lose my virginity so badly. I felt nothing but grateful to Kristen when she made me do her,” he confesses and then exhales unevenly. He searches my face for a reaction. I’m in shock and sick to my stomach.
“How often did you two have sex, then?” I ask while my gut clinches in horror.
“At least a couple of times per week. That is, until I finished high school. By the time I started college, I felt repulsed by the idea that she was so aggressive with me.” Tristan’s sexual history with Kristen feeds all my deepest fears. My body fills with tension, as we continue our discussion.
“Is that how you got involved with the rough sex, through her?” I inquire with growing nausea.
“Yeah, Joanna. She was my mentor during high school. Finally, when Kristen tried to beat me with a whip after my high school graduation, I told her that it made me uncomfortable. I was finished being her bitch by then. Also, the idea that my parents might hear about our sex practices from my brother, sickened me. Eddie used to sleep with her too. Kristen really understood my need to be independent by then. When I was in college, she started her escort service and began finding me casual sex partners,.” His face looks contrite.
“Do your parents know that she runs an escort service?”
“No, of course not! They think she manages a modeling agency,” he explains while looking into my eyes for a clue to my feelings. My lips curve into a frown as his story unfolds.
“So you rejected her as a sex partner, but she offered you one of her escorts as some sort of connection to herself?” I push. I’m nearly ready to combust at the idea of what a perverted person Kristen Powers must be and I haven’t even met her yet. I don’t think I ever want to meet her.
“Something like that, although at that point I was just like Kristen. She thought I’d like a regular outlet for my anger and aggression. She was right; it settled me right down. After I started using her escorts, my parents noticed my growing capacity to tolerate frustration without breaking things or lashing out at other people. My aggressive impulses got channeled into belting rituals during rough sex, according to my therapist.”
“Tell me about your feelings of aggression, Tristan,” I demand while letting out a breath I was holding.
“As a teenager, before I found sex as a release, I started fights with others for the slightest reasons. Psychologists weren’t helping me, then.”
“What did you have to be angry about in high school? Your parents were wealthy and privileged.”
“I had a lot of baggage from my preschool years when I was abducted and tortured,” he admits and looks me in the eyes. “My aggression’s diminished so dramatically at this point in my life though.”
“How did you and Kristen shift from a friends with benefits relationship into being friends and business associates then?”
“I came home for summer break after my first year at UCLA. During that year,
I started using my smarts to make good investments and it was paying off. I told Kristen about my financial success. She told me about her escorts. I used her service several times that summer. Kristen’s girls always knew exactly what I wanted. The encounters were also very discrete, which I really appreciated.”
“Did she ask you to become a partner in the escort service?”
“Yeah. Although I don’t collaborate in that kind of service business directly. It’s too vulnerable – legally and socially -- for someone like me. I just give her advice and lend her money for her business, in case the escort service runs into trouble,” he explains with a smile.
“You don’t have anything to do with the selection and training of the escorts, then?
“Of course not, Joanna. That’s Kristen’s specialty. She vets the potential escorts to determine their skills, then matches them with the sexual preferences of her clients. She’s got an entire network of clients through the club scene in San Diego.”
A feeling of nausea floods my body but I continue with my questions, “Do you trust Kristen’s business sense?”
“Yes, she’s very shrewd as you can probably tell from what she’s done to you. I entered into a partnership with her because she’s perceptive and her business thrives. She gives me deep discounts on the escorts services, though,” he mentions as a joke.
“I’m so pleased to know that. Perhaps I can find a job working for Kristen as one of the escorts,” I suggest with sarcasm.
He gives me a warning glance and shakes his head. “Don’t even go there, Joanna.”
“Ok, how about if you give me a massage, Tristan?”
“I’d like to give you a thorough massage, Joanna. I have the most soothing Etruscan oil for your lovely pale skin,” he teases in a seductive voice.
The idea of getting a massage from Tristan makes me hot and wet. But, I can’t think about that right now. My focus must not shift. So, I continue with my questions, “But the two of you are or were ‘friends’. Are you close?”
“Well, we call each other on a regular basis but it’s mostly about the business lately. She asks my advice about the financial risks and where to trim the fat.” His eyes fill with concern as he looks at my reaction.
“Do you find her attractive?” I am surprised that I’ve asked the question but I must know his answer before we’re done here.
“Well, not anymore in a physical way. She was attractive to me in high school but she’s gotten older. I’ve grown up and changed. Joanna, don’t worry. It’s you that I want and find attractive in every way. I can’t explain how connected I feel to you.” He reaches across the island and then softly strokes my hair. A crooked smile spreads across his face.
“She’s got her hooks into you, Tristan, on so many levels. What’s your plan for dealing with Kristen and her control issues?” I finally ask.
“Since we have a business partnership and I control the purse strings, I’m going to demand that she quit having any contact with you. If she crosses the line, even one time after this, I’m going to pull all of my backing. Her business would collapse within months, if I did that,” he assures me with a confident look.
“Do you think that’s a strong enough incentive for Kristen?”
“Yeah, I do. She values money and success much more than relationships,” he states firmly.
“Why is Kristen so threatened by me?” I ask.
“Well, Joanna, up until I met you she controlled all of my ‘intimate’ relationships. As I’ve told you, I used her escorts and before that, I was her lover. I’m moving out of that sphere now and Kristen doesn’t like change,” he explains.
“She sounds like a control freak,” I observe.
“Yeah, she is very controlling, Joanna. She was surprised as hell when you, literally, fell into my life,” he laughs. “I’ve turned the corner on Kristen. You’re my future now.” Wow, that’s an impressive claim. I wonder if he really means it.
His story about Kristen troubles me, a lot, and I need a professional opinion about his sexual issues and her boundary crossing. He stares at me with an anxious expression on his face as he sees me struggle to ask my next question.
“Can I speak with your therapist?” I ask with a serious expression.
“Why, don’t you believe me?” he responds with a hint of irritation.
“I want to understand more about aggression and sex, and Kristen,” I reason. “Perhaps we should consider couples counseling since I have issues in that area as well.”
“I’m afraid that you’ll run from me with revulsion once you know all my secrets,” a lost look haunts his features.
“Tristan, if our relationship has any chance of moving ahead it must be on an even playing field. I’m learning too much about your demons through my contact with Kristen,” I say and look directly into his fearful green eyes. My argument eventually triggers something in Tristan’s mind and his resistance shifts.
He stares at me with longing for a moment and then agrees, “Alright,” he says cautiously. “Let me call my therapist and see if I can set something up for both of us, soon.” He picks up his phone and makes the call.
Chapter Six - Discussion
While Tristan arranges for our therapy session, I am trembling with shock over what he’s told me about Kristen. She’s so much more than an old friend. No wonder Kristen wanted to know every detail about my encounter with Tristan. She was his lover. Now she wants to retain power over him. A serious girlfriend and sexual rival would threaten her world on more than just the finance level. Perhaps she still has plans for snaring him in her sexual thrall as he grows older. We need a backup plan. On the other hand, maybe I ought to develop my own plan for dealing with Kristen.
Tristan clicks his phone off and turns to me with a satisfied expression on his face. “My therapist can meet with us tomorrow at 6pm. Does that work for you, Joanna?”
“Since I’ve nothing else on my agenda, that’s a yes,” I joke and nod. “Tell me about your therapist, now.”
“As I mentioned before, I’ve been seeing him for more than a few years. His name is Dr. Wong and he focuses on Reality Therapy and problem solving…,” Tristan begins but I interrupt him as soon as possible.
“Wait a minute. He’s the same therapist who just saw me on an emergency basis,” I announce with alarm. “Then, he already knows about you and me. He looked at me in the strangest way when I began to describe you. No wonder.” I have mixed feelings about this dilemma now that his therapist has already seen me once.
“So, do you want to see another therapist since there could be issues with confidentiality and objectivity?” Tristan asks with concern. His face contorts with discomfort.
“Maybe not. I really like Dr. Wong and trust him. I’m sure he couldn’t have known that I was your girlfriend when I walked into his office the other day but he certainly knew it when I left. He chose not to mention it,” I observe and wonder what I ought to do about it.
“It’s up to you to decide on whether we see Dr. Wong or not as a couple,” he declares with a neutral tone to his voice.
I weigh the options aloud. “Dr. Wong knows your issues so well and he also knows that I have no desire to have an abusive relationship. He gave me good advice about Kristen, demonstrated good insights about my past, and seemed to have my best interests in mind,” I muse.
“Are you concerned that he’ll be biased in my favor?” Tristan asks. “He’s always brutally honest with me, Joanna. He doesn’t take a lot of nonsense from anyone.”
“I can see that he tries to be very fair in his approach,” I reason and then my gut instinct kicks in. I know that Dr. Wong will be my choice.
“I can go with Dr. Wong. He’s already got so much background on you and some understanding of me. That might save us a few weeks or more in therapy,” I chuckle since my decision feels intuitively correct.
Tristan nods and gives me a chaste kiss on my cheek. “Then it’s done,” he concludes with a bow of his gorgeous
head.
The next day, we arrive at Dr. Wong’s office building in plenty of time. He’s been updated on our situation by Tristan. When we enter his room, he grasps both my hands warmly in his and then motions for us to sit on the couch. Tristan and I sit very close to one another.
“It’s good to see you again, Joanna. I will confess, after I inferred who your boyfriend was during our recent session, that it put me into a quandary. I weighed the idea of cutting short our intervention. That was because I figured out exactly who you were talking about. Tristan is also my client. I considered that issue against your need for closure with the Kristen crisis. In the end, I felt that your needs came first,” he shares with a conspiratorial expression on his face.