Tristan's Loins (9 page)

Selene saw Darcy giggle and follow Sal out of
the bar and shook her head. "She's going to be sick."

Axel grabbed her hand and led her down to
where the band warmed up. He was smiling a little wickedly, and a
definitely Tristan-like smile that made her melt. "Come on, your
off duty, Mother Hen. Let's go up front."

Selene was unsure but his disarming smile
swayed her. For one night, she was going to forget about her
troubles, give into being with a gorgeous man, and ignore the rules
of the game.

"Ok, lead on, but if she drinks anymore,
you’re driving her home," Selene warned.

It was two in the morning when Darcy was lead
on wobbly legs to the car by Selene and Axel. Sal sat on his bike
grinning.

"Hey, anytime you want to come on back,
Darcy, you got my number in your pocket," he called out.

"Darcy if you call that guy, I'll kill you,"
Selene seethed as her friend giggled and stumbled.

"He's really a nice, normal guy under the
hair and tattoos, Selene."

Selene regarded Axel without expression. She
was not going to argue Sal's virtues in a bar parking lot with her
drunk friend ready to hurl everywhere. The man had fed Darcy drinks
all night despite her warnings. It doused her enjoyment of the
evening considerably.

"Let's just get her to the car."

Axel eyed her in amusement. "When was the
last time you drove a drunk home?"

"Nineteen ninety-eight, I think." Selene
frowned as she thought about it. "Maybe it was ninety-nine."

Axel burst out laughing and she sent him a
quelling look. They got a giggling Darcy into the car and she shut
the door carefully before her friend could flop out.

She sighed and went to her side. Axel looked
down at her with a composed expression, but his lips twitched at
her irritation.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Axel said and
Selene would have turned to get in the car but he spun her around
and his lips came down on hers swiftly, making her gasp.

The fantasy of Axel was not even, close to
what it felt like to kiss him in person. His lips were firm and
sure as they slid over hers, parting hers easily as his tongue
swept inside slowly. She smelled the spicy scent of him and sighed
as he pulled her against his hard frame tightly. Selene felt a
definite ache in her middle before he lifted his lips from hers,
his expression heated and intense.

Selene felt dazed as she got in her car, not
quite reacting to the kiss until she was halfway back to Grand
Blanc. She touched her burning lips in surprise, her eyes filled
with dreamy pleasure. She definitely liked this side to Coach
Gifford.

Selene was glad the sitter was so
understanding when they got to Darcy's house. She paid the girl
extra and put Darcy to bed and gave the girl a ride home. When she
got back to her apartment, she was still giddy from the kiss. Axel
was full of surprises, it seemed.

He had been attentive all night. They had
danced and played pool. She enjoyed herself so much, she regretted
the bar closing until she saw how wasted Darcy was. She could
hardly walk. The barmaid finally cut her off.

She looked at her computer and bit her lip,
feeling guilty for not doing any writing tonight. Tristan was being
patient. He must be going out of his mind trapped in the scene she
left him in.

She went and tiptoed over and turned up the
light resolution, relieved to see he slept. The workbooks were
stacked neatly on the table. She would bet he finished them all.
Seeing his face in repose made her nearly sigh. Tristan was
glorious to behold. Seeing him asleep made her middle flutter. He
was male perfection in both face and form. She felt a wave of guilt
for denying him his perfect life.

Selene woke up early despite being out so
late. It was eight in the morning when she hovered over her coffee
maker. She was determined to do some writing today. That should
please Tristan. She would write him in a breakfast fit for a God to
make up for her neglecting him all night.

Her dreams the night before confused her. The
fantasy of Axel had definitely played out into a sensual interlude,
but it was Tristan she saw hovering above her before he kissed her
hungrily. She woke bereft to know she harbored such fondness for a
man who was not even real. Axel more than deserved a starring role
in her sexy dream, but took understudy to Tristan.

Selene sighed, still thinking about the kiss
with Axel. Jim hadn't ever liked to kiss. Very weird, but he did
not like it at all. She felt denied a decent make-out session ever
since she met him. The sex had been adequate but one-sided. She was
ashamed to recall how sometimes she got in the shower afterwards to
masturbate because he had not satisfied her. No, Jim was all about
sticking it in, getting his, and rolling over and going to sleep.
Thinking of her past disappointment had to stop. Jim was out of her
life for good.

Two cups of coffee later, she wandered over
to her computer. She sat and sipped her coffee. She took the pen
out of the messy bun she threw her hair into. She made some notes
about the changes she needed to fix parts of scenes. It was more
than frustrating. Abandoning the book was not an option with
Tristan trapped in the story as he was. Somehow, she had to
backpedal and right all the wrongs she had made in his life to
insure his future.

She looked up at the screen and touched a
key, making the screen light up. A gasp was smothered under her
hand to see him standing nude next to a washstand, washing his face
and chest. Seeing his taut, perfectly formed backside made her gnaw
at her lower lip. Did she have to give him such a perfect ass
too?

Selene was mortified when he turned and she
got up close and personal with Tristan's loins, the much inflated
enflamed, and swollen region she seemed to linger over. His penis
was long and indeed considered big by any measure. She forced her
eyes away, unable to conceive she had spent so much time on the
man's privates. Rhiannon would have been pleased, should have been
pleased. She had ruined that for her heroine as well.

Perhaps if she had not been so angry then?
Her earlier writing of the book bled of her rage over Jim's
treatment. It was as if she wanted to punish someone and took it
out on her hapless characters. The violence in the first five
chapters alone was unprecedented for a romance novel.

She had meant to go back and temper it, but
now it was too late. The damage was done. She had made Tristan do
his worst unto his bride and set the tone for disaster. Happily
ever after seemed unlikely for them unless she made these changes.
An amateur writer never sees these things realistically when they
plot a story.

Selene looked back at the screen, grateful he
was now dressed.

"Do you like what you created, Selene?" he
asked in a scathing voice, laced with mockery, his blue eyes looked
up and narrowed. "Is this what you think about in your lonely bed
at night, Selene?"

She stiffened from his tone, realizing he was
angry at her for abandoning him all night. That did not give him
the right to be nasty. Her eyes darkened with anger.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the
bed," she remarked and bristled from his amused laugh. "You were
created merely for the reader's pleasure, not mine."

Tristan chuckled mockingly and gazed up at
the ceiling, a look of disbelief on his face. "Ah Selene, you would
lie even if I could see your face. We both know you lust for me. I
can hear you panting, even now."

"Enough! This is hardly appropriate."

"Where were you last night?" he demanded.

"That's none of your business," she snapped
and glared at the screen. "You’re hardly in a position to demand
anything! I met some friends, if it's any business of yours. I do
not answer to you, Tristan!"

He looked furious at her words. "You were
with a man!" he accused, his blue eyes livid. "Do not lie to me,
Selene. Who is this man you snuck away to see?"

"I met Darcy and Maggie and a new teacher at
the school. His name is Axel. He just started working there,"
Selene said quietly and smiled at the memory of the kiss. "I like
him. There are you satisfied?"

Tristan ignored her then, sitting down to
leaf through his workbooks. Selene could see her words bothered him
and wondered at it. Maybe he worried her getting involved with
someone right now would keep her from rewriting his destiny. Who
could know, he refused to speak to her after that. He went through
his workbooks quietly while she made notes.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him finally,
unable to stand it anymore.

Tristan looked up and she could see he was
still angry, but he nodded. "I’m starving. The pizza is all
gone."

Selene felt sick to know she had let him go
on cold pizza the last day and a half. She pulled up the chapter in
Word and typed in something she hoped would bring a smile back to
his handsome face. When she hit save, she watched him stare at the
breakfast extravaganza in front of him in awe.

She wrote in a western omelet, fried
potatoes, toast, and a pitcher of orange juice. He looked amazed,
as he tasted the food. She felt forgiven when he finished. His dark
look made her wince. No, he was still mad.

"I’m going to get some writing done today, I
promise." She was worrying her lower lip as he went back to the
third grade reader he worked on.

He ignored her and she got angry, really
angry. What right did he have to treat her this way? She was trying
to rewrite his whole existence! He could at least be appreciative.
A voice reminded her that she had been the one to screw it up in
the first place. She knew no amount of apologies from her would
excuse her making him a murderer and a rapist.

Tristan seemed to understand she had placed
fast and loose with poetic license with a thought her characters
were not real. It was done with no malice on her part. Seeing him
sitting before her now, so proud and distant made her heart ache
somehow.

Selene typed for the next three hours in
silence. Tristan worked upon his reading and letters and ignored
her completely. She felt wounded by the time she stood up to
stretch. She had successfully rewritten three chapters. If she kept
going, she could finish it tonight and set him free to pursue the
lovely Rhiannon with no skeletons between them anymore.

Selene paused as she sat back down, feeling
the pang of jealousy keenly. She created Tristan for Rhiannon and
vice versa. Why did she feel such unadulterated fury to think of
him with the heroine in her book? This was definitely something she
should have discussed with Dr. Saunders, but she had been in a
hurry to meet up with Axel.

"I’m ready for you to atone for ignoring me,
Selene. I’ll accept whatever apology you have ready."

"Excuse me?" She blinked at the arrogance in
his tone. Did he actually just say what he said? Had she written
the man to be this cocky? No way was she going to grovel to him! "I
have no intention of apologizing to you, Tristan. I have a life
outside of this book, even if you don't! You will not control me
until you have it all written to your satisfaction!"

Tristan looked like he would have taken his
sword to her if she were in front of him just then. He jumped up
from the table and glared up at her, his face reddening in
anger.

"Just hurry up and write me out of here! I
would get on with this ridiculous farce of yours and be done with
it! At least Rhiannon has cause to treat me so poorly!"

"Alright! That's it! I have had enough of the
cold shoulder and the attitude, buddy! I go out to meet my friends
for an innocent evening, and you go ballistic! I haven't seen the
outside of this apartment since I moved into it! I had to get out
of here and not think about anything else but myself for a few
hours! I'm sorry if that angers you, but I have my own problems,
Tristan," she said angrily and crossed her arms over her chest, a
definitely rigid cast to her features.

Tristan seemed to soften a bit at her words.
"I’m anxious to get out of this room, Selene. As much as I like the
pizza, and the other things you send, I’m very much wanting to
leave here."

"I rewrote the first three chapters. I have
four more to go and then we can get you on your way," she promised,
seeing him visibly relax at her words. "I could finish it all
today, if you wish, but it would be sloppy work. I would only have
to come back to it. We risk you being stuck somewhere else
then."

"No, you must get it right," he said and
paced once more, growing agitated. "I do not care to stay in this
room for eternity, if that is what this means. I feel as if I’m in
hell, Selene and this be the punishment for what I have done."

"You mean what I have done, don't you?" she
said and shook her head. "This is not your fault! I did this! I’ll
fix it for you, Tristan. I’ll do what I can."

"I did not care if she hated me then,
Selene." He was looking morose as he rubbed his stubbly jaw. "I
feel ashamed for what I did to her now. I did not see her feelings
at all. I saw only what I wanted from the marriage. Surely, I’m
being punished for it. You’re not locked in your room, even if you
wrote this. I can hear her crying at night sometimes. It sounds
like she is far away, even if she is only at the other side of this
castle. I feel her pain like nothing else."

"You can hear crying?" Selene asked,
wondering if he heard her and not his intended bride. She had been
weepy of late, with the divorce looming. Some nights she had cried
herself to sleep this last week, not thinking he could hear her in
the next room.

"Yes, I hear her crying and know I’m the
cause."

Selene knew for a fact Tristan had indeed
heard her and not Rhiannon. The girl was out in the abyss beyond
the hall outside his room, as was everyone else in her novel, much
like another dimension.