Tristan's Loins (15 page)

Tristan absorbed her words with a nod and met
her expression with a smile tugging his handsome lips. "You will
teach me and then I’ll take care of you, Selene. It is the way it
must be. I’m not a man to live on a woman's wealth."

"Excuse me, but isn't Rhiannon's wealth what
you expected to live upon when you kidnapped her? How is this any
different?"

Her words made him scowl, realizing it was no
different. "She was to be my wife! Her money would have been
mine."

"If we were married would you feel better
about me buying you clothes?" she asked in irritation. Tristan
thought about it too long and she sighed in exasperation.

"You’re right, Selene," he surprised her to
say. "It is no different if you look at it that way. I’m sorry. I
feel like a beggar."

Selene knew his pride was taking a beating
when she insisted upon taking him to a hair salon and paid to have
his hair trimmed. He refused to have more than an inch taken off
and she agreed. His hair was his own and he would not give in and
cut it off.

Selene picked him up shaving supplies and
some other things while he wandered about the drugstore. He seemed
fascinated with the aisles of medicines. He wandered about in awe
of the place. They spent more time there than any other store.

Tristan was looking at some very racy
magazines when she approached, seeing his reddening face and
sheepish look as he put the magazine down. Selene could see the
female clerk was fascinated with Tristan, her heavily lined eyes
widening as they stood at her counter. The female attention Tristan
got all day was growing to annoy her. Selene had never thought she
was a jealous woman, but she was very possessive of Tristan and it
alarmed her.

Tristan saw her looking at the flirtatious
clerk like she wished to hit her and grinned. When they walked out
of the store, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "It pleases me
you’re so covetous of me, Selene."

"I'm not jealous!" she snapped as she clicked
the car doors open and they got inside. Tristan buckled up and
grinned at her. "You practically came across the counter after the
wench!"

"About that 'wench' thing," she began with an
amused smile. "Learn to say 'lady' or 'girl' or 'woman'. That is
not an endearment and most women would take it as an insult."

Tristan smiled and reached out to cover her
hand with his, his deep blue eyes twinkling in pleasure. "It's
alright for you to act thusly, Selene. It pleases me you wish me
all to yourself. I feel the same."

"What about CJ?" she teased and he grinned
back.

"She is beyond my reach, Selene," Tristan
countered back and sighed. "You need not worry I’ll set off in
search of her."

"I have to pick up some groceries and Daisy
needs dog food," Selene said and gazed at him. "Are you tired? I
can drop you back at the apartment and go alone?"

"What is groceries?" he asked.

"Oh my, you really have to see the grocery
store. This will definitely please you."

Tristan smiled and his long finger traced a
trail along her nape, making her shiver expectantly. "Wherever you
go, I’ll follow, Selene."

Tristan followed her up the cereal aisle and
gawked at all the food they passed. She hid a smile as he picked up
a box of Captain Crunch cereal and put it in the cart. Her cart was
overflowing by the time they got to meat aisle. Tristan seemed
fascinated with packaged meat, expressing a longing to hunt for his
own aloud.

"My dad still hunts deer up north. It is done
for pleasure now. You need not hunt for your food, as you can
see."

In addition, see, he did, looking at the
packaged steaks with a look that melted Selene's resolve to start
making him eat more healthy. Tristan did not have an ounce of spare
flesh on him, but if he continued to eat as he had that week, he
would discover junk food had its consequences. She was thinking
about what he could do while she was at work and brightened. The
complex had a fitness room that was state of the art. Tristan would
enjoy working out now that he was not swinging a sword and training
with Gideon. She was glad she had thought of it.

Selene was shocked at how quickly she latched
onto Tristan like he was hers. They had no words spoken between
them. Warnings went off in her head, but she had fallen for him
long ago during the writing of chapter three. The love she had
nurtured for his character was bursting forth and she could not
stop it if she wanted to.

Tristan was doting, attentive and thoughtful,
just as she had written him to be. He had been raised a warrior,
but Gideon taught him to be a gentleman when he needed to be. He
was honest and had real integrity, and his loyalty was blind and
steadfast. Besides being the best lover she had ever had, she was
discovering he had qualities she had not written. He had an
alarming possessiveness toward her. He glared at any man who looked
at her.

She enjoyed the grocery shopping experience
immensely. Tristan's eyes widened when they went down the frozen
food aisle. He seemed fascinated with how the stuff stayed cold,
opening and closing the doors. She indulged him and got him some
chocolate chip ice cream.

They made it to the checkout and Selene was
not surprised when the bill came to over two hundred dollars.
Tristan's eyes practically bulged from their sockets as she swiped
her debit card and completed the transaction.

He pushed the cart to her car with a frown.
"Hunting is free, Selene. Are you sure we must buy our food?"

"Hunting is no longer free, Tristan," she
replied. "You have to buy a license to hunt, and are limited to how
much you can kill. It is different nowadays."

"This modern world is perplexing." He fumed
as he helped her load the trunk. "God's bounty even has a price
upon it."

"Everything has a price." She saw his pained
look and sympathized. "This is the modern world, Tristan. Money is
more important here than in your world. You cannot live without
it."

"Then I’ll find a way to make it, and lots of
it, without kidnapping or killing anyone," he added as an
afterthought.

She grinned and got into her car. "We will
have to bring you up to speed on that as well. There are swift and
sure consequences should you maim or kill anyone in this world,
Tristan. You cannot take a sword to someone if they make you angry,
or hit them if they say something you don't like. You would go to
jail for it."

"No wonder this world is full of weaklings,"
he grumbled and looked out the window as they left the Kroger's
parking lot.

Selene was pleased to know Tristan was
starting to see the real stark differences in the world he insisted
joining. She could not have prepared him for all of this. He was
notably quiet as they drove back to her apartment.

He helped her lug the groceries up, insisting
on getting the rest for her. He was determined to do something to
earn his keep and she was touched by his efforts. It troubled her
he seemed so despondent over her being in control of the finances.
The man had a definite issue with her paying for everything.

Selene knew it would take time for him to
settle in. They spent the afternoon with her showing him around the
complex, showing him where the weight room was. He was fascinated
he did not have to exercise so primitively, but she did have to
show him how to operate the equipment. She could see this pleased
him.

She showed him the indoor pool and he was
beside himself as he felt the water, finding it warm. She had to
stop him from disrobing right there, giggling at an elderly woman's
look of alarm who waded at the shallow end.

When they returned to the apartment, Daisy
was whining. Tristan changed into his modern clothing. She smiled
as they walked her dog down the walkway, pleased he even decided to
wear the underwear for her benefit. He stepped gingerly in the
tennis shoes at first, but soon seemed to like them.

She was surprised when his large hand found
her free one, the other held Daisy's leash. His big hand held hers
as they walked and she was stunned by her feeling of elation. The
gesture seemed unconscious by him, but to her it sent her spiraling
back to the seventh grade. It was the sign every girl looked for
when a boy liked them.

Tristan clearly liked her and his blue eyes
never failed to linger upon her, making her grow uncomfortably
aware of him. The primitive sensual need she felt for him was
shocking. She had two sexual relationships before she met Jim in
college. She had never felt like this, and after ten years of
marriage, it was disconcerting to know it. Sex with Tristan was as
if she had never had sex before until him. She was shaken by it.
She craved him in a way she could not explain.

Selene felt fear as his big hand tightened
around her fingers. She did not know what the future held for them.
Always a planner, this distressed her more than anything. Her fear
she could wake up and find him gone filled her with such sorrow she
looked away from his penetrating blue stare.

"What troubles you?" he asked, seeming to
know she was distraught.

"The doorway is gone." Daisy stopped to sniff
at something in the grass. "What does it all mean? I'm scared you
will disappear."

Tristan seemed pleased she felt such obvious
anxiety over him. His fingers linked with hers and he smiled down
at her. "Selene, I would not leave you. No power I could control
would take me from you."

"That is just it. We don't know if your being
here is permanent, Tristan."

He absorbed her words carefully. "The fact
I’m here at all should alleviate your worry."

Selene looked down at her dog, feeling her
heart clench. "I’m not letting you out of my sight. I have thought
about it all day. I’m taking a leave of absence from work."

"You do not have to keep watch over me,
Selene. I need no nursemaid!" Tristan said hotly.

"I have to find another place to live and the
time off is way overdue," Selene explained and shook her head. "I
haven't taken time off since I started working there. Jim and I
planned our vacations for the summertime when school was out of
session. I have eight years’ worth of vacation time racked up. I
mean to use it. We have to get you settled in."

"I do not like the trouble you go to for me,
Selene," he growled tightly and she could see it bothered him, her
intending to take a leave for him.

"Oh we will be busy, Tristan. You have much
to learn and I cannot teach you these things teaching others. You
need to learn to read and quickly. There is too much to be done if
I’m working. It is hardly a bother. I have to work on getting you
papers that say you even exist!"

Tristan mulled over her words and nodded, his
hand tightening on hers. It was difficult for him to give in to
her. His pride was taking a severe pummeling, but there was no hope
for it. Her gorgeous made-up hero had to get real, and quickly.

"I’ll defer to you in this, Selene, because
it is the only way for me to make my way in this world." He looked
down at her with tenderness in his expression. "It is far harder
than I thought it would be."

"Real life is far different than the book you
were born in," Selene commented and looked sad. "I wish it was not
that way, but I suppose that is why I write."

"Leaving the book undone bothers you. You did
that for me too."

"Tristan, I can write another! I’ll write
another. But now we must concentrate on getting you where you need
to be." She sighed as Daisy squatted near a fire hydrant.

Tristan was quiet when they returned from the
walk. He insisted on holding Daisy's leash. He suddenly appeared
grim as he looked at her.

"What will you tell your people of me? They
will wonder?"

"I’ll avoid them as long as I can. My friends
will just think you have an immigration problem. Do not worry so
much."

"What of the weakling?"

Selene flushed under his scowl as he asked
about Axel. "He just met me. I owe him no explanation of
anything."

"He wants you! You’re my woman now! I’ll not
tolerate him sniffing after your breeches, Selene!" Tristan snapped
and looked menacing as he spoke of Axel's interest in her.

Selene smiled at his possessive tone and
sighed. "Tristan, men do not carry women off over their shoulders
in this day and age. Trust me, Axel will go quietly."

"You liked him. You said you did," Tristan
persisted and she could see he was determined to know how she felt
about him verses Axel. How could she tell him she had written the
man of her dreams when she conjured him? How much did she dare put
herself out there? He waited for her reply, tense and bristling and
looking so glorious in the late afternoon sunlight she was tempted
to pull his head down to kiss away his dark frown. She gave into
that impulse and soon he was holding her tightly to his broad
chest, kissing her back with a hunger that made her sigh under his
lips. He lifted his head, his eyes darkened with passion.

"What does that tell you?" she asked in a
breathless voice.

"Come, the dog is done, and I would have some
more convincing from you Selene."

They practically dragged Daisy up the stairs
to her apartment. Tristan dropped the leash and snatched her up,
his mouth cutting off anything she might have said. No words seemed
to come to mind as they ripped at one another's clothes. Tristan
swung her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom, tossing her
upon the mattress. The predatory male look he gave her before he
came down to join her made her sigh with delight.

Hours later she lay in his arms with such
contentment, even the phone ringing could not make her move to get
up. She propped up on an elbow and looked down at Tristan, who
slept at her side. Her storybook hero come to life had to learn
some humility if this was to work with them. Tristan balked at her
doing everything for him now. He was not used to a woman taking
charge.