TAKING OVER TROFIM (Dominion of Brothers series Book 4) (25 page)

Shay’s nerves screeched to a painful halt just when he was rolling Trofim to his back and coming over him. They exchanged a dead lock of frightened stares.
Sarah
. And there was no place to hide in the one room efficiency apartment that barely even had a kitchen counter and three quarter partitioning wall to divide the bedroom from the rest of the space.

“
Shay? It’s me, Sarah
.” More knocking, “
I know you’re in there. Your car is in the parking lot
.”

Shay only stared down at his lover, refusing to even blink as if Trofim might vanish from him if he dared to allow it. He shook his head. “No. I won’t lose you.” Panic already rising up in Shay.

“Shhh.” Trofim’s hand went to his face, trying to settle him down. They knew going into this the day would come. They loved each other so much and everything came so natural they’re caution slipped. Sneaking around just wasn’t in their vocabulary. But Shay, for all his strengths, refused to have any when it came to losing the one man he had ever loved. Their five years apart had zapped him of every bit of that strength he had.

Trofim kissed him lightly and stroked the lines from Shay’s brow with his fingers. “I’m still here. Can’t you feel me touching you?”

Shay nodded. Yes, Trofim was still here with him. He hadn’t vanished like a dream when his nightmare of a life crept in. “We’ll get through this.” Shay nodded again. Shay may have been the man’s man in the relationship but Trofim was definitely the pillar. His pillar.

Another knock then the voice of one of his neighbors. Someone had stopped and Sarah was asking questions. Shay’s heart slammed inside his chest, his relationship with Trofim was no secret from his neighbors.

He jumped from the bed tearing the sheet with him and rushed to the door. He flung it open just as Saul was about to spill his lover’s name. “Sarah.” Shay scrubbed at his face like he’d just been forced out of a deep sleep, “I was sleeping so hard. I thought I was dreaming.” He cocked his head, glaring at Saul with a jut of his chin that should have been telling them to move on. Now.

He sniffed, “So what brings you here?”

“Well, I went by the hospital.”

She must have seen the sudden change in his expression because then the excuses for her actions came. Always well-rehearsed. As if her invasion wasn’t such a big deal to be all up in arms over. “I know you don’t like me to, but with our wedding date coming up, you really should get used to me being a fixture in your life.” Her eyes fell and got stuck in a mixed expression of horror and amazement. Shay glanced down and saw his erection, which hadn’t deflated in the least despite the shell shock of her unannounced visit and it was presently tenting nearly straight out under the bed sheet. Which he could understand why she looked down in horror.

He squirmed and tried, as nonchalantly as a man could, to press his dick to one side holding it against his hip with a heavy wad of the sheets in one fist. He turned red; some from embarrassment and some was anger that she got to even gawk at him. He felt invaded.

“Sarah, you really should have called.”

“Yes, well, every time I do that you always have an excuse for me not to come over. But the hospital said you were off for the next two days, so I decided to surprise you, hoping maybe we could spend some time together.” She took a step toward him, as if expecting him to step back and let her in.

Shay edged the door closed, wedging himself between it and the doorjamb. He glanced at the wall clock behind the door, then back to her, “I really need to get a couple more hours of sleep.” He forced out a yawn, “Can I call you when I get up? I’ll take you to dinner and we could do some shopping or something.” That usually got her to back off even though he never did follow through with the promises.

“That’s okay.” She tried to shove her way past him.

Shay tripped on the dragging corner of the sheet and lost his balance. The fault giving her just enough room to break past his barrier. “I think it would be kind of nice to just lay next to you and watch you sleep. I saw it in a movie once, it was really romantic.”

Shay felt the surge of panic, he swallowed hard. “Ah, Sarah!”

She turned around and glanced at him, giving him a questioning glance.

He let out a hard breath, glad he had her looking towards him at the door, and not moving further into the room. Just a few more steps and she would le to see over the wall and see who he was really with. “You remember, I said we weren’t going to do anything until after the wedding.” He swallowed hard, “I meant it.”

Sarah stepped up, a certain sway in her walk, a sultry wink in her eyes as she put on the seductress look for him. Her hand floating down around the sheet as if she intended to grope him. “What would the harm be in getting in a little practice?”

Shay tried to back away but one step and his heels were already backed against the door still partly open. He couldn’t back up any further, doing so meant closing the door, and he wasn’t sure how to get her back out without actually physically grabbing her and shoving her out. “You need to go.” He ordered using the violation to regain some sternness. It wasn’t his style to rough anyone up, not even Sarah. However as her fingers brushed against the sheet over his cock he thought about maybe running out the door himself.

“We could just play around.” She offered, despite Shay cringing away from her.

He swept his hand down to push hers away. The very contact was making him sick to his stomach. He’d never been comfortable with anyone touching him except Trofim and already he felt the warmth building on his brow and over his shoulders as the chilled sweat started to kick in.

Sarah tilted her head, and pushed her bottom lip out in a pouty look and blinked her lashes shyly. A contradiction of expressions played like a well-rehearsed approach, “We don’t have to go all the way.” She started to lower to her knees, “I could just—”

“Stop it!” He shoved her persistent hands from him again.

“Keep your hands off of him.”

The stern and definitely male voice came from behind her startling them both. Sarah snapped to her feet, spinning around and coming face to face with a less than pleased Trofim. Standing there like the Adonis that he was, glaring at her, wearing little more than a pair of brief shorts that clung to his body.

~  *  ~

Shay’s eyes shot up, giving Trofim both a look of panic and guilt. One Trofim had expected to see but he couldn’t stand by and let it happen. “I don’t want you touching him. He’s mine.”

It had taken Trofim all of maybe five seconds to decide they were caught and not to keep quiet while this woman tried to come onto his partner while he was hiding just a few feet away.

Painful relief melted over his lover’s eyes. As difficult as they both knew this was going to be and still to come— it was a relief to stop hiding and they both felt it.

Sarah, on the other hand, was feeling something far different. “Oh— my— god— what is this?” She spun around, now gaping at Shay, “Shay? What are you doing in bed with a man?”

Shay took a deep breath, his strength seeping back the moment Trofim stood up and laid claim to who belonged beside him. Sarah’s rage, for all that she deserved to feel, didn’t even phase Shay. His father’s had been far worse. It wasn’t her finding out that had kept him in tethers all this time. It was the hiding altogether and now that it was gone he felt free and he didn’t see the sense in beating around the bush on any level at this point. He met his lover’s eyes. Saw the possession there. Perhaps even a flicker of jealousy. Trofim had not liked the idea of him being engaged, to a woman no less, from the very start. It had been no surprise that he stood there outing them now. Staking his claim and all Shay could think was,
Thank god
. He didn’t have to feel guilty for it now, because now Sarah knew the two of them were never meant to be together. He was always meant to be with Trofim, ever since that fateful night his Pledge brother brought Shay along for a threesome with his boyfriend.
Shay remembered sitting at the bar staring at Trofim the whole evening. Every part of Shay’s body had been burning with lust to get his hands on the sexy Laszkovi brother. A thousand boyhood fantasies and wet dreams coming true for him that night. He didn’t know how many times he licked his lips waiting for the chance to show Trofim what he could do to him. After a couple of drinks at the local dive they headed for the dorm house but they never made it. Stopping to tear into each other and fuck their brains out in the bushes at the park and again behind the dorm before finally actually making it inside Trofim’s room for a few more rounds of free for all.

“Shay? I want an explanation.” Sarah’s voice curled up into a crescendo that threatened to start screaming at him. His mouth twitched, thinking if anything that maybe her screaming would phase him some.

“I’m gay, Sarah, You knew that!”

“You’re not gay. It was just some phase you went through and it was over.”

“Are you serious?  A phase?”

“So now what? You’re going to keep him around for some sidekicks while we play dress up for the rest of the world until our wedding?”

“No. I’m staying with Trofim.”

“Staying?” She stilled, her hot-headed avalanche of anger marred on her features, melting right off her face, leaving a desolate look of shock, “What do you mean,
staying
?”

“I mean, I can’t marry you. I never intended to. I’m in love with Trofim. I always was.”

Sarah shook her head, some part of her unwilling to hear or accept the truth, “No!” The screaming started, “This is just a way to relieve sexual frustration. Jamie’s husband used to do it when he was in college too. He said it was how he relieved his need without cheating on her.” She shook her head some more, “That’s what this is.”

Shay’s pillar moved behind the dividing wall and he heard the jingle of the belt on Trofim’s jeans. He ran to him. “No. Don’t leave, please. I can’t lose you over this.”

“It’s okay. You’re not losing me.” Trofim tilted up and kissed him. “You two obviously need to talk some things over.” Trofim’s hand came up to touch Shay’s cheek, his fingers guiding Shay down for a deeper kiss. The kiss they shared was tainted with pain. The fight had just begun and they would need all the support of each other to get through this.

“Dammit, I love you. There has never been anything between me and her. I swear it.”

“I know. But she didn’t know that. She deserves a better explanation.”

“Why?” It was more a plea than an argument.

~  *  ~

“Because you’re a better man than the ones who did this to you.” Trofim could see the guilt tearing at him. Guilt that didn’t belong to him, but Shay felt it anyway out of fear that the false arrangement was enough to damage their own.

Trofim stroked over his lovesick man’s cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I belong to you. I’m never going to walk away from that again. Ever. But I think you should be the one to tell her. Just come back to me when it’s over.”

Trofim gathered his things, but didn’t make his way out until Shay was fully dressed. Not putting it past the girl to make some crazy attempt to convert Shay to the straight side.
He punched down the need to glare at her some territorial threat, but then he saw the tears in her eyes. And he had to wonder if she had been just as innocent in this as Shay had been? Had she been so naive to think Shay wasn’t being forced to marry her? He didn’t know anymore and he suddenly felt sorry for her, realizing this was going to be painful for her too.
But before Trofim stepped out he turned back to lock gazes with Shay, who was still watching him carefully, “I love you.” Those three words and he saw Shay’s world of shadows vanish like the sun coming out from behind dark clouds. For Shay trouble just didn’t exist as long as he knew Trofim wasn’t going to leave him. And he left them both to find some understanding from this.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Shay sat with her, after taking a moment to get dressed and saw his lover out. He hated that she’d started crying. He’d always told himself she was in on the entrapment but as they sat down and talked, talked about how he loved Trofim and how his father drove him away then blackmailed himself into marrying her, he could see she had truly been naive all along.

“God, I’m so stupid. I can’t believe this is happening.” She looked up at him, her eyes swelling from the tears but some part of her still begged it wasn’t true. “What will you do now?”

Shay shook his head, “Talk to the board see if I can get them to sign off on my internship early so I can start getting a salary. Maybe get an extension on my student loan payments.”

“Keep the money daddy gave us for our engagement gift.”

“Sarah, I can’t do that.”

“Yes you can.” She scolded suddenly, the strength he’d often seen in her when she was determined to have something rising up. “Just think of it as restitution money. For what they did to you.”

“He won’t go for that, Sarah.”

“Oh yes he will. We have an event next week and gossip spreads fast at those things. Don’t think for one moment I won’t run my mouth how my daddy was actually going to make me marry a man for his own political gains.”

Shay tried to smile, but he knew it wasn’t going to be quite as easy as all that to stop his own father. Shay didn’t actually have his father wrapped around his finger as Sarah did hers.

“Are you going to be okay, Sarah?” What he really wanted to ask was if she was going to go home and cry to her parents about it all, but he didn’t think after what she had just been put through he had the right to ask her not to.

“I won’t say it won’t hurt. I was really looking forward to marrying you and hoped that we were destined to fall in love.” Fresh tears trickled down her face, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch her to wipe them away. So he handed her a t-shirt from his basket of clean laundry.

She laughed a little and shook her head, then wiped away her own tears, then pushed out another sad laugh. “I feel so stupid now. I mean, all this time when you said you wouldn’t sleep with me, and really you wouldn’t even kiss me or hold me. I should have known.”