Only Trick (39 page)

Tamsen rests her hand on my arm. “Grady is an encyclopedia of useless information.”

“Don’t be catty, little sis.”

Through the rear view mirror I see Trick holding tight to his smirk.

“So it wasn’t owned by the Eagles?” I wink at Tamsen.

Grady shakes his head and flips his wrist back at me. “No, of course not, silly girl. Did you know there have been many firsthand accounts of spirits and ghosts in the courtyard of the hotel?”

Both Tamsen and I snicker.

“Let me repeat … useless information.”

Grady scowls at his sister, trying to hide his own grin.

Our early dinner guarantees us immediate seating and the next couple of hours fill with crazy laughter about Trick and Grady’s gay charade that has put them both in the worst situations over the years. Tamsen and I find ourselves giggling just to giggle by the time Grady orders a third bottle of wine. Trick watches me with a curious mix of amusement and caution as I down another glass of red wine. He’s the only sober one at our table.

“Darby, did they catch whoever assaulted your father?”

Grady’s words try to pull at my conscience, but it’s been drowned in wine. Yet, I still have plenty of snickering available. “I don’t think so.” I rest my hand on Trick’s leg. “What do you think, sweetie? Do you think they caught the guy that broke into a U.S. senator’s secured estate, disabled the security cameras, and assaulted him while he was still in his monogrammed Zimmerli pajamas.”

He rests his hand on mine, giving it a circulation-seizing squeeze. “How would I know?”

“Did they figure out motive?” Tamsen asks.

Trick cuts me off just as I start to speak. “What do you think, Darby? What would motivate someone to assault your father? Any ideas?” He rests his arm on the back of my chair, fisting my hair just enough to make it taut—to make his point.

It’s amazing how the right words can have a more sobering effect than a strong cup of coffee. “How would I know?” I grin through clenched teeth.

“Well you two sure don’t know much.” Tamsen snickers, and it is laughable because we’re the
only
two aside from my father who know what really happened.

“That’s why we’re here, to escape all the crap that was interfering.” Trick’s words hold a finality to them as he releases his grip on my hair, but I don’t want him to release me. From the first time he grabbed my ponytail at the political dinner, my body has recognized that tug and its connection to a bundle of nerves between my legs. I start to giggle, covering my mouth with my hand as my skin flushes. My last three large gulps of wine have caught up with me, leaving a warm, tingling, and slightly numbing sensation hugging my body.

“What’s so funny?” Tamsen asks and starts to laugh too … just because.

I lean toward Trick’s ear and cup my hands around my mouth. “I just realized how much I love it when you pull my hair. It messes with my vagina … in a good way.” I giggle. “I even liked being tied up and I
love
it when you fuck me
hard
. Does that make me a naughty girl?”

I sit back in my chair and adjust the napkin on my lap. A smug smile steals my face as I glance up at Tamsen and Grady. The wide-eyed look of curiosity on their faces is priceless. I bet they’d love to know what I just whispered in Trick’s ear.

As if on cue, both of them erupt into a bellowing of laughter, Tamsen covering her face with her hands and Grady hugging his stomach as he leans forward, barely breathing.

Scrunching my nose, I look at Trick for insight into their odd behavior.

He grimaces while digging his teeth into his lower lip. “I think it’s time to cut you off.”

“Why?” I look at Grady and Tamsen again. They’re both wiping tears from their eyes. “What’s so funny?” I start to laugh too, because it must be something really good. Although I’m not sure how I missed it.

Grady cups his hands around his mouth and leans toward Tamsen, mimicking what I did to Trick. “You got in whisper position but you forgot to actually whisper.” He cracks up again, letting his forehead fall to Tamsen’s shoulder.

Turning, my face pulls into a tight, painful smile, looking for confirmation that I should crawl under the table and stay there until closing. Trick nods and I close my eyes, sinking down into my chair as the floor calls to me.

“The answer to your question, sweetie, is yes. That might make you a naughty girl.”

“Oh my God!” I cover my face before Grady finishes speaking. The room spins as embarrassment burns the surface of my skin.

“Check please!” Grady hollers to the waiter with an impish grin.

I
t’s childish, but
necessary. I pretend to fall asleep as soon as Trick shuts the door to the car. I’m buzzed and relaxed but not tired … not yet. Right now I want to avoid any more embarrassment in front of Grady and Tamsen.

Trick carries me into the house. Tamsen offers, with a giggle and hiccup, to forego our girls’ slumber party until tomorrow night. Trick doesn’t respond, but I imagine the look on his face could kill on contact. He takes me upstairs and sets me down on our bed. The moment I hear the lock to our bedroom door click, my eyes open. They’re heavy drunk with alcohol and
lust
.

I.
Need.
Him.

Sitting up, our eyes meet. He shrugs off his shirt. My intoxicated gaze drags over every inch of his sculpted, ink-etched, sexy as hell body. His wild animal eyes feed my addiction. Holding my gaze with an unwavering dominance, he continues removing his clothes. Piercing glare, controlled moves, and the most incredible body seduce me.
Only
Trick can bring me to my knees …
begging
 … without a single touch.

He sits on the bed, his back against the headboard. “Come.” One word, it vibrates over my skin sending chills up my spine and stealing a beat from my heart as something inside explodes. A million shards of desire ricochet to my very essence.

Standing, I step out of my heels and release the halter tie to my dress. He fucking eats me alive with his eyes as I slide down my panties. Crawling up the bed, I fall victim to his compelling gaze. It says the only thing that needs to be said …
there will be no more words
.

Straddling him, I grab his hair and cry out as his mouth seizes my breast. His flat palm slides up my back. Fisting my hair, he tugs it—hard. My head falls back and I collapse onto him. Another cry passing my lips as he impales me …
possessing
me.

*

That love … the
one that’s too good to be true, and that passion … the one that feels like a wild animal’s trying to escape from within—I have that with Trick. The intensity we share, the sweat, the urgency, it’s righting all the wrong from our past—one look, one touch, one breath at a time.

“Don’t move,” a rough, groggy voice warns as I wiggle under the blanket of his body.

“It’s after eight and I have to pee.”

“It can wait.” Trick rubs his sandpaper face over my chest, kissing the swell of my breasts. His hands slide up my sides and I feel the instant reminder of his insatiability.

“My bladder disagrees. Besides we have guests and we should try to be hospitable.”

“I need to be inside you.”

I wriggle my way out. “I’ll urinate on you and even if you’re into golden showers, I’m not.” I walk to the bathroom.

Trick buries his face in the pillow and groans. “Darby …”

I smile, looking back at my inked pile of perfection, naked on our messy sheets. He’s mine—a truth I’ll never really get used to. A quick pee and a much needed tooth brushing gets interrupted with my husband’s morning
need
that will not be dismissed. He needs this release as much as I needed my bladder relief. I think it may have something to do with the mouthful of toothpaste I haven’t yet expectorated or the cold vanity top against my bare ass, but my orgasm doesn’t make an appearance. However, by the time we get out of the shower I’m more than sated.

*

“Mmm, what’s that
smell?” I whisper to Trick as we make our way downstairs an hour after waking.

“That would be Grady.”

“Good morning, newlyweds,” Grady says with naughty suggestion in his tone.

“It is.” Trick palms my ass with no discretion. I don’t even care at this point. Grady and Tamsen have to know by now that we’re either having sex, talking about it, or thinking about it. I’m not a drunk that suffers amnesia the morning after; my memory from the restaurant is all too clear. I’m a dirty girl that likes to be man-handled and dominated in the bedroom. Who knew?
I did.

“What are you two boys going to do today while Darby and I flaunt our stuff on the beach, watching the hot surfer guys?”

“Excuse me?” Grady rests his fist on his hip, flipping it out with sass.

“Okay … Trick, what are you going to do today while Darby,
Grady
, and I flaunt our stuff on the beach, watching the hot surfer guys?”

“According to your description, it would appear I’m surfing today.”

Co-cky!

“You surf?” I raise a brow, cutting into my pancakes.

Trick shoves a bite into his mouth, shaking his head.

“The boy lived in New York then moved to Chicago. But I’m sure he could walk down the beach in board shorts while holding a surf board and the women won’t give a shit if he can surf or not.”

Trick rolls his eyes at Grady, but his smile contradicts his feigned annoyance.

*

Trick foregoes the
beach scene, opting to dig out his sketch pad and graphites instead. Grady puts on his own show for onlookers strolling down the beach. He may be in his forties, but his body is holding tight to its early thirties. Tamsen looks amazing in her string bikini with Brazilian bottoms, and the sun loves her skin as much as Grady’s. The sun and I? Not friends yet. My only beach friends are SPF fifty and a wide-brimmed hat, but I love the salty ocean breeze, and the rhythmic lulling sound of the waves crashing into shore, and the way the white sand massages my toes every time I curl them into the cool grittiness.

“Tell me, Darby … why did Trick assault your father?”