Authors: Melanie J. Cole
I carefully remove his arm from my hip, and slide out of the bed. I want to shower and get dressed before he wakes up.
When I get back to my bedroom, Trent is bent over tying his shoes. “Good morning. Did you sleep okay?”
He looks up at me
, and rakes his hand through his hair a few times. “Yeah, how about you? Were you okay with me being in your bed, all night?”
I nod my head enthusiastically. “Better than okay. I haven’t slept that well in a long time. I didn’t even have any nightmares.”
He cocks his brow at me. “You have nightmares?”
I stare down at my hands,
“sometimes.”
He walks over to me and takes my hands into his. “What are they about?”
I shake my head. Why did I even bring them up? “You don’t want to know.”
He uses his index finger to tip my chin up. “Yes I do. I want to know everything about you, Karma.”
His eyes search mine intently.
I take a deep breath, and debate on t
elling him. I honestly believe - talking about the details - of the hell Aaron put me through - would be a good thing. Even Anna doesn’t know the details. I’ve already confided in Trent about my thoughts of suicide. There’s something about him, that makes me want to open up to him, and let him in. “I want to tell you. I really do, but I don’t like people knowing my business.”
He squeezes my hands. “Hey, whatever you tell me doesn’t leave this room. I promise.”
I nod my head as my entire body begins to tremble. It’s excruciating reliving my time with Aaron, but hopefully, it’ll help me to move on. “Maybe we should sit down.” We walk over to my bed hand in hand, and sit down on the edge. “I’m sure you can guess that all of my nightmares are about Aaron. It’s like I’m reliving the abuse every single night. No matter how far I run, I can’t get away from him. He always catches me in the end.” I force the huge lump down my throat. This is so hard.
“In the beginning he’d never hit me in the face. He didn’t want anyone seeing the bruises. I don’t know how many times I had to wear long sleeve shirts and pants, on a hot day.” I shake my head - disgusted at myself - for taking Aaron’s shit for as long as I did.
“The worst beating was about three months before I finally got up the nerve to break-up with him. We were sitting at a red light. Aaron accused me of flirting with the guy in the car next to us. I swear, I didn’t even look at the freaking car. As soon as the light turned green, he punched me in the head so hard, that I blacked out.”
I can feel Trent tense up next to me. I quickly rub his arm. “Hey, I can stop, if this is too much for you.”
His mouth is set in a firm line
, and he’s shaking his head. “No. I want to know.”
I nod my head solemnly. “When I came to, we were in a parking lot and he was crouched down next to me.
‘You fucked him. Didn’t you?’ He’d accused.
I rolled my head from side to side. ‘No Aaron. I swear. I don’t even know who that was. I’ve never seen him before.’
‘You’re a lying fucking whore, and whores deserve to be beat.’ He brought his fist down onto my chest, and I swear I think he may have cracked one of my ribs. I was gasping for air, but he didn’t stop. He continued to hit me. My left eye was swelled so badly
, I couldn’t see out of it. He kept saying that I was his, and only his.
After he had all of his anger out, he ripped my clothes off and had sex with me.”
I shake my head bitterly. “We were in his car in a nasty parking lot.”
“He raped you!” Trent says, jumping off of the bed. He begins pacing back and forth in front of me. “He fucking raped you!” He rakes his hands through his hair, roughly.
Okay my little stroll down memory lane is over. Trent obviously can’t handle the gory details. I reach out and grab his arm. “Hey, it’s over. I’m never going to go back to him. I’m through.” I assure him.
“God damnit Karma! You can’t let him get away with that. He has to pay. You need to press charges.
”
His words have me leaping to my feet. “No. There’s no way I’m going to press charges. All that would do is piss him off. Do you think his parents would let him spend one minute in jail?” I shake my head. “No. He’d get off and come after me.”
Trent is so angry he’s physically shaking. “God damnit! You’re right. I should have fucking killed him when I had the chance.”
“Trent, you need to calm down.” I wrap my arms around his neck
, and pull him against me. “I’m fine now. What’s done is done.” I can feel his heart pounding through his shirt.
He wraps his long arms around my waist and lifts me off of the ground. “I’m so sorry, Karma. I swear
, I’ll never let him hurt you again.”
“I know you won’t. I trust you.” Wow, this comes as a shock to me, but it’s true. I do trust Trent.
CHAPTER 33
TRENT
I rake my hand down my jaw. I’m pacing around my room. Fuck! The things that Aaron did to her. He fucking raped her! How can anyone be so cruel? I will make him pay. Beating him to death would be too humane for that scum-bag. I want him to have fucking nightmares. He needs to constantly be looking over his shoulder. I just need to figure out a way to do it, without being too involved. I’m sure that mother fucker is just looking for an excuse to have me locked up. He already suspects something is going on between Karma and I. I absolu
tely cannot get myself arrested. I have to be free, so that I can protect Karma.
Jude sticks his head inside of my door. “Hey, the pizzas here.”
I nod my head. “I’ll be right there.” My mind is in over-drive, as I make my way to the kitchen. Karma is right - her pressing charges won’t do any good. It will be her word against his. Without any proof, his parents would have him off in a heartbeat. If he’s going to go down - it will have to be for something - that there will be so much evidence, that his parents won’t be able to dispute it.
I reach out and grab a slice of pizza
, as I sit down. “Have you heard from Jimmy, lately?” Jimmy’s a friend of Jude’s. He was a drug dealer turned informant for the DEA. I’ve got in on pretty good authority that Aaron deals in pot and pills. Knowing the way Aaron is, I’m pretty sure he’s into more than that.
Jude eyes me skeptically. “Why do you want to know?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I was just curious.” I have to be careful. Jude is pretty good at reading me, and I promised Karma that I’d keep her secret. I’m a man of my word.
“He came by the garage a couple of weeks ago.” He takes a bite of his pizza, and washes it down with his beer.
“Is he still a rat?”
Jude sets his bottle down onto the table. “What are you up to, Trent?” He has me pinned with a pointed expression. “Don’t you think that you’ve put Mom and Dad through enough, over the past eight years? You promised me that you were going to keep yourself in check
, when you moved in here.”
“Hey, I’m not up to anything. I just have some information that he might be interested in, is all. Do you have his number?”
Jude leans back in his chair. “What kind of information?”
“I have the name of a dealer.” He doesn’t know about my hostility, towards Aaron. When I moved in here, I never mentioned Aaron by his name.
I have to keep Karma out of all of this. I don’t want Aaron to be able to link any of this back to her. I don’t think she has a clue about his extracurricular activities.
Jude pushes his chair back
, onto its back legs. “Since when are you such a law abiding citizen?”
“Since now.”
He keeps staring at me for several more seconds. “It’s 422-3950.” I pull out my phone, and quickly punch in Jimmy’s number. “Trent…”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t make me regret this.” He pushes away from the table and walks out of the room.
CHAPTER 34
KARMA
I’m stretched out on the sofa, reading ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ - for the tenth time - when Anna comes in. She hangs her bag and keys on the hook, by the door. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going out with Trent.” She pushes my legs off of the sofa, and sits down next to me.
“I am. He said he had some things he had to do
, before he picked me up. Where have you been?” It’s going on nine o’clock. I reach out and put my Kindle onto the table.
“I’ve been with our friend, Dusty. He’s all in a tizzy about some report he has to do. I was helping him do research.” She stretches her arms above her head and yawns. “Research is really exhausting.”
“He hasn’t mentioned a report to me.” This bothers me. Dusty and I used to tell each other everything. Now, he seems closer to Anna. I’m not mad, or anything. I just wish we could go back to being as close as we used to be.
“He just got the assignment today. So, where are you and Trent going? It’s getting late.”
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t have a clue. He won’t tell me.”
Her eyes widen and she sits up. “Ooh, a mystery. That sounds like fun.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Well, I’m glad you think so. You know how much I hate surprises.”
“Just relax and have some fun. You’ll be fine.” She pats me on the knee. “What is going on between you two? You’ve been spend
ing a lot of time together, lately.”
“Yeah, we have.” I chew on my lip, trying to figure out a way to describe mine and Trent’s relationship. I’ve confided in him more than once. I really enjoy spending time with him. He makes me feel safe.
“I’m not for sure what’s going on between us. We’re kind of taking it slow.”
She arches her brow at me. “But
, you do like him?”
“Yeah, I definitely like him. I’m just not sure
, if I’m ready to get involved too much.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” She pushes off of the couch. “I’m going to bed.
Have fun tonight.”
“I’ll do my best.” I get up when I hear someone at the door. I grab my phone and keys and open the door.
“Are you ready to go?” Trent is dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt. He reaches out a gift bag to me. “I hope you like it. I’m not a flowers kind of guy.” I stare down at the bag for several seconds. “Go ahead, open it.” He steps inside of the door and closes it behind him.
I slowly open it and pull out the blue tissue paper. Its
season one of ‘The Bates Motel.’ I look up at him, and he has this big cheeky grin stamped onto his face. “Do you like it? I thought we could watch them together. I told you, we had to get you up to date on all things Norman Bates.”
“I love it. Thank you.” I’m amazed at how normal this feels. Especially, since this is the first time we’ve been face to face
, since I told him the details of mine and Aaron’s relationship. At least some of the details. He kind of flipped out, and I’m not so sure he can handle all of it. It was still a huge step for me.
“You may want to grab a change of clothes
, and a toothbrush.”
“What? We’re going to be gone overnight?” I can’t hide the shock in my voice.
“Yep, don’t worry. I’ll take real good care of you.”
CHAPTER 35
TRENT
“Trent, I’m not so sure…”
“Hey,” I interrupt her
, before she can draw the wrong conclusion. “I’m not expecting anything. We’ll be in separate bedrooms. I promise.”
She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, as she thinks. “I have to let Anna know, first.”
I nod my head at her. I figured she would. “Okay, go ahead. I’ll wait for you.” When she goes to tell Anna - I spot one of her hair ties - lying on the end table. I quickly pick it up and slip it into my pocket. Her hair is down, so she’s going to need it.
When she finally comes back out, she has a small tote bag draped over her shoulder. “Are you ready?”
She nods her head. “Yeah
, I think so.”
As soon as we’re out of the door, she makes a beeline for my truck. I reach out and grab hold of her wrist. “We’re not taking my truck.”
She blinks up at me. “We’re not?” Her brows are creased, and she looks cute as hell.
“Nope.” I reach inside of my pocket and pull out her hair tie. “Here, you’re going to need this.”
I slip it into her hand. I take her tote off of her shoulder, resisting the urge to run my finger tips down her bare arms. “You need to put this over your head.” I help her pull the strap over her head, so that the strap crosses the front of her chest. “Jude’s letting us take his motorcycle.”
“Really!” I can hear the excitement in her tone.
“Really,” I take her hand and pull her over to Jude’s Harley. I absolutely love the way she feels pressed against me. The way her arms fit perfectly around my waist. When I go faster, she tightens her grip, and pushes her body closer to mine. It blows my mind, how she feels so good. I want her so fucking badly, it physically hurts. I don’t care, though. This is my dream girl – literally. She’s worth the wait.
My eyes drift down her body
, to the sliver of skin exposed between her shirt and jeans, as she pulls her hair back. Fuck me! I want to run my tongue across that skin. I want to taste every square inch of her. “Okay, I’m ready.” She holds her arms out by her side, and I hand her a helmet.
“Put this on.” I tell her
, as I put my own helmet on.
She sticks out her bottom lip. “Why? I didn’t have to wear one the last time.”
“We weren’t going very far the last time. And I should have made you wear one. You’re precious cargo. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She gives me a small smile, and slips it over her head.
I help her onto the bike, and take off a little roughly. She squeals out
, and pulls herself more tightly against me. Hell fucking yeah! I did it on purpose. I love getting her excited. If I’m really lucky, maybe she’ll let me get her excited in other ways. This makes me smile.
“How much further?” She has her lips against my ear. We’ve been on the road for over an hour.
I turn my head to the side, so that she can hear me. “It’s about ten more minutes. Can you make it?” Motorcycles are fun, but they can get a little uncomfortable, on long trips.
“Yeah, I can make it.”
I totally underestimated my guess on time. We pull up in front of my parent’s house, twenty minutes later. I climb off and remove my helmet. I help her take her helmet off. She looks around at the two-story brick house. “Where are we?”
“At my parent’s house.”
Her gray eyes widen in shock. “Oh my God, Trent! You want me to meet your parents? I can’t meet them looking like this.” She motions down to her tank top and jeans.
I follow her hands down her body
, with my eyes. “Why not? You couldn’t look bad if you tried.” She’s shaking her head frantically, trying to climb back onto the bike. I grab her hand stopping her. “Hey, calm down. I do want you to meet my parents eventually, but not tonight. They’re not home.”
She takes a deep breath and looks up at me. “They’re not?” I shake my head. “Then why did you bring me here?”
“Come on and I’ll show you.” I squeeze her hand and pull her across the lawn, to the front door.
Once we’re inside I flip on the light, and toss my keys onto the table. “Wow, this is really nice.” Karma says, taking everything in. Is this your pa
rents?” She asks, pointing to a picture of them on the wall.
“Yep, that’s them.” I take her hand again
, and lead her towards the back of the house. I flip on the lights next to the back door, and pull the curtains back. “This is why I brought you here.” I open the French doors, and pull her outside. Her mouth falls open, and her eyes go wide with amazement. When I moved out, my parents spent a small fortune, turning their backyard into an oasis. They said they needed something to keep them busy, since they were empty nesters. They had an in-ground pool installed. The pool is surrounded by lights - in and out - of the pool. On one end there’s a Jacuzzi, on the other there’s a waterfall feature. It’s completely private, and beautiful.
“So, how about it?”
“How about what?” She asks, still taking everything in.
“Do you want to go f
or a swim?” I slip my shirt over my head, and look over at her. “Don’t worry, it’s heated.”
“But, I don’t have a suit.” Her chest is rising and falling rapidly.
“So, neither do I.” I undo the button on my jeans. I purposely didn’t tell her to pack a suit. I hope I’m not pushing her too far. But God help me, I want her so bad. I want to see her, feel her. I want her, to want to see, and feel me. I want all of her, and I will take it slow, but I need to get the feeling of where she stands. I need to know where to draw the line.
CHAPTER 36
KARMA
Oh dear God! I don’t know where to look. Trent is standing just a few feet away from me, in nothing but his underwear. I try not to look, I really do, but my eyes seem to have a mind of their own. Who could blame them? He looks like a Greek God, standing there in his Calvin Klein’s, watching me. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen plenty of guys in their underwear – on movies. But none of them can even hold a candle to Trent Evers. My body feels like it’s going to go up into flames. I wipe my sweaty palms onto my jeans as discreetly as possible.
“Come on Karma, go swimming with me. You don
’t need a bathing suit. You’re wearing underwear, aren’t you?” He steps closer to me, and reaches out for me. “Can I help you?” He slowly lifts the bottom of my tank-top up.
I can’t seem to draw in a decent breath. Before I even realize what I’m doing, I feel my head bopping up and down
, of its own accord. Ah Hell! I cannot believe I’m doing this. Trent gives me a lazy grin, as he slips my tank over my head. I look up at him, and his eyes are on my pink lace bra. “God, you’re so beautiful. You take my breath away, Karma.” His voice has gone all husky, and I feel like electricity is running through my body. I’ve never felt like this before. It’s scaring the hell out of me.
He runs his finger back and forth, over my bare skin just above my jeans. “Trent I….” My mouth fills like it’s been stuffed with cotton.
“It’s okay, if you want me to stop. I will.” He takes a large step away from me. “I’m sorry. Did I go too far?” His eyes are searching mine, intently.
“No. I just…can you give me a minute?”
He nods his head. “Take as long as you want. I don’t want to push you. But just so you know, I’m all in. We’ll take it as slow as you want. But when you’re ready, I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere, Karma.”
His words have my head reeling. I’ve never felt like this, before. My body is missing his close proximity, and it’s confusing the hell out of me. I’ve never wanted a guy to touch me this badly. I slowly unbutton my jeans and slide them down my legs. I hear Trent’s sharp intake of breath, and it makes me feel so sexy. I step around him, allowing my eyes to wonder over this chiseled body the entire time. Without a word
, I dive into the pool. Wow, it feels amazing. My body was so hot, I’m pretty sure there’s steam coming off of the water. I hear a splash, and blink my eyes open, just as Trent dives in.
He swims towards me, and stops leaving a little distance between us. “Hi,” he says, grinning at me.
“Hi,” my voice sounds all breathy, causing me to blush.
He reaches out and caresses my cheek. “Karma, I really want to kiss you.” He strokes his thumb back and forth across my bottom lip. “Can I kiss you?”
I inhale through my nose and nod my head. “Yes.”
He takes his time leaning in, never taking his eyes off of mine. H
e kisses the top of my forehead, slowly trails his lips down to the tip of my nose, and then across planting gentle kisses on the top of both of my cheeks. Finally, he moves down to my lips and gently presses his against mine. It feels amazing. He’s taking it slow, biting and nibbling on both of my lips, while he caresses my face between his hands. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling myself flush against him. I open my mouth slowly, inviting him in. He takes notice and slowly slips his tongue inside of my mouth. It’s the best kiss I’ve ever hand, and definitely the most intense.