Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Vida
This is what it’s like not to have a single care in the world.
I’m in the back of Tripp’s town car, nestled sideways in his lap, my body sore and satisfied.
We left his home in Beacon Hill half an hour ago, and we haven’t stopped staring into each other’s eyes.
His fingertips stroke down the side of my face, his arms secure and warm around me.
The car engine hums, and soft acoustic music plays.
“I could stay just like this forever,” I murmur.
Tripp leans in and nuzzles my nose, his mouth slowly making a victim out of mine.
“I hate to break this to you, but we can’t stay in the back of this car forever. I have an entire world to show you.” Another lingering kiss. “Between classes, of course.”
My sigh is drowsy and content. “Are there places you haven’t been?”
“Yes. Plenty. But even the places I’ve been to are going to feel entirely different with you.
” He picks up my left hand, holding it up so the morning light coming in through the windows can catch the reflection of my engagement ring.
“The sun is going to shine brighter. The food will taste better. I’ll get to see everything through your beautiful eyes. ”
I hum happily, twirling a lock of his hair around my finger. “My favorite place will be wherever you are.”
His heart knocks forcefully against my shoulder.
“Right now, I want to turn this car around and go back to Boston.” His breath escapes in a hiss. “I could call last night the best night of my life, but it wouldn’t be nearly enough. I feel…transformed. A whole life of feeling like I was missing something is over. I found you.”
“I found you,” I say back, the tendons pulling in my throat. “I love my aunt Peggy, but part of me has felt so alone since the accident.” I trace his cheekbone with my index finger. “I could never be lonely when I’m looking at you.”
Tripp closes his eyes and leans into my touch. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you to give your resignation at Reserve, angel?”
This morning, I woke up to several voicemails from Aunt Peggy.
Not only did Tripp cancel out her mortgage, but he left her a sizable, seven-figure check underneath the coffee pot in her kitchen.
She won’t have to work for the rest of her life, and that means…
I don’t have to clean rooms anymore, either.
Even though Peggy urged me to quit—and Tripp agreed wholeheartedly, of course—I’m still a tiny bit conflicted.
Maybe it’s going to take a while to accept that my life is different now, but it still feels like I’m shirking my responsibilities.
I’m hoping that resigning face-to-face with an apology for the short notice will make me feel better.
“No, I think I should do it by myself.”
He grips my jaw firmly, tilting my face up and studying it closely.
“And you’ll come to my room immediately afterward?
” He waits for my nod but relaxes only slightly.
“I want to discuss our plans for the rest of the summer. We have three weeks until the semester begins. While I’m going to spend most of it making you come, I want you comfortable at my home off campus when the end of August rolls around.
You will have every fucking thing you need and more. ”
“Tripp,” I giggle. “All I need is my boyfriend, a toothbrush, and school supplies.”
“Fiancé.”
“Fiancé,” I amend, kissing him to placate him.
“Sorry, I didn’t think I’d be using that word for a really long time.
” There’s still a furrow between his brows because I called him my boyfriend, instead of fiancé, but I know all too well how to distract him from his irritation.
“Do you like it better when I call you ‘fiancé’ or ‘Daddy’?”
A line snaps in his jaw, his blue eyes fogging over with need. “Don’t do this to me when we’re about to arrive, angel.”
“You want me again so soon?” I breathe against his mouth, licking the peak of his upper lip teasingly. “I just kneeled down in front of you at the dining table and took your milk an hour ago.”
A shudder goes through his sturdy frame, his arousal stirring against my bottom and lifting, pushing against the pearl thong I’m wearing beneath my skirt, and I gasp at the sensation.
With a knowing expression, his grip slides down from my jaw to my throat, holding and squeezing.
“Vida Catherine Sterling, I know when I’m being distracted. ”
I blink up at him innocently, but on the inside my heart is racing at hearing him call me a Sterling. Before we’re even married. “Is it working?”
“Yes,” he says through his teeth. “But to answer your question, I think I like being called both equally, so going forward I’d like to be called ‘Fiancé Daddy.’”
I burst out laughing, and he grins down at me tenderly.
“What are you going to do after you hand in your resignation?”
We’ve gone over this five times, but I don’t mind saying it again because it makes me so happy. And I like Tripp to feel as secure as he makes me.
“I’m coming right to your room.”
“You’re not going to leave my side for the rest of the day. The rest of your life.”
“What about when you’re working out in the gym?” I ask, pursing my lips. “Do I have to become a fitness bro just so you can keep an eye on me?”
A corner of his mouth tugs. “My gym in New Haven has a spa attached. I should be fine knowing you’re there getting pampered while I lift.”
I gasp. “I’m not getting pampered every single day. I’ll go crazy!”
“Then study by the pool.” He takes a heavy breath, his chest rising and falling. “I just need you close to me, Vida.”
I match his serious tone. “I need that, too.”
After long seconds of scrutinizing me, he nods, apparently satisfied that we’re on the same page. Which we are. “Good girl.”
Those two words make my sex clench, my eyelids weighing down. “Tripp…”
“Turnabout is fair play,” he mutters, leaning down to kiss my neck, dragging his wet open mouth all the way to my ear.
“There’s the motivation you need to get that tight ass up to my room without delay so I can fuck you silly.
” The hand around my throat rakes down to my breasts, fondling me through my cropped T-shirt.
“I’m going to bang you until you can barely walk.
And then I’m going to dress you up and take you to dinner.
That’s the only way I’ll bring you around other men.
If you’re walking funny from taking my cock. ”
“What other men?” I manage breathily. “There’s only you.”
Gratification makes his eyes bright. “That’s right.”
For a breath of time, I try to put myself in Tripp’s shoes to determine how he feels.
How his jealousy obviously bites him so hard and won’t let go.
In doing so, I imagine what I would do if the situation were reversed—and I’m stabbed in the middle by a spreading sharpness.
So sharp it makes me release a sob, and Tripp’s eyes widen with alarm.
“Angel, what is it? Are you hurt?”
I’m so devoid of oxygen, I can barely form words. “What if women look at you? What if they come on to you? It must happen all the time.”
Understanding dawns, followed by bafflement.
“You’re jealous?” He searches for the right words.
“I’m so lost for you, I’m already trying to get you pregnant, Vida.
I don’t recall a single other girl I’ve ever met.
My memory was wiped clean as soon as I looked up from the bathroom sink and saw you standing there.
I wasn’t sure I had a heart until you made it beat.
” He moves suddenly and swiftly, turning and pinning me down to the seat, imploring me with eyes so turbulent and intense, I can’t draw air.
“I won’t be able to stand it if you doubt me. Tell me what to do.”
“I don’t know,” I say, still feeling winded from the sudden stab of possessiveness.
Is this how Tripp feels all the time?
It’s a wonder we haven’t gone to the emergency room.
My labored breaths are putting him in distress.
“Vida.” His body comes down hard on top of mine, pushing my legs apart and moving between them, his forehead landing on mine.
“I ordered you a chastity belt, angel. I was going to put it on you the first day of classes. Otherwise, I know some smarmy professor is going to make a play for my fiancée.” He drops his hips into the cradle of my thighs and grinds, making me moan.
“Do you want to cage this? Do you want to lock it up, angel?” He groans, a vibration going through his muscular body.
“I would fucking love that. Knowing you feel as insane as I do about us.”
My chest expands with something new. Something bigger than obsession. I fear it’s going to tear me wide open one day, but for now I breathe through it. Breathe, breathe.
“Lock it up,” I whisper against his lips.
The car makes a quick stop then, jostling his thick ridge up against my pussy, and we both jolt, our mashed-together bodies shaking with unexpected orgasms.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Tripp pants, humping me through his climax, my thighs trembling with sexual satisfaction around his hips, my back arched of its own accord.
“Mine,” I whisper, licking his jaw.
Bliss transforms his features. “Yes.”
We both notice at the same time that the chauffeur is standing outside the car, waiting for Tripp’s signaling knock to open the door. Sitting up, we collect ourselves as much as possible, considering the intensity of what just passed between us.
What continues to pass between us.
Exiting the car, he pulls me into an embrace, his breath warm and minty against my ear.
“Give your notice, Vida, and come back to me.”
“Always.”
Minutes later, my legs are still wobbly as I step into the elevator, hitting the button that will bring me downstairs to the management offices.
Before the door can close, a hand catches the sliding metal, halting it in its path.
It’s a man’s hand.