I shut the door and locked it.
Then I went after Winter. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close. I kissed her forehead, her nose, then her lips. My hand gently rubbed against her jaw. She winced and gasped. I kissed her harder, wishing I could steal her pain. It was my fault her jaw hurt because I had left her to be attacked by those two goons.
I kissed down her neck and caught myself burying my face into her neck. I could smell her sweet skin. One hand touched her face, the other hand at her back, holding her tight to me. A wave of emotion ran rampant and I thought I was going to cry.
Winter groaned and dug her hands into my hair. We were in silence because that’s all we had for each other. Years of bullshit brought us together, but at the same time, all those years left scars that wanted to tear us apart.
I slowly kissed back up her neck to her mouth. We kissed deep, fast, pulling away, staring at each other, going at it again. We kissed like that, over and over, for a while. Like one of us wanted to make a move but just couldn’t. Like we were afraid of each other. Our hearts raced, destruction all around us. We both felt the desperate need to be together.
Finally, Winter started to take my shirt off. Her bare hands ran up my bare body. I lifted my arms and saw the flicker of a smile as she took my shirt off. I let it fall to the floor and then she let out a gasp.
“You’re cut,” she whispered. “That looks nasty.”
I looked to my left and there was a decent sized gash. Maybe it could have used a stitch or two, but I wasn’t going anywhere near a hospital right now. There was enough of my blood in Winter’s house to implicate me, plus whatever the hell Stoney, the Red Aces, and Aldo had going on behind the scenes.
“I’ll be fine,” I whispered. “Just a cut. I’ll go wash it out in the shower.”
Winter slipped her hands to my chest. She stared at me. She was still hurt. I slowly put my hands to hers and squeezed.
“It’s…”
“No, not right now. You just have to trust me, Tripp. Just not right now.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to grab a shower. Then we can talk.”
Winter nodded.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers again. On the tip of my tongue was I love you, but I wouldn’t let it slide.
I’d hurt her enough already for one night.
26.
(Winter)
I love you, Tripp.
He turned and walked to the bathroom. His back rippled were mountains of muscle. My fingertips had played on those ripples when he loved my body. Now I watched him walk away.
The door shut.
I reached down for his t-shirt. I balled it up and smelled it.
Tripp.
Sweaty and sexy man.
I looked at the cut at the shoulder, the blood on the shirt. Dana had come so close to slashing Tripp’s throat. And Kyle was on the floor. Dead.
I dropped the shirt.
One second it seemed like the pieces of the puzzle made sense. Then the next second they didn’t. But one thing was for sure. Those guys were from Skull X. And they knew about Autumn, and Andrea. That meant…
If they had Autumn and Andrea, why? What did that do for anyone?
My head started to spin.
Then I looked at the bathroom door.
There was one thing that could make me feel better.
Tripp.
I stepped to the bathroom door and it was unlocked. Slowly, I opened it and stepped inside. The shower ran, the hot water already producing a comforting steam. I shut the door as quietly as I could behind me. I saw Tripp standing in the shower, facing the water, head down. His hands against the wall. The water beat his head and neck, dropping down. His body cut with impossible muscles, the lines along the sides of his stomach splicing straight down between his legs. His cock dangled there, still thick and beautiful.
I walked to the sink and turned. I wiped the mirror and caught Tripp looking at me. Our eyes met in the reflection and I shook my head.
No talking about anything. Please.
I knew what I wanted, what I needed.
I started to strip.
Nothing seductive and sexy. Just me standing with my back to the shower, taking off all my clothes. I took my bra off, leaving my panties for last. I then slowly bent forward, my hands at my hips, gently pushing my panties down.
I stepped out of them and turned around.
Tripp had the shower door open already, waiting for me.
I walked to the shower and Tripp wasted no time in grabbing my hips and pulling me right into the water. When the water hit me, I jumped. But it quickly became soothing, just like Tripp’s touch.