BetweenTwoBillionairesCompleteStripped (16 page)

“
That's a bit
hard to believe, talking to you like this.” I rake my eyes up
and down his body for effect and then instantly regret it when I see
his half-hard cock. He's too damn beautiful. The devil to Tristan's
angel. Sent to tempt me. Sent to destroy everything.

“
You like what
you see,” there's amusement in his voice.

“
I most
certainly do not.” My mouth falls agape in complete disbelief
that he'd try to make a pass at me, though I'm not sure why I'm so
surprised. After all, he did barge in here to take a shower with me.

“
Go ahead and
look. From what Trist tells me, you haven't seen many of them.”
Now he's just mocking me.

“
I have no
interest in looking at your disgusting body.”

That hits a nerve.
He's on me in less than half a heartbeat, turning me around and
grabbing my wrists to wrestle them above my head. I cry out, wanting
to kick at him but afraid I'll fall. Tears assault my eyes as
overwhelming fear overtakes me.

He holds me against
the wall with my hands above my head, my entire body on display for
him. All modesty feels lost. But then I notice he's not looking at my
body. His eyes are fixed on my face. There's an intensity there that
frightens me—a predatory lust.

“
Do I really
disgust you that much?” He leans in to whisper against my ear.
“Don't act so innocent. I've seen the way you look at me.”

“
I've never
looked at you,” I growl.

“
Your body
responds to me. It's responding to me right now.” His lips are
so close that I can almost feel them on my neck.

I crane my head to
get away from him, but he's unrelenting. Warm breath courses across
my skin, causing me to shiver. Even though I'm scared, I'm also
aroused. I may be able to deny it with my voice, but my body is
saying something completely different.

“
Your nipples
are hard.” Shawn's face moves away from me, though it's still
too close for comfort. As he speaks, his eyes are hooded, but they
don't leave my face. How does he know my nipples are hard if he's not
looking at them? “I bet your cunt is getting wet too.”

“
You're . . .”
the word disgusting hangs on the tip of my tongue, but I don't dare
to say it again. “Let me go.”

“
Or what?”
His grip tightens on my wrists.

“
Or I'll
scream.”

“
Mmm. I like
it when girls scream. Not like this though.” He lets go of me
and walks back over to rinse his hair under the shower head as if
nothing happened between us at all.

My heart is
thundering so heavily that it hurts, yet all I can do is stare at him
in amazement. What in the bloody hell? “You're wicked.”

“
I am. And I'm
going to be the sin you most enjoy.”

His words are
cryptic and only work to frighten me more. I stand there trembling
while he finishes rinsing his hair. The thought of trying to escape
is gone from my mind. He would only advance on me again, and I
definitely don't want that. So I wait.

Thankfully, it
doesn't take much longer. When he's done, he walks past me to exit
the shower, grabbing a towel from the towel rack and holding it up
for me to step into. “Come on. I already told you I'm not going
to do anything to you.” He sounds annoyed.

Timidly, I walk out
of the shower and let him wrap me in the towel. Almost as soon as
it's around me, he abandons me to find a towel of his own, drying his
hair off before he wraps it around his waist. I don't want to expose
myself to him any further, so I just stand there, staring at him,
confused and with an aching heart. Even though I didn't do anything
wrong, I feel like we both betrayed Tristan.

“
You can leave
now,” Shawn says, stirring me from my thoughts.

I nod, glancing at
him a final time before I open the bathroom door and step out.
Tristan really needs to get a lock for it. Perhaps it's something I
can gently suggest to him later.

I decide to wait
until Shawn leaves the bathroom to get dressed. The last thing I want
is for him to come out and see me; not that he hasn't seen everything
already. It's more out of respect for Tristan than anything else.

I pull the towel
tightly around myself and crawl up onto the bed, wishing Shawn would
hurry up and leave. The best possible outcome for this is that
Tristan will be running late, and he never even has to know this
happened. My luck isn't that good though.

Almost the second I
think it, I hear feet padding towards the room. It feels like my
heart has stopped beating as I realize that I'm laying on the bed in
just a towel and Shawn is still in the bathroom. This doesn't look
good at all, and there's no way to explain it.

“
I'm
back.” Tristan rounds the corner with an ear to ear grin, but
the look on my face is completely horrified. He sees it immediately,
and his expression contorts in concern. “What's wrong?”

“
Welcome
back.” Shawn steps out of the bathroom in a pair of red plaid
boxer shorts, stealing the words I should have been saying right from
my mouth.

“
Are
you guys hungry?” Tristan looks between us, seemingly oblivious
to the strange situation.

I have to force my
mouth closed. That's it? Really? No anger. No freaking out that I'm
in nothing but a towel and his brother is in here with me. Did I just
step out of the bathroom and into an episode of The Twilight Zone?

“
I'm
famished.” Shawn walks past Tristan, putting a hand on his
shoulder.

“
The
pizza is downstairs.” Tristan casts a glance at Shawn before
Shawn leaves the room.

I just sit there
dumbstruck, waiting for the shoe to drop. Waiting for this to launch
into a huge argument that will end with me never seeing either one of
them again.

After Shawn leaves,
Tristan returns his attention to me. My heart drops to the pit of my
stomach as I stare back at him. “So, are you going to get
dressed? I wouldn't want the pizza to get cold.”

CHAPTER FIVE

I glare across the
dining room table at Shawn. He doesn't look the least bit unnerved.
He's just sitting here, watching Tristan as he serves us like he
always does. It's starting to feel awkward getting waited on by him
constantly, but I've realized that this is just how he does things.

“
I'm
glad to see you two getting along so well,” Tristan says as he
finishes serving himself and comes to sit with us.

Shawn glances up at
me before taking a bite of pizza. He looks a lot less appealing now
that we're not naked in the shower together anymore.

I don't know what to
say. It feels like any mention of what Tristan walked in on is
loaded. My nerves are on high alert, just waiting for the explosion
to happen.

When neither of us
says anything, Tristan continues, “I really need to call a
plumber to have that bathroom fixed. I've just been kind of lazy
lately.” He doesn't look at us, but I can sense some tension in
his voice.

“
Yeah.
It's a bit of a pain having to come up and use your shower,”
Shawn sighs.

“
Are
you alright?” Tristan turns to me. “You're being awfully
quiet.”

“
I'm
fine.” It's so obvious that I'm not fine. If Tristan knew me
better, he'd pick up on it instantly. What happened upstairs was not
fine. Is he really so clueless?

We spend the rest of
the meal in silence. I know the wheels in Tristan's head are turning.
He suspects something. Maybe he's just too afraid to bring it up. I'm
definitely not going to bring it up. Nothing really happened between
Shawn and I. For as wrong as it was, it did seem like he came up
there just to take a shower. It's not worth ruining my relationship
with Tristan over.

When the meal is
done, Shawn gets up to leave. It feels like the oxygen rushes back
into the room with his departure. I still don't feel great, but I do
feel a lot better now that he's gone.

Tristan smiles up at
me. “How did you like the pizza?”

“
It
was good.” I nod. “Pepperoni isn't my favorite, but it
was still good.”

He sighs, “I
asked you what you wanted upstairs.”

“
I
know. I was pissed at you then though.” The memory of him
coming inside of me returns to further sour my mood. How did the day
go from being wonderful to crappy so quickly?

“
I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.” He avoids my eyes.

“
Well,
this is something we definitely need to talk about if we plan to keep
sleeping together.” It is unavoidable, and I do want to keep
having sex with him.

“
I'll
pull out next time. I promise.” He offers me a weak smile.

“
Promise,
promise?” I eye him skeptically.

“
Promise,
promise,” he lets out a short laugh.

“
Alright.”
Thank God. That will keep me from having to get on birth control,
which I definitely can't afford right now.

“
Well,
it's getting late. I guess I should take you home.”

“
Yeah.
But can we please take a car this time?” I cringe a bit,
feeling guilty. “I really don't like the motorcycle.”

“
Chariot
it is, then, princess.” His face brightens, and I'm glad he's
not upset that I'm not fond of the motorcycle.

***

As he drives me
home, things seem to be returning to normal between us. I've relaxed
a lot since I'm not around Shawn anymore, and Tristan acts like he's
completely forgotten what he saw. Maybe I can get out of this
unscathed after all. I doubt Shawn will talk to Tristan about the
shower. Then again, I still don't know him very well. Who knows what
his motives are.

By the time we pull
up in my driveway, it's rather late. I hate goodbyes, especially with
Tristan, which makes it hard to want to leave. A million thoughts are
going through my mind. A million reasons not to get out of the car.

“
I hope you
had a good day with me,” Tristan says.

“
I always have
a good time when I'm with you.” I twist in my seat to look at
him.

“
I'm glad. You
make me happy. I hope there are a lot more good days in our future
together.” He smiles that charming smile I adore.

“
Me too.”
A blush spreads across my cheeks.

“
I'll text you
tomorrow.”

“
Alright.”
I unbuckle my seat belt apprehensively, grasping at straws to make
conversation, so I won't have to leave. “Tristan.”

“
Hm?” He
gives me a tired look.

“
The girl in
the pictures in the sitting room. She was your ex-fiance, right? I
mean, that's what Shawn told me.” I bite my bottom lip, knowing
it's a sensitive subject. I am curious about her though, about the
things Shawn said.

“
Yes.”
He leans back in his seat, staring out the window. The subject
obviously makes him uncomfortable.

“
You loved her
a lot, right?” The more I talk about it, the more guilty I feel
for even bringing it up. Surely, I could have come up with something
better than this.

“
I did.”
He nods. “She was my world. The center of my universe. I
haven't really been with anyone since. Not like this.” He
glances over at me and slides his hand on top of mine, curling our
fingers together.

His words make me
swoon. He's comparing me to his ex—a girl he almost married.
That must mean I'm pretty special to him.

“
I'm sorry
things didn't work out for you.” I try to offer him my
sympathy, though I know it sounds weak. Why shouldn't I be happy that
I'm here with him right now and she's not? It's human nature to offer
condolences though.

“
It's just one
of those things.” He looks away, suddenly becoming distance.

“
What happened
to her, if you don't mind me asking?”

“
I do mind you
asking.” His demeanor changes in the blink of an eye. It's
obvious that the subject touches on some deeply wounded part of him.