Bad Things(78)

“Any other plans today?” I asked him as I dried off.

He shot me a look that could only be described as indecent. “More of the same. We still have hours to ourselves.”

After the way we’d spent our day, I didn’t imagine he’d even want to collect on his end of the bet that night, but I imagined wrong.

We went out, did our usual party routine, but we wrapped it up early, and instead of heading home, we headed to his new place. I felt almost breathless with anticipation. I didn’t even know if what he’d suggested was something I wanted to do, but I knew that I trusted him, and I knew that he made a habit of making me feel good.

He tugged me through his apartment, not even turning on any lights as we made our way to his room. Even that I didn’t get to check out, as he led me directly to the bed, and the first thing he did was cover my eyes with a small sleep mask. I could still make out light on the sides, but not enough to know what was going on.

He tugged my clothes off, doing it quick like he was in a hurry. I couldn’t imagine why. I didn’t think he could be that hot for me again after how many times he’d taken me already that day.

“Tristan—” I began, but he shushed me, and somehow, that time, it worked. Probably because he’d begun to pull my arms above my head, and that had me distracted. Distracted and squirming. And wet.

He used something soft on my wrists, first one and then the other, tying them above me and apart. I couldn’t tell what he used to bind me, but I tugged against it once he’d tied me to the headboard, and it seemed unbreakable.

He pushed his weight down on top of me without warning, and I gasped at the contact. His low, rough, raspy voice in my ear had me trembling. “We’re going to do this nice and slow. All I want from you is your surrender. Beyond that, you don’t have to think about a thing. Understand?”

I did understand. I understood perfectly, and I thought he was the most wonderful man in the world right then for taking the time, for caring enough, to understand, too. The intoxicating bliss I’d found in his arms had come from trust, and this was taking that feeling of losing myself in the moment, of relinquishing control, to a whole new level.

He moved off me. I heard the faint sound of him slipping out of his clothes, then the louder sound of him ripping open the packet on a condom. He was bare and hard as he slid over me. I shivered at the feeling of skin on skin.

He took my earlobe very softly in his teeth as he parted my legs and slid between. His thickness pressed against me, teasing at my entrance, and I moaned, somehow already ready for him.

“I can’t give you all the time I need tonight to show you how good this can be for us, because I know you have to watch the kids in the morning, so just consider this a taste.”

What the hell did that mean? I didn’t know, and was afraid to ask. It seemed too much like asking about the future, and I emphatically didn’t want to do that.

I didn’t worry about it long, that was for sure. In fact, I didn’t worry about a thing as he took his mouth to my neck, and his hands to my body.

He took me over that way, owned every cell in my body. I surrendered, and he took me with hard, smooth strokes, and rough, sweet words. It was an experience I’d never forget as he taught me that I could put myself completely at someone’s mercy, and come out of it with no wounds at all. Instead, I felt more whole with the experience, as though the parts of myself that had been broken and lost weren’t so lost anymore. Under his touch, in his care, I felt more complete, like a newer, brighter version of myself.



We became passionate lovers and stayed the best of friends, but we didn’t talk about it. In fact, we treated the topic like the land mine it was. Almost week passed like that.

We just lived in the moment.

In a way, it was completely wonderful for me. I’d never been able to live in the moment, and here I was, living every second like I never wanted it to end. I didn’t think about the future. I didn’t want the future. All I wanted was now.

I wasn’t even inside of my body most days. I was still living in our last embrace. I would go through my chores, do my usual routine, but my mind was back in my bed, giving myself to Tristan. He owned me there. I was his, and I savored that ownership. There was no question that I wanted it to last forever.

We were inseparable, even more so than before, which was saying a lot.

A few careless comments brought it all crashing down, though it was bound to happen, one way or another.