“One, that’s not true. Two, you’re not getting out of this goddamn car. Now put your seat back, close your eyes, and get comfortable. You’re here until I say you can leave.”
That son of— Shae hit the unlock button and pushed her door open.
The air rushing through the car seemed to knock some sense into Tristan. He bit out a curse as he started to pull the car over. “Are you crazy?” he snapped. By now, the car was screeching to a halt and gravel was kicking up behind them. Luckily, this deserted back road seemed to be free from cars driving by, so at least she hadn’t caused an accident.
She wished she could say she knew that before she made her reckless action, but that would be a lie. She just wanted to get away. Away from Tristan, away from the mess she found herself in, away from Damask, and away from the fucked-up memories of her family. Memories that had flooded back all too quickly after the close encounter with her father.
The car came to a screeching halt and Tristan was out of the car before even she was. She held her breath as he stormed around and pulled her car door open. “You want to get out? Get out!” he ordered.
She winced at his tone but didn’t argue. She left the earpiece and microphone in his car but didn’t take anything else. She didn’t have anything. Even back at the mansion, she had only her sundress and her phone she didn’t want to use for fear of being tracked. What difference was it being at the house full of people she didn’t know or trust, and being out here in the middle of nowhere alone? She was still surrounded by snakes.
“Go on. See how far you walk. See how long it takes for you to call me, begging for help.”
Shae let out a laugh. “Call you? One, I don’t have a phone I can safely use. Two, you never told me your number. I don’t know anything about you. Even if I wanted to find you again, I would never be able to. So, good job, Tristan. You made yourself so much of a ghost that you’ll never see me again. I think you can mark that down as a success.” She started walking away, but she heard steps pounding behind her on the gravel shoulder.
“Why the hell would that be a success?”
She didn’t have time for this. Well, she supposed with the amount of walking ahead of her she had plenty of time for this, but she was just out of emotional energy at this point. She turned around to face him. “You’re so full of it. You keep me at arm’s length at every turn, lie to me constantly, and have done nothing but try to get me out of your hair since we met. So now that I’m trying to actually walk away, please, tell me what your problem is.”
“My problem is.... Fuck this.” Tristan reached forward, grabbing the front of her suit jacket, and pulled her against him, crushing her mouth with his.
For a moment, she was too shocked to react. How did they go from fighting to this?
Then his mouth moved against hers and she totally understood. “You son of a bitch,” she mumbled against his mouth as she kissed him back. For the first time, she realized that maybe this was as strange for him as it was for her. Maybe he didn’t understand the pull between them either.
But the pull was there. The more time they spent together, the more undeniable it became. From the moment they’d met on the beach to him watching her while she slept, they were connected in some way she didn’t understand.
She didn’t need to understand it to know what her body wanted, though. Tristan lifted her up and tugged her against his body as he turned to walk back to the car with her in his arms.
She’d been so distracted by the feel of his body that she didn’t even know her feet had left the ground until they were moving. She closed her eyes at the dizzying sensation of being carried and leaned her forehead against his. And when she raised her lashes, she was staring deep into his eyes. That crystal blue seemed to be on fire with a heat she’d never seen before. He was just as taken as she was, apparently.
When her back hit the car, she let out a little gasp of shock. Between the cool metal and his hot body, she already felt as if she were on overload, and he’d barely touched her yet.
Her fingers bit into his back. What started as her holding on for dear life turned into her holding him as close as she could against her. Her eyes drifted closed, and his nose just brushed hers before he kissed her again. The kiss was slow, gentle. A direct contrast to how tightly her legs were wrapped around his waist and the frantic movement as she rubbed against him. For a few moments, they stayed like that. He had her pressed against the car as they softly kissed, slowly exploring each other’s mouths. His tongue was gentle and soft against hers. Her hands relaxed at the base of his neck, just playing with the bottom of his hair. But, as she was beginning to learn was usual for them, the heat started to explode.
The kiss grew deeper and harder, and she kept rubbing against him, demanding what her body needed. Tristan let out a groan as he deepened the kiss. But that wasn’t enough for her. She pushed his jacket over his shoulders, not stopping until it had fallen to the ground. He broke away, and her feet inched closer to the ground. She blinked in confusion the second she made contact with the earth, but it started making more sense as he tugged at her clothes. He gave her jacket the same treatment she gave his before he tugged her blouse right over her head. Shae bit her lip but didn’t stop him. “What if someone drives by?”
He hooked his fingers under her chin, as if he wanted her to meet his eyes. “Does it look like I care if someone drives by?”
Nope. It certainly did not. Turnabout was fair play, so she worked at the buttons of his shirt. She was going disgustingly slow, but he saved her by reaching up to undo the rest. And then he was blessedly shirtless in front of her. She looked down over his clean-cut abs and couldn’t help herself from reaching out and touching him. Nothing about this man was normal. Not the way he acted or spoke, or the way he looked. She could hardly believe he existed, let alone that he was here touching her, kissing her, and reaching for her pants.