by Tiana Cole
She didn’t want any alcohol affecting her brain. An idea was slowly forming inside her mind; a plan that would settle the score between them.
He came back carrying a tall glass of iced water. Meanwhile, Cassidy settled herself into one of the sofas while he was gone. She crossed her legs, allowing the hem of the dress to open, exposing a leg and her thighs.
“Thank you,” she smiled seductively at him, lowering her eyes as he took the seat beside her.
“You look different,” Tristan began. There was a note of uncertainty in his voice.
Cassidy leaned over to set the glass on the table, making sure he had a good view of the mounds of her breasts.
“Different? How? Do you find me prettier now, or am I still the plain Cassidy you once knew? Do you prefer the sophisticated one, with make-up and silk and stilettos?”
Her voice had taken on a huskier tone. Her hand crept over his thigh and casually rested on top of his leg. His lips parted slightly as his body tensed, sending warm breaths wafting to her cheeks. Powerless to resist her invitation, he leaned in closer, inhaling her perfume.
She turned to face to him, offering her lips for a kiss. Instead, Tristan pulled away from her, a move that took her by surprise. His face was inscrutable as he folded his arms across his chest.
“You haven’t answered my question, Cassidy. What the fuck are you doing here in my apartment?"
Cassidy was momentarily taken aback. She had no desire to talk about things. All she wanted was for him to fuck her, then she would be gone… for good. That was the plan, but his face was like a mask. There was no sign of the erection he showed when she first touched him.
“I… err… I’m here because… I’m…” she stammered. She was losing her composure and felt defensive.
The notion that he could still make her feel uncomfortable despite everything he’d done was upsetting to her. She was the victim of this monster, wasn’t she? She drew back her flagging optimism. She couldn’t lose what she had started tonight.
“I’m here because you called for an escort and the agency sent me.” Her voice was cold, detached, like she was some kind of pro who did this every day.
“Agency? You work as an escort there?” He sounded shocked.
“Yes,” she answered, trying to understand his surprise. “Been doin’ it for a while now,” she lied.
She forced herself to look at him as he recoiled at her words.
What the fuck was wrong with him? Cassidy thought. She understood his surprise at seeing her again, but to act like he didn’t want to come close… that riled her somehow. What was wrong with her, anyway? Wasn’t she just as good as the other girls he’d gone to bed with?
She had to make a move and do it fast. She tugged at the drawstring on her dress allowing her breasts to fall softly, revealing that she had nothing underneath except a pair of panties.
“What’s wrong, Tristan?” she cooed, flitting nearer. “Isn’t this what you want? You paid for a girl to be with you tonight. Well… here I am.”
Tristan looked at her like she was a creature from another planet. His mouth was wide open like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Look, Tristan, you’re wasting your time… and mine. I’m a working girl and need to get paid,” she sneered.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Cassidy.” Tristan finally found his voice.
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” she replied coldly. “So… are we doing it or not?” she added, tying the drawstring back up, preparing to leave in case he said no. “You can always ask for another girl,” she lambasted him further, “just like the girl that didn’t work out for you this morning.”
“You mean Macy?”
“Macy, Kim, Amber… what the fuck. We’re all the same, aren’t we?”
“Alright, Cassidy. If this is what you really want. Please… this way,” Tristan answered, standing up from the sofa and leading the way for her to follow.
That was easy, she thought. A sex addict will never say no if you dangle your tits in his face. She grimaced at the idea.
Cassidy was glad her plan was working again. She was about to get laid, but somehow the idea wasn’t as pleasant as it first seemed. Getting laid was not the same as those passionate hours she’d spent with Tristan before she discovered his… addiction.
Tristan opened a door and allowed her to pass through. Cassidy fully expected to see a bedroom, and more importantly, a bed. The room, however, was far from what she expected. It was mostly bare with white walls, except for a square mattress that was covered with a red sheet. Adjustable light stands surrounded the bed. Silver and white umbrellas were hanging above the stands, as well as a square umbrella that looked like a smaller version of a tent. Small round honeycomb objects were strewn everywhere.
Cassidy gasped in surprise. She wasn’t familiar with most of the objects inside the room, but even to her untrained eye this looked like a photo studio.
“Take your clothes off… there’s a robe hanging by the door… put it on. I’ll come back when you’re ready.” Tristan’s voice was monotone, his face a blank wall as he closed the door behind him.
“What the fuck?” Cassidy muttered.
She was confused, but if he wanted to fuck her here, she didn’t have a say over that. She did hear him tell her to remove all of her clothes, though, and she was having difficulty accepting that. It sounded so… clinical. She at least expected some kind of foreplay like Tristan taking off her clothes for her. And that mattress in the middle of the room? A doctor’s office had a more inviting examination bed than that one.
Cassidy shrugged her shoulders. If this is how he wanted it, then she just had to play along. More and more, she realized how sick Tristan really was. She slithered out of her dress hesitantly, wondering if she should remove her panties, too. She decided against it. Give him something to work for, she thought… even if it was as trivial as removing her panties to get to her.
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.
