Heads or Tails (36 page)

‘This
is
how I make love…’ Tristan parted her trembling thighs with his other hand, stimulating her heat with his fingertips as he lined himself up behind her. The room was filled with the sound of their haggard breathing. ‘I’m not the orchestral roses and wine type. If you want it rough, I can give you that. But whether I’m driving myself into you or easing my way in-you can rest assured that my heart is relishing it as much as my body is!’

‘Oh god!’ Ivyanne  gasped. ‘Fine!’

She’s already pulsing!
He thought wildly.
I’m going to undo this girl in seconds this time!
And she’s going to take me with her!

‘Are you ready for this
Ivanna
?’ he said as he moved his hand to grasp her hip instead. ‘Because
Trent
likes it this way. A lot.’

‘Mmm…’ she backed up against him needfully.

Amidst his cloud of euphoria, he gleaned a thrill of satisfaction from the fact that he’d addressed her by her old alias-the one Lincoln had always known her by-and she hadn’t baulked. It was almost like he was taking her virginity all over again. Tristan caught sight of their metallic reflection in the mirror and felt a surge of animalistic lust to see her at his mercy so completely.

God I love you!
He thought, sliding himself between her thighs teasingly, biting his lip in satisfaction as she quaked.
You will be mine!

‘Oh!’ she gasped, her thighs clenching around him. ‘More!’

Tristan released her hair and slipped his arm under her torso, bringing her back flat up against his stomach. She didn’t want this to be romantic, but he could kiss her with even more passion if he wan’t trying to do it tenderly. He turned her face to his as he  impaled her with one swift jerk of his hips, catching her scream of pleasure with his own mouth as he locked his lips around hers greedily.

He was about to shove her back down onto all fours when the phone suddenly rang.

*

Ivyanne couldn’t believe it when Tristan reached across to her bedside table and picked up his phone, holding her against him, but stilling his movements and cursing under his breath.

‘You’re going to
answer it
?’ she demanded hotly, quaking with her need for him to move inside her. ‘
Now
?!’

Tristan’s heart was pounding against her back. ‘Still on duty, remember?’ he asked her. He held the screen up in front of them. ‘It’s Adele! That’s weird!’

‘Let it ring!’ She spat, moving her hips in quick circles, reaching around behind him to force him against her, her fingers jolting in pleasant shock as she realized that his ass was so firm, so silken, that she couldn’t even get a good grip on it. Every nerve ending in her body was humming in anticipation of the orgasm she’d been seconds shy of. The first of what she knew would be many. ‘You’re busy!’

‘It could be an emergency.’ Tristan’s thumb moved towards the ‘Accept’ button and then shoved her back down with one palm against her back. ‘For once do what you’re damn well told! And
shush
!’

‘Ugh!’ Ivyanne caught herself on her hands and hissed through her teeth when he slid along her with such musical precision that he struck every note inside her.

‘If this isn’t a life or death situation-it’s gonna be
yours
.’ Ivyanne heard Tristan answer brusquely, rocking into her swiftly. Ivyanne felt her body grip his, felt the air sucked from her lungs. She was so close, if he moved again-

‘Tristan?’ Adele’s voice sounded tearful-and loud. Obviously Tristan had put it on speakerphone. ‘Tristan... it’s so awful! I don’t know what to do!’

Ivyanne’s head jerked up. ‘What is it?’ she asked, beating Tristan to it. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Ivyanne?’ Adele began to sob. ‘Ivyanne-Lincoln’s been
shot
!’

17.

Lincoln lost count of the amount of times he slipped in and out of consciousness. He knew that the first two times, the lights above his head were too bright and hurt his eyes, and after that, everything was too
dark
.

Somewhere around the tenth awakening, when an immeasurable length of time had passed, he became slightly more aware of things. The burning, crippling pain in his right arm, for one, which made him clench his teeth to hold in the screams he knew would bring no relief but only aggravate the pounding in his head, and that he was in a car-lain across a backseat. Every now and then, a light blurred past above his head, and then there would be stretches of darkness during which the seatbelt plug was rubbing uncomfortably against his left shoulder and the hum of an engine-
his
engine-were the only things he was aware of. That and nervous, pitchy chattering floating back from the front seat.

Lincoln tried to talk for the longest time, but then the car would hit a pot hole and feed more fuel to his agony, and he would have to groan instead. Lincoln breathed in and out through his nose, trying to breathe through the pain and piece together what had happened to him. The thoughts and memories seemed to float through his sub-conscious, but he didn’t have the strength to pull any closer and examine them. He knew he’d been happy-celebrating, and then he had been terrified.

Ardhi?
He wondered, wetting his lips.
No, not Ardhi. A girl.
He saw the vision of girl with hair as black as night emerging from the shadows and lifting a gun, shouting something.
A girl... did I get shot?! Who would shoot me? What did I do?

‘He’s coming to again!’ A voice whispered. A low, husky voice he knew well. ‘Link? Link are you awake?’

Lincoln frowned, trying to place the voice, but it didn’t make sense. ‘Adele?’ he rasped. ‘You’re driving my car?’

There was a chuckle. ‘Yeah I am. Don’t freak out, okay? You’re the only person who had one that could go fast enough.’ A clucking sound. ‘Trust
him
to focus on that.’

‘Why is he asking about the car?’

A snicker. ‘I was never allowed to drive his ‘baby’ when we were dating.’

‘Oh... right. I forgot you dated.’

‘I think everyone has.’ There was a sigh. ‘I’m being careful Link, okay? We’re rushing you back to Ivyanne so Joyce can fix you up.’

Lincoln grunted. He was in his own car, a crippled passenger with two girls at the helm. Adele, and the other had to be Grace...Grace who he had kissed just as the girl had jumped out of the bushes….

Even amidst his agony, he knew he was in a messed up situation. And there was only one person in the world who was going to make him feel better-and that
wasn’t
Joyce.

‘Please hurry.’ He whispered, as he slipped into darkness once more. ‘I need her...I need Ivanna.’

*

‘Okay,’ he should be more comfortable now if you want to speak with him.’ Joyce said, pulling off her rubber gloves and tossing them into the overflowing trash. ‘He’s lost a bit of blood, a fatal amount for a human, but he’ll recover.’ She patted Ivyanne’s shoulder. ‘You can stop worrying now.’

‘Thank you.’ Ivyanne said, her eyes not leaving Link’s closed ones as she heard Joyce make her way to the door. However the idea of
not
worrying was almost comical to her. Of all the guards who had to have gotten hurt-why
both
men she cared for in one night?

On the bed, Lincoln’s body twitched.

‘Ivyanne?’ he whispered through dry lips.

‘I’m here.’ She stood up and leaned over him, eyes flicking over his well bandaged arm to the rest of his exposed skin, seeing that some of his color had returned in the half an hour since they’d taken him into the dining room. She exhaled a breath she hadn’t known she was holding and squeezed his left hand. ‘Hey….’

Lincoln’s brown eyes lifted to hers, and the corners of his mouth curved in a smile. ‘Good. Then I feel better already.’

‘Silly. I’ve been here the whole time.’

‘Yeah well I can see you now. Your face is better than morphine for pain.’

Ivyanne pressed her lips against his clammy forehead, trying not to think of the other places her lips had been that evening-
especially
as he was being shot. The guilt was more crippling than any emotion she’d ever experienced before, and it wasn’t just one- sided guilt either. Tristan’s agonized face was still clear in her mind, as was the sense of loss she’d felt when he’d released her from his arms and dressed her in her robe while she’d sobbed over another man.

For two hours they’d been waiting for Adele to drive Lincoln home, and Ivyanne had shut down in that time, beside herself with anxiety, terrified that she wasn’t enough-enough of a ruler or a lover to undo the damage which had been done. And how could she ever be enough for both men? That was the point wasn’t it? She had to give all of herself to
one
.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘Okay. A bit woozy and weak but I can’t feel the pain... what did Joyce
give
me?’

‘Poison.’ Ivyanne said quickly. ‘The Irukanji one we tried to overdose Ardhi on. Just a drop-it acts like a numbing agent for awhile.’ She caressed his face. ‘It should take the edge off your pain, and even make you feel calmer.’

‘Oh.’ Lincoln said, squeezing her hand. ‘Thank you.’ His eyes raked her up and down. ‘Are
you
okay? You’ve got blood on you as well.’

Ivyanne looked down at the clothes she had changed into, seeing that there were a few splatters of blood on her shirt. ‘It’s yours. And now that I see you’re okay-
I’m
much better.’ She pressed her forehead to their interlaced fingers. ‘I thought-’

‘So did I.’ Lincoln whispered.

She sobbed. ‘You scared me to death Link!’

‘I know honey, I’m sorry.’ Lincoln shook his head. ‘It all happened so
fast
….’

‘But you think it was Sherri?’ Ivyanne asked, trying to put together the scraps of information she’d gleaned from Grace and Adele when they’d arrived with Lincoln, and the few things Lincoln had muttered as he’d slipped in and out of consciousness-but they’d all been vague.

Lincoln nodded. ‘I
know
it was. She didn’t look like herself...she has long black hair now. A wig maybe? But she was the same height and everything-same eyes. And I remember her pissed-off expression
well
.’

‘Well...Ardhi said he’d take something precious from me so I guess you’re number has been up for awhile, huh?’

‘What do you mean;
Aware
of us living here? Since
when
?’

Ivyanne pressed his hair out of his eyes and kissed his clammy forehead. ‘Ardhi came here tonight.’

‘He
what
?! While I was-’ Lincoln fought to sit up but Ivyanne pushed him back down with one hand.

‘
I’m fine
.’ She over-emphasized both words.  ‘It’s a long story and I’ll fill you in when you’re less drugged. But for now, I think it’s safe to assume that tonight was a synchronized attack.’

But Lincoln shook his head. ‘No it wasn’t.’ Scared, dark eyes appraised her. ‘Sherri  fired at her in
hot
blood, Ivyanne. There was nothing pre-meditated about it.’

Ivyanne raised an eyebrow. ‘
Her
? Sherri wasn’t aiming for you?’

‘No.’ Lincoln said softly. ‘She was aiming for Grace.’

Ivyanne laughed. ‘Okay now I
know
you’re off your face on jellyfish juice. Sherri barely even
knows
Grace.’ She raised their hands to her lips and kissed them, giving him a tender smile. ‘You’re just confused, is all. The only motivation Sherri would have to shoot any woman other than myself or Adele is-’ Comprehension slammed into Ivyanne’s stomach with the force of a freight train. She dropped Lincoln’s hand and recoiled, both hands cupping her mouth to hold in a surprised exclamation.

Lincoln’s expression finished her broken sentence. He looked like guilt had frightened him to death. ‘Ivyanne I-’ he grimaced and dropped his chin to his chest, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes. ‘God...there’s nothing I can say…’

The room was silent save the ticking of an unseen clock. Ivyanne couldn’t bear it. She dropped her hands and asked in a thin voice: ‘Lincoln...I’m on the verge of freaking out here. What exactly are you telling me?’

‘We kissed.’ Lincoln whispered the admission. ‘
That’s
when Sherri jumped out-she screamed something that sounded like :
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
And then pointed the pistol at Grace. So I pushed her out of the way and was hit instead.’

Ivyanne felt that same heavy-lightness in her extremities again, like the blood in her body had retreated to her chest to keep her racing heart fueled.

‘You almost died for someone else?’ She swallowed again, wishing she could only picture the beautiful heroic frame of the picture he was painting, not the heartbreaking canvass in focus. ‘That was...brave Link. A bit uh,’ her nose tingled at the idea of him giving his life for someone else. ‘A bit rash. But brave.’

Lincoln shook his head rapidly, still hiding his face. ‘I’m sorry baby! I don’t know what’s gotten into me, or why I keep messing up the way I do! I was pushing Grace off
all
weekend-even ten minutes before that!’

‘So what changed?’ Ivyanne asked softly.

Lincoln threw his hands out, revealing his anguished expression. ‘Well we were celebrating. I mean, we were terrified when we thought Michael was dead, but after she helped me revive him, I was so grateful to her! And
then
when we saw the scales on his legs and realized I’d turned him, it was like: ‘Whoa!’ You
know
? Total emotional roller coaster!’

Ivyanne’s eyebrows lifted, her heart catching somewhere between agony and hope. ‘You
turned
Michael Donnelley?!!!’ She demanded, confounded.

Lincoln looked at her. ‘No one told you?’

Ivyanne shook her head. ‘I’ve been in here with Joyce since you showed up!’

‘Oh. Well, yeah I did…I can do it, after all.’ Ivyanne could see pride warring for place on his face only to be beaten back by guilt before he went on: ‘Anyway we were all hyper and gathered out on the hill to pow-wow about it for a few minutes before Remi took Michael home. But when everyone went inside, it was just Grace and I left and...’ He paused. ‘That’s when she said she was going to leave me alone…because being able to turn makes me, uh…’

‘Really fucking important.’ Ivyanne said softly, understanding at once. ‘More eligible than Tristan for king.’

Lincoln’s lips twitched but he was successful in beating the smile back. He ran his hand through his hair and averted his eyes. ‘Well...that was
her
theory and I was in no hurry to de-bunk it.’ He shook his head. ‘Anyway, Grace threw in the towel right then and there-’

‘And you didn’t want her to?’ Ivyanne asked in a voice as small as she felt. She knew she had no right to demand explanations to an infraction that was dwarfed by her own, but she knew she needed to understand it in order to deal with it accordingly.

Lincoln’s eyes widened. ‘
No
! No... it wasn’t like
that
. It was a goodbye thing! I was so relieved that she was going to back off that I offered it as closure. Besides,’ some color was returning swiftly to his cheeks. ‘I
wanted
to kiss someone, Ivyanne.
You
weren’t there,
I
was in the mood to celebrate,
she
was a lot of the reason why and she’s not exactly troll-like...’

Ivyanne felt jealousy rise up in side her. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘She’s not.’

‘It was only a few seconds, I swear that to you…’ Lincoln had begun bunching up the bed sheet with his fists. ‘And then Sherri jumped out-’

Ivyanne wasn’t ready to hear any more. There were so many conflicting emotions racing through her that she couldn’t tell which overbalanced the others more. Hurt, jealousy, guilt, horror, possessiveness, anger, relief, pain... guilt. And
more
guilt. Ivyanne turned away, trying to drag a breath through her collapsed lungs, clutching her hair at her temples and squeezing her eyes against an imagined slideshow of the weekend’s events-things she had seen, and things she thankfully had
not
but could picture all the same.

But the one she kept coming back to was Tristan onscreen, naked, crooking his finger at her-and of her traitorous body’s reaction to that fleeting moment. She inhaled sharply, so sharply that her lungs contracted painfully again.

‘Baby….!’ Lincoln’s voice was practically a wail. ‘Ivyanne please god don’t cry. I deserved this bullet-don’t think I don’t know that! Grace doesn’t mean anything to me!If I could take kissing her back, I would!’