by Kasey Krane
Isabelle nodded at her brother, then ushered the doctor and Davey’s mother out of the room.
Tristian waited until we were alone in the room before he kissed me. He had never kissed me like that before. Like he was never going to let me go.
“Where are we? I don’t recognize this place,” I said when he was done kissing me, taking my breath away like never before.
There was something different about the way he kissed me this time—like it meant something different to him. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I didn’t want to allow myself to imagine that Tristian actually wanted me. In any other way than he had me already—somebody to keep his bed warm when he needed it.
“We’re in the family home. Our father thought it would be a good idea to bring you here instead of my apartment.”
“I like your apartment,” I said.
He smiled and stroked my hair again. There was a sudden tenderness in him I’d never seen before. This was a new Tristian. An improved Tristian?
He’d always been perfect the way he was. Even when he treated me like I meant nothing to him. I loved him even then.
“Well, this is where they want you to stay. To keep you safe.”
“Safe from what? You guys…ended it, right? Aldo’s gone?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word dead. It was what I hoped for.
Tristian clenched his jaws together and took in a deep breath.
I knew his answer before he even said it.
“He managed to get away. I’m not exactly sure how, but it happened. We got a lot of his men, most of them actually. So we know his numbers are severely depleted. He is weak now, but he’s still fuckin’ out there.”
Tristian sounded almost apologetic as he spoke, with his eyes directed to the floor, his shoulders drooping.
“I’m sorry I failed you,” he continued.
“Tristian…”
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance, but I never even got to him. Being the pussy he always is, he was the first one to make his getaway. He couldn’t be bothered to stay behind and fight us like the rest of his men.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me. Please…you saved me. I didn’t think I had a chance. I made my peace with death. I saw it coming. He wasn’t going to spare my life, no chance…”
He reached for my hand and held it up to his mouth. I felt his lips moving on my fingers. So tender…I was surprised.
“I wasn’t going to let you die, Elsie. I would’ve found you. If I didn’t find you today, I would’ve tomorrow.”
“Time was running out, and it was all my fault. I should’ve never left your apartment and stepped right into Aldo’s jaws.”
“I shouldn’t have left you alone when you felt so confused and vulnerable.”
I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes.
“Can we stop blaming each other? I’m here now. I’m safe.”
“And Aldo is out there somewhere.”
“You’ll get him. I know it,” I said.
Tristian drew away from me and walked over to the window in the room. I hadn’t seen him this worried before and I wasn’t sure what he’d do next.
One thing was clear—he was determined to keep me safe.
Twenty-Eight
Tristian
They were right, Elsie was very tired and needed rest.
I spent as much time with her as I could, just keeping her company while she sat on the bed and reminisced about her friend who’d been killed.
She was sad about it and blamed herself. I tried to make her see there wasn’t anything she could’ve done differently. The real person to blame was Aldo. He was the one who destroyed everything in his path.
Elsie seemed broken. The deaths of all the people close to her had shattered her, and I knew I’d never allow her to be hurt again.
She’d been kidnapped and imprisoned by Aldo twice. It couldn’t happen a third time. I wasn’t sure she’d make it out alive if it happened again.
Eventually, she dozed off and I helped her get comfortable in bed and then left the room silently.
I wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone, but there was a man posted outside the door who was instructed to alert me if there was anything that needed my attention. It was the only way I’d leave her.
The rest of my family was in the house.
This had been the biggest attack on Aldo yet. We’d come so close to getting him. Ending this thing.
I found them in the kitchen. Isabelle, Reese, Marley, Leah and Rosalie were all there too. Apparently Davey was out in the garden with Dad and our stepmother. My brothers were all discussing the shootout, nursing their wounds and trying to come up with new plans of getting Aldo.
Reese and Rosalie cooked and swerved up plates of spaghetti. Leah handed me a plate, giving me a sympathetic smile and a squeeze on the arm. They all knew what happened between Elsie and me, and the fact that she’d been seriously hurt.
“How is she doing now?” Isabelle asked, coming up to me.
“She’s resting. We talked for a bit, but she fell asleep.”
“That’s good. She just needs a few days and then she’ll be back on her feet. She’ll be fine,” Isabelle said encouragingly.
I didn’t feel very encouraged at the moment.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine because I’ll make sure she disappears and Aldo never finds her.”
Isabelle’s brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“He can’t get his hands on her again. The next time it happens, he’ll make sure she doesn’t get out alive. I have to make her disappear. It’s not safe for her, out in the open.”
Isabelle looked worried, but maybe she understood because she nodded.
“It’ll be very difficult for Elsie to adjust to a life on the run.”
“It won’t be easy, but it’s the only way to keep her alive.”
Isabelle had the good sense not to remind me it wasn’t going to be easy for me either. I had to be prepared to let her go, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready.
Elsie slept through most of that day and the next morning she was doing better.
I found her in the kitchen eating breakfast with the other girls. Her eyes brightened up when I walked in.
I wanted to touch her, kiss her—but I held back because of the decision I had already made.
“Do you want to go for a walk in the garden?” I asked, while the others watched us with big smiles on their faces. Elsie nodded and stood up, carrying the mug of coffee in her hand.
We went out through the back of the house into the garden and she breathed in deeply like she needed to fill her lungs with fresh air.
“This place is beautiful. The garden is just gorgeous.”
“My stepmother looks after it,” I said, leading her into the manicured mini-maze.
Elsie walked slowly beside me, admiring the flowers and bushes.
“Tristian, I’m not sure if I thanked you already for everything you’ve done for me.”
“You don’t need to thank me. It was my duty to make sure you were safe. We had given you our word that you’d be safe with us.”
She looked over at me with a smile. She was beautiful. I imagined her lying next to me, waking up beside her.
“And, we need to keep you safe now. Far away from Aldo.”
“I feel perfectly safe with you…all. Here.”
I stopped in my tracks and she stopped too. Maybe she sensed there was something more coming because now she looked worried.
“Tristian…”
“I’m making arrangements to make you disappear. You have to go away. Somewhere Aldo won’t find you. I can make that happen.”
“You want me to leave?”
“You have to. We can’t risk him finding you again. He won’t give up. It’s a matter of pride and revenge for him.”
Elsie shook her head.
“I’m safe here. He can’t touch me here.”
“No, you’re not safe here, Elsie,” I growled,
grabbing her arm tightly. She gasped and I let her go.
“If you send me away, I’ll lose…everything,” she murmured, her eyes filling with tears. I didn’t know exactly what she meant by that, and I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want her to tempt me into changing my mind.
“It’s the price you’ll have to pay for staying alive,” I said, through clenched teeth.
She yanked her arm away from me, spilling some of the coffee from the mug on herself. It seemed like she was about to say something but then she changed her mind. She turned around and ran back towards the house.
Fuck.
Didn’t she see I just wanted the best for her?
“Elsie!” I roared her name through the house, following her up to the room she stayed in.
Her temporary accommodation before my plan to ship her out came through.
I didn’t care who else heard me or what they thought. I just needed her to be okay.
She slammed the door behind her when she went in but hadn’t locked it, so I went through.
“Come fuckin’ on. We need to talk about this without you shutting me out,” I growled.
Elsie walked over to the window and stood looking out. Both her hands were on her hips with her back to me. I was sure she was listening to me, but wouldn’t react.
“In a few years, once everything settles down, maybe you can come back. Take a stab at that job you wanted.”
“A few years?” she spun around to face me now. “You want me to spend the next few years of my life on the run? From a man who has already destroyed my whole life?”
“The priority is to keep you alive.”
“The priority should be that I have a life,” she snapped, taking a few steps towards me. “What do you picture for me, Tristian? A life cooped up in some obscure town in a secure house? Where I’m surrounded by guards who don’t talk to me. Can I even leave this house? Ever? Can I go get fast food if I want to? Can I get a job and earn a living?”
“You won’t have to do anything,” I said.
“But what kind of life is that? If I do this, Tristian, then I’m just letting Aldo win. He may not have physically killed me, but he would’ve killed everything that matters in my life.”
She peered into my eyes for an answer, but in them she saw I wasn’t budging. I wasn’t going to let Aldo take her again. Torture her and kill her. I wouldn’t be able to live with that. I’d never forgive myself for it.
Elsie’s lips quivered while she waited for an answer.
“And what about…us?”
I said nothing.
“Or does that not matter anymore?”
Still, nothing. I didn’t have the words to explain to her what she’d done to me. Just in the span of a few days. I was in love with her. I’d fallen hard for her the way I’d never fallen for anyone before. I wished I could tell her about it, but if I did, it’d only make matters worse.
She took a few steps back.
“I get it now. You want me out of your picture because I’m a problem. Because I mess up your day. You want to be free. You want your old life back.”
I couldn’t let her keep doing this to herself. I reached for her, grabbing her by her hips and pulling her to me. I thought she’d pull away but she didn’t. She fell on me with a thud and then I kissed her again.
Elsie gave herself to me in a way I didn’t expect her to.
I devoured her mouth, cradling her face with both hands and sucking on her tongue. She pressed into me hard, grabbing my cock and stroking.
I felt her desire for me. She wanted me with a hunger. I wanted her in the same way. I lifted her up and carried her to the bed.
Our bodies bounced as we fell into it. My hands were everywhere, exploring every inch of her body.
We rolled in the sheets together, kissing and seeking. My hand went down the front of her pants. I stroked that damp sweet spot between her legs that made me harder and stronger. Weaker too.
I ripped her pants down because I wanted to taste everything.
Elsie thrust her hips up towards me, inviting me in. I pressed my mouth to her clit, licking and tasting her while she wrapped her legs around my neck. She wanted to keep me there and I wanted to make her feel good. I wanted to take every pain away from the world for her.
I gripped her by her waist, my arms outstretched over my head while I slipped my tongue in her pussy and stroked her clit. She sighed and moaned, matching the rolling of her hips in rhythm to the way I tasted her. I sucked up her juices, licking her dry.
When she finally came, the whole bed shook and she murmured my name repeatedly. I kept her pinned down to the bed while my mouth was on her. Her toes curled and she arched her body over me, stroking my back with her long nails.
Once I was sure she was done coming, I pulled my head up to look at her. She was panting, staring at me with her big brown eyes. I wanted to tell her I loved her. That I wanted to wake up every morning and make her feel good like this.
But there were tears in Elsie’s eyes again. I knew what she was thinking. That this was going to be our last time together like this.
That was the reality.
I had to stick to my decision.
I let her go and straightened up. But Elsie remained on the bed with her legs wide open.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded. I looked down at her with my narrowed eyes. My cock was rock hard and erect for her. She looked amazing lying on the bed, her top was pushed up, revealing her perfect breasts. Her stiff brown nipples.
“This is fucked up,” I growled, raking a hand through my hair. I didn’t know what I’d meant by that. I was fucked up. I didn’t want to lose her. I was so close to changing my mind and keeping her here with me.
Elsie rolled over and arched her ass up towards me. Presenting herself to me.
“Fuck me. Like this. Do it now,” she moaned, touching her wet pussy.
I had to do what she commanded.
Twenty-Nine
Elsie
Tristian entered me from behind.
He was about to leave but I was glad I was able to make him stay. He grabbed me by my hips and pulled me down to the edge of the bed before he thrust his cock deep into me.
I cried out with pleasure when he filled me.
A tall mirror sat in front of us on the other side of the bed and I saw us in it. He was big and strong behind me, ploughing his cock into me repeatedly. Our bodies thudded together as he brought me closer and closer to the edge.
I was on my hands and knees on the bed, my ass pushed up against his washboard abs while he sank into me. My breasts shuddered and bounced with every thrust.
When he wrapped my hair around his fist and arched me back, it was the last straw. I knew I’d explode any moment.
With every stroke his cock, he went deeper inside me and I moaned. He fucked me hard, like a machine and I moaned with every thrust. I came while he fucked me like that. Second time in a row. I had lost all control.
As I came he reached around to stroke my swollen clit. He stroked me at the right spot, making my orgasm last even longer. My eyes rolled in my head, my mouth hung open. I had no control over my mind or the way my body responded to him. He was my master.
When I was done, I pushed up deeper against him, jiggling my ass to match his strokes. He gripped me by my hips and moved faster until he exploded inside me too.
He groaned and growled, falling over me. We both crashed down on the bed together while he remained inside me, fucking me deeper and harder. I hung off the edge of the bed while he thrusted his cock in me.
Then he was done. We were both out of breath. He covered me with his body, straightening my arms and legs out underneath him. I was pinned to the bed, I felt his whole weight crushing me. I loved being this way. I’d never felt more safe before…and then I remembered.
It’d be over soon.
This was our final goodbye before we went our separate ways.
For several years, if Tristian got
his way.
How would I last that long? How would I survive the separation?
And he’d move on. From what? What did we have in the first place?
I wriggled and crawled out from underneath him. I couldn’t bear it. I didn’t want to feel like this anymore. Like I was living on borrowed time around him.
“When do you want me to leave?” I asked him, in a hollow voice.
Tristian chose not to answer my question, getting dressed instead. I pulled up my clothes too.
“So is that out of my hands too? You’re just not going to tell me when I have to go? You’re just going to ship me off somewhere whenever you want?”
Tristian’s jaws clenched tightly. It was hard to imagine we’d had sex so passionately just a few minutes ago. There was a part of him still inside me. I felt his cum trickling down the inside of my thighs. I choked up with tears the more I thought about it.
“I don’t know any of the details yet, Elsie. I haven’t thought about it long enough,” he said in a low commanding voice.
I got off the bed and stood in front of him, shaking my head.
“If you make me disappear, you’re not any better than Aldo. You’ll be doing the same thing he did—imprison me. I’ll have no freedom.”
“For fuck’s sake!” he growled, louder than he’d ever spoken to me before. “You’ll still be alive.”
He made for the door and I didn’t want him to leave. I went after him and grabbed his elbow. He turned around to face me and we stared at each other in silence for a few moments.
“I don’t know how I’ll get through it alone,” I murmured. I left out the part about him. I didn’t know how I’d get through it without him.
“You’ll have people with you, looking after you. I’ll make sure of it. You’ll never be alone.”
My nostrils flared as I gulped down my words. It had to be him. There wasn’t anyone else I wanted to be with, but him.
“I’m sorry, Elsie, but it’s the only way I can keep you safe. You need to go as far away from here as possible.”