Tristan's Loins (18 page)

With Stephen hot on his heels, he could not
wait for the words of a priest to bind them together. He needed her
dowry to wage his war. Her father, Lord Severn, had tried to kill
him when he demanded it from him in good faith. Tristan had no
choice but to kill the man in self-defense. Tristan believed he
could woo her with tender words once he got her to Raven's Keep. To
have had any thoughts to win her at all after that was pure bravado
on his part.

His own disillusionment and indecision over
what he had done caused the ring to hear his thoughts. The power it
wielded opened the magical portal between their worlds. The ring
gave the wearer the power to attain their heart's desire. He knew
the power of the ring kept her from making the changes in the book
now.

Tristan did not want his future with Rhiannon
anymore. He wanted a life with Selene. Everything had gone wrong in
his quest when he cut off Stephen de Montfort's finger to avenge
his father. That one desperate act had set the tone for it all.
Even now, he could not take the ring off. It burned his skin at
first when he put it on. Now it was stuck upon his finger and would
not come off. Tristan would not tell her the truth. She felt
responsible for his situation enough. He knew he had the power to
leave just to think it, and the portal would open. He did not want
to go back, ever. He wanted to close the portal forever and destroy
the ring. Seeing her gazing at him so trustingly made it difficult
to meet her eyes. He was an honest man by nature. The ring made him
lie to protect its secrets now.

"What are you thinking about?"

"That you make CJ look very bad in that suit,
Selene."

"You’re a horrible liar, Tristan. Nobody
makes CJ look bad in a swimsuit."

"It is only you I see, Selene." He closed the
distance and swam to her, wrapping his arms around her, drawing her
to his chest. "It is only you that I want."

"Tristan, you must admit we can plan no
future together."

"We spend every moment doing what we do now,
and no more, Selene." He lifted her chin, staring deeply into her
eyes.

"I have always been a planner all my life,"
she grumbled and looked away from his amused expression. "I planned
my wedding the first time Jim and I went out on a date. I planned
my whole life before I truly lived it. Now it is all upside down,
my Mother is dying, and you come into my life. It is not easy for
me to sit back and enjoy the now."

She looked up at him and he felt a tug in his
heart at her vulnerable expression. Wanting to tell her the ring is
what started it all and kept her from making these changes for him
was starting to gnaw at him. That is all that kept him here now,
the power of his father's ring and his love for her.

Philippe de Montfort had been murdered by his
brother and his ring finger severed from his hand. Whoever wore it
now had great power. It was the ring Stephen wanted back, not the
title he had stolen with it. That is why Stephen raised an army to
pursue him. Lord de Vigny was not who Selene thought he was. The
man acted in the guise of a friend and deliberately stalled their
leaving, even dosing their wine at the evening meal. Selene's voice
had brought him out of his drug-induced sleep that night. Whatever
waited for him was now stalled. He meant to use the ring's power to
aid his and Rhiannon's escape from deVigny's stronghold. Instead,
he followed the voice.

Selene would not be pleased to know while she
had concentrated her attentions on creating him, she neglected the
others. They developed their own thoughts and ideas. It pained him
to keep it from her and act as though he was oblivious to the power
that brought him here.

He brooded the matter night and day since he
arrived into her world. He had walked into the tower room and
sought the ring's power to solve his problems. He heard Selene's
voice instead, and his course was forever changed.

The story was not finished. The castle was
frozen in time. Whatever ill will and mischief de Vigny perpetrated
was never seen through. Should he go back, he was forewarned, but
he had no desire to spend his life waving a sword at enemies who
cropped up faster than the ones he had already slain.

It was wrong not to tell her of the ring's
significance. She would not believe he had fallen in love with her
long before he saw her. Selene was pessimistic and cynical. Her
husband's treatment aside, she did not trust in such wondrous
feelings. He could see her disbelief in him, and them, even as her
emotions struggled to the surface. Tristan wanted her to believe in
him, even if she knew in her mind she had created him.

"You make me nervous when you get so quiet,"
she commented as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto
him as he carried her deeper into the pool.

Tristan smiled. "Why do you need talk,
Selene?"

She appeared to struggle with his question.
"To know what you’re thinking."

"Can't you tell these things I’m thinking?
Why must I always say them aloud?" he asked and chuckled as his
teeth nipped gently on her shoulder.

"Sometimes it's nice to hear words," Selene
informed him as she felt his hardness against her thigh.

Tristan knew she needed reassurances he could
not give her now. She knew less than him, but neither knew how much
time they had together. He carried her to the side of the pool,
trapping her against the edge. Her eyes flew wide as she saw the
desire in his eyes. Before she could question the location of his
choice of spots to have sex he was sliding her bathing suit bottoms
off. They sunk to the bottom. His fingers wreaked havoc on her
state of mind as he pressed her against the side of the pool. Soft
gasps escaped her as his lips hovered close to hers.

"Are you sure you want to talk, my love?" he
asked as he positioned himself against her, the tip of his penis
sliding inside her and inching slowly within her.

"Oh, no, no talk," she whispered and her
weightless legs wrapped around him, pulling him to her tightly.

He thrust deep within her, his hands
positioned on each side of her, his body pinning hers as he created
a slow steady wave around them, moaning in delight as he lost
himself within her once more.

The low murmurs and sighs echoed in the
poolroom. Muffled gasps and cries were muted and tapered off
finally. Selene sighed and looked dazed as Tristan kissed the side
of her neck, his lips lingering at her ear, nibbling at the
delicate lobe.

"You do that on purpose to avoid talking
about things," she accused and wondered if she should dive for her
suit, both pieces now sitting at the bottom of the pool.

Tristan grinned and looked at her with a
wicked smile. "It works every time too."

"We need to really get busy on your reading
now. How far did you get through those books I gave you?" Selene
asked softly as she floated within his arms.

"All of them," he replied and twirled her
around.

Selene looked stunned, golden eyes wide with
surprise. "You finished them all?"

He nodded and looked confused. "Isn't that
what you wanted?"

"I did not think you would be even half done
by now," she replied and shook her head. "I'm impressed. That means
you’re ready for easy chapter books. That's wonderful,
Tristan."

Tristan wanted to impress her, which was not
easy because in her time his skills were limited. Hearing her
praise made up for his long frustrating hours spent pouring over
the workbooks. He knew his whole alphabet, suffixes, prefixes, and
was sounding out words already on his own.

Selene looked up at him with admiration and
he knew it had all been worth it. For the first time since he came
to her world, he felt he made headway to finding some sense of
worth here. His goal was to be able to read his own story, find
some more clues of where it all went wrong.

Selene dove for her suit and hastily put it
on before she got out and retrieved their towels. Tristan walked
out in his glorious nakedness and chuckled to see her looking about
for signs of other tenants as he dried off. They dressed and walked
back to the apartment.

Tristan was walking Daisy and the phone rang.
She picked up out of habit, without checking the ID. It was
Axel.

"Hey, Selene is everything alright?" he asked
with worry in his tone.

"Yes and no," Selene said and hated herself
for lying to him. He was the right guy at the wrong time in her
life. "My Mother is ill and I'm on my way home for a while."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said and sounded
sincere. "Pritchard said you weren't coming back until the
fall."

"Yeah, it's necessary. My Dad has his hands
full right now, and to be honest with everything going on right
now, I need the break."

"Call me and let me know how you’re, Selene.
Or if you just want to talk. I'm there," he reminded her quietly
and she heard footsteps outside the door.

"I'll call you when I get to my parents’
house and give you an update ok?" Selene said and felt like she was
rushing to get off the phone. Tristan was extremely jealous of any
man that looked twice at her.

Axel hung up and Selene replaced the receiver
in relief as Tristan came in with Daisy. The dog adored him already
and was learning bad habits very quickly. She was found at the end
of her bed more often than not, and Tristan was always feeding her
scraps from his plate. Daisy was forever ruined and had only been
with her three days.

Tristan took her off her leash and she ran to
find her toys. He came over and gazed down at her
apologetically.

"I think your neighbors caught us on our way
back. How do you hide such a big dog? I could not."

"It's ok, were leaving Friday. I won't get my
security deposit back, but it's not like she damaged anything.
Don't worry about it. I have to put my stuff in storage and pack
the rest of the week. I don't want to have to come back here until
I have to."

"Are you sure about going up to this
cottage?" he asked.

"You will love it there, Tristan." She
regaled him with tales from her childhood going up there every long
holiday weekend growing up. "It's one of my favorite places to go.
While we are there, we can work on what you need to learn. It's
perfect. If I want to work on my writing, I can, or we can just sit
on the beach and get some sun."

Tristan wandered over and sat on the couch.
Daisy clambered up beside him despite the dirty look Selene gave
her. He clicked on the TV and she smiled to see how quickly he
grasped cable. The need to hog a remote control must be programmed
into men since the caveman era. Even Tristan had that annoying
trait most modern men had. He loved old westerns and she was pretty
sure he was stuck on Baywatch.

She took the opportunity to go into the
bedroom and call Maggie. She answered and sounded breathless. She
was on her treadmill and took a break to talk to Selene.

"You scared us all, Selene. Why did not you
call me?" She sounded annoyed.

"Because there was no need to worry. My Mom
took a turn for the worst. I have to go. That's all it is," she
explained and then remembered her other reason for needing to talk
to Maggie. "I was wondering if you still have that friend on the
east side."

"Reggie? Yeah, why?" and she sounded
suspicious and disapproving. Reggie sold drugs, in addition to
ID's.

"I have a friend with some immigration
problems. He needs ID, birth certificate, all of it."

"Who's the friend?"

"You don't know him. He's English." Selene
frowned at how little she wanted anyone to know about Tristan.
"He's illegal and has no papers."

"How did he get here then?"

Selene rolled her eyes. Maggie was good. "His
stuff was lost and he had some other issues. I'm trying to help him
out so he can stay here Maggie. Can Reggie help?"

"Yeah, but the stuff doesn't come cheap. Tell
your friend he's looking at a couple grand just for a birth
certificate."

"That much? Really?"

"If he's English and doesn't have a Visa,
he's going to get deported, Selene."

"Deported?" If the immigration department got
their hands on Tristan, they would send him back to England. What a
mess.

"The alternative is him getting a Green Card.
He has to marry an American to get one of those," Maggie said and
paused. "How did you hook up with an illegal alien? I thought you
and Coach Gifford were seeing each other?" She heard the irritation
in Maggie's voice and knew she was sore Axel preferred her.

"Axel and I are just friends, Maggie. I'm not
ready for a relationship. I just got divorced."

"Well, he lost out, because I found somebody
my own age that night," Maggie bragged. "We have been seeing each
other ever since."

"Tell me he graduated from high school?"

Maggie chuckled appreciatively. "He's
twenty-six, older than Burke at least."

"Have you heard from Burke?"

"He called to see if I would wire him some
money. I told him the bank of Maggie was officially closed to
him."

"Good for you."

"My Dad is moving in with me to help me with
bills." She sounded dismayed. "He's living in that house all by
himself now that my Mom's gone. It makes sense, but it's going to
be tough having my Dad living with me."

"You will get through it."

"Selene, if you need to talk, you have my
number. I know I'm not all warm and cuddly like Darcy, but I'm your
friend too."

"I'll call you guys and give you updates,"
she promised. "I won't know much until I get there."

"I'll call Reggie and see if we can get the
English guy a birth certificate, from England, you say?"

"Yeah, I need it quick too."

"Alright, I’ll call you and let you know what
they can do, but it would be a lot easier if the guy just got
married if he wants to stay here."