by J. Nathan
I drank him in, never tiring of the perfect view.
He reached for the button on his jeans, slipped it through the slot, then shed his jeans, leaving him in his boxers with that perfect V disappearing beneath the waistband.
He stared me down, the corners of his lips twitching as he awaited my next move.
I took off for the water, running right in and laughing as the cool water engulfed my body. I closed my eyes and spread my arms, spinning around.
No security.
No threat.
No judgment.
Just the two of us alone on an island. I’d never felt more free.
I heard Tristan splashing when he walked into the water. Soon his arms slipped around me and I opened my eyes.
“I love seeing you like this,” he said, his blue eyes mirroring the water at our waists.
I slipped my arms over his shoulders. “I feel so free out here.”
“I wish you always felt that way.”
I tunneled my fingers through the back of his hair, drawing his mouth closer to mine. “I do when I’m with you.”
Our lips met in a rush of tongues and teeth. Tristan lifted me off my feet. I linked my ankles behind his back and held on as he walked us deeper into the water with his mouth ravaging mine.
This was what feeling safe in someone’s arms felt like. And, if I was dreaming, I never wanted to wake up.
Tristan pulled back once our heads were the only parts of us above water.
“Don’t put me down,” I said.
“Why not?”
“I’ve never…you know…in the ocean.”
His brows shot up. “And you want to…you know…in the ocean?”
I nodded as I reached behind my back and unhooked my bra. “I’m gonna need some help.” I reached down and tried to shimmy out of my panties while still in his grip. He somehow managed to pull them down the rest of the way without dropping me. Once I was naked, he wasted no time, shoving down his boxers. Our chests heaved as we stared into each other’s eyes. He lifted his hand and cupped my cheek. I leaned into it. “I love how you constantly surprise me. Because just when I think I know you, you always do something that keeps me on my toes.”
“And?”
“And I like it,” he said.
I could feel his erection pressing between my thighs.
So could he. “I don’t have a condom,” he explained.
“I’m on the pill.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Well, know I’ve been tested.”
I nodded, wanting nothing more than to feel every inch of him inside of me. Anxiousness fluttered in my chest as I shifted my hips, rubbing against him. Our eyes stayed locked and I’d never felt more vulnerable. But there was something about our connection that gave me confidence. That filled me with want and need. That urged me on.
“Keep looking at me like that,” he said.
“Like how?”
“Like you see me.”
“I do see you, Tristan. And I love what I see.”
He kept his eyes on mine as he thrust up at the same time that I sank down. I thought sex in water would be slippery and awkward, but we managed it on the first try. I closed my eyes, reveling in the feel of him stretching me wide. The water mixed with his bare skin was almost too much. But I wanted to see his face. I opened my eyes, daring him to keep his on mine. I rocked my hips as he thrust up. I’d never been this exposed with someone before, and I wondered if it was because we knew each other’s demons that made us so open. My head dropped back as I fought to keep my eyes on Tristan’s. They were hooded but seared into my soul as if he truly did know everything about me and it didn’t change the way he felt. “Oh, my God, Tristan.” I felt him everywhere as I rode him.
“I’m right with you, baby,” he gritted out.
My hips kept moving and he kept thrusting. Before long, everything between my thighs tightened. I held my breath and my eyes pinched tight as tingles erupted, rippling out to my fingertips and toes as Tristan kept pumping his hips. I opened my eyes and his were closed. It gave me a minute to appreciate the ecstasy on his face before he dropped his face into my shoulder, groaning until his hips finally stilled.
We both gasped for breath as we held each other, still connected and reeling from some amazing ocean sex.
He finally lifted his head and looked me in the eyes. “Totally surprised.”
I laughed, before pressing my lips to his.
He carried me back to the beach a little while later and placed me down on the blanket. I grabbed his T-shirt and slipped it on while he pulled on his jeans. He sat down beside me and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into his chest. We enjoyed each other as well as the sun, just taking in the stretch of ocean surrounding us. I’d never been happier. No one was coming out of the water. No one could catch us by surprise. I was safe and the notion released the heaviness that had been sitting on my chest like a weight since France.
That’s why this had been my fairy tale. I knew I’d only ever be free if there was no possibility of a threat. And out there, surrounded by nothing but water, there wasn’t.
A little while later, Tristan reached into the bag and pulled out two sandwiches and drinks. We ate in silence watching the ocean waves in front of us. No boats came into sight. No helicopters or planes flew overhead. It really was our very own deserted island.
“Tell me about your last girlfriend,” I said, suddenly wanting to know everything about him.
His glanced to me, apprehension etched in his features.
“That bad?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
My brows knit together. “What? Why?”
He shrugged, but I knew there was more to it.
“But you’ve had sex.”
He rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”
“So, why not date anyone?”
“Girls are too much trouble.”
I bumped him with my shoulder. “You mean we’re high maintenance and desperate?”
“Exactly.”
“I call bullshit,” I said, not giving him a chance to dispute it as I climbed onto his lap and straddled him. “You don’t like getting close to people. And by having a girlfriend, it means you need to drop the façade and be real with someone. And, girls like to talk. Girls like to get to know the guy they’re dating. You wouldn’t be able to keep up the quiet mysterious act if you had a girlfriend.”
He stared at me, not saying anything.
“So, instead of having to deal, you stay unattached.”
“Until you.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “Until me.”
“Why do you think that is?” he asked, surprising me by keeping the conversation going.
“I think we’re more alike than you initially thought. I think there’s comfort in that for you.”
He considered the notion for a moment. “Maybe.”
“I also think you found someone incredible, and you knew it would be a monumental mistake if you kept pushing her away. You couldn’t let her slip through your fingertips,” I teased.
He laughed. “And the princess is back.”
I adjusted the nonexistent tiara on my head. “She’s never very far.”
“I’m glad I let you in, Kresley,” he said, the sincerity in his eyes nearly leveling me.
“Me too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Kresley
For obvious reasons, I did not return to the shelter on Sunday. I met Elodie and Alice for dinner that night. I didn’t get to tell them about my date since Tristan and Briggs were both standing nearby, so we texted each other in a group chat from right across the table.
Elodie: What’d u do?
Me: Went on a boat.
They giggled when they read that and Alice typed. Where?
Me: A private island.
They squealed causing people around us to turn our way.
I closed
my eyes and shook my head, making sure not to look in Tristan’s direction although I’m sure he could figure out we were talking about him.
Alice: Did you…
I glanced up at them. Their brows bounced in question. I stifled a smile and nodded.
They squealed again.
“Okay, I’m done playing this game,” I said aloud.
“But it was so much fun,” Alice complained.
I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t you two find your own boyfriends? There are plenty of guys out there who could handle the two of you.”
“Haven’t found them yet,” Elodie said.
“Any chance Briggs is single?” Alice asked.
I peeked over my shoulder at him standing against the wall. “I’m not sure. But I can find out.”
“We could double date,” Alice said.
“Oh, no. Keep me out of it. I have enough issues trying to go on a date with one person.”
They laughed.
***
Briggs waited for me in the hallway as I left class on Monday. I looked around, wondering where Tristan was.
“Don’t worry. Loverboy’s right outside,” Briggs said as he continued to focus on the area around us.
“That’s not who I was looking for,” I lied.
“Riiiiight.”
“Fine. But if you must know, I refer to him as Dreamboat. Not Loverboy.”
He laughed.
“Hey, Briggs. Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Not many women can handle all this man,” he said.
I laughed as we stepped outside. He and Alice would definitely make a good pair. Maybe another bowling night was in order.
Students rushed by me in all directions, but still, my eyes found Tristan standing in front of the building, ready to accompany us to my next class.
Tristan stepped in front of us, leading the way as Briggs and I followed him across the quad. The added security definitely gave me peace of mind, especially after what Marco had told me.
My phone rang as we walked. I slipped it out of my back pocket and checked the screen. Unknown Caller. I contemplated sending it to voicemail, but answered it anyway. “Hello?”
“Le fou de fortune,” a familiar French voice purred.
I froze, stopping in place. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I looked all around me, certain I’d find him standing in the shadows of the trees.
Tristan and Briggs stopped and looked to me, unsure why I’d stopped.
I pointed desperately to my phone, mouthing to Tristan, “It’s him!” I put my phone on speaker so he could hear, but the noise of the busy quad made it difficult.
“Don’t bother tracing the call. I won’t be on the line long enough,” the Frenchman assured me.
“What do you want from me?”
He tsked, like he had in my apartment in France, sending a cold chill racing up my spine. “Silly girl. I’m still coming for you.”
The crowded quad suddenly began to feel as though it was moving in on me. He could be anywhere. I looked frantically to Tristan who moved his hand, urging me to keep talking as he and Briggs searched the faces around us. “New York is a big place. How will you find me?”
“New York?” he laughed. “I think we both know you were never actually in New York, le fou de fortune.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. It had been his man in the woods. He knew where to find me. Calling me was him showing me that. “Why are you telling me this? Won’t it just make me more prepared for you? I can add more security. Install more cameras and alarms.”
“Oh, a challenge,” he said with false laughter in his voice. “I do love a challenge, especially from such a feisty knife-wielding girl like you.”
“I wish it didn’t have to come to that,” I said, trying to keep him talking. “But you left me no choice.”
“It was just an eye,” he said.
An eye?
“And though I lost sight in that eye, I’ve never stopped having my sights set on you. Blinding me just made the reward that much sweeter. Jusqu'à ce que nous nous revoyions.”
Until we meet again.
The line went dead. I stood frozen, afraid if I moved, he’d see me.
“He could be here,” Briggs whispered as he and Tristan crowded around me.
Tristan called his team at the office, making sure they got whatever they could from the call. Then, he looked to Briggs, avoiding my eyes. “We need to get her back.”
They flanked me on both sides, a good thing because a sudden lightheadedness swept over me. We began to walk and they kept their eyes on everyone and everything around us as we made our way through the busy quad and down the path to my dorm.
I didn’t exhale until I was safely back in my room with Briggs outside my door and Tristan leaned against my desk.
“I just need to think,” he said as he dragged his fingers through his hair. “Fuuuuuck.”
“Tristan, stop. You’re scaring me.”
“How hadn’t we realized?” he said.
“Realized what?”
“You blinded him.”
“I just started stabbing at him.” I swallowed hard, the recollection clouding my vision with tears. “I knew he grabbed at his face, but everything happened so fast and then he was gone.”
“He wants revenge.” Tristan scrubbed his hands up and down his face. “God, dammit.”
“Tristan,” I pled, needing him to be the calm one.
“When we thought this was just a ransom situation, we could track money exchange. We could follow leads. We could monitor things happening out of France.”
“So?”
“This isn’t a ransom situation. This is personal.”
I searched his face. “Which means what?”
He stared back at me long and hard, so many thoughts playing across his face. “I don’t know.”
I closed my eyes, my limbs beginning to tremble. Tristan always knew what to do.
“I’m sorry.” He rushed to sit down next to me on my bed and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into his side. “I’m not trying to scare you, it just hit me all at once.”
“You’re worried about me. I understand that. I’m worried too. He could be here. He could be anywhere trying to get to me.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Tristan promised.
I needed to talk to my parents. I needed to tell them what happened. Why these men had come after me. Why they were still coming after me. I needed to go home. I’d be safer at home. This was the first time since coming to Remington that I truly believed that. I needed to think of my parents. They couldn’t lose a daughter because I was trying to prove that I was strong. They deserved better than that.
“I think you should go home,” Tristan said.
“Me too.”
He pulled back and met my gaze. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “This isn’t a game. He’s really coming for me.”
“You’ll need to stay home until he’s caught,” Tristan said with undeniable certainty. “And, that’ll take time.”
“We could always buy that island,” I said, trying to ease the tension in the room.
“I wish I could buy it for you. I wish I could make sure nothing bad ever happens to you again. But I can’t. That’s obvious now.”
I sat up and faced him, stroking his cheek so he met my gaze. “I love you, Tristan.” I didn’t care if it was too soon. He needed to know how I felt. “I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear that, but you are it for me. I think I knew it the first time you sat outside my door. I just didn’t want to admit it. But I’m admitting it now.”
“Good.”
My brows furrowed. “Good?”
“I don’t know how any of this is going to play out, but I do know I love the hell out of you.”
I laughed, unsure how it was even possible given the circumstances. “I knew it.”
He chuckled before leaning in and pressing his lips to mine. I took it as his assurance.
That he’d always protect me…and my heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Kresley
By three, I’d packed most of my belongings into cardboard boxes Elodie found for me in the maintenance room in the basement. She and Alice were devastated that I’d be finishing the school year online. We’d become close, and I was the most entertainment they’d had in a long time.
I pulled down the lights that wrapped around my room, twisting them into a ball and tucking them into a box. I climbed onto my bed and stood on the now bare mattress. I reached up and pulled off the glow-in-the-dark stars one at a time. These were coming home with me. If I wasn’t going to be able to see Tristan for a while, at least I’d have the stars to remind me of him.
He’d been packing the car for me, making me stay in my room. He was driving me home, which made me feel better. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him here. I wanted him all to myself and safe at my house.
My phone rang and I jumped, expecting the worst. But it was Elodie’s name that appeared on the screen. I released a breath and answered it. “Hi.”
“Le fou de fortune,” the Frenchman said.
A cold shiver surged through me. “Where’s Elodie?”
“Is that your friend with the glasses?”
My heart thrashed inside my chest. “Where is she?”
“Talk to her,” his voice ordered cruelly.
“I’m so sorry, Kresley,” she whimpered, the sound ripping my heart in two.
“Where are you?” I asked, desperate to help her.
“That’s enough,” the Frenchman snapped, cutting off our conversation.
“Don’t hurt her. She has nothing to do with this,” I pled.
“Oh. I’m so glad you’re seeing things my way, le fou de fortune.”
“What do you want?”
“Well, you of course,” he said.
“Where are you?”
“Oh, so eager,” he purred. “I’m right here. So close to seeing you once again.”
“Where?” I practically screamed, losing any calm that remained inside me.
“The basement. Come alone, or I won’t hesitate for even a second to end her life.”
