Tryst

by Arie Lane

  “Hi Aggie, how are you?”

  She picks up on the anguish in my voice and I explain the predicament I’ve created. The idea of losing the only girl I may ever love. In that moment I don’t know what would be worse, if her mother did find her and I never got to see or hear her again, or seeing and hearing her every day and knowing she will never be mine.

  “My sweet boy,” Aggie says, “when are you going to stop trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? You can’t keep judging everyone based on one rotten seed. I taught you better than that, young man. If she means as much to you as you say she does, then she’s worth fighting for. When the heart truly wants something, it knows it, and there’s no greater pain than that of a broken heart. Sure bones break, but they heal. When the heart loses the one it’s truly meant to be with, that never heals, darling. So, if what you’re saying is true, I suggest you get your ass off this phone and stop sulking. Go suck up whatever pride you have left, and prove to that girl what she means to you. You hear me?”

  After an hour of being lectured on the finer points of love and life, I try and fail miserably at falling asleep. Everything is running through my mind, Aggie’s words, Bentley’s pain, and that cunt bitch whose head I’d like to rip the fuck off.

  When I finally reach a breaking point, I can’t take it anymore and slink back over to Bentley’s house. I know its borderline stalking, but I had a copy of her key made just in case something happened. Letting myself in, I quietly head up the stairs and to her room. She’s not in her bed, but the shower off to the side of her room is running. Walking into her room, and locking the door behind me, I pull my clothes off and head to her bathroom. I know she hates me, and I don’t blame her for it, but I need to feel her. I need to know she’s safe.

  Entering the shower, I find her curled up in a ball on the floor. The water is damn near scalding, pelting across her face and the front of her body. She sits there rocking slightly back and forth and it feels like a knife is being twisted into my chest. I cool the temperature a little before sitting behind her and wrapping my arms and legs around her. My nose is pressed against her neck, breathing in her scent.

  She doesn’t fight me. She doesn’t try to pull away. It’s like she’s broken, like the weight of everything happening has ruined her. We both sit there together as I rock to the slight rhythm she has created, holding her close so she can feed off of my body heat as the water slowly cools. After turning the water off, I go search for a towel to wrap her in. When I return, I find she’s still sitting on the now cold tile floor, her eyes closed as she pulls herself tighter into a ball.

  Wrapping the towel around her as best I can, I pick her up off the floor, and a sense of déjà vu washes over me. Drying her as best I can, I lay her in the bed and tuck the blankets in around her to warm the chills now running across her skin. I towel dry myself off as well, and crawl in next to her, hoping she will let me hold her close. To my utter shock and disbelief she turns into me, wrapping her arm across my torso as her head rests against my chest, her leg wrapping itself between mine. I wrap my arm around her, pulling her in even closer, and pull the blankets up around us.

  As I close my eyes and drift off, I hear her murmur a silent plea. “Please don’t let her take me, Tryst. Promise you’ll always find me,” she whispers, before falling into slumber.

  Her words wash over me, and as I stroke her hair away from her face I promise, “I promise, Love, I’ll always come for you, and I’ll always find you.” I sigh before falling into a dreamless sleep.

  Waking to an angel still wrapped in my arms, I try carefully to untangle her so as not to wake her up. After throwing my clothes back on, I take her stairs as quietly as possible and head into her office. After a few clicks on her keyboard, the message from her mother pops back up. Dated three days ago, my baby has likely been staring at that fucking message for almost all three days. Grabbing my cell, I punch a text to Cage, knowing he’s either upstairs or across the street, and tell him to step lightly and meet me here.

  I didn’t explain to Bentley why I chose to forgive Cage, but the man is the closest thing to a brother I will ever know. We did four years together in the Marines, straight out of high school. Cage watched two of the guys from our squad die in front of him, and took a bullet to the right thigh. After leaving, he was approached by the private sector and spent another five years there, doing who knows what. That is what brings him to my doorstep.

  There’s a light knock on the door before he walks in half asleep but on constant alert. After showing him the email, we spend the next hour with me telling him everything I know about the situation. I know Bentley would hate me for it, but I can’t just sit here and not help. Cage has a knack for this sort of thing that I don’t. I stand there on edge as Cage places a few calls to some connections he has. The look on his face is something that worries me as he talks quietly, and uses some form of code words I’m not privy to.

  After about an hour, he hangs up and turns to me, “I’ve got a guy who can handle this. Looks like your girl’s mother isn’t just looking for her, she’s looking to hire someone for the job. It’s come across the wire a few times from what I’ve been told. My boy will pick it up so long as the bitch is stupid enough to go through with it. That means putting your girl at risk though, man. There’s no guarantee this bitch isn’t going to want in on the job. There are some sick fucks out there. I assume this bitch gets off on her daughter’s pain and terror, so I expect she’ll be close by. That means Bentley can’t know, Tristan. I mean that! Any heads up she gets could blow my boy’s cover, and that’s not an option. He gets blown, and the next person to take his place is likely to do the fucking job. This shit is going to have to appear real. Let her find Bentley, but make it seem accidental. Some oversight Bentley doesn’t catch, like a slip of the tongue, anything to bring her out. Nothing soon though, my boy is going to need a few months to set this shit up and make sure every detail is perfect. I don’t need anything on my head because it was rushed and he didn’t have enough time to account for any unforeseen circumstances. You feel me?”

  I nod as the pain knots in my chest, making it hard to breathe. “This guy isn’t going to hurt her is he? I mean to make it look authentic? He’s not like going to hit her, or knock her the fuck out or anything?” I ask, my voice shaking.

  “No man, he’s an undercover. He’s just going to grab her, toss her in the back and take off. Once Mommy Dearest makes the money exchange for the deed, he’ll have the whole thing recorded, and BAM! The bitch goes down.” I slump into her chair with a small relief. The thought of Bentley no longer living in fear of her mother makes me fucking ecstatic.

  Chapter 14

  Bentley

  I have a vague memory of Tristan in bed with me last night, but the mental exhaustion I am feeling was likely playing with my mind. After the blow up last night I think maybe a break from writing might be for the best. Walking into my office, the mess flooding my desk and floor is a headache I’m not yet ready to deal with. I grab the laptop I use when traveling off the chair near the door and head back out, promising I’ll play clean up another time. While checking emails, an invite for a local author bash pops up. Much to my surprise, it will be here in town four months from now. I have a lot of support here, and I decide it would be nice to spend some time with local fans. Confirming the request and securing the details, I finish running through my emails before spending some time with Lith.

  A message beeps across my phone from Tristan requesting I join him for dinner this weekend. A date, he wants an actual date? The thought of it causes butterflies in my stomach at the anxiety. After everything he knows, and after seeing the image of my rape, he still wants to spend time with me. Why? There are a million women in this world who aren’t living my fucked up life. Why does he still want to spend his time with me? And why a date? He’s already slept with me. Aren’t dates just something guys do until they get you in bed?

  The rest of the week drags on
as Cage and Lith practically move into my living room. With the gym being revamped I haven’t seen much of Tristan or Dante, and third-wheeling with Cage and Lith isn’t my idea of a good time, either. So instead, most of my days are spent at my favorite coffee shop watching the patrons and dicking around on my laptop. I started writing again also, just not on the same project as the one in my office. The highlights of my nights are spent curling up with Tristan when he’s too tired for anything else. Even though I prefer to spend our nights tangled up in each other, with him buried deep inside me, it’s a comfort just to have him with me.

  I’m a nervous wreck come Saturday. Answering the door to Tristan, I’m left speechless. He’s gorgeous. His usually messy bed head is curling slightly, in a need to be trimmed kind of way. He’s wearing a blue dress shirt that would match his eyes perfectly if it were a little lighter, and a pair of faded jeans that accentuate all the right places. The smirk on his face as I look back up to his eyes tells me I’m likely drooling, but I can’t help it. The man is absolutely breathtaking. As he hands me the red roses that I somehow failed to notice, I excuse myself for a moment and put them in a vase with water.

  Wearing a simple black maxi dress, I’m not sure if I’m overdressed or underdressed for whatever he has planned. I settle on neither as he pulls into the parking lot of my favorite place on earth. I love how he picks up on the subtle things like my love for the beach. I don’t visit it very often, but it’s still my favorite place in the world, making this picnic here absolutely perfect. He even thought of the little things, like his sweatshirt he just wrapped around my shoulders as the light chill in the air caused a rush of goose bumps.

  As I help him lay out a blanket, he places a basket on it. Peeking inside, I spy the goodies he’s packed away. There are strawberries along with a tub of chocolate sauce and whipped cream, a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a few packages of my favorite sushi. I laugh at the knowledge Tryst knows me this well, or at the very least knows who to ask. Tryst… I say to myself while rolling my eyes, knowing I’m a complete sucker. I swore I would never call him by that ridiculous name and yet, here I am doing just that. Well anyway, it’s really sweet, this date he arranged. After arranging the food he pours the wine as we sit side by side watching as the waves crash against the shore while feeding each other the sushi. I bite back a smile as he pulls out a bag of white chocolate Hershey Kisses with little mint pieces mixed in. They are my absolute favorite and something you can only get this time of year. Only a few people know of my guilty little pleasure, and the fact he went through so much to make this special, melts my heart a bit.

  As he puts the chocolate between his lips, he brushes his mouth against mine, and uses his tongue to push the kiss into my mouth. He then continues to roll the chocolate back and forth between our tongues until it’s melted. Not wanting to break away in that moment, he pulls me closer until I’m climbing across his lap. He breaks the kiss off long enough to notice we’re alone on this isolated part of the beach before falling back onto the blanket and bringing me with him.

  I double check our surroundings before allowing him to remove my dress. Lying under him in just a pair of lace panties, never did I think I would be up for having sex on a public beach. But as we lay there under a blanket of stars, I can’t think of anything more perfect. As he hovers above me, he uses one hand to dip a strawberry in the whipped cream and brings it to my lips, teasing it across them. I take a small bite and watch with a hungered desire as he bites the rest, licking the juice running down his fingers. I pull my lip between my teeth to stifle a moan as he uses his fingers to paint lines across my stomach with the chocolate spread. I watch intently as his tongue runs along my skin licking it off before bringing his lips back to mine.

  “Did you enjoy my painting?” he teased. I give a small nod of approval as he chuckles against my skin. “Your turn, baby girl,” he says, before flipping us over so I’m on top of him.

  Reaching for his hem, I pull his shirt over his head. I lick my lips as I stare at the perfection lying under me. Dipping my fingers into the sauce, I draw the patterns across his skin, stopping where his v disappears into his jeans. I start from the bottom and slowly swirl and swipe my tongue across the chocolate, at times sucking and nipping at the skin as I lick the chocolate off. By the time I’m to the top of his abs, his eyes are hooded and he’s breathing heavy. Brushing my body up against his as I slowly work my way up, I can feel his erection pulsing hard against me. I continue my tortuous pace, paying extra attention to the tattoos across his skin, teasing across them as I lap at the chocolate. When I once again reach his lips, I press my body completely against his the warmth of his skin, a contrast against the cool of my own. The hardened peaks of my nipples feel like ice against his touch.

  “I think you may have enjoyed that almost as much as I did,” he says, his voice a low, husky rumble against my neck. I lose myself to his kiss, it consuming me with a frenzied need. Before I can object, he has me flipped onto my stomach.

  “Hands over your head, Bentley, and keep them there,” he demands.

  I instead place my hands under my head using them to pillow it as I turn it sideways trying to watch him. A shiver shoots down my spine the moment his lips graze across my skin. I lay there in bliss as he continues his onslaught, kissing every inch of skin. His tongue traces down my neck, across my shoulders and moving methodically across my sides and back. I squirm as he licks at the indent at the small of my back. A rush of cold, as a breeze blows across my dampened skin, has it covered in goose bumps. It’s in that moment he pulls on the lace of my panties, pulling them down my legs and tossing them into the basket.

  I lay there on the blanket completely naked as he kisses his way up one leg and then the other, before stopping at my ass and digging his hands between the blanket and my hips. He pulls me up so I’m resting on my knees, head still to the ground. I turn into the blanket to avoid him seeing the full flush across my face. Using his knee, he pushes my legs apart exposing me to him. I moan into the blanket as his hands knead at my ass before feeling the sensation of his lips against the cheeks, delivering small kisses while flicking his tongue across the skin before nipping it lightly. The sensation is amazing. I can feel my own wetness as it slicks across my thighs after trying to close them. He keeps his knee between them as he leans over my back whispering in my ear.

  “Do you enjoy that, Bentley? Do you want me to take you like this?”

  I nod my answer, not really knowing what to expect. I gasp at the sensation as he settles behind me and swipes his tongue across my folds. A small scream escapes me as he continues to lick at me from behind, darting his tongue in and out of my opening. I try hard to hold back as he lifts my ass higher in the air, and moves into a position that has me riding his face. He swipes his tongue through my folds several times before sucking on my clit. I scream his name as my orgasm pulses through my body, setting off little aftershocks.

  The ringing in my ears drowns out the sound of him removing his pants. As he settles back against me I can feel the wet tip of his cock pushing against my opening. Desperately in need to feel him inside of me I push back forcing him inside. Grabbing my hips, he pulls me back further onto him, burying himself balls deep inside of me. He feels fuller in this position, like he’s even deeper inside of me as, he begins to thrust. I cry out my need begging for more of him.

  “Harder, Tryst, fuck me harder,” I say as he grunts, his balls slapping against my clit each time pushes into me. “Please, Tristan,” I beg, as I slam my ass back to meet each of his thrusts.

  He grabs my hair, pulling on it as he increases his pace, pumping harder and faster. He reaches under me coating his finger and circling it quickly across the bundle of nerves. Between the feel of him inside me and the nerves he’s rubbing against, it takes only a moment before another orgasm crashes through me. I clench around him, the muscles constricting against his dick as he continues thrusting; one, two, three more thrusts before he stiffens and empties
himself inside of me, my own body convulsing in response to his, as it milks his orgasm. My knees give as he pulls out of me. My body falling to the blanket where I don’t think I could move a muscle.

  At some point a short while later, Tristan has the brilliant idea we should just run into the water to wash off. A bit apprehensive about jumping into a cold ocean, Tristan picks me up over his shoulder and runs for the water. When he gets about waist deep he drops me down. My knees, not quite ready to hold me, give out and I end up going under. Tristan grabs a hold of me as I come back up, spitting out a mouthful of seawater. In the few minutes it takes to wash away what we’ve just done, my teeth begin to chatter. It hadn’t occurred to me just how cold I was until my whole body started shaking. Streaking back to the blanket, he uses his shirt to wipe away the excess water on me before pulling my dress back over my head. Within a few minutes, we have everything packed away and are in the car on our way back home. Tristan notes the tinge of blue on my lips and cranks the heat up as I try to cover my yawn. Looking over at him I see it’s contagious, as he yawns back in return.

  As we pull into Tristan’s drive he kills the engine. He’s already to my car door when I get it open, taking my hand and leading me to his house. Butterflies fill my stomach as the realization hits me. I’ve never been inside his place before. We climb the steps quietly, trying not to disturb Cage if he’s asleep, but as we pass the room it’s evident he isn’t there. Tristan leads me into his room before closing the door and snapping the lock. Turning to face him, he’s already slipped his jeans and shoes off as he reaches forward, pulling my dress over my head once again. Walking backwards, he pushes me to the bed. As my knees hit the end, I fall on top of it. I scoot back until my butt comes across where his top sheet is folded down. He meets me there before pulling at the covers, layering us both in the blankets. Pulling me to him, so I’m laying partially across him, he delivers a kiss to my forehead before we both fall sound asleep.