As soon as Trey and Brittany stepped into the apartment and he closed the door, awkwardness clouded the air. While they’d grasped bits and pieces of enjoyment, the problems that stood between them had marred most of the night. Silence had filled their long, torturous ride home. Now they acted as if they were strangers, which hurt Trey and removed the burning anger that seethed in him after her revealing her assailant had wrapped his hands around her neck and had threatened her with strangulation.
The hairs on his nape stood. What if he hadn’t stopped? What if she’d been killed? Trey didn’t believe he would’ve ever gotten over her death. She meant more to him than anything else in the world and the thought sobered him. Bryson had pointed out Brittany was in love with him. Or had been half in love with him for most of her life.
Trey hadn’t been in love with the adolescent Brittany. He’d loved her. Now she was twenty-years-old and his lover. Long ago, she’d breached the barrier he kept in place with other women. As a matter of fact they’d never had barriers between them.
“Are you going to say anything?”
“There’s nothing more to say tonight. I’m tired. Do you realize we’ve only had two or three hours of sleep in over twenty-four hours?”
“I slept on the cot in Mitchell’s office so I’ve had a little more rest than you have.”
“I need to rest.” He needed to take her in his arms more than he needed to rest. He wanted to feel her hot and tight around him, her body beneath his awash in ecstasy, pulsing with need. With life. But he doubted she’d respond. Or if she did, she’d do something drastic afterward. “I have a long day ahead of me. I have to get to the bank—”
“For your closing. When do you intend to move?”
“I don’t know,” Trey admitted with a sigh. Right then, he didn’t know anything. He didn’t know if he still wanted the house. What if he and Brittany had a future? The house was too small for the two of them. If they were to start a family… He hadn’t planned on spending a lot of time there so he hadn’t considered how much space he needed or even liked.
“Thank you for our date.” She brushed her fingers over the eye Bryson had punched then raised his bruised knuckles to her lips and kissed one of them. “I enjoyed it. For the most part,” she added with a rueful grin.
“Yes, well. I’m glad I didn’t ruin your whole evening with my questions.”
Even in her heels, he towered above her, so she stood on tiptoe and hugged him, her heart pounding fast and furious. Trey held himself rigid. If he touched her, he’d sweep her up in his arms, take her to his bed and lose himself inside her. She backed away from him, gazing at him with expectation. Seeing the hurt in her eyes almost killed him.
“G-good night then.”
“The night is just about over.”
Not responding, she nodded and brushed past him. Unable to stop himself, he turned and watched as she hurried down the little hallway and turned toward the room where her things were.
Swearing he was glad she hadn’t gone to his bedroom, Trey followed her path, going in the opposite direction at the end of the hallway. He reached his room and flipped on the light. His empty bed loomed in front of him. Empty, as it had been for his entire life. In his twenty-seven years, he’d never slept next to anyone or had anyone in his bed for that matter. Why did it suddenly look so lonely now? Just seeing its emptiness made him long for Brittany.
Restive, he went to his bureau where he kept his father’s badge. He picked it up, holding it in the center of his palm. Trey felt…lost. Brittany had called his dad a hero and believed Trey resented him. Perhaps. After all, his dad hadn’t jumped in front of a bullet to save someone’s life. He hadn’t been brought down while chasing behind a criminal or making a drug bust.
Drugs and several weapons had been found in the perp’s car. So yes, his father had helped to catch a criminal and keep him off the streets. That, though, had been an accident. His father hadn’t been sent out with the specific task of apprehending this man.
Trey was tired…utterly exhausted. The emotional turmoil he’d experienced since Brittany arrived had only gotten worse with each new discovery he made about what had happened to her.
After laying the badge back in its place, Trey began unbuttoning his shirt. Walking toward his bed, he threw the shirt on the chair near the door. Cool air hit his bared chest and he wondered if Brittany was cold.
Grimacing at the direction of his thoughts, he stepped out of his shoes then unbuckled his belt and removed his trousers and boxers. He yawned and scratched the back of his neck before sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling off his socks. As he set them on his nightstand, a scrap of white on the floor caught his eye and he leaned forward, already knowing what it was.
Brittany’s panties… The ones he’d removed and tossed aside earlier, before licking her delicious pussy. She’d enjoyed what he did to her as much as he’d enjoyed tasting her. She hadn’t felt any shame either. Just as she hadn’t the night she’d invited him back to her dorm room. He didn’t know what she’d gone through afterward and they’d never discussed it, but that night had been about her pleasure. Just like earlier.
Raising her panties to his nose, he sniffed her scent and closed his eyes, his erection jutting between his legs. Fuck it all. He couldn’t go to Brittany. In her current state of mind, he didn’t need to—
“Trey?” A light knock on his door followed the sound of her soft call. “Are you asleep?”
Trey glowered at the door. He didn’t need her near him right now in his current frame of mind.
The doorknob turned and Trey’s nostrils flared. The door opened, painfully slow, and he seemed to rise to his feet just as slowly. She stepped into the room and stopped, her eyes widening at the sight of him standing there clutching her panties, his cock thick and hard.
She wore a long flannel robe, loose fitting and ugly as hell. Her gaze fastened on his dick and it pulsed.
“Get out,” he snarled.
She jerked back.
“If you aren’t gone in five seconds—” He halted his words. The last thing he needed to do was threaten her. But he wanted her so badly. If she remained much longer, he’d make love to her.
Brittany licked her lips and he groaned. Stomping to her, he turned her around and marched her outside his door. Things would’ve worked out fine if she hadn’t twisted around in protest.
“Stubborn brat,” he growled, pulling her into his arms and slanting his mouth over hers.
She tugged his head down and wrapped her arms around his neck, eagerly returning his kiss.
“Trey,” she whispered.
Grasping her waist, he lifted her off her feet, his mouth finding hers again as he backed into his bedroom, not stopping until they reached his bed.
She fell back onto the mattress before scooting higher. As she unzipped her robe and removed an equally hideous long nightgown, Trey went to his trousers and dug condoms out of his pocket. He set the two packets on the nightstand before climbing next to her and pulling her back into his embrace.
Trey was afraid to speak, afraid words would ruin her desire, make her recall all her fear and shame. Lying on his back, he settled her on top of him, his mouth ravishing hers, his tongue sweeping over hers with the same madness coursing through him. She rocked her wet heat against his belly and sensation shook his body.
✽ ✽ ✽
Trey’s powerful muscles rippled and Brittany trailed her hands over whatever skin she could reach, her mouth fastened to his.
Karl’s visit, their run-in tonight, the arguments she and Trey had all seemed like distant dreams, her reactions to each a step backward. She’d already made the biggest mistake of her life by cutting her hair and then she’d compounded that by allowing Karl and his words to intimidate her. He only had the power to hurt her if she allowed him to. And she’d never allow him to do so again. Neither would Trey.
Heartened by the thought, she kissed his forehead, eyes, nose and cheeks. She caressed and explored the ridges of his shoulders and chest, the flat plane of his stomach, her lips following the same path as her hands.
She stared at his manhood, watched as he made it jump. Her gaze flew to his and he laughed. A hot blush spread over her cheeks. Tentatively she wrapped her fingers around his throbbing member and he sucked in a breath, his amusement dying quickly. She began moving her hand up and down in a slow, methodic rhythm, fascinated at how hard he was and yet how velvety smooth.
His eyes were closed, his face a study in pained tolerance. She wrapped her lips around the head of Trey’s penis.
“Christ!” he moaned, his body tensing beneath her hands as if he were fighting to remain still.
She slid his manhood deeper into her mouth, her lips stretching around him. A salty bead of moisture dripped onto her tongue and a rush of wetness flooded between her legs. She groaned.
“Rub your clit while you’re sucking me.”
Brittany instantly obeyed Trey’s hoarse demand. She brought her fingers to the little nub between her legs and began to massage, her other hand wrapped around the base of Trey’s length as she took him ever deeper into her mouth. Then he could go no farther; he filled her completely, huge and hard. She drew back, tongued his head, before taking him into her mouth again, allowing him to touch her throat. The hand around his base moved to the rhythm of her mouth, her fingers between her legs slippery with her own juices.
Trey was panting and she knew he wanted to move in her mouth. She wasn’t sure how he possessed the control he did. When he’d used his mouth on her earlier, she’d been helpless to the demands of her body.
She began to tremble, her clit wet and hard and sensitive. She bucked against her fingers, sucked on him hard and he surged into her mouth, his seed spilling over her tongue as her orgasm washed over her.
Weak from her release she could only watch as Trey grabbed one of the packets from the nightstand, ripped it open and covered his cock with the condom.
“Payback, you little witch.” He rolled her onto her back and thrust into her.
Their lovemaking was fast and hard, Brittany achieving a second orgasm in minutes, Trey coming moments later.
A long while later, she listened to the evenness of Trey’s breathing and wished their time together would never end. She wanted to believe they had a future with each other. She snuggled closer to him.
“I love you, Trey,” she whispered, wishing with all her heart that he loved her back.