Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
If she stayed here in this head space, she wouldn’t process anything that had happened today. There would be nothing but her clinging to cold logic, and despite the sense logic seemed to make, this was something she needed her heart to process.
But she couldn’t ask for it. Not with words.
“Carys, are you going to make this hard on me?” Tristan stood there looking so stunning. He wore a slightly too large T-shirt he’d almost surely borrowed from TJ or Cooper, but she knew what his chest looked like.
Or did she? It had been so long.
“I’m going to make it impossible,” she whispered. The impulse to go was checked by her desperate need to get him to push her until she broke. She couldn’t start to heal unless she truly broke.
“Then I’ll have to remind you that any disrespect is going to be punished,” he returned in a softer tone. “Any sarcasm or nasty words will have to be dealt with.”
“What the fuck, Tris?” Aidan asked.
But he was actually doing her a kindness, reminding her there was a map to follow if she couldn’t ask for directions.
Tris gripped the back of the closest chair, using it to hide his raging hard-on. She’d seen his pants tent the moment they were alone, and he’d felt the vibe she was sending out. His dick didn’t care that he’d broken her heart.
“I need to know.” She didn’t want to elaborate. Elaboration would mean talking, and they didn’t need to talk. But she had to know.
“Know what?” Aidan was shifting his gaze between them like he wasn’t quite sure what was happening.
“She wants to know if I’ve been with other women.” Tris simply stared at her, his eyes seeming to go dark. “Absolutely none. Two and a half years. No one but my right hand and my vivid imagination.”
Aidan moved in beside Tris. “Baby, he wouldn’t cheat on you. I know he’s been kind of a dick, but I wouldn’t have trusted him at all if I thought for a moment he was cheating on us…on you.”
“You had it right the first time.” Tristan’s gaze sharpened. “We’re all involved in this relationship. Anything outside the three of us is cheating, and I never even once thought about it. I had a job to do. I wasn’t looking for a different life or a way out. I’ve been desperately trying to find a way back in.”
“Okay.” Aidan took a long breath and got his “I can fix this” expression on. “We’ll go into the break room and get some coffee and talk this out. Carys, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Tristan huffed. “She doesn’t want to talk. Look at her. Her shoulders are tight. Her hands keep clenching open and shut, but otherwise, she’s perfectly still. Like she’s afraid to move. She doesn’t want to leave, but she also doesn’t want us to think she wants to stay. Stop thinking like her boyfriend. Start thinking like her Dom.”
This was absolutely what Tristan brought to the table. He was infinitely more physical than Aidan. Aidan would be happy making love and holding her. He didn’t mind the kinky stuff, but he didn’t seem to need it the way she and Tris did.
She’d had perfection. A sweet lover who thought about her all the time, and another who looked smooth and normal on the outside and inside was a fucking feral beast.
How the hell had he been gone for two and a half years? “I don’t believe you.”
A brow rose over Tristan’s suddenly icy eyes. “You don’t believe I didn’t fuck someone else?”
It felt good to let a little venom flow. It had been building and building, and she’d had to be the sweet almost bride who delivered babies and did everything right. She’d suffered years of pitying looks, and this resentment had been inside her for so long, she forgot how good it was to give some of it up. “I know you. I know how much you need sex, Tris. I also know you’re a spy and probably fuck for intel. That’s what he’s not saying, Aidan. Maybe he’s been faithful in a purely personal way, but he’s a professional.”
Aidan’s eyes widened like he didn’t know her, but Tristan simply chuckled.
“Yeah, there you are, baby. I’ve been waiting for your inner alpha bitch to show up. Tell me something. Is she clawing to get out now that we’re in the same room?” Tristan taunted. “You wouldn’t let her take a swipe at Aidan because you don’t think he can handle her. Personally, I think you’re wrong. A’s got some thick skin and a deep desire to give you everything you need, including taking some battle wounds.”
“What are you two talking about?” Aidan looked her way, his eyes pleading. “Carys, baby, there’s no need to fight.”