Give in to Me (3 page)

He was silent for so long that I was sure the next words out of his mouth would be to tell me it was over. Bracing myself for the news, I held on to his forearms and waited, each second ticking by making my heart hurt.

I watched as his expression changed to one so serious that my breath caught in my throat, and then he said in a low voice, “No. It reminds me of you because that’s how I’d feel if I lost you. Nothing and no one compares to you, Nina.”

When he said things like that, my insides felt like molten lava. Never before had any man made me feel so wanted, so desired. His mouth covered mine in a kiss so deep and full of need that my legs buckled. Tristan caught me by the waist and pulled me hard against him, his stiff cock pressing against my body.

“See what you do to me? All the way home all I could think about was relaxing with you and now look. Obviously, my body knows something my brain doesn’t.”

“I did that, huh?” I asked with a grin as I ran my hand over the front of his suit pants, my body reacting to his excitement.

Leaning over, he nipped my earlobe and whispered, “Yeah, you did that. Turnabout’s fair play too.”

He lifted the little cotton skirt I wore and cupped my ass. Slipping his finger under my panties, he ran his fingertip up my already wet pussy, just grazing my throbbing clit. So skilled at knowing exactly how to tease me, he lingered there for just a moment before he moved away, making my body ache for his touch.

“Tristan, don’t make me wait,” I said with a moan as he stepped away from me to unknot his tie and slip it from around his neck.

“Don’t move,” he commanded, and I stood still watching him remove his black suit coat and begin to unbutton his white dress shirt.

I reached out to help him with the buttons, and he took another step back from me. “I told you not to move, Nina.”

Filling my gaze with the sight of his perfectly sculpted body, I watched as he finished with the buttons and slid out of his shirt. “Why won’t you let me help?” I asked, eager to feel his skin under my touch.

A look of unhappiness crossed his features for just a moment, like he didn’t enjoy me wanting him so much, but before I could ask if anything was wrong, his expression changed and he was that same incredibly sexy Tristan I couldn’t get enough of. He extended his hand, and I moved toward him, timidly touching the buckle of his belt as I stared up into his deep brown eyes.

“I so much want you to be happy, Nina,” he said in a low voice as I began to undo his belt and pants, his eyes searching for an answer to some unspoken question or doubt he had about us. Did he think I wasn’t happy?

His zipper slid open and all that stood between my hand and his cock was the cotton of his boxer briefs. Running my finger over the flat planes of his abdomen, I skimmed the tip of his cock. “I am happy, Tristan. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He left my question unanswered and tugged my skirt over my hips, along with my panties as I stroked him from base to tip. Lifting my T-shirt up over my head, he moaned my name, telling me how much he wanted me.

I hurried out of my bra and followed him to the sofa, straddling him as he pulled me down on top of him. With one long thrust, he slid into me until there was nothing separating us. He held me still so he remained deep inside me, pushing on my hips as he kissed me hard. I wanted to move, to ride him until I came so hard my thighs shook, but I couldn’t budge. I didn’t think I could want him more, but somehow not being able to feel him moving in and out of my body made me almost desperate for him.

“Tristan, don’t make me beg,” I whispered into his ear. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“So impatient. If I move my hands, are you going to move?”

I looked into those eyes and saw he wanted me as much as I wanted him. I just couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to admit it then. “I’m going to ride your cock like it’s never been ridden and fuck you like I know you want.”

With anyone else, I would’ve been embarrassed to say those words, but with Tristan, I felt nothing but the desire to make him happy. Maybe that was why he always seemed to be so interested in my happiness—because he wanted to be happy too. I wanted to be the woman who gave him that.

Silently, he stared up at me and moved his hands from my hips, giving me the freedom to do just as I promised. With every tilt of my hips and every thrust of his cock, we raced toward that happiness we gave one another. His hands guided my movement, and mine clutched his broad shoulders until my body exploded into a million pieces, each one sublimely happy and fulfilled. Moments later, he plunged into me one last time and came almost violently, as if some demon inside of him released its control over him to me.

Smoothing the tiny beads of sweat from his forehead, I smiled down into that gorgeous face now so placid as he stared up at me. I loved him, even if I had never said the words, and I knew he loved me. We shared a need for each other that went far beyond what our bodies craved, and I cherished that vulnerable part deep inside him that he showed me in moments like this.

The memory of that night left me longing to hold him and tell him I missed him. Nothing compared to him for me. He was everything to me, and I was lost without him.

Chapter Two

Tristan

Mid-afternoon was the hardest. I could deal with early morning. I felt like shit the moment I opened my eyes, but I could handle it. Nina’s texts after I’d been up for hours doing nothing but thinking—that killed me. Every day I had to talk myself out of calling her and hearing her sweet voice tell me she missed me. I knew I shouldn’t, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to.

I scrolled through months of texts, feeling worse with each passing one. Telling myself what I was doing was for her benefit did little to make me feel like a hero in this. Four months had gone by, and other than feeling like I wanted to die most days because of what I was putting Nina through, I was no closer to finding out what Karl believed was in Joseph Edwards’ notebook. I’d read it from cover to cover, dozens of times reliving the horror of what my father and Taylor had done, but still I couldn’t find the slightest detail to explain why my possessing those notes meant anything to Karl or the Board.

Each day I spent hours emotionally crucifying myself, only to hear my phone vibrate in front of me with Nina’s good morning text that never failed to rip my heart out. I imagined her waking up in our bed alone, all curled up like she always was in the morning, her hair all tousled and that sleepy look on her face.

Fucking hell! How long was I going to have to pay for what my father and brother did?

The first few months I barely remembered. Between the coke and the alcohol, I’d succeeded in losing days at a time, intent on finding some way of blunting my unhappiness. Easier than facing reality, all the self-abuse ended up achieving was making me feel worse.

Hidden in this secret place no one but Daryl knew about, I was more dead than alive, except for those moments when Nina’s messages jolted me out of my own personal hell to the one I shared with her. I had all the money I could want in this world, but it was meaningless without her. I wanted for nothing but for the one thing my life with her had given me.

Love. With Nina, I finally understood what it meant to love and be loved. We’d endured her accident and even her learning the truth this time. I’d known by the end of that first day away that she’d forgive me, which made having to stay here even harder. Every ounce of my being wanted to return to her, but I had to find out what Karl was looking for first.

If you see these, you need to know that today’s a hard day for me. It’s never easy, but today’s really hard. I miss you so much.

I wanted to text back and tell her I missed her too. How I would have given anything to hear her ask one of her questions, even the ones that put me on the spot and I didn’t want to answer. How just the thought of sharing a pitcher of semi-flat birch beer and a tray of pizza at our favorite restaurant made me more homesick than I’d ever been in my life.

But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to risk putting her in danger any more than I already had.

Two hours later, my phone vibrated across the tabletop again, and I looked down to see not a message from Nina but one from Daryl. He only texted after he’d seen her or when he had something important about Karl to tell me, so I read his message with a knot forming in the pit of my stomach.

Coming to see you. We need to talk. See you tomorrow afternoon.

I looked around at the mess of my rooms in this place I’d visited first as a child with my mother. The old hotel she’d fallen in love with was now a building under construction, except for this part I’d taken over. Dirty clothes hung over the backs of chairs, unwashed dishes sat on the table and piled high in the kitchen sink, and newspapers lay strewn across the couch I sat on and the floor next to me. Too fucking bad if Daryl had a problem with the way things looked. He’d complained the last time he’d come to see me, not that I cared then either. I didn’t need him to act like a parent. I needed him to act like a fucking detective and find out what I couldn’t so I could get home to the woman I loved.

A knock at the door nearly fifteen hours later had me face to face with Daryl. Looking exactly like someone who’d flown business class for over half a day, he nearly fell into the recliner across from the couch.

“Remind me again why your damn plane couldn’t fly me here?”

“Karl would know where I was if he found out the company jet was flown somewhere.”

“I swear I’m going to end up killing that bastard myself after my return flight,” Daryl groaned as he arched his back in pain. “Do you have any idea how terrible business class is from New York to Bucharest? Women in labor for days feel better than I do right now. Any chance you know a chiropractor here?”

“Are you here just to complain? You’re supposed to be my detective, so please tell me you have something instead of whining about a bad flight.”

“And you think I sound cranky? Is this what you get like when you’re removed from power?”

I wasn’t in the mood for Daryl’s bullshit nonsense. It hadn’t taken long for Karl and his friends on the Board to move on my position in my absence. I was still technically the CEO, but not for long. Every day I was forced to stay away was more justification for them to officially remove me and then replace me, likely with Karl or one of his handpicked lackeys.

“Just get to why you’re here.”

“Why aren’t you staying at that five star hotel I read about on the plane? The Ambassador or something. I get why you aren’t staying at one of your hotels, but why continue living here in this house? I mean, you can still afford it, so why aren’t you living in style like usual?”

Looking around at the old building my mother had fallen in love with nearly twenty years ago, I said, “I like this place.” Turning my attention back to him, I continued, “Enough with your bitching. Why are you here?”

“Your lady isn’t holding up very well.”

Leaning forward, I studied his face for any sign of what was going on with Nina. “What’s wrong? Is Nina okay?”

“Physically, she’s fine. The boys tell me she visits museums a lot. Pretty high brow stuff as far as they’re concerned, but she’s getting out. I think this whole thing is starting to take its toll on her, though. I’m wondering if you should consider another way of keeping her safe.”

“I don’t see any other way, Daryl. As long as Karl thinks what I have is a danger to him, I can’t be around her. I don’t know what he’s concerned about. I’d be endangering her for nothing.”

“You haven’t figured out anything? It’s been four months, Tristan. I know you spent the first couple out of your mind in more ways than one, but you’ve got nothing?”

Shaking my head, I admitted the sad truth. “Nothing. I’ve been through those notes over and over, and even those pages that are about other investigations. I’ve got nothing.”

“Then maybe it’s time to admit what he’s afraid of isn’t in that notebook. I think you’re on the right track, though. Your assistant told me that your penthouse was ransacked twice in the past two months. Michelle said the police think it was an employee each time, but I don’t think we’re talking about some disgruntled maid or bellboy. Karl wants something he believes you have, so the penthouse would be a logical place to look for it, especially since he can’t get at your house.”

“West and Varo are still guarding Nina?”

“Of course. And the security system you installed is working fine. No one gets onto the property without them knowing.”

“He’s going to want to get into the house when he finally figures out that’s the only place he hasn’t been able to check.”

Daryl nodded. “Have any other homes I’m not aware of?”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “No. I only kept the penthouse when I took over as CEO. Well, that’s not entirely true. My father kept a place in LA, but I never go there. The house has been empty for years.”

“Hmmm. I’ll check into whether it’s been broken into lately. Any chance what he’s looking for is there?”

“I have no fucking idea what he’s looking for, Daryl. If I did…” I ended my thought because I honestly couldn’t say what I’d do if I had what Karl so desperately wanted. Maybe I wouldn’t give it to him. If it just had to do with the terrible things my father and Taylor did to the Cashens and Nina’s father, then he could have whatever it was. But was there something more my father had done that I didn’t know about?