68: By your side

**Lucien**

I was addicted to touching Tristan. And as the days passed us by and Tristan’s withdrawal symptoms subsided, my addiction only intensified to the point where I was constantly craving physical contact with my mate. 

“I love you,” I said randomly as we sat sprawled out on the couch with me between her legs, rubbing my hands against them and occasionally teasing at her skin with my fingertips. It became a habit of mine to say it and I was surprised that she hadn’t grown tired of hearing me say it, by now.

“I love you too. Now stop distracting me, I’m trying to read!” Tristan had become bored a day or so into her withdrawal and, after a big argument regarding whether or not she could go to work, she decided to set herself back into an old hobby of hers, reading.

Jasmine and Damon were extremely worried about her when I called them to tell her she was sick and with me and often phoned her as well. But not once did Tristan dare say anything about Ambrose. She was convinced that she had to tell them in person and once she was better. I found it endearing though, that she was comfortable enough to be this sick and vulnerable around me.

My hands soon wandered further up her thighs and lingered between them teasingly. It had been so long since I’d been able to really get under (and on top of) her skin and by now I was excited and looking forward to distracting her, especially since today was the first day she looked like her regular self. I wondered how much of physical contact she’d allow me to have with her and how many boundaries she’d let me cross, because Moon Goddess knew I wanted to fucking cross them so badly.

Tristan tried to ignore my wandering hands, in fact, she buried herself deeper into her book and shifted slightly, making my hands fall from her legs. I huffed, unimpressed and then turned around so I was facing her. Swiftly, I snatched at her book and then tossed it to the floor.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” She yelled out as she attempted to bend down and reach for it. But I snatched at her hands and pinned them down. Her whole body was now pressed up against the cushions of the sofa and she was completely at my mercy.

I smirked down at her before leaning in and saying, “But I want to distract you, my love.”

I expected her to fight me, to show a little resistance, kick me off of her and then retrieve the book back. Tristan had developed such an attachment to that book that I’d become jealous of the thing myself. But to my surprise, she made no move to retrieve her precious possession. Instead, a wide smile appeared on her face, and she said, rather seductively, “It’s about time,” before slipping her hands out of my grasp and using them to tug at the collar of my shirt. She yanked on it, pulling my flustered face towards hers before pressing her warm, soft lips against mine. That was when I knew that I wanted this to be different.

I gently pressed at her shoulders and put an end to her kiss to which she responded with a look of confusion on her face.

“What’s the problem now?” She asked with a sigh and an eyeroll, “Second guessing *us*?” When she said this, a look of sadness flashed across her face, and I saw her sink deeper into the cushions of the sofa.

My eyes softened immediately, and I gently ran my fingers through her hair. “Of course not Tristan. I love you… which is why I want to do this a little differently.”

“Differently?” She questioned, leaning into my touch. I could see relief flooding her eyes.

“Yeah. I mean sex and pleasure have always sort of gone hand-in-hand for me. It’s never been more than that. But now, things are different. For once in my life, I have someone that I love and so I don’t just want sex and pleasure anymore. I want real intimacy, I-” for some reason I lost my nerve for a moment, and then my eyes met hers and I finally felt sure of myself, “-I want to make love to you Tristan.”

“Is… there a difference between sex and making love?” She asked curiously.

I nodded. “I’ll show you.”

Slowly I leaned down and pecked tenderly at her lips. Goddess, I loved kissing her. If I could, I’d do it all day, kissing her until she no longer had breath in her lungs. She relaxed under my touch immediately and a soft sigh left her lips as I moved my kisses towards her neck. Her skin tasted so sweet and felt so deliciously warm. It would be so easy to just sink my teeth into her flesh, to mark her and make her all mine. I’d be lying if I said that the thought of marking her hadn’t crossed my mind in the past. But I would never have acted on it… at least, not until now.

“Can I mark you?” I whispered gently against her skin.

She gulped and I felt her shift her legs beneath me. There hung a heavy silence in the air for a moment before she finally answered.

“Will it hurt?” She asked softly. There were only a few times that I’d seen Tristan wear the look of vulnerability. But the look she wore now, had to have been one of her most vulnerable expressions I’d ever seen on her face.

To reassure her, I gently placed a kiss on her forehead, then, one on her left cheek, then her right cheek, her chin, her nose and then finally her lips. But this time, I kissed her deeply, passionately. An intense, tight feeling gripped at the pit of my stomach, tugging at it viciously and my heart started to pound in my chest. I’d never wanted anyone as much as I wanted her, and I’d never loved as intensely as I did now. The way we kissed had me feeling high and yet, at the same time I felt so grounded. Nothing had ever felt so right, so *perfect*.

When I pulled away from her, she smiled and said the words, “I trust you.”

It was all I needed to gently intertwine our fingers as I leaned into her neck once more. I felt her shiver beneath me and so I squeezed at her hands gently and gently kissed at her neck. She relaxed under my touch and then let out a soft moan as I opened my mouth and began sucking at her warm skin. Then, I paused a moment to extend my fangs before lowering my mouth back to her neck. But just as I was about to sink my teeth into her neck, her phone rang.

“Don’t get that!” I said sternly.

She bit at her lip and a conflicted look crossed her face before she shook her head and began pushing at my chest.

“Oh, come on! Is your phone more important than I am?” I asked frustrated. She checked the caller ID and then nodded. “Uh huh. It’s Jasmine.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes before sinking back into the couch while she answered the phone.

“Oh, hey Jas…”

That was when I got the bright idea to continue distracting her. It was only right since she felt that taking a phone call was more important than what we were doing before. And so, as she spoke on the phone with her sister, I sat back and let my foot slide between her legs. At first, she paid no mind to my foot. However, as I let my foot slide up against her underwear, her breath caught in her throat and a deep red blush made its way onto her face.

I assumed that Jasmine asked if her sister was okay, because the next thing Tristan said was, “Oh no… I’m f-fine!”

She then placed her hand over the speaker of the phone, moved it away from her mouth and glared at me. “Don’t you fucking dare!”

“Stop me if you can…” I winked before removing my foot and getting down on all fours. I slowly started crawling almost in a saunter-like motion. She eyed me cautiously, but never once asked me to stop, instead, she let out a sigh before leaning her head back and placing the phone back to her ear.

*Oh, but she was one naughty woman.*

My lips touched against the skin of her calves and then they moved up to the smoothness of her inner thighs. She bit her lip and arched her back when I reached the boundary of her underwear. I could smell her lust seeping through, lingering in the air and overwhelming my senses. The dwindling few ounces of control that I had left inside of myself was slowly beginning to fade away. I took my fingers and gently started rubbing her through her underwear. Her face twisted up in anguished pleasure and her voice cracked and faltered a few times as she spoke. 

“T-today?” When she said this, I stopped what I was doing and shifted my focus to what she was saying on the phone. Tristan’s anguished pleasure now turned into nervousness and fear, and I had an idea of why.

“Yeah sure… I’m feeling much better… great, we’ll see you and Damon there.”

She then put the phone down and sighed before running her fingers through her hair.

“You know you don’t have to tell them if you’re not ready.” I said.

“No, I’ve already wasted enough time. The longer I keep this secret, the more dangerous it is for the both of them. It’s now or never.”

There were many aspects of Tristan that I had grown to admire, but her bravery was perhaps the one I admired most. So, I reached out toward her, held her hand in mine and gave it a little squeeze as I said, “Then I’ll be by your side, every step of the way, my love.”