“I can’t believe that just happened.” I hop off the counter and go over to Lolly, who is scratching at the dog door, trying to find a way to break out.
“I wonder if that’s the first time we had an uninvited guest,” Trevor says, going to the sink to wash his hands.
“I don’t even want to know; can you imagine getting up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, and getting sprayed by a skunk in the process.”
“Hell no. Guess that’s the price you pay for living in the country.”
“Why did you buy this place?” I love this house, but it needs work.
“The land; I wanted something outside of town, where I could have a party or ride my dirt bike without having to worry about neighbors.” He walks across the kitchen, grabbing my hips, lifting me back onto the counter.
“You really need to stop toting me around,” I glare at him.
“Why?” He looks at me like I just asked him to stop showering for a month. I take a deep breath.
“I don’t like it.”
“Yes, you do.” He walks across the kitchen, getting the bread out of the breadbox.
“Actually, I hate it when you do it.” I don’t really hate it, but I do find it annoying a lot of times when I'm trying to do something, and he just carries me off or moves me without giving me a chance to do what I want.
“You don’t hate it.” “You want to know how I know you don’t hate it?” He looks at me, raising an eyebrow.
“This should be good,” I mumble, watching him make his sandwich. I'm half tempted to stop him from finishing. He doesn’t even make sure that the mayo and mustard are spread evenly on the bread; he just globs it on there. I look up when he starts laughing. “What?”
“Like this. This is killing you; I see it in your face that you want to hop off the counter, take this out of my hands, and do it yourself.”
“So?” I cross my arms over my chest.
“You don’t get your way, and you want to throw a fit.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yeah, babe. It is.”
“Whatever,” I say, as he comes to stand between my legs, pulling me closer to the edge of the counter.
“You need to learn that not everything has to be done when or how you want it done. It’s okay to give up some of the control that you try to hold onto so tightly. With me, I'm not asking, I'm telling you how it is. It doesn’t mean that I don’t respect you or care about the way you feel; it just means that you trust me enough to make sure that you’ve got what you need.”
“I'm feeling a little lost. I thought we were talking about you manhandling me.”
“We were, and we are. I told you that you don’t hate it when I tell you what to do, or put you where I want you. And the reason I know you don’t hate it is because you listen or stay where I put you every time.” Holy shit. He’s right. What the hell is wrong with me? “Now, do you want me to make you a sandwich?”
“No thanks.” I don’t want to encourage his dominant behavior. I want to go somewhere and have a tantrum.
“Okay.” He kisses my forehead, and goes back to what he’s doing with me watching. The rest of the night, I think about what he said, and my need for control. I don’t know if he knows it, but with him, I have none. When we get into bed, he pulls me under him like he always does, kisses my temple, and goes to sleep. I realize that we didn’t talk anymore after our conversation in the kitchen. Like he wanted me to think about everything that he said. I huff out a breath, determined to stop thinking about everything; he can’t be the boss of my subconscious. Then I fall asleep, thinking that I’m comfortable, warm, and safe, so maybe giving him control isn’t so bad.
Chapter 7
Trevor
I look out the double doors of our room at the resort and can see the turquoise sea beyond. There’s a slight breeze coming in off of the water, bringing the sound and smell of the ocean with it. I roll to my side; Liz is laying on her stomach, hands under her pillow, a sheet resting over her hips. My hand itches to touch her. I scrub my hands down my face, thinking about yesterday, and wondering if today is going to be better or worse.
When we arrived last night, Liz’s mom, Rita, was waiting for us in the lobby. She looked worried. I assumed she was nervous about the wedding. Then Tim walked around the corner into the lobby. When I saw him, I felt the urge to beat the shit out of him; if I hadn’t promised Liz I would be on my best behavior when I was around Tim, I would have had him face first on the very expensive tile. Instead, I bit down on the inside of my cheek, trying to check the impulse of attack. Tim walked over to our group. He avoided eye contact with me; his eyes focused on his sister. When he reached her, he picked her up and hugged her. I could hear him say something to her, but couldn’t make out the words until she told him to be nice. Tim turned towards me after he sat Liz down; that’s when I noticed the girl with him. She was small, with short black hair and big brown eyes. She looked like a pixie. The part that caught my attention was her stomach; she had to be around five months pregnant. Tim put his arm around her, pulling her close.
“Trevor.” He stuck out his hand, and I did the same. Our shake was not friendly. We were both stating that we could take the other one out. Tim was not a small guy; he played football in high school and still looked to be in shape. He pulled his hand away first, making me feel like I won that challenge.
“Liz, Trevor, I want you to meet Kara,” Tim said, looking over at Liz, who was looking down at the girls protruding belly.
“Kara,” Liz said. I took a step closer to her; she looked ready to pass out.
“I told Tim that I shouldn’t come, but he said he couldn’t stand the thought of me being home by myself,” Kara said, smiling at Liz. The Liz that I used to know, the one on guard from everyone around her, slipped into place. She took Kara’s hand in her own, shaking it lightly. That’s when Liz noticed the ring on Kara’s hand.
“My mom’s wedding ring,” Liz said, looking at the ring on her finger, running her thumb over the gold band.
“Tim asked me to marry him when he got home from his last visit. Right, babe?” she asked, looking up at him. I could tell by the way she looked at him that she really loved him.
“Congratulations,” Liz said, looking up at Tim.
“Thanks. I wanted to tell you guys a long time ago, but with the wedding, I didn’t know how to bring it up.” Tim had enough remorse to look guilty when Liz looked at him. Why did he claim to have an addiction, steal her money, and not tell his family about his fiancée? I looked at Liz’s mom and noticed that she was nervous.
I could see Liz take a deep breath, and I know I need to get her out of this situation as soon as possible.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kara,” I said, pulling Liz deeper into my side. Liz’s arm came around my back, her nails digging into my ribs.
“You too. We will see you guys in the morning for breakfast.” I couldn't get her away from her brother fast enough. We said our goodbyes to Rita, Kara, and Tim. I picked up our bags and stepped in front of a dazed Liz. "Come on babe," I said quietly, then headed towards the elevators.
"We’ll see you in the morning, honey," Rita said, giving Liz a quick hug. I looked back over my shoulder, and slowed down when I noticed she was still a ways behind me. When we made eye contact, I could see so much pain flash through her eyes that I had to stop myself from picking her up and taking her away from all of it.
"You hungry?” I asked, dropping one of the bags onto the floor of the elevator so I could touch her.
"No," she said, cuddling her face into my hand.
I pulled her forward by her jaw and kissed her softly. What I wanted to do was tell her that I loved her, but once again, I didn’t. I couldn’t. “You wanna take a walk down by the ocean with me?”
“I just want to go to sleep,” she said. I pulled her into my chest, kissing the top of her head. When the elevator came to a stop, I let her off ahead of me, picked up our bags, and headed down the hall to our room. When she came to a stop, opened the door, and just stood there, I thought something was wrong, until she looked over at me smiling. I followed her into the room. The bathroom was right inside the door, with a Jacuzzi tub, stand up shower, and double sinks. The rest of the room was open, with a king sized bed with tall posters and a white canopy. There were side tables, a dresser with a flat screen TV on it, and a chair next to the open doors that led to a balcony. Outside, there was a large couch and a small table. The minute I saw that balcony, I knew I was going to find a way to fuck Liz out there while looking out over the ocean. “This is so beautiful.” I dropped the bags to the ground, walking out to the balcony behind her.
“It is,” I agreed, pulling her back to my front. Leaning over her, my face went into her neck, smelling the scent of her hair mixed with the ocean. “You wanna talk about what happened down in the lobby?”
She was quiet for a long time, just looking out over the ocean. I didn’t think she was going to say anything, until she spoke. “He gave her my mom’s wedding ring; the one my dad gave my mom.”
“I know.”
“Why did he steal the money and make up all of those lies?”
“I don’t know, but tomorrow you can ask him.”
“Can’t you just go cut off his head and bring it back to me?”
“Real funny,” I pulled her deeper into me. “I'm thinking that about ten seconds after I showed up here with his head, you would start feeling guilty.” I kiss the top of her head, and look back out over the water.
“You’re right. Damn conscience.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for being here with me.” Her words were so quiet that I almost missed them, and once again, the words “I love you” were on the tip of my tongue.
“There is nowhere else I would want to be.”
“I think I'm going to call room service and order something big and chocolaty.”
“Alright. I'm going to go talk to George.” Before she could start her protest, I reminded her, “You promised, so don’t even think about starting a fight.”
“I never promised.”
“Did you tell me that you were mine?”
“Trevor, you know that I never agreed for you to talk to George.”
“You told me you were mine. So yes, you did agree for me to talk to George.”
“You are so annoying.” She stepped around me, and back into the room.
I stopped her, pulled her into me, grabbed the back of her head, and twisted my hand into her hair, holding her in place so my mouth was right above hers. “When I get back, I’ll give you the orgasm you’re itchin’ for,” I told her, my mouth opening over hers. She fought it for a second, before melting into the kiss.
She tasted like strawberries from the Tic Tac’s she’d been eating. I loved that taste; it made me kiss her harder and deeper. I had to pull myself away before I pulled her dress up and I fucked her up against the wall. Her eyes slowly opened. “Be back.” I kissed her forehead. I needed to get away before I attacked her again. I looked over my shoulder; when I got to the door, she was still in the same place I left her, making me smile. She shrugged as I pulled the door closed behind me.