29. Trinity
Trinity
I reached for him, pulling him down on the bed next to me. He seemed hesitant, like he was holding back. I propped myself up on an elbow and let the sheet dip lower.
“Are you naked under there?” he asked, cocking his head and reaching for the sheet.
I held it tight against my chest. “Maybe. You said you wanted to introduce me to your shower. I figured it would be best to work up a sweat first.”
Groaning, he flipped onto his back and scrubbed his hand over his cheek. “You’re killing me.”
I leaned over and kissed my way up his neck. “You wouldn’t be any good to me dead.”
“I’m not sure I’m any good to you alive.”
My fingers roamed over his chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Wyatt’s got plans. Big ones. He wants to expand into the space next door and open up a craft brewery.”
“Well, that’s impossible. My space is next door. Can’t he do it somewhere else?” I edged my fingers under his shirt, needing to feel closer, craving the skin-on-skin contact.
“That’s what sucks. No, he can’t. I guess it just makes me wonder, why can’t you?”
“Why can’t I what?” My stomach clenched. I didn’t care for the direction the conversation seemed headed.
“Why do you need to be in this building? There are so many other options. Downtown is full of abandoned warehouses that seem like they’d be perfect for what you want to do.”
“Are you asking me to shut down my business before I even open and give up my space to your asshole boss?” I jerked my hand away.
“No, of course not.”
“Well, that’s what it sounds like.”
He rolled onto his side to face me. Those brown eyes held a hint of hurt. Maybe it was confusion. It was hard to tell since I’d pulled the shades. “I’m just wondering why you picked this place. When you could have chosen any one of a dozen or so other buildings, what made you pick this one?”
I didn’t owe him an explanation. Especially since it seemed he was asking more for Wyatt than for himself.
But I didn’t want him to think I was being a bitch about things either.
I needed his help if I was going to pull everything off.
He’d proven to me over and over again that I’d underestimated the amount of work and knowledge opening up the co-op was going to take.
“First off, it was for sale. There might be a bunch of empty buildings downtown, but most of them want renters and weren’t willing to work with me on a contract for deed. Also, zoning was a big deal.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” He captured my hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. “I mean, obviously zoning is a pretty big deal, but I figured if they’re so desperate for people to revamp the area they might not be so concerned about the zoning piece.”
I looked around the room. With the shades pulled on the giant windows, the interior of his apartment was a hazy gray.
Not too dark to see the pained expression on his face but dim enough that I didn’t feel so exposed.
Maybe that’s why I felt it was safe enough to share. “There’s another reason, too.”
“What’s that?” His palm had come to rest on my stomach. It almost felt like he was keeping me grounded, pinning me in place on the queen-sized mattress so I didn’t float away.
Inhaling through my nose, I held my breath for an extra beat before letting out a slow exhale. “This building is special.” There, that wasn’t so bad.
Oliver’s brows knit together, causing his forehead to furrow. “This place?” He cast a skeptical eye around the room. “What do you mean?”
I nibbled on my lip. It was only fair for him to know.
If we had any hope for a future, I ought to be able to share the deepest parts of my heart with the man I…
the man I loved? Did I love him? The idea of “love” made me sit up with a start.
Is that what was happening? Was I falling in love with Oliver Martin?
“You okay?” He pushed himself up to sit next to me.
“Yeah.” Maybe. Maybe not. I’d never been in love before. Is this what it felt like? Fear of hurting him played against the worry of leaving myself so open that I’d get hurt myself.
“Come here.” He leaned against the headboard and pulled me into his arms.
I nestled in, pressing my cheek to his chest. Talking to his abs seemed easier than meeting his gaze. I’d started, I may as well finish. Swallowing the angst rising in my throat, I continued. “My grandfather used to own this building.”
“Really?” He shifted and glanced down at me.
“Yeah. But then he lost it.”
“How?” His hand smoothed over my hair, encouraging me to go on.
“Bad business moves. I don’t know. It was a long time ago. He was financially ruined.”
“But your grandmother’s trust…if he went broke, how did she end up with so much money?”
I cleared my throat. “She left him.”
“What?” His hand paused on my hair.
“She left him and married someone else. Someone she knew before my grandfather. Someone rich.” I didn’t like sharing this part of my family history. I’d grown close to my grandmother late in life and learned about what it meant to harbor regret.
“So that’s how she got the cash to leave in your trust fund…” Oliver seemed to be puzzling it all out for himself.
“Yes. But the whole reason she did it was to save his business. Her new husband gave her the cash she needed to buy out my grandfather and take over. She passed it on to my dad when he was old enough to take charge, but her husband still owned a huge portion.”
“Her second husband,” he said.
“Right. My grandmother intended on going back to my grandfather when her husband died, but never got the chance. That’s why she wanted me to follow my heart.
My parents and siblings care so much about status and appearances and money.
But Grandma had both. She found the love of her life and had to leave him to save his business.
When we used to talk about me opening up the co-op, she would get a sparkle in her eye.
This building is the one my grandfather lost. Buying it back and being able to build my own business in the space where my grandfather used to work, where he and my grandmother started the business that she sacrificed their love to save… it’s everything to me.”
Oliver just laid there, and I cursed myself for saying too much.
The family history and my grandmother’s actions had faded from everyone’s memories.
But not mine. Buying the building was my way of honoring my grandmother.
While I didn’t fully understand her choices, I could learn from her experience.
If I wanted to build a business in downtown Newbridge, it had to be this building.
“I can see why it’s so important to you.” He let out an exhale, and I watched his chest rise and fall.
“Please don’t tell Wyatt the whole sordid history.”
His hand moved to cradle the back of my head. “I won’t.”
I rose to meet him, pressing my lips to his.
I’d never shared that story with anyone.
Not even Macy. I hadn’t expected anyone to understand.
But Oliver did. His capacity to listen without judgment amazed me.
Made me want to open up more to him. I’d never felt that way with anyone and I didn’t want it to end.
The sheet slipped. His hands roamed over my bare back, skimming my ribs.
I edged his shirt up and he broke contact with my lips just long enough to yank it over his head.
I got to my knees and worked on the button of his jeans.
It was like I’d peeled off another layer and needed to know he still accepted me and wanted me.
The need to feel him inside me took over.
He kicked off his pants and sat on the bed, facing me.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” His hands went to my shoulders.
My skin seemed to sizzle under his touch. I climbed onto his lap, extending my legs behind him.
He fumbled with the drawer on the nightstand, then I heard him tear open the condom wrapper. Shifting me to the side, he slid the condom in place and straightened his legs behind me. I dipped my head to trace the shell of his ear with my tongue.
His hands cupped my ass, and he lifted me up.
Then I was sliding down onto his cock. I tightened my grip on his shoulders, leaning against him as he pushed up and into me.
A feeling of fullness swept through me, and I pushed my breasts against his chest, trying to find the rhythm of his thrusts.
It was primal, this need for him to take me.
I let my head fall back, and he ran his tongue up my neck.
Heat pooled in my core. He reached behind me and wrapped his hands in my hair, tugging, tilting my head so he could nip at my neck. His teeth grazed my skin, his tongue like a flame, licking and spreading heat wherever it touched me.
I pulled my legs under me and pushed him back, careful not to lose the way he’d seated himself deep inside me.
Rising to my knees, I grabbed hold of the headboard and lowered myself onto him.
His hands gripped my hips, but I didn’t let him set the pace.
I was in total control, rising, clenching, falling.
Over and over again. Faster and faster. Until something inside me snapped.
I held myself up, taut, not wanting to lose the thread of pleasure that raced through my limbs.
“Oh God, Oliver.”
He shifted his hips, and I almost cried out. Then he moved his hand, drawing out my release, touching me the way no man ever had, until I collapsed against him, wrung out from the intensity of my orgasm.
Flipping me to the side, he slipped a hand behind my knee and hitched my leg over his hip.
He thrust into me, and damn if I didn’t feel the spark of another uprising.
I braced my hands against the headboard and took what he gave me.
Sweat beaded his upper lip, and I kissed it away.
My arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer, deeper as I tightened around him.
He came undone in my arms, his whole body going taut. A groan ripped through him, and I met him at the edge then we both tumbled into a joint release.
Time passed with him collapsed against me. Until he broke the spell.
“Shit. Was I too rough? I’m so sorry.”
“Shh.” I silenced him with a kiss.
His hands pushed the hair back from my face then cupped my cheeks. “I love you, Trinity.”
I looked away and let out a laugh. “No offense, but don’t confuse love with lust. I think it’s more like your dick loves me.”
Strong hands turned my face, forcing me to meet his gaze. “You don’t have to say it back. It’s not my cock talking, although I do love burying myself inside you.”
I tried to shift my eyes. If I didn’t look at him, maybe he wouldn’t say it again. I wasn’t ready to be the recipient of someone’s love. Not even this man. Was I?
“You don’t have to say it back.” His fingertips caressed my cheek and an unfamiliar emotion swelled up inside my chest. “But I love you, Trinity Ryan. Just thought you ought to know.”
He touched his lips to my forehead and rolled away. As he climbed off the bed to go take care of the condom, I laid there, the most fulfilled and the most confused I’d ever been in my life.