by Tiana Cole
A soft knock sent her scurrying for the robe. Tristan entered the room once more with a bottle of wine.
“Here…” he said, offering her a glass. “Wine relaxes you, and I need you to follow my instructions.”
Cassidy gulped the drink down, forgetting her resolve to stay clear-headed. Everything seemed surreal. His instructions? Was this the part he kept hidden from her all those weeks together? Those weeks had seemed heavenly when she hadn’t known about his weird other self. Admittedly, some part of her wanted to know what strange sexual desires he had sought elsewhere because she hadn’t fulfilled him.
“Are you ready?” Tristan asked softly.
She nodded her head, wondering what kind of kinky stuff he would do to her. The thought was both intimidating and thrilling at the same time. He took her elbow and walked with her to the middle of the room where the mattress lay.
“Please remove the robe,” he said, helping her as she shrugged out of it. “You can close your eyes if that makes you more comfortable,” he suggested.
“Oh, fuck it, Tristan. Let’s just get this over with.”
He seemed startled by her sudden ferocity as he pressed her down onto the mattress.
“Sit with your legs tucked under you. Place both your hands on your thighs. Bow your head so you don’t see me. And keep still, please.”
What the hell? Cassidy thought.
“Keep still, Cassidy.”
She submitted meekly, hearing the authority in his voice. She closed her eyes. She heard what sounded like buttons being pushed and the clink of metal legs stretching. She heard his footsteps as he moved about, and wondered what he was doing and where he was going with this. She was too intimidated to take a peek.
Soon she heard a soft click, followed by a whirring sound, and then a series of clicks from a camera shutter. Unable to help herself, she raised her head curiously. She was bathing in halogen light that made it difficult for her to see him.
“I said keep still, Cassidy.”
Cassidy immediately lowered her head after seeing a fleeting image of Tristan bending low and down on one knee, holding a camera in front of his face.
He’s taking pictures of me? What the…
She dared not move a muscle. She sensed Tristan moving about, and heard the incessant clicking of the camera shutter. After what seemed an eternity, he finally stopped. He came near and guided her into a different pose. She found his nearness disconcerting.
“I’ll be taking mostly pictures of your backside, so feel free to talk,” Tristan said.
“What are all these for?” was the first question that popped out of her mouth.
“It’s for my photo exhibit. The first one did so well that the gallery asked that I do another,” he answered from behind.
Photo exhibit?
“You take pictures of naked women?”
Tristan laughed, but reprimanded her when she stirred slightly.
“You make it sound dirty and degrading. Most art patrons call my work artistic and intriguing. The New York Times even went so far as to call me the new Richard Avedon of the twenty-first Century.”
Cassidy was stunned. Of course he took fascinating photographs. She knew that. She saw some of his work back at the apartment on the Upper East Side.
“Tristan, I-I…”
“Glance back towards me,” he cut in. “Your face needs to be partly hidden.”
“You don’t show the model’s face?” she asked, noting that he sounded aloof and detached. Clinical even; like her naked body had no effect on him at all.
“No, and the reason is simple. It creates a mysterious effect for the viewer and makes one ask who the face behind the body is. Leaves more to the imagination, and also provides the model with anonymity… one of the reasons I can go to any escort agency in New York.”
Cassidy gasped inwardly. Suddenly, things were falling into place. He hired those women to pose for him just like what she was doing. Despite the sudden relief, she was confused. She didn’t know how to go back to that place in time when she believed everything about him wholeheartedly.
“I-I used to work in one of the agencies where you hired women… to pose for you.”
A sudden stillness filled the room. Tristan moved around and faced her quietly. His expression was unreadable. He set the camera down, but changed his mind and peered through the viewfinder again. Cassidy didn’t dare lose her pose. He was so near.
“And?” he prompted, as he worked with his camera again.
She couldn’t see his face hidden behind the aperture.
“I saw all those videos of you coming in to pick up the women. I thought… I thought…” Cassidy trailed helplessly.
The silence that followed seemed to last forever. Tristan lowered the camera as a gamut of emotions moved across his face.
“You thought I was cheating on you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Ye-Yes,” she answered meekly.
Cassidy was stricken with guilt. How could she have thought that he was an addict, when all he ever did was pay these women to pose for him? He was innocent of everything she'd accused him of. She was the stupid one, ready to believe the worst about him.
“That was the reason you left. Why you disappeared so suddenly.” Yet again, it was another statement.
“Yes,” Cassidy admitted, “and… I’m sorry…”
“Why didn’t you just confront me?” His voice was dangerously low.
The veins on his neck stood out like cords. His eyes flashed with anger and his nose flared.
“I don’t know. Maybe because I’m stupid?” Cassidy replied. Her body was telling her that she was indeed very stupid to not challenge this beautiful man.
Tristan set down his camera and barked, “You selfish woman! I hired an entire fucking private detective agency just to look for you! They combed every corner of this goddamn city! When they couldn’t find you here, they even traveled to Alabama. Do you know how many counties there are in Alabama? Fucking sixty-seven. Do you know how many ‘Cassidy Johnsons’ there are? Not to mention you never told me your mom or dad‘s name so we couldn‘t track you down that way. You didn‘t even reply to my texts or phone calls.”
Cassidy flinched at the rage in his voice. She recoiled back, suddenly afraid of him yet at the same time she couldn’t ignore what he'd just said. He went in search of her.
“You came looking for me?” she asked nervously. Had she made a mistake? No, he still had all those dates he hadn’t told her about.
“Fucking right, I did. The detectives gave up. I felt like such an asshole looking for someone who obviously didn’t want to be found.”
Tristan was obviously out of his mind with fury. He paced the floor like a caged animal. His face flushed with anger, and his eyes blazed each time he looked at her. You could slice the tension between them with a hacksaw.
“The women at the escort services are very aware of their femininity… their sexuality. They know their job is to be all woman. It shows in their poses. Even though I pose them, they still exude that womanliness. Look at you.”
He put the camera down and held up a small mirror.
“You’re a beautiful woman. You skin gleams with health. Your back is straight. Your body is perfectly conformed, yet soft. Art models can hold a pose for a long time, that’s their job. But to them, it’s just a pose.”
Cassidy realized she was still naked and made a tentative move to pick up the robe on the floor. Her sudden movement brought Tristan pouncing, and she fell back on the mattress with him on top of her. Suddenly his lips took possession of hers. Her hands reached down to caress his engorged cock, kneading and massaging through the material of his jeans. She pried open his lips with her tongue, sucking and nipping at his lower lip until she had access to him. She plunged her tongue deep into Tristan’s mouth with a hunger and fierceness that surprised him. He reached for her breasts, cupping the firm flesh mashed against his chest.
“Make love to me,
Tristan,” Cassidy whispered throatily in his ear.
Unable to speak from her onslaught, Tristan raised himself up, pulling her up with him as he did, then he carried her in his arms. He managed to open the door and walked down the hallway past a couple of rooms before they entered his bedroom.
Cassidy knew she wanted this just as much as she thought he wanted her. The familiar feel of his lips made her drunk with desire, knowing how much she missed his body and just being with him. The bittersweet realization of her mistake stimulated her ardor like never before. She wanted to make amends.
He set her down at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed behind her back. His hips thrust desperately into her crotch until his hard cock nestled between her thighs.
“I missed you making love to me,” she told him as she began to undo the zipper of his pants and moved with a frenzy to pull them off of him.
She pulled him roughly onto the bed and straddled him. Her face was suffused with unbridled lust while Tristan’s face displayed confusion. It was a different Cassidy in bed with him. She had never been this wanton in the past. She rubbed her ass back and forth against his hard cock as she bent over him, her breasts hanging low over his face.
“Suck my nipples, baby.”
Tristan grabbed both breasts and alternately sucked the hard and erect areolas, flicking his tongue over the creased nubs. Cassidy wheezed at every stroke of his tongue over her sensitive flange. Bolts of icy fire went shooting from her boobs down to her crotch.
Tristan’s hand traveled down to her panties, and with one flip of his thumb the flimsy material shredded as he pulled it away from her thighs. The feel of his cock rubbing against the wet silkiness of her pussy almost sent her over the edge. She slithered her now naked body over him and whispered in his ear.
“I can’t wait to have your cock in my mouth.”
“Yes,” he moaned as she began her descent, sucking, biting, and nipping the skin of his neck, shoulders, chest, and down to his throbbing member.
Her mouth took possession as he gasped and throatily declared, “Your mouth feels so warm.”
She massaged his balls, causing him to arch his back, pushing his cock further into her throat. Her frenzied act drove Tristan crazy with desire as he bucked uncontrollably against her mouth. His entire length was imprisoned between her lips.
“Baby, slow down or I’ll cum in your mouth.”
Giddy with desire, Tristan pulled away from her and pushed her against the bed. Cassidy knew what he wanted and spread her legs wide for him to see.
“Your cock tastes better than I remember. Do you want to see how my pussy feels with your tongue?”
She teased him by stroking herself lightly before bringing her fingers to his lips. Tristan opened his mouth and sucked. Then he slid down between her legs, buried his face in her pubes, and inhaled deeply.
“You smell so good, Cass.”
She moaned as his fingers parted the lips of her pussy. He blew gently, the warm air tickling her, before he started to tongue her. He flicked against the over-sensitive nub, sending fiery waves of tremor and delight all over her body. Cassidy grasped wildly at the sheets with her fingers. She exercised control not to orgasm. She wanted everything that he could give to her.
The feel of his tongue probing, sucking, and sliding inside her almost pushed her to the top. She groaned as he stopped suddenly and knelt between her legs.
“I want to be inside you when you cum,” he declared.
She grabbed his cock and positioned it against the opening of her vagina. Still holding on to the rock-hard shaft, she taunted him by rubbing it against her sopping clit before allowing him to penetrate her completely.
Unable to hold back his desire any longer, Tristan wheezed as his hips pushed hard against her. He filled her completely, like two missing pieces that needed the other to make a whole. He balanced his body with his elbows planted on each side of her chest as his lips sought the soft skin in her neck.
He tried to push even further as she met his every thrust, wanting to have all of him. She prodded him with her hands as she reached out to the fleshy muscle of his buttocks and pulled him to her with every thrust he made. Cassidy knew that she was almost there. Tristan’s heavy grunts told her the same thing about him.
“Cum hard for me, Tristan. Cum like I’m the only girl who ever mattered to you.”
Tristan looked at her with dazed eyes. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead and shoulders. He grunted heavily as he increased the intensity of his thrusts.
"Oh, God, Cassidy, yes!" he cried. He reared up and down on the bed, trying to ram her even faster. He knew he was losing control as her hands snaked around his back and held onto him like a vise.
"I'm going to cum!"
"I’m cumming too, baby!”
Their bodies trembled as they surrendered to the elusive feeling. Tristan jerked and flailed as the powerful ejection rendered him exhausted and drained. Cassidy twitched as her own orgasm sent her into a lethargic state. She clung to him like a drowning child, never wanting to let go.
When their breathing returned to normal, Cassidy made the first move to get out of his arms. She had to. She didn’t know if he was still angry with her. If she didn’t leave now, she may never want to leave again.
Tristan pulled her back and held her against his chest.
“I missed you, Cass. Don’t ever disappear that way again.”
“Am I forgiven then?” she asked with a sigh of relief.
The enormity of her mistake overwhelmed her. He was innocent of everything she assumed him to be, but there was still something that he was not truthful about.
“You never told me you were a fucking billionaire,” she accused.
“Oh, Cass! I never told you because I knew that would scare you away. You were always so anxious about what you didn’t have… too proud to accept any of my offers to help. Being rich only means I can pursue what I love most… my photography. And, if you’ll let me, I’d like to spend the rest of my life making you a part of mine.”
Cassidy hardly believed what she was hearing. It was everything she'd always wanted, but she remembered lying to him earlier when she'd first arrived. She wanted no more secrets between them.
“I really haven’t been working long as an escort. Tonight was my first time on the job, and I’m glad it was you.”
“No more secrets, then?” Tristan asked softly.
Her eyes were shining like stars as she looked up into his face.
“I have one more secret that you should know about,” she said.
“What one more secret?”
Cassidy hesitated for just a moment. Would he bow out now? Was this the test of his commitment to her? “I… you… we’re…” No more secrets. She didn’t know how to say it. “You’re a father, Tristan,” she finally blurted out.
“I what? Cassidy how could you keep this from me? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought you were a liar and a cheater. Tristan, I’m so sorry. But, look…” She rummaged in her bag for her wallet. She pulled out the photo from the plastic cover and handed it to Tristan. “Her name is Dee.”
“Dee,” he whispered. “Dee Jones-Dell. It sounds good doesn’t it?”
Cassidy gave him a questioning look. “Johnson. Dee Johnson.”
Tristan placed his hand on her shoulder. His grey-green eyes looked into hers. “We’ll change that, if you’re willing.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Cassidy asked. Today she’d experienced so many changes and reversals that right now she just needed bluntness.
Tristan took her hand, then knelt before her. “Cassidy, will you have me? Will you take me and make me yours forever?”
“Yes,” she said no hesitation in her voice. “Tristan, yes.”
They looked into each other’s eyes with amazement. It was all happening so fast.
“Cassidy Jones-Dell and Dee Jones-Dell. They both have a great ring. Memorable names.
Is that the name you’ll use as a writer?” His eyes twinkled.
He hadn’t forgotten. Cassidy was so filled with emotion she was speechless. Tristan wasn’t a liar. He didn’t cheat. He knew and honored her secret desire. She couldn’t imagine a more perfect mate. He caressed her cheek gently, then lifted her head up to his. His lips parted as they met hers. Cassidy felt bolts of electricity shoot through her body. Tristan touched her neck. He ran his fingers through her dark curls. Continuing the kiss, he undid her robe and let it fall.
Cassidy felt a deep warmth as she stood naked pressed against his body. It wasn’t the hot lust of the past hour, it was something deep, deep in her heart. She felt an overwhelming desire to please him. He was her man. The idea of it roamed in her brain. She was ready to give him whatever he wanted. Tristan wrapped his strong arms around her and pressed her against his chest.
“Cassidy,” he murmured in that husky voice she loved. “We’re going to make a fine family.”
She felt his cock push against her inside his jeans. She broke their embrace and knelt before him, all her feelings ready to pour into lovemaking for this man. All that time he’d looked for her and she’d been so proud she hadn’t even told him he was a father.
She undid his fly and gently pushed down his jeans and his underwear. She took his shaft in her hands and caressed him. She kissed him up one side and down the other, and he gave a soft moan of pleasure. She put her lips to the tip and gently, almost teasingly, kissed him. She licked his tip with her tongue, then followed the line of his shaft down to his balls with her tongue and back up again.
Tristan moaned louder and ran his fingers through her hair. She felt her nipples harden as he ran his hands down her neck to trace her collar bone. Something deep inside awakened in Cassidy. She felt her body, every inch of it, was his. She was ready to please him. She took his shaft in her mouth. Her lips pushed against the sides as she took him in deeper.
“Wait,” Tristan commanded. He reached down and pulled her up, his eyes blazing with desire. He took her hand and led her to the mattress. “I want to look at you. Not through the camera as a subject. I want to look at you as Cassidy. Cassidy Johnson… Cassidy Jones-Dell.”