CORAL (A Romance Trilogy, Book 1) (44 page)

“Open your eyes baby,” he says
softly. As I do I notice him crouched in front of me with a folded tea-towel in
his hands. “Here,” he places the cold towel gently across my nose. “Keep it
there I’ll get you some Nurofen.” As I watch Tristan walk away I notice he’s
trying to hide his erection – I try not to chuckle. “What’s funny?” He says as
he re-appears in front of me with the tablets and a glass of water.

“Nothing,” I say trying my best
to hide my smile. Downing the tablets with the water I lean back on the
cushion, close my eyes and wait for the throbbing to settle down. “I think I
caught my nose there,” I tell him.

“Yeah...I think you did.” I can
hear he sounds concerned.

“Maybe I bashed it on your
erection.” I chuckle to lighten the mood.

“Shit!” He hisses. I chuckle even
harder and open my eyes. Tristan looks mortified, I stop laughing. “Tristan, it
was a joke.” I admonish.

“It was just a kiss, I should
have had more control,” he barks, condemning himself.

“Er...no you shouldn’t, I think
we can safely say that was definitely more than a kiss.” I’m really trying not
to laugh. I grab hold of his t-shirt and pull him down to me, then kiss him on
the lips. “That was just a kiss,” I titter. “There was a bit of a difference,
don’t you think?”

Finally he relents, his shoulders
relax, his eyes crinkle at the corners and his lips twitch trying to hide the
smile. “Admit it, that was a funny joke,” I giggle. Tristan finally chuckles
too.

“Very funny,” he chortles leaning
his body against mine and kissing me gently on the lips again. “Sorry, freaked
out there for a second. I just don’t want you to think you have to, or that
that’s all I’m after, or’ – “Tristan shut up,” I chuckle. “You couldn’t be more
gentlemanly if you tried, that was passion, it happens.” I say my eyebrows
raised in amusement.

“Well no more for now,” he tells
me. “I don’t want you in pain,” he adds authoritatively.

“Me neither,” I agree my nose
pounding again.

“Right then, movie it is.”
Tristan stands and switches the music off, just as Ruby Turner starts singing
Stay With Me Baby.

I pick up the controllers, find
the movie and purchase it. Tristan leans back into the sofa and pulls me into
him. I rest my head against his shoulder, and that same peaceful feeling swells
inside me. So much so, that I have to fight back the urge to cry, but I have
another feeling, one that’s just as strong, and it’s screaming at me to end
this, to never see this man again, because it will, inevitably, go wrong – and
I know I won’t survive that, my stomach churns.

I look up at Tristan and sigh
inwardly What am I getting myself into? I close my eyes and push the negative
feelings aside, then I snuggle closer to him –
How can I let him go?
I’ve finally found the answer to the empty ache I’ve always had, I know it, I
feel it,

He is here. I finally found my
home...

I WAKE FROM THE MOST PEACEFUL SLEEP
, surprised to find I’m in my bed. Then I hear soft breathing next
to me, I panic for a moment and turn my head only to find Tristan fully
clothed, sleeping next me. I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face.
I think I could stare at him forever and never get bored of his beautiful face.

His long eyelashes are gently
resting against his lower lids making him look cute and sexy at the same time.
I want to stroke his eyebrows, his cheeks, his full lips, but I stop myself I
don’t want to wake him – besides my bladder is protesting. I slip out of bed as
quietly as I can and tip-toe down the stairs, as I’m making my way to the
bathroom, I can’t help thinking how rapidly life is changing for me and how
good it feels to have Tristan in it.

Once I’m done and I’m washing my
hands at the sink I stare up at myself. My nose looks better, the bruising
under my eyes has almost disappeared. All that’s left is very slight yellow
markings.
Thank-god for that!

I sleepily make my way back up
the stairs, trying not to make them creak, but as I reach the bedroom, I see
Tristan is wide awake watching me.

“Hey,” I whisper. “I didn’t mean
to wake you.” I climb back into bed facing Tristan.

“You fell asleep, missed the end
of the film.” He tells me as he strokes my cheek.

“You put me to bed?” I stare at
his lovely sleepy eyes.

“Um...yeah,” Tristan frowns.

“It’s ok, I could get used to
this,” I say snuggling closer.

“Me too,” he croaks and kisses me
lightly. Now I feel wide awake. Tristan chuckles at me. “What?”

“Nothing I just...” I shake my
head.

“Tell me,” he urges.

“When do you have to leave?” I
ask knowing he’s going to at some point.

Tristan sighs heavily.
“Wednesday.” I close my eyes for a second. “I’ll come back Friday,” he tells me
stroking my cheek, looking at me in awe.

I suddenly feel really scared and
I have to ask myself. Is that normal? Should I feel so enraptured by this man?
Is this what love feels like? Or is this something else? Is it that I’m just
hanging onto him because I don’t have anyone at the moment?

“I’ll miss you like crazy,” he
tells me. “Not really sure how I’m going to get through one day to the next.”

I stroke his cheek. “I’m scared
Tristan.”

He wraps his arms around me and
grips me tightly. “Of what?”

“You,” I tell him softly. “Of how
I feel for you, I’m afraid of being close to anyone in case they leave,” I
admit.

“I’m not leaving you.” He tells
me and I can see he’s sincere.

“Have you ever…felt like this
before?” I ask hoping and praying he’ll say no.

“Never,” he answers shaking his
head to emphasise his point. “Coral...I know you want to take things slowly,
build trust with me, but I give you my word, I’m not going anywhere. You have
no idea how long I’ve waited for you, longed for you...if I...” Tristan breaks
off sighing heavily.

“What? Tell me,” I whisper.

“I swear to god I’d marry you
tomorrow if that’s what it took to prove to you that you have me for the long
haul.” I gasp in shock.

“M-marry me?” I stutter. I can
see Tristan is regretting what he’s said.

“You don’t want to marry do you?”
He says spookily reading me.

“I don’t know,” I answer
truthfully, staring down at his chest.

“Coral.” He lifts my chin to look
at him. “Whatever you want, however you want this to work is fine with me. As
long as I get to be with you, that’s all that matters.” Tristan strokes my
cheek, instantly calming me.

“Marriage is just a piece of
paper to me. I’m sorry Tristan, I can’t help feeling like that. What I feel for
you is far stronger, more eternal than that.” I tell him.

“I understand,” he tells me,
softly kissing my lips again. “I just want you Coral, forever.”

I smile back at him. “Forever,” I
say.

We kiss each other softly again,
and I have to admit, I am building trust so fast with Tristan that it’s taking
my breath away.

“Stay with me?” He asks.

“Huh?”

“At the house, spend the weekend
with me?”
Is that such a good idea…too fast?
“Only if you want to. I
don’t want to push my luck, or scare you away,” he adds, but he looks lost. His
face mirrors my feelings completely, I can’t even bare to think about him
leaving.

“Ok.” I smile broadly at him.

“You will?” He beams.

“Yes.” I chuckle then I remember
he’s only just got the keys. “Wait, do you even have any furniture in there?”

“No,” he grins cheekily at me.
“But if I remember correctly, you said you were going to help me with that?”

I sigh. “Yes, yes I did.”

“So will you?” He asks.

“Yes.” I murmur against his lips.

“Good.” He says kissing me
lightly. I smile sleepily at him then I involuntarily yawn. “Boring you?” I
punch him lightly on the shoulder.

“Shut up.” I chuckle then groan.
Back to work tomorrow.

“What’s up?” He asks.

I sigh heavily. “Back to work tomorrow,
back to reality,” I grumble knowing our little bubble will be burst.

“Well, this morning actually.”
Tristan smiles, my eyes widen. “It’s 5am,” he adds.

I suddenly remember I have Will
tonight. “Oh no!” I’m not sure if combat training is such a good idea at the
moment.

“What?” Tristan asks worry etched
across his features.

“I have Will tonight,” I tell
him.

“Will?” He questions, his
expression torn again. I think about winding him up but decide against it.

“Yes. My trainer at the gym,” I
tell him. I can see the relief in his eyes.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good
idea,” he says echoing my thoughts.

“Me neither. I’d better go see
him first thing, let him know.”

“Doctors first,” Tristan
admonishes. “I want to make sure you’re ok,” he adds.

“Yes sir.” I tease saluting him.

“Very funny,” he sulks.

“Yes I am aren’t I,” I answer
smugly.

“Yes you are,” he chuckles. I
yawn again. “Sleep baby.” He says.

“I don’t think I can, not with
you here,” I answer pressing the length of my body against his. Tristan squeezes
me even tighter.

“Yes you can, you’ve been
sleeping all night. Now close your eyes.” I do as he asks, then his fingers
start gently stroking my eyebrows, it’s very relaxing. Then he starts humming,
I flick my eyes open in astonishment, I know that tune.

“Some Enchanted Evening,” I
whisper in shock.

“Yes, now go to sleep,” he
murmurs.

“But’ – “No buts, you can ask me
later,” he softly scolds. I close my eyes and smile, Tristan knows yet another
of my favourite tunes. This is starting to get a little spooky, I keep feeling
as though I need to pinch myself, see if I’m not dreaming.

“Tristan?” He’s still humming and
stroking.

“Hmm?”

“Am I dreaming all of this?” I
ask.

I feel him chuckle, it vibrates
through me. “Why would you think that?”

“B-because...it feels too good to
be true, and I don’t really get why...?” I break off not really wanting to tell
him.

“Why what? Tell me Coral, I want
to know what you’re thinking.”

“I...I just feel like...” I stop
myself again.

“Like what?” he asks his voice
all husky again.

“Like…well...I don’t get it.” I
say my eyes meeting his.

“Get what?” He asks leaning up on
his elbow, his face inches above mine, concern etched into his features. I
close my eyes for a second.
Come on Coral, you can do this!

“Why me?” I ask opening my eyes
and gazing into his. I want to see his reaction, see if his eyes tell the
truth. Tristan frowns as he stares down at me.

“I don’t think any of us really
have a choice who we fall in love with Coral.” I frown my heart sinking.

“So...so if you had a choice, it
wouldn’t be me?” I squeak. Tristan puts his hands either side of my cheeks and
shuffles down so we are nose to nose.

“That’s not what I meant,” he
tells me sternly.

I sigh heavily. “I just...you’re
too good for me,” I blurt staring down at our bodies. “I want to say I believe
that you’ll stay, but...deep down I feel like you’ll get fed up of me and leave
me for someone who’s...” I want to say more fun, but I know I’m fun to be with,
well most of the time.

“Look at me baby.” I pull my gaze
up to meet his. “Don’t you know? Nothing in life is for certain, not love, not
the economy, the weather, things change, people change.” Tristan takes a deep
breath. “Have you ever read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin?”

“No.” I whisper.
What’s that
got to do with this?

“It was one of my Grandmothers
favourite novels,” he tells me. “When I was seventeen, I got dumped by a girl
who I thought I was in love with’ – “Tristan,” I interrupt I don’t think I want
to hear this.

“Bare with me,” he says. “So I go
to my Grandmother and I say ‘how am I supposed to know Gran? How will I know
when I’ve met the right girl?’ She took one look at me, stood up, went over to
her bookcase and pulled out a novel. She sat me down and quoted a passage from
the book. It’s what the father had told the daughter. I don’t know why, but it
made sense and stuck with me. Do you want to hear the quote?” I nod silently,
totally enthralled by his story.

“Love is a temporary madness. It
erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make
a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together
that it is inconceivable that you should ever part, because this is what love
is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement; it is not the
promulgation of promises of eternal passion it is not the desire to mate every
minute of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing
every cranny of your body. That is just being ‘in love’, which any fool can do.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this
is both an art and a fortunate accident.”

I take a few moments to let it
sink in. But it’s no good my head is spinning with so many questions and
doubts. “But how are you supposed to know that once the in love part has gone
that you’ll want to stay with me? From what that quote says you only really
know once the in love part has past, and we haven’t even begun?” I say weakly.

Tristan kisses me again, his eyes
pleading with me. “Because I already know, I don’t know why or how, I just do.
I knew the moment I met you that we had something so strong, so profound that
no matter how hard you pushed me away, it was inevitable that we would end up
together. I was never going to give in and I will never stop fighting for you.
I’ll never stop showing you how much I want you in my life, with me, by my
side, through the good and the bad. I’ll never stop trying.”

“Why?” I ask incredulously.

“Because I couldn’t imagine
spending the rest of my life with anyone but you,” he croaks huskily again.

“You know it’s forever?” I ask.
“You’re totally sure, one hundred percent?” I whisper.

“Yes,” he whispers back. “And
I’ll remind you every day, for the rest of our lives if that’s how long it
takes to convince you.”

I place my hands on his cheeks and
rest my forehead against his then close my eyes. I want to believe, I really
do. And maybe Tristan is right, I just need to build trust and keep believing
that he’ll stay.

“My Grandfather said he knew,” he
whispers, I open my eyes and lock onto his. “He met Gran at a dance, he told me
he knew the moment their eyes met that she was the one. She said no of course,
gave him the run around for ages. Apparently he was a bit of a bad boy back
then, always flirting with other girls, so Gran told me, and she knew she
didn’t want to be with a cheater. Then one day she said yes to a date and well
history tells the rest.

“Gramps told me on that first
date he knew he would never get to be with her unless he changed his ways, that
it was time to grow up, be a man, so he did. And from that day on he only had
eyes for Gran.” I nod solemnly. Their story is a lovely one, but I doubt either
of them had anything close to the fears and the issues I deal with.

“How do you feel?” He asks.

“Overwhelmed,” I answer honestly.

“One step at a time,” he
whispers.

“Yeah,” I gush. “I...I guess I
stopped believing in happy endings a long time ago. I really struggle with it
Tristan, it’s taken years for me to believe I’m even worthy of love, let alone
getting my dream man in my life.”