“What’s going on? Can I—”
Trent didn’t let her finish, he placed his hand on her hips, grounding himself. “What the fuck happened, Shayla?” His fury felt as if it vibrated through him, a wave of heat so fierce, sweat broke out over his brow.
“He beat me.” Shayla’s voice held no emotion, and why would it? She’d gotten used to it.
Trent had to admit, it pissed him off that she had fallen back into the role of victim with men. Hadn’t he treated her well? Hadn’t he taken care of her? He’d never cheated, or laid a hand on her, and as soon as she left him, she fell back into the same old shit.
He turned to her as she sipped her drink. “Is that all?”
A smile crossed her lips and Trent saw what he’d noticed the first day he’d seen her. Her defiant mouth. Whether spewing curse words, or threatening to kick his ass, it was what attracted him to her in the first place. In fact, her fiery attitude was much the same as Teal’s. But the difference between the two was the respect they had for themselves.
Still, Trent could not in good conscience let that woman go back to Jake—not if his suspicions were true. However, he couldn’t allow Shayla to live with him and fuck up what he was building with Teal either.
Without another thought, Trent picked his shotgun off the kitchen counter and took Teal’s hand. “Come here.” He led her toward the bedroom, but turned back to Shayla as she made to move. “Sit down. We’ll be back to discuss this.” His voice left no room to barter. After years together, Shayla would know he meant business.
In the bedroom, Trent busied himself by locking his shotgun in his safe. He turned to face his woman, and her first words struck him in the chest.
“I can’t stay here if she stays.” She took up Trent’s previous action and started pacing.
“You want me to send her back to that man?” Trent’s question was met with an eye roll.
“You know you can’t send her back, but she isn’t staying here.”
Nodding, Trent motioned for her to come to him. “Sit here.” He patted his lap and watched as she moved those beautiful, thick hips to him, turning to give him a glimpse of her sweet ass as she lowered it to his lap.
“Fuck,” he whispered as that ass made contact with his dick. All shit aside, Trent’s body begged him to take her. His dick hardened and lengthened against her. He positioned his lips at the base of her neck, his tongue darting out to taste her skin.
Trent gently bucked into her. “I need you.” Never had his voice sounded so gruff, but he was a man guided by need and controlled by lust. He knew when shit got tough, sinking deep inside of Teal made the world spin again and right now was no different. He needed her to pull him back from the man that would hunt down Jake and kill him.
Shayla was no longer his problem, his one and only responsibility was this woman before him, and he would show her that right now. He placed open-mouthed kisses along the delicate skin of Teal’s neck. Alternating between light kisses and sharp nips, he bucked his hips beneath her.
Releasing a breathy moan, Teal said, “We can’t right now.” Her gaze moved to the door, snatching his lips from her neck. He wanted her, needed to take the edge off, needed to be where he knew he belonged. Reaching around her, he gripped the waist of her jogging pants and yanked so hard, she damn near fell off his lap.
Her gasp was so loud, Shayla probably heard it. Oh the fuck well. Gripping a thigh, he opened her legs up to reach between them and free himself. Dick out, he slid it between her legs and along her slick center . “I need you right now.” His tip pushed against her opening, begging for entry.
She lifted slightly to help him, and without warning, Trent slammed her down hard and fast. His cock throbbed and expanded, demanding to release deep inside of her. Lips met, tongues tangled, and Trent thrust upward so hard, their lips separated with each thrust. He pushed her body to the brink with demand, and Trent could feel the head of his dick kissing her womb. He eased back just a little, allowing her to set a rhythm that was just as fast and hard as the one he’d created. Head thrown back and breasts bouncing, her hot center sucked him in so deep, his balls drew up to take residence in his chest.
Finishing inside her was not a desire, but a need nestled deep in his soul, demanding he plant his seed in her. Trent’s hand made its way between her legs. Taking the slickened nub between his fingertips, he tweaked; each jolt jerked her body from his lap, and with his other hand, he slammed her back down again.
Trent spasmed with his release, and liquid fire raced down his spine as each spurt left him. Her hot sheath gripped him so hard, it bordered on pain.
Breathing hard, Teal tried to stand up. “I can’t believe we did that with that chick out there.”
Trent stopped her, gripping her hips to hold her steady. “Stay,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound needy.
Lowering back down, Teal balanced herself in his lap. And without a hint of condemnation in her tone, she asked, “You want to tell me what that was all about?” Her fingers laced through his hair, pulling it from his band and over his shoulders. “You should wear your hair out more.” The touch so tender and soothing, it allowed Trent to think.
Clearing his mind, he traveled back in time in his thoughts. Vividly, he pictured the petite blonde in her ripped pink shirt, bruised face and mottled flesh. The marks were the same as Shayla’s. Trent felt he was grasping at straws, and maybe he was. Maybe he wanted to blame Jake for a crime he didn’t commit. He thought to the conversation by the car, with Jake brushing off the woman’s rape claim, but that wasn’t enough. Trent’s hate for the man, the fact that he didn’t believe a stranger’s claim of rape and the fact that he’d beat Shayla didn’t make him a—
“Baby?” Teal’s voice brought him back.
He took in her springy hair, round face, and beautiful full lips. He wanted to press pause on the moment. He wanted to stay locked up in the room with his woman, forgetting all about the drama that laid just outside the door.
Leaning in, he kissed her. When he pulled back, he beheld the smile of pleasure on her lips. Swollen and wet, they called to him again, but instead of indulging in her sweet taste, he decided to man up and have the conversation she was begging him to have.
After twenty minutes of talking nonstop, Trent now sat on the bed, naked and beautiful, staring at Teal as she paced, waiting for her reply. To Teal, his logic made sense, but the proof was circumstantial at best.
Still mindful of the fact Shayla was waiting in the living room, Teal got down to business. “Okay, so a quick rundown, then we get back to Barbarella out there.” Standing in front of him, she ticked off points on her fingers. “You went to a party with Logan and Jake.” Pinning him with a disparaging glare.
“Damned near fifteen or so years ago.” He defended.
“A girl was raped, he was there that night,” Teal continued, “and the girl had the same distinctive markings on her chest that Shayla has now.” Turning back to him, she added, “Is that all?”
Trent stood and snatched his shorts up from the floor. “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but something’s telling me that bastard did it.” There was not a trace of anger in his voice, just exasperation.
Teal nodded, trusting his intuition, even though to the average person, it’d seem as if anyone could have raped that woman. She silently mulled things over. Teal had to play this right. While she was not concerned with Trent wanting Shayla back, she was worried about Trent’s sense of protection for things female.
Of all the men in the world for that fool to mess with, she had to find the one man Trent hated. Maybe that was part of her plan. But, what woman would purposely get beaten in order to win back an ex? Were there women that petty and irrational?
She knew the answer to that question. She’d worked with them in prison, and she knew how far they’d be willing to go. If this were part of Shayla’s plan, then they needed to realize how dangerous the woman was to their relationship. In this, Teal would put her f
oot down. There would be limited involvement on Trent’s part, and Teal would see to that.
Absently, she threw questions at him, taking his answers and adding them to the formula in her head. In the end, she asked, “Was the rape ever reported?”
“Not that I know of.”
She sensed his apprehension on the subject. Probably because Teal was the type to snap first and ask questions later, but not today, and no longer with her man. Well, she’d probably fall back into old habits, but just not today. “Is there a way you can find out?”
Trent’s face reddened. “Uh, yeah. I’m guessing I could, but . . .”
Teal knew she wouldn’t like what was coming next. “But what?”
His eyes shot down and his lips pulled tight. “That night, I’d met someone, and she—”
“She?” Her brow rose with the unexpected turn of events. She didn’t feel jealousy per se, just uneasiness. The type you feel when you think you know the number of women your man’s slept with, only to find you were way off—by a lot.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he smirked. “Is my baby jealous?”
The undercurrent of tension had Teal sure he was seriously worried that anything in his past would send her running. “No. You’re mine now, that’s all that matters to me.” She reached out to caress his face, hoping to ease his strain.
He leaned into her touch, and released a long breath. “Her name is Faye. I had kept in touch with her. But I don’t know . . . I hadn't planned on this shit.” He glanced up at her. “You know, contacting her again. It’s been a few years.” He went back to rubbing his neck and shrugged. “She and I were the same in some ways, but so different in others. It never worked between us because I didn’t want a repeat of Harper, and on top of that, I didn’t know how she’d handle hearing about my past since her father was black.”
Teal nodded, fully understanding his fear of rejection.
“Things ended up turning out real different than I had thought they would when that night ended. Still, I think she would know if the rape had been reported. Turns out, she and the blonde ended up being friendly after the fact.”
Teal listened carefully, but was unsure of how to react to all the information he’d given her. She didn’t want to show her jealous side while discussing a woman’s rape, but she also didn’t want Trent to have any contact with a woman he’d had any sort of relationship with in the past.
As if sensing her unease, Trent added. “I haven’t spoken to her in a few years now. She’s married with a few kids, and her new husband wasn’t pleased with a past lover contacting her.”
“I can call her, let her know you’re mine—I mean that we are together.” Trent chuckled at her wording. “And I’ll tell her I am trying to bring a rapist to justice.”
Concern lit his eyes and he reached for her. Grasping her hand, he pulled her into his lap, his lips met her bare neck, sending gooseflesh over her skin. “I don’t want you involved.” His harsh whisper was laced in love and frustration, but Teal had dealt with worse men than Jake, and she did so on a daily basis.
Tossing him a withering glare, she said, “I’m already involved. We do this together, or not at all.”
Trent’s hand shot out and gave Teal a smarting slap on her ass. “You don’t command a damned thing, woman.” The mischievous glint in his eye heated her core.
Teal stood and rubbed her hands together. “All right, this is what we do.” Trent sat up and listened attentively. “Because I have dealt with women like this in the past, I think it is best to hand her off to the professionals.”
Trent stood and made his way to the window. “This was part of your job in the prison?”
Teal gritted her teeth. “It is part of my job, I haven’t given my notice.”
Turning slowly, he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Yet.”
Teal shook her head as she moved to him. “Yes, not yet, now listen . . . I worked in a women’s prison for a few months as a training exercise, and I’ve kept the contacts I made when I moved to Capshaw State Penitentiary. You’d be surprised by the amount of men who are sent to Capshaw after defending a friend or loved one for being raped or abused in some manner.”
Trent grunted a signal that he was still listening, but disgusted with what he was hearing. He turned them to the window and rested his chin on top of her head.
“Normally, we have a team at the prison, or the Innocence Project group will come and look into the allegations. More times than not, there’s a battered woman at the helm of the problem, and I, along with the team, are charged with getting her the help she needs. Then I make sure to keep up with her and the progress in the case. There are hundreds of women that end up needing help.”
“Damn, baby.” The veneration in his tone had Teal closing her eyes in content. “You do all of that, plus paperwork, plus the shit you were telling me about before? Fuck.”
His admiration for her hard work and dedication made her feel shitty for even thinking of not helping Shayla. Whether she liked the bitch or not, as a woman, she could not let this go. She could not let Jake get away with rape, even if the statute of limitations in Kentucky had passed.
Opening her eyes and taking in the soft breeze billowing through the trees in the front yard, Teal concluded, “I’ll call my contacts in Vermont to see if they have any chapters here. I think Battered Woman’s Shelter is a national organization, and they should have a—”
“She won’t fuck with that.” His voice was hard and firm.
Carefully, Teal turned in his arms and looked in his eyes. Her gaze bore into his as she spoke. “Then we won’t fuck with her.” Her voice was just as hard and unyielding as his had been. “She will not rule our lives. I refuse to allow it, Trent. We offer her this help, then we walk away. This help is better than most women are afforded. She sure as shit better take the handout.”
It may have sounded selfish to some, but Teal had worked with these groups before. The well-funded ones could work miracles, sometimes moving families across the country, while providing them with a home and good paying jobs. Teal had worked with women from the Battered Woman’s Justice Project and she’d watched them make forgotten dreams come true.
Trent lifted a hand and caressed Teal’s face. “This is more than she would ever do for you. You know that, right?” His eyes narrowed as he took her in and there was that reverent tone again.
She scoffed, “Don’t get it twisted. I am not doing this for her.” He raised a questioning brow. “My motives are purely selfish. I want her out of your life, and I know you. You feel guilty for . . .” She paused, hoping he’d fill her in and when he didn’t say more she continued. “Well, for what, I don’t know. But once you realized some man had beat her ass, you decided you would help.”
He started to defend his actions, but Teal didn’t need him to. This was who Trent was, and she loved him for it more than he would ever know.
Placing a finger over his mouth, she added, “And that is okay. It was what any good person would do. As long as we put her in the past once we’ve done what we can do. She is one of the last pieces you can put to bed—for good.”
Teal headed back into the living room after making a quick detour to the bathroom to clean up. The sight in front of her sent steam from her ear. Shayla had made herself at home in the kitchen by making food in her man’s kitchen. She resisted the urge to slap the food out of her hands. Trent followed behind her, after making a call to the Value Inn, and leaned against the counter.
With a look of pure disdain in her eyes, she sneered, “Well, if you two are done fucking?” She plopped a piece of bread on top of her sandwich and took a bite.
With a contented sigh, Teal said, “For now anyway.”
Shayla stopped mid-chew to roll her eyes.
She gave her a thin smile and continued, “And now that he and I are feeling refreshed, we’ve decided to help you out.”
This caused Shayla to place her food down and turn to Trent. Her face redde
ned with what Teal could only call wrath. “Are you telling me that you had to discuss whether you were going to help me or not? Have you seen my face? Should I take off my clothes and show you the other marks?”
Trent slowly rose from his leaning position, his incredible height seeming imposing and menacing as he spoke. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Teal crossed her arms over her chest, cheering her man on. “You fucking come in here, like you didn’t lie through your teeth about shit over the years, and you expected me to what? Do motherfucking cartwheels at the chance to have your lying ass back in my life?” He pushed his finger in her face. His next words fell out in a deadly whisper. “Fuck you.”
Shayla would not be out done in her anger. She huffed with a loud, shrill scream following. “Years of lying? This is your fucking fault.” She gestured to her face.
Teal damn near flew across the counter at Shayla, but Trent took an assertive step closer, looming over her like a dark dangerous statue. Shayla didn’t flinch, nor did she take a step back. She knew, as well as Teal, that Trent would never place his hands on a woman.
“What? You gonna play dumb now? You know as well as I do, it’s your fault. You, and your friend over there,” she threw a thumb at Teal, “antagonizing him at the bar. Who the fuck do you think he takes that shit out on when he comes home?”
Trent took a staggering step back, as if her words had been a physical blow.
Teal wanted to scream foul, but it was too late. Shayla had come with a plan, and in that moment, Teal knew she’d won. She had too much knowledge on Trent—more than Teal knew, or hoped to know in the few months they’d been together. The bitch had eight years on her side, and she was playing a wild card Teal knew nothing about.
Shayla inched closer, forcing Trent to step back. “He came home, yelling about how he could beat and rape me and get away with it because he’d done it before. And that it was my fault you started fucking a black bitch, because I couldn’t keep you pleased.”
Indelible: Beneath His Ink (Teal and Trent Book 2) Page 12
