Page 57 of Breaking Free

Chapter 15

AFTER A SHITTY NIGHT’Ssleep, Tristan woke in a foul temper—big surprise. Instead of the recurring nightmares from his past, he dreamt erotic dreams all starring Piper, which is why he also woke with a hard-on. He took care of himself in the shower. But when he still couldn’t get the scene in the cell out of his head, he gave Keiran a call.

He answered on the fourth ring. “Finnegan, here.”

“It’s Tristan. Do you have someone who can take the new case assigned to me? I need to leave town for a few days.”

“To Santa Barbara?” his boss and longtime friend guessed correctly. “Are there problems?”

Only Keiran and Cap, the CEO of the Rossi Group, were aware of his commitment. He had made it clear it was a priority before joining the company. However, he usually scheduled his visits for weekends and well in advance.

“No problems, but I am due for some time off.”

“Past due, you mean. You have so much PTO banked, you could take an entire month off and barely make a dent in it.”

He rarely took vacations. He would rather work as it occupied his time and his mind. Downtime gave him too much time to think. So, refusing an assignment gnawed at him, especially since it was last minute. He had to get away for a while, however.

“I don’t want to leave you in the lurch.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get it covered,” Keiran assured him.

“Thanks.” He was about to end the call, but his friend wasn’t quite finished.

“Eric mentioned you had an issue with one of our guests last night, someone Rossi is associated with. Is there anything I should know?”

Of course, Eric had shared. He was more of a mother hen than Keiran. “My taking off has nothing to do with the club or the case.”

Technically, this was true, but just barely.

There was silence on the other end, as his boss, friend, and business partner waited for more information. Tristan had no intention of providing it. Not now, maybe never. Keiran should be used to this from him after two years.

“All right,” he said, breaking the silence. “Check in when you get back. The office has been a revolving door of new clients this week.”

“Fine with me. You know I like to stay busy.”

“I do. Safe travels.”

With a two-hour drive ahead of him, Tristan grabbed his duffel and was out the door. Midmorning traffic was light, and it wasn’t long before he left LA behind and merged north on the 101 in Ventura. With a long stretch of highway in front of him, he could either admire the view of the Pacific gleaming in the sun or think. Since he had made this trek once a month for years, it ended up being the latter.

He’d never intended getting involved with Piper. But leaving her to explore at a public club with five-feet-nothing Josie wasn’t an option.

“Wingman, my ass,” he muttered as he switched lanes to get around a slow truck on an incline.

To satisfy her curiosity, he’d given her what she came for—cuffs so she could feel the restriction of restraints and a lightflogging over her clothes. At least, that was his plan. But the velvety texture of her skin, the seductive sounds escaping her lips, the longing in her eyes, and his complete lack of self-restraint shattered his noble intentions.

He could have taken her, and may well have, if not for the poorly timed bang on the door. Her whimper of disappointment was nearly his undoing. On her first foray into BDSM, he couldn’t leave her teetering on the edge. More so, he hadn’t wanted to. He longed to hold her, kiss her, caress her incredibly responsive body, and feel her shatter in his arms.

“Mission accomplished,” he whispered. “Except now I want her even more.”

Shifting on the leather seat, he tried to ease the constriction in the front of his jeans. He also flipped the AC on high. Neither helped. He had another hour to go. Enough time for his body to calm down. But unfortunately, as a responsible dom, he had something he had to do, and a promise to keep.

“Fuck!” he shouted at the windshield right before he pulled out his phone and dialed Piper.

Set to speaker and driving hands-free, he counted the rings. Maybe she was working and wouldn’t answer.

“Hi, Tristan.”

Damn. Just the way she said his name, sweet yet sultry, made him want her. He cleared his throat while shifting again. “I was calling to check in. How are you feeling?”

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