by Snow, Jenika
“He was frightening, Kylie. The way he hit him, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen.” Tristan remembered how Kash looked under the moonlight. His muscles straining, his body arching as he repeatedly hit Max. He’d been a machine.
“You should have seen him recounting last night’s events to Jayson. He was so … intense about it.” Kylie cleared her throat. “Listen, I’m going to come over later.”
“You don’t have to, really. I think I just want to sleep the rest of the day.” There was a beat of silence, and Tristan knew what was about to come.
“No, I’ll come over and make sure my best friend is okay.”
Tristan breathed out, but before she could respond, Kash came in with a tray in hand. He set it on her bed, and she looked at the bottle of aspirin, the tall glass of water, and the two pieces of unbuttered toast. She couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a beat. Kash was this incredibly frightening man who towered over her and filled the entire room with menace, yet here he was bringing her food and trying to make her feel better.
“That okay?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll see you then.” She ended the call and smiled. “Thank you so much, for everything,” she said to Kash.
He ran his hand over the back of his neck, and she wondered if she’d embarrassed him. It seemed hard to believe that a man like Kash could be embarrassed. He turned to leave, and her heart pounded.
“Wait.”
He turned and looked at her.
“Will you sit with me for a little while?”
He didn’t respond, and she felt herself grow nervous. “Please.” The idea of being alone, even though it was daylight and she was in her own home, scared her. She didn’t know why, but the thought of having him near calmed her immeasurably.
“Of course.” He turned and walked back toward her. When he sat on the bed, it dipped and she leaned forward slightly. She ate her toast and drank her water in silence, but the fact that he was there was all she needed. It was like whatever had happened last night sealed something in her. She couldn’t speak for him, but she was thankful he’d come into her life.
“Are you feeling any better?”
She finished her water and nodded. “A little. I almost feel hungover.”
“Yeah, shock will do that to a person.” He turned to looked out the window. She studied his profile. His facial hair was starting to grow in, nothing much, just a dark shadow that told her he hadn’t shaved today. He was completely masculine in every way, so much so that Tristan felt heat rise inside of her just from staring at him.
When he faced her again, she couldn’t help but be taken aback by the color of his eyes. They were so green and bright they seemed to pierce the very depth of her body.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you for what you did last night. You saving me from—” She shook her head and looked down at her comforter. “Thank you again.” When he didn’t say anything, she glanced up at him.
“You don’t have to thank me, Tristan.”
Hearing him say her name was like a punch in the stomach. Her heart thundered and her blood raced. Kash watched her closely, like he knew what she was thinking even before she said it.
“He’s a bastard and deserves a lot more than he got.” He took her hand in his, and she could feel the heat right to her bones. “He should have listened when you said no. Just because he saw a beautiful woman, he thought he could take advantage.”
Beautiful?
Her cheeks had to be red as hell, because they sure felt like they were on fire. She cleared her throat and looked down again, not able to hold his gaze. She’d never been good with compliments. He squeezed her hand, and she forced herself to bring her head up.
“I guess I was lucky you didn’t have to work last night.” She laughed, trying to change the subject because she suddenly felt uncomfortable. Tristan didn’t mention that Kylie had said he would be at the party but she hadn’t seen him. It was a good thing anyway, because if he’d been at the party, he wouldn’t have been at her house saving her.
“What do you do anyway, if you don’t mind me asking?”
He let go of her hand and cleared his throat. “I—” He stopped talking and brought his gaze back to hers. “I don’t want to lie to you, so I’m just not going to answer that right now.”
Okay.
He stood and made his way to the door, stopping only to glance over his shoulder and smile at her. “Get some rest.” He turned and was gone, and Tristan was left sitting on her bed, pondering what the hell just happened.
8
A few weeks after the incident, Tristan was starting to feel better about everything that had happened. She wouldn’t say she was completely healed, but she knew she was slowly getting there. When she wasn’t at work and Kash wasn’t MIA, they would watch movies together. Tristan found herself looking forward to it every week. It had become a weekly tradition.
She found that she’d labeled Kash before she’d truly known him. Yes, he was a badass, and yes, he could probably kill someone with just his bare hands, but he was also insightful, kind, generous, and had the same raunchy sense of humor as she did.
There was a connection between them. At least she felt a connection. Kash was too independent, too silent, and too hard to have to rely on anyone like she did. Aside from Kylie and Jayson, Tristan didn’t hang out or talk to other people. So the fact that Kash was here, willing to spend time with her, even if he was silent a lot of it, made her grateful.
“You want a beer?” Tristan called out to the living room as she opened the fridge.
“Yeah, please,” Kash called back from the living room.
Tonight was their weekly movie night. Tristan had the beer and the snacks in hand as she made her way back out to the living room.
“Scary or funny?”
She didn’t have to think about it long. “Scary, definitely.” Horror movies were always her favorite.
Kash put the movie on and sat beside her on the couch, grabbed a beer, and popped the cap.
Tristan grabbed the blanket that was over the back of the couch and covered herself with it. When she saw the opening scene, she rolled her eyes and looked at Kash, who wore a big grin. “Really?” The soft porn scene before her was poorly shot. The two unsuspecting soon-to-be victims rubbed on each other in the middle of the woods.
“What?” His eyebrows were raised in mock disbelief.
“This is cheesy as hell.” The murderer came charging through the woods just as the couple reached climax. He brought his knife down, killed both of them gruesomely, and disappeared into the woods again.
“What a way to go. Killed right as you come.”
Tristan choked on her drink, and Kash reached back to pat her on the back.
He put his arm over the couch, right behind her, which made her acutely aware of how close he really was. They sat in silence for the rest of the god-awful movie, and when the last scene played, Tristan rolled her eyes again. Of course the two lone survivors felt the need to have sex to celebrate the fact they hadn’t been killed.
As their clothes started to slowly come off, Tristan became more aware of Kash sitting beside her. She could see him out of her peripheral vision, and she wondered if the scene, cheesy as it may be, was having the same effect on him as it was on her. First there was kissing, then there was panting, and soon their sweaty bodies were rocking together.
Being this close to Kash, smelling his incredible cologne, feeling his body heat surround her, she found herself turned on beyond belief.
One look, that was all she wanted. She turned her head slightly, just enough to see if that stoic, hard mask on his face had faltered. He wasn’t watching the screen. No, he was staring right at her. He seemed unaffected, as usual. While she was breathing heavier and her pulse was beating harder, he sat there looking at her.
Her lips felt too dry, and she licked them as the sound of the couple having sex seemed to be amplified in the room. Kash’s gaze dipped down t
o her mouth, and her breathing stalled. Was this really happening? Were they having a moment? This was wrong, wrong on so many levels. He was her roommate, for fuck’s sake.
The longer they stared at each other, the more Tristan’s blood raced. Hands in tight fists, she forced herself to turn away from his intense stare. Nothing good could come out of this, nothing. A bond had been built between them, and it was growing into something meaningful.
He hadn’t spoken, so she sneaked a glance at him from under her eyelashes. His focus was on the screen again, but his jaw was tense. He may appear unaffected, but he’d felt the same heat that she had. He was just smart enough not to act on it.
The movie ended, and she pushed the blanket off her legs. Now was a good time to call it a night, while she still had her dignity and hadn’t fucked everything up.
“Thanks for the cheesy movie, Kash, but I’m heading to bed.” She looked over her shoulder and feigned indifference. He watched her, a mask covering his features. Her breath stalled at the pure animalistic magnetism that his one look held. Did this man know what kind of effect he had on her?
She lifted her hand, like a blundering fool, and all but raced up the stairs. Yeah, she needed to get her shit together because things could go downhill really fast.
9
Two months, fifteen days, and six hours.
That was how long it had been since Tristan had forced herself to turn away from Kash’s heated stare. She’d thought the time would have lessened the need for him, but it only made it worse. Every day, every hour, and every minute she tried to stop the feelings that were slowly growing inside of her. He was distant to her, or at least she felt like he was. But she saw the looks he gave her, the ones that seemed intense, full of longing.
Or maybe it was all in her head.
It was Thursday—their movie night—but Kash had been gone all day. He hadn’t called, but she wasn’t his keeper and shouldn’t have expected him to. Every week she looked forward to these movie nights, and as much as she tried to keep it platonic, it was no use.
A look at the clock showed midnight. Nope, he wasn’t coming. She could go to bed and mope over the fact she hadn’t gotten those two hours of bliss sitting next to him and becoming intoxicated in his scent, or she could put on a comedy and hopefully forget for a little while. The movie won, although she knew there would be no forgetting. Hell, she could smell his cologne on the couch pillows.
As soon as the movie started playing, she rested back on the couch. But after long minutes she felt herself grow groggy. The sound of the door opening and shutting startled her, and she felt her heart beat a little faster. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. The kitchen light turned on, and she looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t see Kash, but she could hear the fridge open, bottles being clanked together, and a cap being popped.
Tristan got up and walked into the kitchen. Kash had his back to her. Even half asleep she could appreciate the view. He wore a white T-shirt that was molded to his body. Every part of him was visible through that shirt, especially the tattoos that covered his flesh. He tipped his head back and drank half the beer in one swallow.
“You missed movie night.” It was only meant to tease, but when she saw him stiffen in response, she wondered if she should have kept her mouth shut. He didn’t respond for so long that Tristan started to feel uncomfortable. Just as she was about to turn and go to bed, his gruff voice stopped her.
“I’m sorry about that, I really am. Something came up.” He didn’t turn around when he spoke, and Tristan had a suspicion that something was wrong.
“Is everything okay, Kash?”
“Yeah, just go to bed, Tristan. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Maybe she should have listened to him, but there was a part of her, a part that she tried to suppress, a part that was starting to care for him more than she should, that wanted to comfort him. He sounded forlorn, troubled, and distant. She took several steps into the kitchen.
“Go to bed, Tristan.”
She lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder, willing him without words to turn and look at her. “Talk to me, Kash. Tell me what’s wrong.” His body was hard beneath her hand, the heat from his flesh searing her right to the bone. “I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”
He turned around, and she stumbled back in shock at his appearance.
10
Blood—a lot of it—covered Kash’s shirt. When she regained her senses, she searched his face, looking for the wounds that could have caused so much blood. The only thing she saw was a slightly swollen and red spot below his eye. He brought the beer bottle to his lips, and her gaze was locked on his knuckles, ones that were red, battered, and starting to scab over.
When she was able to bring her gaze back to his, he was watching her intently. She wanted to ask what happened, but nothing came out. He downed the rest of his beer and set it on the counter. He opened the fridge and got another out. When her initial shock wore off, she blinked several times and cleared her throat.
“What the hell happened? Are you okay?” She lifted her hand again, but he took a step back, out of her reach. He didn’t respond, and she dropped her hand.
“You should have just gone to bed, Tristan. I didn’t want you to see me like this.” He finished his second beer and threw the bottle away before turning and leaving her in the kitchen alone, stunned. A few moments later she heard the shower turn on.
* * *
Kash slammed his fist into the tile of the shower repeatedly as the image of Tristan seeing him covered in blood flooded his mind.
Fuck.
She should have been in bed. He shouldn’t have been so foolish as to not clean up before he came home, but he hadn’t been thinking. The adrenaline of receiving and delivering pain had made his mind fuzzy. He’d been high off it. Any other time he’d come home, she was always in bed. Hell, he’d even forgotten about their movie tonight. He felt like a bastard, a selfish fucking bastard.
The water slid down his body, washing away the sweat and blood that covered him. This was his life, and he’d brought Tristan into it. She’d seen him covered in another man’s blood, and she had feared him.
Kash cared about her, wanted her, and he’d do anything to protect her. But fuck, these emotions were foreign to him.
He quickly washed the rest of his body, needing to go to bed and forget about everything that had just happened. Maybe he should leave? Maybe fleeing like a coward was the better option. Even thinking that, knowing it was the best thing for both of them, he couldn’t. He had feelings for Tristan, ones that were far stronger with each passing day. Her soft voice, smooth lips, and supple body, had his cock standing hard instantly.
He shut the shower off and grabbed a towel. When the terry cloth was secured around his waist, he lifted his hand and ran it over the mirror, smearing the condensation off. The man that stared back at him was not the one he wanted to be, but there was no way to change that. He wanted to be so much more for her. He wanted to be decent and good, give her everything that she deserved.
Hanging his head in frustration, he breathed out. Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated.
* * *
Oh God, he’d been … brutal.
Kash had looked raw and fierce, like some kind of warrior. She had no clue why that image had formed in her mind, but something primal and animalistic had come off him. He was dangerous. That much was true. His green eyes had been blazing, and although she knew he could have hurt her, added her blood to his shirt, there was no doubt he would ever lay a hand on her. She wanted to talk to him, find out what had happened, but she had sensed he needed his space. She was not about to tease the lion.
She made her way upstairs, her mind still reeling. The shower had since turned off, and right before she made it to her bedroom, the bathroom door opened. The light was already off and steam and heat billowed out of the small confines. She stood there, not able to move as she stared at Kash. Despite the fact there we
re no lights on, the moon shone through the window, making his appearance as clear as day. Her heart raced at the sight.
Her body reacted to him in nothing but a towel slung low on his hips. A light sheen of perspiration formed between her breasts, her breathing quickened, her nipples grew hard, and the most intimate part of her grew wet with desire. He was formed like a Greek god, like Hades waiting to cause destruction. All she could do was stare.
He took a step out of the bathroom, and before she knew it, he was standing before her. The smell of him, darkly rich and intoxicating, washed over her, and she found herself closing her eyes and humming in approval. When she was able to open her eyes again, she felt her cheeks heat at the embarrassing noise that had just come from her.
He was so big, so tall … intense. His masculinity and testosterone surrounded her, and she felt wholly feminine in his presence. Inappropriate thoughts slammed into her mind, and she felt her mouth go dry. He didn’t move, just stared down at her with his eyes at half-mast. Tristan found herself lifting her hand and slowly bringing her fingertips to the small, swollen area right below his eye.
He didn’t flinch when she lightly traced the edge of the wound. It was warm beneath her fingers. He exhaled and she watched as he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. When she realized what she was doing, she went to remove her fingers, but as if he anticipated the act, his hand covered hers, securing it on his face.
Her palm now covered his cheek. The feel of smooth, freshly shaved flesh rubbed against her hand. She licked her lips and saw Kash’s gaze dip down to watch the motion.
At that moment she wanted to be kissed, badly. The arousal she felt was like a thunderstorm inside of her, like nothing she’d felt before.
This is wrong. Step away, Tristan. You’ll ruin everything.
