Melting Point (3 page)

"Fascinating," she teased, her eyes gleaming with amusement. She happened to glance over at Sophia and the men at the welders
’ table. Before she could divert her attention back to Trent, Sophia began to wave, urging them to come over. Faith gave her a slight shake of her head, hoping Sophia would let it go.

Turning his head
, Trent also took notice of Sophia. In response, Sophia’s smile widened, and she waved and gestured for him to relocate. He turned his attention back to Faith. "Did you want to?" He motioned to the group across the room.

She shook her head
no, but then noticed that the attention of the whole table was now focused on them, especially Brian’s.

If you don't it'll just be something more he can use against you
, she thought to herself.
The snotty ice queen couldn’t even take a minute to say hi
,
he’d say to the guys at work
.

With a sigh and a nod, "Let's go." She
slung her tiny black rhinestone purse over her shoulder, took hold of the beer she was still nursing and stood.

Trent reached across the table to take hold of her bare forearm, not yet attempting to rise out of his chair. "Are you sure?"
He shrugged and said, "I'm not that keen on Brian and his band of merry drunks."

No
, she wasn't. Especially since the warmth of his hand on her skin caused the spark she was feeling between them to flare up once more. The last thing she really wanted was to have to share his attention. As she looked into his dark eyes, she was touched that she saw a genuine concern for her in them.

"If we don't
then who knows what they'll be saying come Monday morning."

"Fuck them," he replied with
unwavering force.

She couldn't help but smile as she walked over to him. Leaning down so her lips grazed his ear she whispered, "
Easy for you to say;
he's
your brother and they’re
his
pals. Not mine."

"One inappropriate word and we leave," he
promised, looking her dead in the eye. "Deal?"

"Deal." Faith wasn't quite sure
when
in the past half hour or so things had changed from them being mere acquaintances to him taking on the role of her protector, but she wasn't complaining. It felt good. More than that – it felt
right
.

She backed away as he took hold of his beer a
nd stood up, wrapping a protective arm around her waist. She allowed herself to cozy up against him as they walked over to the dreaded table of merry drunks.

****

For the most part, the conversation had gone surprisingly well for Faith – much better than she had expected it would. However, several hours had passed since she and Trent had made their way across the bar and sat down with her co-workers; by now most were becoming quite intoxicated. Brian was beginning to let his true colors show once again, with raging force this time. He would later blame the alcohol, but everyone at the table knew better than that.

Faith
was seated next to Trent, and saw he was growing increasingly agitated with the others. A number of times she found herself having to tap his leg and shake her head, as if to say "don't let it bother you."

"Let's go," Trent finally leaned over and whispered in her ear. The guys were beginning to share crude stories about their recent conquests and he
’d had just about as much as he could handle of them for one evening.

Looking over at Sophia
, Faith wasn't sure if she liked the idea of leaving her behind. The half-dozen men ranged in intoxication levels from Tony, who was slightly tipsy, to Brian, who was completely hammered.

Catching Sophia's attention she mouthed:
We're going, will you be okay
?

Sophia gave her a wink and mouthed back:
I'm fine. Go!

"Let's go," Faith whispe
red back to Trent, as she grasped her purse in her hand.

Trent followed
her lead. Placing his hand at the small of her back, he urged Faith to start walking toward the door.

Brian
immediately stopped talking once he realized Faith and his brother were preparing to leave. He stood and blocked Faith's path, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I was wrong about you, you're not so bad."

Faith couldn't help but be somewhat impressed that despite his obvious intoxicated state he was still able to form
a coherent sentence.

She nodded, "T
hanks." Turning to the rest of the men and Sophia she said simply, "Have a good weekend, guys."

Trent also said his goodbye
s and she heard a choir of farewells as she and Trent began to walk to the exit.

They had only gotten a few feet
from the table when she heard Brian's voice loud and clear behind them, "Can't weld worth a damn, but
fuck
she's got a good set of tits on her."

Faith stopped in her tracks, as did Trent.

The table went silent. Regardless of his state of drunkenness each man at the table, with the exception of Brian, knew instinctively that shit was about to hit the proverbial fan.

Trent's warm hand left the small of her back.

She turned to look at Trent, to tell him not to mind his brother, but she was too late. She watched, mouth open, as Trent strode up to Brian and without a word, hauled his arm back, then slammed a right hook into his brother's jaw!

C
hapter 3

Brian fell backwards into his chair, but spr
ang back up to his feet. He paused for a moment as if his mind was registering what had just happened. His drunken state gave him the advantage of feeling minimum pain. Looking at Trent, his green eyes narrowed as he brought his own fist back and connected it to Trent's temple.

Trent
staggered back a few feet, but quickly shook it off. He responded by tackling his brother, sending them both crashing onto the table. Beer bottles and shot glasses were sent crashing to the floor as the two men began throwing punches at a frenzied pace.

They continued to exchange blows as they rolled off the table and to the floor of broken glass. They landed on the floor with Trent on top.

Faith attempted to pull Trent off Brian, but was stopped by Will, one of the other, almost sober, men in the group. "Don't get in the middle Faith," he advised, placing himself between her and the fighting brothers. She attempted to get around him, but he was adamant about keeping her out of the line of fire.

Less tha
n a minute later the other men at the table, with the assistance of the two in-house bouncers, had separated the brothers. Pulling free from Will's hold, Faith ran over to Trent, not giving Brian the courtesy of a glance.

Rubbing his jaw,
Trent shot an angry glare at Brian. "We'll discuss this later, Brian," he promised as he met Faith partway. He attempted to give Faith a reassuring smile, but winced as the attempted smile deepened the cut on his lip.

Faith took his hand into hers, smiling up at him ruefully. "Let me take you home and get you cleaned up
, Slugger."

He started to laugh, but
ended up groaning and clutching his left side.

****

Faith had suggested that she take him to the hospital, “just in case,” but Trent refused. Instead, as they walked to his black Chevy Blazer he agreed to go back to her apartment so she could “get a good look at his injuries” and properly clean up his numerous cuts and bruises. He had been in worse off shape numerous times in the past, so he wasn't overly concerned, but couldn't deny he liked that she was fussing over him.

So he let her.

Despite his numerous attempts to tell her he was fine to drive she insisted he pass over the keys to the Blazer. Reluctantly he gave in; he did have a splitting headache, which he was pretty certain was due to Brian's attempt to use his head to break the bar's table in two. He kept that information to himself.

He tried to recall the last time he and Brian had a
"no holds barred" brawl. Monica Vernon was the girl, twelve years ago. He was sixteen and Brian was eighteen at the time. Monica had been Trent's first girlfriend, his first love, until his brother took a liking to her. He had caught her sitting in Brian's car; they were kissing.

Trent remembered how enraged he was at the time
. He had flung open the driver's side car door and pulled Brian out of the car by the scruff of his neck. They’d fought viciously until his parents realized what was going on, rushed out of the house and broke up the fight. He was pretty certain Brian had kicked his ass back then. However, tonight he was pretty confident that Brian would be feeling a whole world of pain come morning.

He felt an adolescent, immature sense of pride over it. Payback could be a bitch.

There was silence in the Blazer as Faith drove them back to her apartment. As he sat in the passenger seat Trent couldn't help but steal quick glances at Faith as she drove. She was a special type of woman, he had no doubt about that. He had a hunch she was when he’d first met her, but now he had no doubt about it.

The instant he saw her on the work site th
at morning he could tell she was an attractive woman, despite the layers of clothing and dirt. In his book, if a woman could be covered in filth and dressed in bulky, horribly fitting work clothing and
still
be alluring, then she'd have to be stunning in her normal attire.

H
e had not been wrong. When not covered in soot, her dark hair shone. Her face had a cute heart shape to it, with bright blue eyes. Electric blue was his first impression when he saw her.

"We're here," she announced, pulling off the main road and into the parking lot of a four
-story apartment building, "and this might be our lucky night," she added as she brought the Blazer to stop in an empty slot directly in front of the main doors.

Trent reached up and touched his sore jaw
. "Feels like it."

Faith turned to face him with an amused smile
. "Follow me."

Trent did
.

Faith's
apartment was situated on the main floor of the building. It was decently sized with a couple of bedrooms. She gave him a quick tour. She had converted one of the bedrooms into a study. She ended the tour in a dimly lit living room, which contained a large flat screen and a grey suede sofa set.

The full moon shone in through the la
rge picture window of the room, illuminating it.

Kicking off her
black stiletto heels, Faith nodded toward the sofa. "Take a seat, I'm going to grab the first aid kit." She gave him a quick once-over, adding, "and perhaps a washcloth and some ice for that bump on your head."

"You don't need to..."

"It's the least I can do, for my white knight," she teased, exiting the room.

He grinned despite himself, then grimaced feeling the cut in his lip break open once again. Flopping down on the
soft, oversized sofa he waited anxiously for her to return.

****

After Faith had gathered the necessary supplies she made her way back to Trent. She paused at the living room entranceway. He was one of the cutest beat-up men she'd ever seen. His short dark hair was dishevelled. His left eye was beginning to blacken and swell slightly. There was a cut on his lip and she had noticed he had rubbed his left side a number of times on the drive there. She assumed he must have bruised a rib, and hoped that was all it was. Overall, he looked like he’d made out all right and his injuries were pretty much superficial, all things considered.

She walked over to the sofa and laid the first aid kit on the glass coffee table
, before sitting down next to him. A shiver shot through her as her leg brushed up against his.

That would have to wait for now.

Flipping open the kit she removed the peroxide and a sterile cloth. "Take off the sweater," Faith commanded as she opened the bottle of peroxide and poured a generous amount on the cloth.

"I'm fine
. Really," Trent protested, but leaned forward and did as he was told, removing the sweater and tossing it on the floor, at their feet.

Faith took a moment to indulge herself by examining every inch of his exposed torso.
A large, dark welt was emerging where he kept rubbing. She didn't like the look of it, but didn't voice her concern to him. He’d said he was fine so she'd let it go at that, unless he said otherwise.

She couldn't resist reaching out and tracing the defin
ition of his muscles, across his broad chest and over his shoulders. He was slightly bruised, but other than the mark on his side, none of the injuries looked serious. She was slightly concerned he might need stitches on the pretty deep cut on his left temple, but again doubted he'd change his mind about going to the hospital so that was that.

Trent
inhaled sharply at her touch, his eyes locking onto hers. Reaching out he grasped the hand she had placed on his chest, interlacing his fingers with hers. His free hand reached out, settled on the back of her neck and pulled her lips down to his. Faith sighed, as her lips touched his in a delicate, sensual kiss.

She took his lower lip between her teeth, nipping lightly. He opened his mouth
, allowing her tongue entry. Their tongues playfully jostled with each other, as she allowed herself to lean into him.

Trent flinched
when she pressed herself against him, but didn't pull away. With a look of concern and guilt on her face, Faith pulled back, looking for the source of his discomfort. "What's wrong?"

He chuckled. "Nothing, it's fine."

She frowned at him, a look of suspicion in her eyes. "You flinched." Realizing she still had the damp peroxide cloth in her hand she raised it to his temple, wiping the blood away.

"My left side is a little tender. Nothing to worry about," he assured her.

Trent reached over and pried the cloth from her hand, then tossed it to the floor next to his sweater. His arm swept around her and pulled her onto his lap, so she was straddling him. "It's nothing," he assured her once more, his voice husky with hunger. He had more pressing needs at the moment.

With a slight, unsure smile Faith nodded
, placing her arms around his neck, locking her fingers together behind it. She could feel his need growing under her, despite his jeans. Her own desire quickly began to build within her.

She lowered her lips to his once more, but this time her lips were demanding, her tongue forcing his surrender. He happily obliged.

Trent pulled her up close against his hard body, her breasts crushed against his chest. The heat of his bare chest teased her breasts through the sheer material of her sundress. She could feel her nipples harden, begging for his attention.

His hands worked their way up her outer thighs
. With each inch they travelled up, the heat between her legs burned hotter. She felt her panties becoming wet as she anticipated what was to come.

Pulling away from her lips, Trent began to trail his kisses down her neck, moving slow
ly, his tongue teasing as he went. She closed her eyes and let her head fall backward, arching her back, basking in the feel of his lips and tongue. She moaned softly as his mouth hit her collarbone and proceeded to work its way down her chest to her generous, heaving breasts.

She desperately wanted, no
needed
, him more than she had ever felt the need to have anyone before. Perhaps it was the four-month dry spell she had experienced, or perhaps it was just him. Either way she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was satisfying the primal urges within her.

While the fingers of her one hand continued to cling tight
ly onto his shoulder the other made its way between them, finding and caressing his enlarged cock over the thick denim.

"Faith," he moaned
, his voice broken. The tension was killing him, but he didn't want to put any pressure on her.

He reached out and touched her cheek with his hand, drawing her eyes back to meet his. Faith's hand covered his
, moving it over to her mouth so she could place a tender kiss on the palm.

She gave him a wicked smile
. "Yes, Trent."

"I don't
want to move faster than you're comfortable with."

Faith lowered her forehead to his and closed her eyes. She took a moment to enjoy the feel of him under her.
To take in the seductive smell of his cologne. She could feel, almost hear even, the rapid beating of his heart as she gently squeezed his cock through his jeans.

"I want you
, Trent," she finally whispered. She gave his hard cock another squeeze to emphasise her point. "All of you."

He growled,
low and feral, as his lips sought hers once more. His hands made their way back up and under the skirt of her dress to cup her ass in them, roughly pulling her up tight against his hard cock. His fingers slipped under the sheer material of her panties and worked their way into her wet pussy.

Faith cried out softly
, her own hands frantically working at the button and then zipper of his jeans. Within seconds she had freed his hard, throbbing member and grasped tightly onto it, stroking the length of him in strong, fluid motions.

"Faith," he gasped
in her ear, when his mouth left hers and began its travels back down the length of her neck.

As much as she was enjoying the feel of his fingers diving deep into her, she needed more. "Too much clothing," she whispered back.

He chuckled softly. "We can fix that," he assured her.

Reaching behind her
, he unzipped the back of her dress, then gently slid the straps off her shoulders. The bodice fell away exposing her firm, round breasts. Reluctantly she pushed herself off his lap and stood on the floor in front of him, letting the dress drop to a pool of fabric at her feet.

She
stood in front of him, allowing him a moment to drink in the sight of her near-naked body, before hooking her thumbs into the thin waistband of her thong and pushing it down over her hips, letting it slide down to the floor with the dress.

****

Trent drank in every inch of Faith's naked body. She stood so strong and confident in her nakedness in front of him. That in itself was driving him near insane with wanting her. She was so confident, so sure of herself and her body. When she finally removed the thong his breath caught in his throat and his cock threatened to explode at the sight of her clean-shaven pussy.