“I climbed over the balcony and followed the ledge around to the side balcony. From the … there I climbed down the …”
She faltered as he walked closer, the anger in his eyes glowing higher with every word she uttered. He stopped in front of her and his hands gripped her arms pulling her closer.
“The ledge! You walked on a ledge that a banana would not fit on! Damn it Savannah!” He was so angry he felt like strangling her. “That’s it; I’ve had it with you! You want to behave like an irresponsible brat; I’ll treat you like one!”
He pulled her with him and sat down on the couch in front of the window, flipping her over his lap face down. She struggled and screeched.
“Tristan! What are you doing? Aaahhh!”
She screamed when his large hand connected with her backside with such force tears gathered in her eyes from the stinging pain. He was deaf to her cries and pleas, his hand coming down painfully until her backside was on fire and she cried uncontrollably.
He pulled her unto his lap and held her in his arms softly stroking and caressing her back.
“That’s enough. Stop bawling, Savannah. I didn’t hit you that hard,” he growled at her after a while, still angry.
“How … would … you know?” she stammered between her sobs.
“Because my hand is not even sore.”
“My butt … is clearly … softer than … your hand,” she cried pitifully.
He sighed and forced her face up to his with his hand beneath her chin. She looked at him with tear filled eyes.
“I came back to you! Why did you have to do that?” She was more upset about being punished like a child than the stinging on her behind.
“Because you placed yourself in danger which is something I can’t allow and every time you do, there will be repercussions. I was lenient this time only because you came back.”
“Lenient! My butt is burning up! And I am a grown-up! Not a child to be punished!”
He smiled and wiped her tears from her face.
“Then maybe you will remember it the next time before you do something foolish.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her so passionately she forgot about her stinging butt. He pushed her off his lap and stood up, his eyes shuttered.
“What made you run this time?”
She looked at him, not sure what to say. She couldn’t just come out and tell him he was a father. His reaction when he eventually would be told already worried her enough.
“Can we not talk about it here, please? I don’t even want to contemplate what your staff must already think.” She was sure her cries and pleas were heard throughout the whole company.
Before he could respond there was a brief knock on the door and John Wade walked in. He paled when he saw Savannah and faltered. Tristan was looking at her and did not notice, except for the slight widening and hardening of her eyes. He turned and smiled at his father.
“Dad, what brings you here?”
“Afternoon son, Savannah, I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Her eyes became shuttered; she walked to the couch and picked up her handbag where she dropped it. Straightening she speared a glance at him and avoided Tristan’s questioning gaze.
“No, I don’t expect you did. I’ll leave you two.”
“You are not going anywhere, Savannah.”
She turned to him and a small smile flashed on her lips. “I am staying at the Radizio Hotel on Stratan Island. You’ll find me there.”
Before he could stop her she walked out the door, but he caught her at the elevator, his hand on her arm pulling her to a stop, glaring at her.
“Are you running again, Savannah, or will you be there?”
“Do you want me to be there?”
His mouth tightened and his glare intensified. She sighed, lifted her hand and caressed his cheek.
“I’ll be there.”
He watched her step into the elevator, frozen to the spot; his cheek tingling from her touch. He returned to his office and frowned at his dad.
“What was that all about, Dad?”
John shrugged. “What was what about?”
“You did not even greet Savannah properly, for that matter you did not speak to her the night of the party even. You avoided her. What is going on?”
“You have to ask? I saw what her leaving did to you. I do not want to see it happening again.”
“And you are so sure it will?”
John sighed, guilt eating at his heart. “She disappeared for four years and all of a sudden she is back. Why now? Is it because now you run a successful business and are good enough for her all of a sudden?”
Tristan searched his fathers’ face, annoyance clear on his own.
“I don’t know, and until I find out the truth about why she left me four years ago, I will not know the reason for her return.”
“But the letter? She explained it to you.”
“I am not an idiot, Dad. That letter was a lot of bull! No, she will tell me the truth, even if I have to wring it out of her!”
He swung away and missed his father going pale again.
It was easy enough to obtain Savannah’s room number and he went directly there upon arriving at the hotel. She opened the door, surprise in her eyes and shook her head.
“I suppose finding out the room number was child’s play.”
He didn’t answer and his expression remained impassive, but he walked in when she opened the door wider. It was a comfortable apartment suite equal to a one bedroom flat, only bigger and more luxurious.
“I trust you did not bother unpacking your luggage.” His gaze swept the room and he strolled and glanced into the bedroom.
“Are you looking for something specific, Tristan?” Samantha asked pointedly.
He speared an annoyed glance in her direction and continued his perusal of the apartment before he came to stand in front of her.
“I’m waiting, Savannah.”
She worried her lip between her teeth, not liking his impassive expression.
“I asked you to let me go. I had things I needed to arrange and …”
He grabbed her arms and shook her, his impassiveness replaced by anger.
“The hell with that … Four years ago! Why did you leave me four years ago?”
“The letter … you read the letter?”
She tried buying some time. His eyes turned silver, flashed fire, and then he frowned in realization.
“You … you didn’t write that letter, did you? Answer me! Did you or didn’t you write that letter?” He shook her again and she grabbed his arms.
“Please stop!” He pushed her away, and stepped back, waiting.
“No … no I didn’t.”
She bit her lip and went to stand in front of the window, clasping her arms around her waist. The vivid picture of him with Jessica on his couch flashed through her mind and the subsequent insulting run-in with John Wade in the parking garage of the office block.
“If you didn’t write that letter, who did?” His voice sounded rigid with the barely controlled anger boiling inside him.
“Maybe you should … talk to Jessica and ….” Hard hands yanked her around to face him. He was now livid.
“Why would I? You are the one that walked out on me! You are the one that wore my engagement ring … still wears my engagement ring! You are the one that owe me an explanation, NOT them, so start talking. Who wrote that damn letter?” he nearly shouted at her.
“I don’t know!” she shouted back at him. His eyes turned cold.
“You don’t know. You did not write the letter, yet you disappeared without a word. You left without telling me why … and never bothered to do so either! Is that what you are saying?”
There was iciness to his voice and she shivered, but anger rose inside her too.
“Why would I have? You are the one that … that …” She choked up and could not get the words out.
“That what?”
Her eyes f
lashed fire at him. “That put a ring on my finger, promised forever and then … then turned to another!”
“What the blazes are you talking about?”
“Not so nice when the shoe is on the other foot, now is it! I saw you with my own eyes, Tristan!”
“You are not making any sense. You had better tell me what you are blabbering about and quick. I am running out of patience!”
“On your couch in your office! The morning after we went to dinner at that new Japanese restaurant! You were having sex with … with …”
“With whom?” His voice had a quiet viciousness to it and his eyes glowed silver fire into hers.
“Jessica!”
He laughed harshly. “Try another one!”
She stared at him with loathing in her eyes. “I came to your office and walked in on you with her on top of you, riding you like a bitch in heat! Don’t try and deny it!” She was so angry she trembled and his fury erupted.
“Like bloody hell you did! I have never touched that damn woman like that! She is like a sister to me!”
“I saw you and she looked right at me! I thought she would have told you that I saw what you did! Why would I need to tell you anything after that?”
Tears of remembrance ran down her face and she wiped at them in frustration, angry that she was crying, her body trembling. His eyes narrowed on her, but she raged on.
“When you didn’t bother to come to me to explain, I accepted that you chose her, that he was right … you would always want her! I waited for two weeks and you did not come! You’re the one Tristan, that did ME wrong! Not the other way around!”
He went pale, his face expressionless; her upset so intense he had no other choice but to want to believe her, but he knew very well he never touched Jessica, so how could he?
“I was in hospital for two weeks after that night.” He said as if in a trance, his gaze sharpened on her again. “You said he … who?”
“In hospital?”
“I had severe food poisoning. Who is the he, Savannah?”
She wiped her hand tiredly over her face, laughing harshly. “Why bother … you clearly don’t believe me.”
“Don’t pretend to know what I think. Who apart from Jessica was involved?” She shook her head, and he snapped.
“Very well, it is easy enough to prove to you that you are talking rubbish! I have not touched another woman since the day I met you, least of bloody all Jessica Donley!”
She gaped at him. Did he really expect her to believe that a man with such a strong sex drive has been celibate for four years? Her disbelief registered on him and his rigid jaw tightened even more. He snorted and spat in her face.
“Yes! I have been celibate for four years! Why do you think I rode you until you were raw?” She winced at the fury in his eyes and he smirked. “Four years is a long time to build up sexual frustration, my dear … I am going to ride you raw many more times before I have expunged some of it!”
He took her elbow in a hard grip and yanked her with him down to the parking area and bundled her into his car, ignoring her protests.
He tried calling Jessica from his cell phone and only reached her voicemail. He slammed his fist on the steering wheel in frustration. He scrolled to another number and spoke to David to find out where she was. She worked as a Lawyer at his Dad’s firm. He cursed harshly when David confirmed she was in Las Vegas for a week and would only be back late Friday night. His eyes flashed angrily at her.
“It seems you have another respite. Unfortunately!”
“What do you mean?”
“Now you have three days to make up another story. I am going up to your room to fetch your luggage and I am warning you, be here when I return.”
“No! I am not going anywhere with you. Until she is back and you confront her about it, I am staying right here! I refuse to be at your beck and call because you believe to have been wronged! I happen to believe I was the one wronged too!”
She winced knowing he was more wronged than her … keeping the twins from him was the biggest mistake she has ever made. The hard and ruthless man he became would never forgive her for that.
They glared at each other and his hands gripped the steering wheel; his knuckles went white.
“I suppose we are at an impasse then. Neither one believes the other.” His lips tightened even more and his eyes burned into hers.
“Just tell me one thing. Was it another man?”
“No! I told you what happened! I also told you there has never been another man, but you chose to disbelieve that as well, yet you expect me to believe you!” He cursed.
“I have to know, Savannah, and however much you believe what you do, I don’t and I need to know what meant more to you than my love.”
She swallowed at the huge lump in her throat, knowing what it must have cost him to utter those words. His eyes still held hers captive. He sighed, clearly not believing a word she said.
“After four years I find anything you say hard to believe! It has gone beyond just telling me! I need proof and I don’t trust you. Not anymore! But I need those answers! And until I have them, I will not let you go.”
He turned to gaze out towards the sea on the other side of the parking lot. He tried to get his anger under control and relaxed slightly when her soft voice filled the car.
“Very well, but I have to go and check out first.”
“I’ll take care of it, wait here.”
“No, I’ll pay my own bill.”
He sighed and glared at her. “Is everything always going to end up in an argument with you? Just wait here!”
He tried to stay out of her room, he really tried, but it was a battle lost before it even began. She just got into bed when he opened her door and walked in, wearing only his sleeping shorts and sat down on the bed beside her, their eyes glued together. He reached out a hand and lifted her long hair, allowing the soft strands to fall from his fingers, watching it bounce to curl around her breasts.
He leaned forward and kissed her softly, allowing her to either accept or deny him. There was no hesitation in her response and her lips curved into his, her breath warm against his lips softly caressing hers. She leaned into his kiss and he groaned. His arms circled around her to draw her tight against him. He traced her lips with his tongue and she caught her hands around his back, stroking and caressing, drawing him closer and her mouth blossomed open under his searching lips. Their breaths mingled, their tongues sparred and their passions flared.
He tugged her pajama top off and it fluttered to the floor. He slowly leaned forward pressing her back against the pillows and his mouth seared heat down her neck. He slowly stroked and caressed her ribcage, following the curve of her breast and closed his hand around the perfect globe, squeezing lightly. At the same time he kissed the valley between her breasts and slowly over the slope to close his lips around an aching nipple. His fingers closed over the other to roll and pinch it lightly and he suckled deeply on the other. She mewled huskily and he smiled against her breast.
How he loved that sound, so uninhibited, so honest, it shot to his soul every time he heard it. His shaft was so aroused it pulsed against her hip. His breathing intensified when her small hand caressed over the hard line of his hip to hook a finger at the top of his shorts and push it down over his hips. He stood to remove it, then reached over and slowly stroked her shorts down her legs, kissing every inch he uncovered.
Savannah felt bereft when he left her and the moment her shorts cleared her feet, she pulled him back against her, her hand eagerly stroking his back whilst the other closed around his pulsing shaft. He groaned and gritted his teeth, when she caressed up and down the length, raking her nails up and over the tip. His hand dropped to her naked mound and he stroked a long slow caress down the length of her cleft and pressed two fingers home, moaning when her wetness engulfed them and pulled them further into her depths.
He lifted himself over her and settled between her thighs, pressing home, growl
ing as he entered her slowly, tenderly until he could go no further. He stayed still inside her, his eyes closed, savoring her heat, her tightness … he savored … her.
She rotated her hips against his, desperate for the release that he ignited within her with his first tender touch and the dam burst. They strained and bucked wildly against each other until their climaxes took them to the stars, hovering there until they could breathe and hold each other tight in the aftermath. Tristan whispered hoarsely in her ear.
“One day, we should try this slow and easy …”
Chapter Eight
“My mother invited us to lunch.” Tristan informed Savannah after breakfast on Saturday morning. She sat reading on the wingback chair in his study and glanced at him wryly.
“Us or you?”
“She knows you’re staying here.”
“That does not answer the question.”
He frowned at his laptop. He was busy with Security protocols on the project for the Government and worked until late every night.
“She knows I won’t go without you.”
He answered pensively, shuffled papers around on his desk, muttering until he found what he was looking for.
“What is the occasion?”
She put the book down and sat watching him in fascination. He had a frown on his forehead, and juggled between two laptops, four files and mounts of papers on his desk … and appeared very efficient and clearly knew exactly what he was doing. She fell asleep on the couch a few times during the week. She loved watching him work and he seemed to want her there.
“It’s David’s birthday. He is taking Leandra away for a few days thereafter … hmm … I thought as much.”
He picked up his cell phone and quickly found the number he was looking for. She rose whilst he waited for the person to answer.
“Where are you going?”
“To phone my parents. Would you mind if I do not go with you and rather go visit them whilst you go there? I’d like to sleep over and then I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. I feel bad that I have not even been to visit them since I arrived.”
She missed the twins more than she thought possible and needed to see them. He dropped the call and sat looking at her.
Payback Time, Baby Page 7
