by Kaye Blue
I woke with a start but froze, trying not to rouse Tru.
A couple of hours, maybe more, had passed, and it was fast approaching evening.
“The sleep helped,” Tru wished in a sleepy yet alert voice.
I looked down at her and nodded. I didn’t tell her that holding her in my arms again helped more, but somehow, I suspected I didn’t need to.
“I’m going to find Aras,” I said.
As much as I wanted to stay here with her, there were things that had to be taken care of.
“Okay,” Tru said.
I stood and she followed, trailing behind me as I went toward the living room to find Aras and Ezekiel.
“You look better. You needed the sleep,” Aras said.
I didn’t respond, trying not to let his words grate. Not that he cared either way.
He was looking at Tru, and I stepped between them, putting her out of his sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tru’s quirked brow but didn’t acknowledge it.
Aras got my message, and that was what mattered.
Seconds ticked by, neither Aras or I speaking or making a move.
It was Tru who broke the silence.
“You guys clearly need to talk, so I guess I need to make myself scarce.”
“I’d appreciate it,” Aras responded.
“You don’t need to go anywhere,” I said.
I wasn’t sure why I was interjecting. After all, Aras was right. This was a conversation we needed to have alone, but the fact that he had suggested it was getting under my skin.
I already felt beholden to him, something that I hated.
Him having anything to do with Tru was a bridge too far.
“Look,” Ezekiel said, appearing to be prepared to be the voice of reason. “We need to talk. She needs to go.”
“I’ll be out there. Is it safe to walk around?”
She again directed her question at Aras, not giving me a second glance.
“It is,” he said.
I kept my mouth closed, certain that if I spoke, I would embarrass myself.
But it was tough, the need to assert myself, to make sure she knew exactly who she belonged to. One that I could barely contain.
I didn’t look at her as she left, and instead listened to her retreating footsteps, not taking my eyes off Aras and Ezekiel.
Aras looked amused, not something I ever thought I’d be able to say about him.
I chose to ignore that.
“What did you find?”
“You’re in a world of shit.”
“I didn’t need you to tell me that.”
“I’m sure you didn’t, but things have gotten worse.”
“How?”
“Viktor.”
A single name, one that carried almost unimaginable weight.
“Yeah, so I’m in a world of shit,” I said.
“Apparently this is a new engagement. He’s only been on it for three hours,” Aras said.
“Does that matter?”
“No. Not really. He’ll keep at it for as long as it takes,” he said.
I knew that.
I had never met the man, but his reputation preceded him. He was brutal when it was called for, but most importantly, he was unstoppable. He took a job and carried it to completion. No matter how long it took.
“He’s not cheap.”
“Two million per. And he doesn’t take everything he’s offered.”
“So, who do I know who has the money and clout to do what it takes to make sure I’m dead.”
“That’s the question you need to answer.
“Yeah. But I might not get a chance to.”
I wasn’t afraid, but bringing Viktor into the mix added a new level of complication. And it was a stark reminder of how much danger Tru was in.
“I know Viktor. I’ll give him a call.”
I lifted a brow.
“I owe you a debt. I’m paying it back.”
“You think he’ll listen?”
“No guarantees, but I can try. You need to figure out who’s behind all this.”
“I do.”
“You have an idea?” Ezekiel said.
“Somebody wants me dead, but they would probably take an alternative,” I said.
“Which is?”
“Me underground, running scared from Viktor or whoever else they might send after me.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re okay with that,” Ezekiel said.
“I’m not. I don’t run, and I certainly don’t hide.”
“Are you gonna try to flush them out?”
“Yep. Somebody wants me dead, and I’m going to give him the shot.”
“Risky,” Aras said.
“You have another alternative? If I stay hidden too much longer, it will be just as good as killing me.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“So, I’m going home. Let them take their shots.”
Ivan
I talked with Ezekiel and Aras for another hour and felt good about what was coming next.
All except one part of it.
I had followed the path around Aras’s house but hung back, watching Tru as she looked up at the sky.
The sun was high, bright but not blinding, and in fact, everything about the setting was perfect.
Especially her.
She had taken her hair down, and the sun hit it, lighting the strands.
“How long you gonna stare at me?”
“You’re a good thing stare at,” I responded.
I approached her, wanting to be near her, but hating that the moment had been broken.
It was one I wanted to cling to, one that I knew I couldn’t.
“You finished your work?” she asked.
There was an odd inflection on that last word, one I didn’t give myself long to consider.
“Yeah.”
She had been leaning back, her face turned up, but she sat up as I sat down beside her.
When her eyes met mine, I saw that they were again occluded, dark, mysterious, not giving me any hint as to what she was thinking.
I hated that.
I had no right to want anything else, didn’t deserve anything else, but the connection between us had always been strong, open. I had been able to rely on it more than almost anything else in my life.
To have it cut off, especially when I knew what came now, was something I didn’t want.
“You look so serious,” she said, her voice far away.
“I guess that’s different,” I said.
“A little bit,” she said, a smile ghosting across her lips.
She, like me, was no doubt remembering how I had been all those years ago, callow, unserious about everything.
“Do you miss him?”
“Who?” I said, though I knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Peter,” she said.
I didn’t answer immediately, instead considering the question.
“Yes and no.”
“Something else that’s different. You were never anything less than certain.”
“Especially about you. From the very first moment I saw you, I knew you would be mine.”
Even after all these years, I could remember the power of the moment, the way everything inside of me seemed to shift on an elemental level, a feeling that hadn’t waned, not even in the slightest.
“Yeah. I wasn’t so sure about you.”
“That’s an understatement,” I said, smiling as I remembered how she had reacted to me.
Her reaction had been a shock to my ego, an ego that had never been tested.
But Tru had. She had taken one look at me and dismissed me as insubstantial, shallow.
In a lot of ways, she had been right. But she had underestimated my tenacity, and through some miracle that I didn’t understand, even now, I had gotten through her walls and had made her love me.
“How did I change your mind?” I asked.
“Wait a second. I thought I had a q
uestion on the floor,” she said.
“You do. And I’ll answer it.”
“But me first, huh?”
“Why not?” I said.
She shrugged. “Why not indeed.”
She looked at me, her expression intense, her gaze seeming to bore into me, as if she were trying to figure something out.
“You didn’t,” she finally said.
“What do you mean?” I asked, knitting my brows together.
“You didn’t change my mind. I was smitten, probably halfway in love the first time I saw you.”
“Really?” I asked. “You barely spoke to me.”
“A protective measure.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“You were so handsome, clearly rich, but also more, different, a little bit dangerous. Which is all to say someone who shouldn’t have looked at me the first time, let alone twice. You did, and that made me suspicious.”
“You were definitely that,” I said.
It was easy to remember how she had been, so dismissive, closed off, giving me one-syllable answers and scarcely ever looking at me.
“But I realized that didn’t matter,” she said.
“What didn’t?”
“Whatever your agenda was—”
“I didn’t have an agenda. I just liked you,” I interjected.
“I eventually figured that out. But in my head, I knew you had some angle, but I decided that didn’t matter. I wanted you, and if you wanted me back, I decided it would be dumb to miss an opportunity. So, I figured what would be the harm? I’d keep my head on straight, enjoy it for a day, a month, however long it lasted, and then move on. Not that my plan worked out,” she said, her lips turning up in a smile.
“That’s smart. Kind of depressing, but smart,” I said.
“What’s depressing about it?”
“That you didn’t trust me,” I said, knowing it was insane even as I said the words.
“Seems I had good reason,” she responded.
I couldn’t argue.
Instead, I looked at the beautiful trees and then looked at the beautiful woman beside me, one I loved with all my heart.
“I don’t miss him,” I said.
She tilted her head, a clear sign for me to continue.
“He was never really real. A part of me but not me, you know?”
“I guess I do.”
“I miss the freedom he had, but Peter was just me.”
I looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction, again not seeing anything.
Eyes never leaving her, I slowly leaned forward, kissed her.
Like always, it was a revelation, like I was again discovering where I belonged, remembering the only place I would ever truly be whole.
And like always, the kiss that started out so gently, so tender, became so much more.
The need to be inside her was breath-stealing, one that I was barely able to ignore, but the need to taste her was so much stronger.
To feel her essence on my tongue, to again experience the taste and scent that was so uniquely her, one that had hooked me and never let me go, was something I needed more than I needed air.
I pushed against her shoulder, and she fell back into the soft grass.
There was something about Tru and this place that was more than I could give words to. Maybe it was the purity of the environment, how clean and untouched it felt.
Or maybe it was just the fact that I was with her, but being in these woods with her now was perfect, as perfect as anything had ever been.
Or it would be, once my tongue was covered in her cream, buried deep in her pussy.
I hadn’t spoken, but Tru must have sensed my urgency. She left her shirt in place but lifted her hips and kicked off her pants, leaving the object of my desire bare for me.
Her eyes were dark, fathomless, intense in a way that mirrored my own feelings. I could have stared into them forever and would have had she not slowly started to spread her legs.
Her movements weren’t tentative, but they weren’t rushed either. It was so quintessentially Tru, that mix of brazenness and shyness, both authentic, both more than I deserved.
But right now, what I deserved and didn’t, what would happen next, none of it mattered. All that mattered was her and this precious chance to be with her once again.
I kissed her lips softly, not risking words.
But then the intensity of the moment overcame me.
I moved down her body, kissed the spot between her belly button and her mound.
Her skin was like silk, the heat I could feel from her core tempting me beyond reason.
I moved lower, brushing my lips over her soft skin, lower still as I breathed in deep, intoxicated by her scent.
I pulled back and stared down at her. Her plump pussy lips were glistening with her cream, and I could no longer resist. My eyes were locked with hers as I moved forward, placed a gentle kiss against her intimate skin before I stroked my tongue up her slit.
She bucked against me, held my shoulders tight when I wrapped my tongue around her hard pearl.
“Ivan…”
Her voice was soft, the whisper a contrast to the urgency I felt in the way she tightened her hands around my shoulders.
My answer was to kiss her clit and then push two fingers inside her.
She let out an almost guttural sigh as I worked my fingers in and out of her, moved my tongue against her hot little button.
“Ivan. Ivan…” she whispered, her voice near frantic, her need for completion clear.
I didn’t give it to her, wanted to make this last. I pulled my fingers out and lapped at her furiously, spearing her with my tongue, fucking her with my mouth.
She was flying high, and her sounds, her taste, sent me with her. Near mindless, I reached down and squeezed my cock, staving off my own climax, wanting the focus on her.
I broke away long enough to whisper, “Come for me, Tru.”
Then, I licked her again, alternating between sharp little thrusts with my tongue and long, luxurious licks, playing with her clit until she went over the edge.
She screamed so loud I knew the others could hear.
Didn’t care.
I wanted them to hear, wanted everyone to know that she was mine.
I was a man possessed, and as Tru shivered, I pushed my pants down and took my cock out, pausing long enough to smile when she opened eagerly for me.
I thrust hard, filling her with one stroke. Another, and then I lost it, stayed buried deep inside her as I filled her with my cum.
I imagined my seed taking root, Tru ripe with my child, and the thought made my cock throb as I released another spurt of cum.
She held me tight, tenderly, and I held her back, wanting the moment to last, knowing it couldn’t.
Sometime later, I pulled away from her, not speaking as we dressed. I didn’t want to look at her, but I wasn’t a coward.
I met her eyes, saw the resolve in them.
She knew what was coming next, knew that for the second time, I was walking away.
“Good-bye, Ivan,” she whispered.
I didn’t reply.
Eleven
Tru
This was really it.
I’d done the same thing I had every day for years—unlocked the clinic, gone over appointments for the day, prepared for the walk-ins I knew would show up.
I’d greeted Janelle, the woman who ran the soup kitchen next to the clinic.
All of it felt familiar, but I couldn’t shake the sense of unreality that had been pressing on me all day.
It was all so…normal.
Like the previous three days hadn’t happened.
Like I hadn’t found the man that I both hated and loved more than anyone.
Like I hadn’t lost him again.
My heart squeezed at that thought, a reminder that yes, all that had happened.
I might try to slip back into my life like it hadn’t, but today had proven that would
be impossible.
I had gone through the motions, sure, had done a very good job of pretending that nothing had changed.
But everything had changed.
As he had all those years before, Ivan had gotten inside of me, changed me on a fundamental level.
And like I had all those years before, it would be left to me to put myself back together.
As if such a thing were possible.
I’d closed the clinic for the day and planned to do some paperwork before I went home.
There was a sharp rap on the door, and I went to it, smiling when I saw Melissa.
“Melissa, hi! What are you doing here?”
Melissa came in, and I closed and locked the door behind her.
I smiled again, happy to see her.
She returned the smile with one that was as bright as I’d ever seen it.
“I take it your weekend went well?” I asked with a giggle.
She practically glowed, vibrating with excitement.
“What gave it away?” she said with a giggle as she leaned against my desk.
“Stockbroker guy?” I asked, trying to seem casual.
“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting much, but he is…”
She trailed off, her expression taking this dreamy look that I knew all too well.
“So, you’re seeing him again?”
“Yeah. I only left his place this morning. After that fire alarm, we went somewhere else and got drinks, and we just stayed together. It felt natural. Good.”
“Good,” I responded, smiling at her, honestly happy.
I never knew how these things would work out, not with Melissa, but I hoped for the best for her.
“That’s why I came down. I wanted to tell you how good it was and thank you for coming with me,” she said.
“Think nothing of it,” I said, waving a hand.
“What did you do after you left?”
I froze for moment then put on my biggest smile, trying to ignore the way my heart darted around my chest.
“I had a great adventure, one you wouldn’t believe if I told you about it.”
“Yeah. So, wine and popcorn and movies?” she said.
“You got me,” I responded, smiling but looking away quickly so that she wouldn’t see anything in my eyes.
On one hand, I wished she was right. Another boring weekend would have been infinitely less emotional, less painful than what I had gone through.
