Mind (Trinity Trilogy Book 2)

by Audrey Carlan

  “What else?” He grates. His skin is shining with sweat at the effort to hold back, not just pound and pour into me. No, he wants it to be good for me and it always is.

  “Baby, it’s everything,” I whisper into his ear as I cling to him in a full body clench before tipping my head back and roaring through my release. I grip him to me so tightly I can feel the exact moment his spine stiffens, one vertebra at a time, in extreme pleasure, before pouring his release into me. The orgasm goes on and on as we both ride the wave for long minutes.

  When I come back from Nirvana, I’m still clinging to him, only now I’m sprawled naked on his chest, both of us panting like we just ran a full marathon. Chase extends his arm and shuffles through his pants. He pulls out his phone holds it out and takes a picture.

  “Now look at the camera for me this time. I want to keep this moment with me forever,” he says. I can only oblige him. Certain that my breasts are plastered against his chest I peek up through my hair and my hiding place on his chest. One of my hands is lying against his rapidly beating heart. We both look at the camera, and I give my secret smile, the one I only give to him. He takes the picture and turns it around so I can see. It’s breathtakingly beautiful. I see the Drum Bridge clearly in the distance but most importantly, I see Chase, his eyes sated and untarnished by his past or our current situation. My own gaze is soft, resplendent. Mostly, it’s just another candid moment of us in love.

  “Send it to me…that one is special,” I use the same words he used about the other image. He nods once and then tosses the phone back down near his pants. We lay together for a long time.

  “Do you think it will always be this good between us?” I finally ask. His arms tighten along my bare back and waist.

  I lean up and rest my chin on his chest like I usually do after we make love.

  “I don’t know why it wouldn’t. I’m positive there is no other woman for me. No one else would put up with me the way you do.” He waggles his eyebrows, but I know there is some truth in his statement.

  Kissing him softly, I pull back. “You’re right. No woman in their right mind would put up with you,” he cringes, but I continue. “Special dates and private garden showings, rooftop brunches, endless love making where the woman’s pleasure is paramount…you’re right. You’re ridiculous!” I giggle, and he nuzzles my nose.

  “You’re cute.”

  “Didn’t we already have this conversation? Cute is for puppies and newborns not naked women in their twenties who allow you to ravish them in public gardens.”

  Chase laughs, and I enjoy feeling his cock wiggle within me. He likes to stay connected to me for as long as possible, but I know our private time is running out.

  “Don’t we need to go?”

  He kisses me then sits up. I shimmy off him and stand. The mixture of our combined releases coats my thighs and starts running down my leg. Chase watches closely, a predatory gleam in his eyes and a crooked, sexy smile on his face. I roll my eyes and grab the soft napkin that came with our picnic, wiping the mess up before putting on my panties, bra, and dress.

  Chase dresses and I start to put everything away. “Leave it. I’ve paid someone to take care of it for us.” Of course he did. I shake my head and he puts my cardigan over my shoulders, the chill of the late afternoon in San Francisco starting to encroach.

  “Next up...dessert,” Chase says as he leads me out the gate of the garden. I close my eyes and try to imprint today’s experience so that I can go back to it often. Whenever I have a rough day, I’m going to go back to those rainbow steps that tell a story so beautiful one must experience it with their own eyes, and the magical garden where Chase made wild and crazy love to me under the cool shade of a willow tree.

  “I thought that’s what we just had,” I say, the innuendo clear in my tone.

  “You saucy little vixen, come on. I know a place that serves up the best caramel cupcakes baked fresh every day.”

  “You had me at ‘saucy little vixen’,” I grin.

  Chapter 11

  Gillian

  Hollow is a little café not far from the Japanese Tea Garden. Twilight comes upon us at the tail end of our walk. Chase holds open the door of the quaint little eatery for me to enter. Cinnamon and rich coffee swirls heavily in the air, delighting the senses. I inhale deeply, taking it all in while closing my eyes. Chase squeezes my fingers and proceeds to the counter. He orders as I peruse the wares. A long antique looking sideboard displays an array of coffee and baking-related items for use in the kitchen. A small, metal robot-shaped infuser that holds tea catches my attention. It’s so wildly random that I pick up the little object and know instantly that I’m buying two of them for Chase and me. It will be a pleasant memory of this day. Stealthily, I grab two of the robots and hold them behind my back, right as Chase turns around.

  “Shall we sit inside?”

  I nod and let him proceed to the wrought iron table in front of me. With a quickness I wasn’t sure I had, I turned, went up to the cashier, and in two movements, had the robots on the counter and a couple of twenties pushing into the young boy’s hand. “Take it quick!” I say, clearly rushed. Casting a glance at Chase, he’s sitting with his arms crossed, a leg up over one knee shaking his head. I shrug and take the return change and the little bag before making my way over to a smirking Chase.

  He taps a finger on the table and grins. “So, what’s in the bag, Sweetie?” he asks. It’s official. The use of every endearment known to man is a running game with him. I should start giving them back to him.

  “Mementos of our day,” I pull out the two robot shaped tea infusers. A huge smile breaks across his face as he picks up one of them. It looks positively miniscule in his giant hand.

  His brows crinkle as he turns the item over and around. “What is it?”

  That’s when I start to laugh. “They’re tea infusers. See, you open it here,” I flick open the latch at the robot’s head and it opens perfectly in half. “Then you put the fresh tea in here, close it up and then drop it into a glass and pour your hot water in.”

  He pulls up the little long, bendy arms with what look like washers that have been cut in half to mimic hands. “And these?”

  I giggle then curve the arms up, rubbing my thumb along the indentation. “This part hooks onto the cup so it stays in and you can use the arms to pull it out when your tea is ready.”

  “Huh, genius,” he says as if this is the first time he’s ever seen an infuser.

  “I thought it would be nice to have something in our kitchen that’s from us. Me and you, and our time together.” I can feel my cheeks heat as embarrassment coats the moment.

  Chase covers my hand with his. “It’s perfect.” He says then brings my hand up and kisses my palm. The café attendant brings over two steaming mugs and sets them in front of us. They look like lattes only the foam has designs in them. Mine has a heart and Chase’s has a leaf pattern.

  “Now that is cool!” I say and lean down for a sniff. “Is this…?” I inhale the perfect vanilla and coffee scent.

  “Your beloved vanilla latte? Of course,” he grins lifting up his cup with a smug smirk. I lift mine and clink our glasses together.

  “To our future. May it always be as lovely as today.”

  He smiles. “I’ll definitely drink to that.”

  The latte is one of the best I’ve ever had grace my tongue. Seriously, the blend of espresso, vanilla and crème is unbelievable. I moan around my mug, clasping the precious with two hands while I let the heady concoction woo me into a state of bliss. When I look up Chase is blatantly staring at me. His eyes are dark and swimming with the smooth edges of lust.

  “You make me wildly happy, Gillian.” His words filter through me as if they were said into a can, connected to a string, that my heart is listening through.

  I smile as the attendant brings two huge cupcakes. They have four perfectly designed flowerets in a tan colored frosting. “Are these the best cupcakes in San Francisco
?” I ask Chase as he lifts his up and takes a monster-sized bite. Usually, he’s pretty conservative and proper in public but not now with this sweet confection sitting in front of him. He nods his head up and down swiftly.

  Pulling down the wrapper I take a small bite of the sugary treat. Oh. My. God. I may have just had a food-gasm. Holy shit! He was not kidding. The caramel is buttery and smooth, not overbearing, while the cake is a fluffy, white, and moist. “Incredible,” I say over a mouth full of sweet awesomeness.

  “Told you. The best!”

  “We should have these at the wedding!” I smile around another huge bite.

  Chase sets down his treat and puts a fist under his chin holding his head up while leaning on the table. His gaze holds mine as the most splendid serenity slips across my man’s features.

  “What?” I ask unable to suppress a smile when he’s looking at me like I’m the only thing he loves in the universe.

  “You.” I cock my head to the side. “That’s the first time you’ve mentioned the wedding with a smile on your face,” he says.

  All of a sudden, the cupcake seems thick, dry and coated in cement as I try to swallow. “Really?” I take a sip of my ‘cup of love’ forcing down the uncomfortable feeling his words give me. I know they shouldn’t. It wasn’t a barb, but it was brutal in its honesty.

  “It’s just that I want you to be excited about becoming Mrs. Davis. Just now was the first time you had excitement in your eyes over getting married. It was nice to see.” He leans back in his chair and I can’t help but think it’s to put distance between us.

  Not wanting any distance, I lean forward and cover his hand with mine. “I want to be excited. You know that right now, it’s hard.” His lips form a tight line. “I wish the wedding was the only thing we had to manage right now. Then it would be fun and I’d feel like the happiest girl in the world to be marrying the man I love. It will be that way. Once Phil gets better and our problem goes away.” I refer to my stalker as a problem. Somehow, it gives it less credence.

  “Baby, I know. I’m not mad. Well, that’s not true. I’m furious over what you’ve had to deal with, but I also know that this is going to be a small time in our life. A blip on the whole that will be our future together,” he finishes confidently.

  He’s right. He’s so unbelievably right. When we look back twenty years from now, it will be with a wave of the hand and a ‘Remember that freak that stalked us? What a loser. What was his name again?’ At least that’s what I’m going to believe.

  We finish the rest of our date whispering beautiful things to one another about how our lives are going to be five, ten, twenty years from now. When we’re done and back at our home, we make love under the stars in our own rooftop garden.

  Gillian

  Saturday morning brings a bundle of joy. Literally. Anabelle arrives like a tornado. She’s running around the penthouse like a wild gazelle.

  “Aunt Gigi, is this your house!” she squeals skipping from room to room. “You live in this big, huge place all by yourself! She looks at the art on the walls in awe. Even the vase she’s standing next to is taller than her four-year-old frame.

  “No, Auntie lives with Uncle Chase remember,” Chase enters from the elevator clad in a golf shirt, pants and holding his clubs.

  Anabelle’s face brightens when she sees Chase. “That’s right. You kiss him and you’re going to marry him and give me a baby sister to play with!” she claps.

  Chase stops in his tracks with his mouth open. “Uh, did I miss something?” He looks at Anabelle then to me and down to my stomach. “Are you…?” His words falter off.

  I shake my head furiously. “No! No she’s mixed up something.” I hold out my hands and see Chase visibly relax. Crouching low, I come down to eye level with Phillip’s daughter. “Belle, Aunt Gigi is marrying Chase. That makes him your Uncle, but our kids will be your cousins. And Auntie is not having a baby right now.”

  Her little lip forms into a pout. “But I thought when you get married you get to have babies,” she stops and crosses her arms over her chest.

  I take a deep breath. “Well, that’s true. You can have a baby when you’re married, and when Uncle Chase and Aunt Gigi decide to do that, you’ll be one of the first to know, okay?” I tap her nose lightly. She giggles and wipes it with her sleeve.

  “Okay,” she spins on a toe and runs over to Chase. He catches her and lifts her up into his arms effortlessly. Since Phillip’s hospitalization three weeks ago, we’ve only had Anabelle a couple nights and we watched her at Phil’s house, but during those times, she’s become Chase’s little sidekick. This time, we’ll have her through Monday when we drop her off at her preschool.

  “Alright Miss Anabelle, if you could do anything today, anything in the whole wide world, what would it be? Uncle Chase will make it happen,” he says with a great deal of bravado.

  Anabelle puffs out her bottom lip. Oh man, she’s bringing out the big guns. No man or woman has been able to deny the full pout with lip tremble. “I wanna see my Daddy,” she announces then hides her face into the crook of Chase’s neck.

  I rush over and rub her back. “Oh Angel, you know he misses you. He’s just healing from the accident and will be home really, really soon.” My voice is scratchy and low, but I do my best to convey a positive outlook.

  Anabelle raises her head and looks at me with giant, bright blue, teary eyes. “But how come I can’t see him? Lots of people go to doctors and people come and bring flowers, and balloons, and crayons, and even dollies. I want to bring Daddy my dolly and then maybe he’ll get better really, really fast!” she exclaims, and it breaks my heart in two.

  We all wish we could just make Phil wake up from his coma. The doctors don’t know why he hasn’t woken up yet. The swelling in his brain has completely healed, his lungs are doing well, he’s breathing on his own and his body is accepting the medication well. Vitals are all great but he still hasn’t opened his eyes.

  “Baby girl, as soon as Daddy says it’s okay for you to visit we’ll bring you. I promise.” My shoulders slump, weighed down by the heavy load of telling Phil’s daughter what his grandparents and I agreed on. Phil wouldn’t want her to see him like that or worry.

  Chase’s eyes are sad at first but I see the moment they change. His stance gets a little stronger and he lifts his body to his full height. He’s taking one for the team. “How about an ice cream sundae with all the toppings? I believe Bentley has prepared a magical ice cream feast for you!” Her eyes widen and she kicks her legs to be let down.

  “Really? I’m going to try and find him! Don’t show me where he is!” she exclaims playing her own game of seek and find as opposed to hide and seek.

  Chase places an arm over my shoulders then pulls me into a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “I know it just…it hurts. Phil needs to wake up. Anabelle needs her father, and I need my best friend. Bree needs her guy, more now than ever before,” I say into my favorite place. That warm spot where shoulder meets neck. Chase smells divine with his woodsy citrus scent, much sharper with the addition of sweat from golfing a quick nine holes this morning.

  “Why more now, than ever before,” he pulls back a foot and looks into my eyes.

  I close my eyes and take a breath. “I didn’t realize I never told you. Bree’s pregnant.” His mouth turns into an ‘O’ shape. “It’s really early. Couldn’t be more than a month along.”

  Chase hugs me hard. “That motherfucking stalker is going to hell and I plan to be the one to send him there.” His body is stiff, and I can feel the heat start to surge in a halo of fiery tension around his entire body.

  With slow movements, I run my hands up and down his back, over his arms and clasp his hands. “Not today you’re not. You have your soon-to-be niece to impress with giant mounds of ice cream.”

  A small grin slips across his lips then he pecks me once, twice, three times before leading me down the hall to the kitchen. Little peals of laughter can b
e heard as we get closer. It’s the most wonderful sound. I’m convinced that a child’s laughter could heal all wounds.

  Anabelle and Bentley are making not one but two different sundaes each. Bentley surprised her with multicolored whipped cream. She’s currently adding blobs of the blue cream to one sundae while biting her lip in concentration.

  “That looks pretty good. Is one for me?” I ask knowing it wasn’t. Anabelle looks at her two treats speculatively.

  “Can I have more if I finish mine?” She asks Chase, not me. She knows my answer would be a resounding no.

  “Of course,” Chase offers casually. I roll my eyes wondering if this is how it’s going to be when we have kids. They ask and he gives them everything on a silver platter.

  Anabelle pushes the sundae that looks like a rainbow exploded on it toward me. “You could have this one. Bente,” she says instead of Bentley. “Can I have another bowl for Uncle Chase?”

  “Oh honey, I don’t need ice cream,” he says patting his chiseled abs. I know he works really hard for those abs, and I appreciate them more than anyone. However, Chase has already had four homemade cookies with his coffee this morning. Anabelle studies Chase, looking at him in that “adults just don’t understand the important things in life” type of expression.

  “Everyone needs ice cream. It’s like, the most bestest thing ever.” She shakes her head and starts filling the empty bowl. Every so often she licks her fingers removing little bits of the candy and cream, double dipping happily into each bowl before adding the topping to her creation.

  I laugh and happily eat mine. The extra calories can do nothing but set me on the path to getting back to normal.

  “Here Uncle Chase, its perfect. See, I used all the blue candies and cream because you’re a boy. Boys like blue,” she finishes with a stiff nod.

  “Well, I can’t pass up a treat from a beautiful girl now can I? Thank you, Miss Anabelle.”