There was a certain thrill, I admitted, to being with Tristan Richmond, even if he hadn’t officially asked me out yet.I was typing away in my corner of the office, my ears blocked by the earbuds I used to blast classical music into my brain when a message popped up on my phone, interrupting the music.My eyes slid down to the message; it was from Tristan, short and edgy as hell.STAY BACK AFTER WORK.I read the message and smiled to myself. Like hell I was going to stay back after work. Even though my cock tingled deliciously at the thought of another romp with him, I didn’t want this to become our routine, fucking in the office like people with no sanity or ethics.CAN’T. GOT PLANS.I typed back. I had barely put the phone down when another message buzzed in.WHAT PLANS?CAN’T TELL YOU. BOY STUFF.I HAVE PLANS TOO, WILLIAM BRACKNELL. THEY INVOLVE YOU KNEELING, AND THEN BENT OVER MY DESK.I grinned and chuckled low in my throat, then typed back, I KNEW IT! YOU DO WANT TO FUCK ME.I i
I screeched in front of the house and waited until Adrian was out of the car before I slammed the door and cursed under my breath.Of all the things!I had objected to Adrian’s idea of us going out in the first place, but being taken to that place… like I was just some person without worth or self-value.I stormed up the stairs leading to his room without waiting to check if he was coming up after me or not. I was with the keys to the car, so I wasn’t really worried about Adrian driving off, especially now that he was under the influence.I jammed the keys to the house in and turned aggressively, almost snapping the key in the lock as I blew into the room with all the grace of a hurricane.I went straight up to the bathroom upstairs and turned on the shower. I peeled my coat from my body. It had gotten sticky warm inside the club. I don’t know who told them that was an aesthetic that they should try to live up to.The idea of a sweaty sticky man just panting all over me as he tried to
Rage boiled through me like a volcano about to erupt.“Who made this delivery?” I asked again. “Did you get a good look at what they looked like? Or maybe you got a name? Somewhere they signed?”The receptionist looked at me, the bored look on her face mixing with new disgust. I could tell that she did not like the person that was standing in front of her. I hated to be that person either, but when it came to matters that concerned Caleb, I seemed to lose my mind these days.“I’ll tell you now just in case this ever happens in the future.” She said slowly, drawing out her words. “I’m a receptionist. Not a delivery person.”“That doesn’t make any sense. You should know who sent this,” I said hotly. “Are you just lazy at your job or are you doing this personally to spite me?”“I’d wager both, but you don’t pay my checks, Mr. Bracknell. And it’s too early for you to be making a racket.”“I’m not making a racket!” I nearly bellowed if not for Adrian who held me and pulled me away, smiling
I stilled, watching Tristan’s.His eyes bored into mine, his expression flat but intense. I decided that the better course of action was not to try to play the fool. If he was asking, then he probably already knew.“There’s nothing going on between Adrian and I.”Tristan’s gaze was direct, unsmiling. “Did I not tell you that you belong to me, William?”“And I’m telling you that there’s nothing going on between us.”“You have been spotted not once now, entering at the same time that Adrian arrives, coming in the same car… is there something that I’m missing?”I folded my arms and took a defensive pose. “Are you stalking me?”“I’m stating clearly where my interests lie, William,” said Tristan as he moved closer to me. “The question now is where your interests lie.”He was right in front of me, his impossible height bearing down on me with an inhuman grace. The air that he exuded simply be existing…I stepped back. “You already know what I want, Tristan. If I was looking for a fling or I
At first, I was too stunned to do anything but stare hard at Adrian who must have thought that I was giving him consent. But inside, every single part of me writhed in pain, in agony, and then anger.Adrian’s hands were trailing up the leg of my pants, sliding over my thighs…“Jesus, Adrian, STOP!”I pushed him away with every strength that I could muster, face steaming, fuming. Even through my half-drunken haze, I knew that this was not the way this should have gone at all, and all I wanted right now was to be as far away as possible from Adrian.Blood boiled in my ears and my eyes were sparking tongues of fire.“What the fuck are you doing, Adrian?” I hissed in a low voice.Adrian’s had this look of half-surprise on his face. Half-surprise and full-on lust burning behind his eyes.I’d made a mistake. I should never have moved in with Adrian in the first place. His eyes still looked blissfully drunk, but even that was no pity.“Fuck, you… WHY?!” I screamed.Adrian murmured something
I was at the office almost an hour early the next morning, hoping to avoid any confrontations or accidental run-ins with Adrian. Yesterday had easily been the most complicated night of my life, and it didn’t help that I was nursing a hangover from all the drinking we did, and then the trauma of Adrian kissing me…“God, I’m in shit,” I sighed to myself. Why was everything happening to me? And at the same time, too.At first, it had been Caleb who had almost single-handedly ruined my entire life and then breezed out like he had never been there, only to keep his hooks in once he saw that there was the remotest sign of me growing, of me healing… his hooks were thorns in my flesh, designed to cut and wound and make me bleed at every possible moment.Then Adrian who was for the most part, confused about what he wanted. I knew one thing, though. I didn’t want to be with him.I wasn’t going to be with anyone to compensate or even because of pity. If I didn’t want them, I didn’t need them.Th
All through work, I could not stop fuming at my computer, my face set in a perpetual scowl so that when a coworker came to ask if I could help her work on something, she turned back abruptly and said that she was sorry to have bothered.I hated the way that Tristan made me feel. He was able to, in the single moment, turn me from his most prized possession in the universe into the very bane of his existence.He made it so difficult for me—made it difficult for me to love him. And I hated most of all, the fact that I was sometimes unable to do anything about it. Tristan was strong—impressively so. And beautiful and had a savage grace about him that I could neither compare nor compete with. Not that I wanted to, anyway. I was more than fine with him being the big bad wolf in our relationship, but sometimes…I furrowed my brows and stared at my computer like I could murder it. I stayed this way until the close of work.I waited until I was sure that everyone else had left, hoping that Adr
All of my insides froze with a kind of dread that I had neither experienced before, nor could say that I waned to experience now.I’M ALMOST DONE, I typed back, but Tristan’s messages were instantaneous.INFORM THE DESK. I’M COMING UP.Fuck. Everything was going bad in the worst possible way.I recalled the first night that I had met the woman at the front desk. She claimed not to be the manager, but I knew that she was the one who was manager and everything else in that motel. And Jesus, she had been rude as hell. Her meeting Tristan in his mood right now, I was certain that sparks were going to fly.Ah, the end of William Bracknell. So this was how I was going to die.I ran to the phone on the side of the wall, trying it for all I was worth, but the line was either dead, or the manager truly didn’t give a shit about whatever complaints we had.“FUCK!” I was done for.I threw on a bright pink shirt with the intention of racing to the front, towel still tied around my waist so I could
Everything looked and smelled like something that was been used, so I took that as the first sign that it was good to be here.I walked in and closed the doors behind me.The building was expansive, considering that houses in this city were normally not so, and when they were, they were usually expensive. Polished wooden floors that were worn in some places and the smell of humans and activity.I stood for a while, admiring and absorbing everything in my mind, trying to imagine what it would be like to come here. Maybe there were yoga mats here and then dumbbells, a treadmill, several benches because there would definitely need to be benching and bending over done here.A wonky smile crossed my face at that thought. I could imagine some ridiculously hot trainer with the bod of a fucking superstar asking me to bend over and do pilates.“Hi there!” A cheery voice piped into my short foray into fantasizing. I fumbled my eyes open, the smile vanishing quickly. She was a short woman with a
Tristan and I fucked a few more times that night, with each time being more powerful than the last. If I closed my eyes, I could feel the bulge of Tristan’s muscles atop me as we contorted and writhed and danced, his beautiful face so delightfully drawn in pleasure.But it wasn’t nearly enough, and I knew that I had not really gotten to him at all. Not in the way that I wanted.I suppose I knew in the way his eyes still hard that dark hunger, his blatant desire made evident by his still hard cock, even after I’d blown him again and allowed him to fuck me to his heart’s content. But with all of the sweaty energy that Tristan had brought—a delight in bed and an explosive maker of love, I could still feel him withdrawn from me, just like his cock after he’d pulled out.For a time, I stayed silent on the bed, my chest rising and falling in sync, as I pretended to be asleep. It was not difficult to pretend to be asleep, seeing how many times we had gone already, and my stamina was nothing
I moved to him without thinking, his arms long and familiar and inviting.I made him rise with me, holding him in place as our arms locked. I could perceive the fragrance of is skin—the lingering notes of perfume that had been weaved into him when the makeup team must have given him their makeover. I could see the bright flecks of gold in his hair up close.I inhaled hungrily.My arms tightened around his back as I tried to pull him into me. I needed comfort. I needed life and warmth… I needed him.I felt like I was drowning and the ground had been taken out from under me, but in William’s arms, I felt like everything was going to be alright, like he could right me, hold me…I closed my mind to the hurt of the memory. I didn’t need him. I didn’t need anyone. This was something I had to do on my own. Terra Corporation was mine. I worked for it. I built it with my sweat and blood and toil. Even after my father—I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply.“Tristan,” William’s voice cut through
“Adelstein,” I said once I got out of the elevator. I had no time for small talk. He had pulled me out of my date with William. “What’s going on?” The man on the other end of the room, reclining lazily with a flute of wine in his hand swirled the glass some more, then his face broke into an almost genial smile. “Tristan,” he said languidly. “I thought you wouldn’t make it. Good to see that you still take some things seriously—like business. I had a feeling that you were beginning to lose your grip.” His tone was neutral, but his insult was glaring, the threat in his words potent. I tried to compose my mask of calm, of indifference, but I was getting too annoyed. “What’s this all about? We were this close to closing a contract. It’s beneficial to you; it’s beneficial for us. Why are you pulling out now?” Adelstein was silent for a while as he sniffed at his wine. “You know, Tristan, I like you. I like your business mind. Li
My teeth grated until I wanted to squeeze the phone in my hand. Not even William’s hand, trying to run circles around my chest, my crotch, could keep me calm right now.“Forgive me, William,” I said through clenched teeth. “Adam, what’s the closest rendezvous point?”Immediately, I felt the tension between us change, become something far weightier with less substance. Fuck.I hated that I had to do this.Adam’s voice was smooth and toned as usual. “Closest is about half a mile.”“Have a car meet us at the next one. You’re driving me out.”I was pulling my clothes out under me, straightening everything again, the swearing just on the top of my lips. William was silent for a while, but I knew that he was keeping his distance. And to think that all the progress I had made so far…“Something wrong?” William asked finally, his voice small and tentative. I hated myself once more for having to do this.“It’s nothing for you to worry about. I just… I’m sorry, William. Something came up and I
Tristan’s hand was warm in mine as he held my fingers first, then guiding it to the small of my back. I forced my mind to concentrate on the simple action of breathing steady in and out. If I didn’t, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to control myself. I would abandon all reason and simply jump atop Tristan and beg him with tears in my eyes, fumbling for the zipper of his pants.“Fuck me, Tristan! Make love to me, goddamnit!”But Tristan only smiled at me. A beautiful thing that showed off the impossible brilliance of his perfect strong white teeth. There was no way that those were natural. No single person on Earth could have been born so beautiful—so perfect.And yet, Tristan did not fade from my gaze, even as he helped me to sit at a table for two, his hands simply sliding across the expanse of my back, like a promise, like something more… lingering before it tapered off at the back of my elbow and then like a fleeting kiss, running gently along the sleeve of my suit.I exhaled au
“Hey, Adam,” I said as I met him. His smile was more for my benefit than anything.“William. Heard from a little birdie you’re flying out on a date tonight.”“Yeah,” I said tiredly. Then realized that I had just confirmed… “Oh, God, I think I’m going to be sick.”“You’ll be fine,” said Adam in his calming voice. “Jitters is all. Happens to the best of us.”“I hope so,” I confessed as Adam got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. “I really want things to work out between Tristan and I.”Adam chuckled. “Now I wish my wife had been half-devoted.”Adam pulled the car out of the drive-through and turned us in the direction of Tristan’s home, his eyes never once leaving the road. A singular-minded focus that I could appreciate, Adam’s hands were steady on the steering wheel as he rounded the car past potholes and other vehicles.“Adam, you don’t think things between Tristan and I are going to work out, do you?”My voice was small, even to my hearing, but Adam did not take his eyes of
When I stepped into Tristan’s office, he was standing just in front of his desk. I tried and failed to hide my surprise.“Tristan.” I swallowed. “You sent for me.”“I did?” A pause. Then… “I did. These are for you.”Like magic, Tristan produced a bouquet of flowers from behind him, holding them in a way that showed that he had been holding them in that position for a while, waiting for me to arrive. I edged closer to his gift.It was simply beautiful, and that was the only word I could have used to describe it. It was an assortment of different flowers—those I knew and those I could only hope to. There were lilies and roses and chrysanthemums, and tulips and oh so many colors and smells that somehow combined to form one beautiful mélange, the most beautiful thing anyone had given me yet.The fragrance flooded my senses and a warmth suffused my chest.“Tristan,” I said with emotion, “they’re beautiful.”“You’re beautiful,” was his simple reply. Despite myself, I gave him a look.“I did
I had done it again, the exact same thing that I had done when I was trying to mico-manage the Caleb incident, except this time, I didn’t know for sure that I would have the opportunity to explain myself, or for grace to prevail.I typed quickly on my computer, replying to the mail notification that I had gotten on my phone. And then I waited, my legs tense, feet tapping a nervous rhythm on the floor.I waited. The seconds trickled, sweat beaded on my brows. I adjusted my collar, the air conditioning suddenly seeming inefficient.I stretched my fingers, waiting. A small whine escaped from my lips.Suddenly, the ringing of my phone pierced the air. I snatched the phone up a second later, my lips already poised to blow out a string of words into the receiver on the other end of the call.“Ellie, I’m so sorry—”“Way to turn off the world, Bubba,” she said in a singsong voice that sounded exactly like the voice she used to threaten me when we younger. “You’re really making me consider fin