Protecting Tricia (17 page)

“I know. But before that conversation, I hadn’t even thought
about how our relationship might affect your plans for the future. When your
dad left my apartment, I was pissed off. After I’d had a chance to calm down
and think about it, I was even more pissed off because I suspected he might be
right.”

“Right about what exactly?” she asked.

“That I was going to ruin your life.”

She heaved an exasperated sigh. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

“I could imagine it happening. We’d get married, you’d get
pregnant, and that would be the end of it. No more college, no more anything.”

“Marriage wasn’t a requirement, and there are ways to prevent
pregnancies.” She stood, paced to one end of the room and back again.

If his purpose was to convince her he’d had a legitimate
reason for ending the relationship, he wasn’t doing a very good job. She took a
deep breath, exhaled slowly, and ordered herself to calm down. She was getting
upset already and they hadn’t even gotten to the real issue, which was how he’d
chosen to end the relationship.

“When you’re young, four years seems like an eternity. Do
you really think we would have waited that long?” he asked. “And unplanned
pregnancies happen every day.”

“Even if that had happened, I think I would have survived
it.”

“I know you would have. But, honey, I didn’t want you to
just survive. I wanted you to thrive.”

His words stopped her in her tracks. She looked over at him,
and damned if he didn’t look sincere.

“What I didn’t want,” he said, “was for you to resent me.”

“Why would I have resented you?”

“I’ve seen it happen. When my parents first got married, my
dad was riding broncos in the rodeo. My mom hated the rodeo circuit. No
stability, no security, too many injuries. Dad loved her, he wanted to make her
happy, so he gave it up. He gave up his dreams for her and ended up resenting
her for it. It tore our family apart.”

“Okay.” She rubbed a hand over her forehead and ran it
through her hair. “Maybe I can understand your logic. I don’t agree with it,
but I could see why it might have you momentarily questioning whether or not we
should have continued to see each other. Still, you should have talked to me about
it.”

“I knew if I did, you’d try to convince me that I was wrong.
And you probably would have been able to do it.”

“If you wanted to break things off, then you should have
done that
before
you started screwing around.”

“I tried,” he said. “The night before the party. You
basically blew me off.”

She wrinkled her brow in thought and struggled to recall the
discussion. While she remembered every detail of what happened at the party,
her memories prior to it were vague.

“You must not have tried very hard,” she said, “because I
don’t remember it.”

“I should have tried harder. But when you didn’t get the
message, I got frustrated. Then we went to that party. Rachel was flirting with
me, and I’d been drinking.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Be careful, Clint,” she warned.
“That’s sounding suspiciously like excuses.”

“It’s not. There is no excuse for what I did. But when the
opportunity presented itself…” His words trailed off. “You were so committed to
our relationship, I knew the only way to really end it would be to do something
that was totally unforgivable, to make you hate me.”

“It did do that. Not only did you cheat on me with someone I
thought was a friend, but it was so public. Half the high school was at that
party, and the ones that weren’t there knew every detail of what happened
within twenty-four hours. You said some pretty hurtful things, and we had this
huge audience listening to every word. I was utterly humiliated.”

“I never meant for that to happen. You started yelling, and
things just spiraled out of control. Every single word I said was a lie.”

“Then you’re one hell of an actor because it sounded pretty
darn believable to me.” And to everyone else there too.

She closed her eyes in shame as the hateful words replayed
in her mind.

You’re smothering me. For some reason you seem to be
under the mistaken impression that we’re serious. We’re not. Look somewhere
else for the husband and father candidate, because I have no intention of ever
falling into that trap. There was only one thing I wanted from you, and once I
got it I lost interest real fast. Especially since it wasn’t even very good.

She’d stood there like an idiot and stared at him in
disbelief, shock rendering her motionless and unable to speak. It had been
Jenny that had grabbed her arm and tugged her out of the line of fire. It had
been Jenny that had driven her home and held her as she cried.

“I was an asshole.”

At his words, she opened her eyes and glared at him. “Yes,
you were. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to forgive you? Do you want
me to tell you it’s okay and let you off the hook?”

“I just wanted you to know the truth.”

“The truth,” she repeated. “Okay, let me see if I have this
straight. You hurt me so badly I thought I might die from the pain, you
humiliated me, the entire town knew every detail of it, people still remember
it, but it’s okay because you thought you were doing it for my own good.”

He heaved out a sigh and banged his head back against the
headboard of the bed. When he returned his gaze to hers, his eyes were filled
with despair.

“The truth is, I was an idiot. I was young and stupid, and
I’ve spent the past eight years regretting what I did. I’m sorry, and if you’ll
let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. I’ll never
lie to you again, I’ll never cheat on you, and I’ll do everything in my power
to make sure I never hurt you again.”

“Those are some pretty big promises.”

“Yes, they are, but I’ll keep every one of them.” He held
his hand out and asked, “Can you trust me?”

Could she? His remorse did seem sincere. For almost a decade
she’d held on to this grudge. It was time to let it go. Clint had proven she
could trust him with her life, and she believed she could trust him with her
heart as well.

She stepped forward and took his hand. “I need one more
promise.”

“Just name it, honey.”

“I want your assurance that you’ll never again decide what’s
best for me and then proceed to follow through without discussing it with me
first
and
getting my approval.”

“I promise.”

“Good.” She sat on the edge of the mattress. “You know that
cast iron skillet you’ve got in your kitchen?”

His brow wrinkled. “Yeah.”

“If you fail to keep any of those promises, I’m going to
knock you over the head with it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned, locked his fingers with hers, then
brought their joined hands to his mouth for a kiss. “I love you, Tricia.”

Eighteen months later

Tricia lifted a brow at the much too generous tip Clint
handed to the bellman. After the happy man had stepped out of the room, Clint
shut the door, and then turned to swing Tricia up into his arms. Laughing, she
grabbed his shoulders to steady herself.

He kissed her as he strode toward the huge king-sized bed in
the middle of the room. After dropping her on the mattress, he quickly
followed, covering her body with his own.

“We need to call your mom. Let them know we got here okay,”
she said.

“They’re not worried about us. They know we’re busy.”

“Heather—”

“Heather’s fine. Mom’s taking good care of her.” He kissed
and nuzzled her throat as he made quick work of the buttons on her shirt.

“Wait a minute.” She squirmed and wiggled, struggling to sit
up.

“Can’t.” He grabbed her waist and pulled her back underneath
him. “The marriage isn’t legal until we consummate it.”

She slapped a hand against his chest to hold him at bay.
Unable to resist, she took half a second to admire the wedding ring on her
finger.

“Is that true?” she asked.

“I don’t have the slightest idea, but we better not take any
chances.” He removed her hand and lowered his head to kiss her cleavage,
dipping his tongue between her breasts.

“I have a surprise for you. Something to enhance our first
sexual encounter as husband and wife. I think you might like it.”

That got his attention, and he paused and lifted his head.
“Yeah? What is it?”

“Let me up so I can get it.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “If you’re not back in this bed
within thirty seconds, I’m coming after you.”

She wiggled out from underneath him and headed for the
suitcases by the door. She picked up the one containing her gift, set it on the
dresser, and opened it. After extracting the item, she rummaged through her
purse for her birth control pills.

When she turned back around, she found Clint sitting on the
side of the bed, removing his shoes. She waited until he looked her way, then
smiled at him, held the pills above the trashcan, and dropped them.

“I kept my part of the bargain,” she reminded him. Just two
days prior she’d been handed the college degree, which Clint had insisted she
get. “Now it’s time for you to keep yours.”

“Wait a minute, wasn’t my part the big church wedding?” he
teased.

“Yes,
and
a brother or a sister for Heather.”

“Oh, yeah.” He grinned at her. “Well, come here, honey, and
let’s get started.”

Pulling the gift from behind her back, she strolled over to
him. “I brought these, just in case you needed some enticement.”

When she straddled him, he cupped her rear with his hands.
Smiling, she draped the silk ties, both bright red, around his neck.

He glanced down at the ties and then looked at her with one
brow lifted. “Not that I need any enticement, but I’m at a loss as to how this
would do the trick.”

She kissed him and said, “Well, it’s for you to use on me.”

“Ah.” The confused look in his eyes disappeared to be
replaced with understanding. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely. It’s all about trust, and I trust you
completely.”

Easing her shirt off her shoulders, he tossed it on the
floor and removed her bra. He shifted her body until her breasts were level
with his mouth and ran his tongue over her nipple.

Mere minutes before Clint had seemed intent on consummating
the marriage immediately, but now he worked at a leisurely pace. He licked and
tugged on her nipple until it was stiff and aching before moving on to the
other.

She closed her eyes, digging her nails into his shoulders.
Moaning, she pressed her breast more firmly against him, silently urging him to
take it inside his mouth.

Instead, he pulled away completely. When she looked down at
him, he smiled at her. He pulled one of the ties from his neck, wrapped it around
her wrist, knotted it, and then tugged on it firmly.

“What’s your name?” he asked as he wrapped the second tie
around her other wrist.

She blinked at the question, shaking her head to clear it.
Surely, she’d heard incorrectly. “My name? You forgot my name?”

He chuckled. “No, but I’m willing to bet that you have.”

Was the man so arrogant he honestly believed he had the
ability to make a woman forget her own name?

“Tell me,” he urged, stroking a thumb over her hardened
nipple.

“Tricia,” she replied, feeling completely foolish.

“Tricia what?”

“Steph—” She managed to catch herself before uttering the
entire word. “Owens,” she corrected.

“That’s right, and Mrs. Owens, if you get scared...” He
tugged on the end of one of the ties, making it clear what he was referring to.
“...or even the slightest bit uneasy, all you have to do is tell me, and we
stop immediately.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise me you’ll tell me if you do.”

She nodded. “I swear.”

“Good.” He cupped her rear with his hands, stood, and laid
her across the bed.

After securing the ends of the ties to the bed posts, her
husband proceeded to tease and torment her until she begged him to put an end
to it.

And she loved every single second of it.

Pamela Tyner was reading by the age of four and hasn’t
stopped since. As a child her family often worried that she spent too much time
reading...as if such a thing were possible. By high school she was creating her
own stories, although it wasn’t until years later that she actually put them on
paper and begin pursuing the dream of publication.

Born and raised in the south, with the accent to prove it,
she currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and two sons.

Pamela’s Website:

www.pamelatyner.com

Reader eMail:

[email protected]

Finding Passion

An unexpected weekend adventure leads to renewed passion,
but will it be enough to save a troubled marriage?

Nathan Collins is stunned when he’s served with divorce
papers…almost as stunned as he’d been three weeks prior when his wife had
suddenly asked him to move out of the house. At the time, Susan had proposed a
thirty-day separation followed by marriage counseling. Nathan intends to hold
her to that agreement.

He moves from stunned to pissed when Susan attempts to use
blackmail as a means to obtain his signature on the papers. Damned if he’ll be
blackmailed into anything, especially when he’s innocent of the accusations.
He’d never cheat on his wife.

When an unexpected storm and a flooded road strand them
together for the weekend, neither suspects that it will lead to a discovery of
secret desires and fantasy fulfillment. But will their renewed passion be enough
to revive their fledgling marriage? Despite Nathan’s vehement denial, Susan has
some pretty convincing evidence of his extramarital activities.

Content Warning: contains explicit sex and adult language