Crime of Passion

“Come on,” Brian said. “I’ll show you to the spare room so you can rest.”

“Okay,” Tatyanna whispered as she followed along behind him quietly. They didn’t speak as they climbed the stairs. Brian stopped in front of the last door to the right.

“Here we are,” he said quietly before opening the door and motioning for her to go in. Tatyanna followed his silent command and entered the room. She was surprised at the cleanliness of the room.

“Thanks for doing this, Brian,” Tatyanna whispered as she turned to face him.

“I would do anything to see that you were happy,” Brian said.

“I—” Tatyanna began but was cut off by the sound of another person’s voice.

“Yo, Brian! We’re starving!”

Brian rolled his eyes before excusing himself to go downstairs. Once the door was closed, Tatyanna let out a deep sigh before taking a look around the room. She noticed two doors along the right side of the wall. Curiously, she opened the first one to find a closet that was surprisingly full of women’s clothes. After backing out of the closet, she opened the next door to reveal a bathroom. Sighing in relief at the sight of the shower, Tatyanna promptly found a towel and stripped down. The shower felt amazing and she stayed in much longer than she had planned. The sound of a knock on the bathroom door caused her to gasp before shutting off the water.

“Tatyanna? Are you okay?” Brian’s worried voice called to her through the door.

“Yeah, Brian. I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute,” she responded.

“Okay, well there are clothes in the closet that might fit you. You’re welcome to whatever is in there,” Brian stated. Tatyanna listened closely as the bedroom door opened and closed. She quickly dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her body before going to find something to wear.

Several minutes later, she walked down the stairs only to be greeted by the scent of pizza. She followed the delicious smell to the kitchen where five guys were standing around shoveling cheesy pizza into their mouths.

“There you are,” Brian said with a smile before taking a sip of his beer.

“Help yourself, little lady,” a short man with a mohawk said. Tatyanna smirked at him before grabbing a piece of pizza and beginning to eat.

“So, I guess I need to make formal introductions,” Brian began before he rattled off the names of his friends. She had heard him speak of them many times before and had actually met Jimmy a few times.

“Alright, Bri, I hate to be the one to bring up the elephant in the room, but what are we going to do with her? I mean we can’t exactly keep her here. I mean her dad is a United States Senator and people are going to notice that she is missing,” Matt said.

“I know. I wanted to get Tatyanna’s take on things first,” Brian commented. His statement caused all eyes to travel to the petite woman in the room.

“Well, I’d really prefer to stay here for a few days to really think about what my next move should be,” Tatyanna said quietly.

“Okay, then. How are we going to explain your disappearance?” Zacky asked.

“I’ll call my mom and tell her I needed to get away for a few days. She won’t ask questions and she’ll cover with my dad,” Tatyanna stated.

“She’s right,” Brian agreed. “Her mom will keep everything discreet.”

With the plan in motion, they moved on to other topics of conversation. After an hour, the guys began to leave and soon Tatyanna and Brian were alone. While Brian had been saying good night to the guys, Tatyanna began cleaning the kitchen. He found her there loading the dishwasher with dirty plates. Content to watch her, he leaned against the doorway and sighed. He truly hoped she would be happy at the end of all this.

“So, mind explaining why you have a closet full of women’s clothes in your spare room?” Tatyanna asked him suddenly. He folded his arms across his chest and let out another sigh.

“It’s a long story,” he replied before pushing off the wall and walking towards the living room.

“I’ve got time,” Tatyanna responded with a giggle as she followed him. Brian settled on one end of the couch while Amber perched herself on the other end.

“Well, a few years ago I was dating this girl and we broke up. When we did, she left a lot of her things here,” Brian said while avoiding Tatyanna’s gaze.

“Seriously? You mean to tell me a woman just voluntarily left a closet full of clothes and shoes?” Tatyanna asked incredulously.

“Damn you for being so inquisitive,” Brian muttered as he watched a smile blossom on her face.

“What really happened?” Tatyanna asked.

“She just left one day with only a suitcase full of things. I came home and she was gone. There was a note and we spoke on the phone several times after that. I offered to box up her stuff and send it to her, but she said she didn’t want it. That’s the honest truth. Besides, she’d run off to be with this guy who had a ton of money. I’m pretty sure she did fine on finding more clothes,” Brian said.

“Wow, so she was cheating on you?”

“Yep and apparently had been for quite some time,” he replied.

“Well, she obviously wasn’t worth the breath you wasted on her,” Tatyanna said with a huff.

“You’re upset?” Brian questioned curiously.

“Of course I’m upset! You’re a great guy and a woman would be so lucky to have you love her. It just pisses me off that she took advantage of you and hurt you like that,” Tatyanna fumed.

“Tatyanna, it’s okay. It didn’t take me long to get over it,” he said while reaching across the back of the couch to brush his hand over her shoulder.

“It’s still wrong,” she said quietly.

“I know,” he whispered. “So you really think a woman would be lucky to have me love her?”

“Yes,” Tatyanna said assuredly. “How did you get over her so quickly?”

“I had someone else to occupy my mind,” Brian said with a smirk.

“Have you been holding out on me, Haner?” Tatyanna asked.

“No,” he stated before curling his fingers into her hair. “It’s kinda hard to hold out on the person who’s had me occupied.”

“What?” she breathed. “Me?”

“Yes, you,” he replied. “All of that happened about two months after I started working for your dad. Then a few months later, you and I got to be friends and I never thought about her again.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Tatyanna said with a soft smile on her face. Brian didn’t reply as he let his fingers gently massage her scalp. Tatyanna’s smile remained as she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

“That feels good,” she murmured.

“Good,” Brian whispered as he leaned forward. With her eyes still closed, he softly brushed his lips against hers. When he went to pull away, Tatyanna reached forward and framed his face with her hands before pulling his head back to hers. Their lips met in a frenzied kiss.

Moaning, Brian pulled Tatyanna closer to him so she straddled his lap. Their lips bit, sucked, soothed, and went back for more. After several minutes, Brian stood with Tatyanna still in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried up the stairs. They made several stops along the way to kiss and remove articles of clothing. By the time they reached Brian’s room, they were both left in only their underwear. Crawling onto the bed, Tatyanna watched as Brian stood staring at her from the foot of the bed.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he said as a smile crossed his face. When he saw the matching on Tatyanna’s face, he followed her onto the bed and climbed over her. Making quick work, he removed the remainder of their clothes before kissing his way down her body. They both let out sighs and groans as he pleasured her with his mouth. As Tatyanna reached the ultimate high, Brian crawled back up her body and slowly slid inside her pulsating heat. Their eyes met as he slowly sank into her velvet warmth.

“I’ve waited so long to show you how much I love you,” he whispered to her.

“Love me,” Tatyanna replied as she arched up to meet his body more completely.

“Always,” Brian sighed before letting himself get lost in her.

*******************************

The next morning as the sun shone its glorious light into the room, the two occupants of the bed were both slowly waking in each other’s arms.

“Good morning,” Brian whispered against Tatyanna’s temple as he rubbed his hands comfortingly over her back and arms. Tatyanna purred and stretched in his arms before placing a kiss to his chest.

“Morning,” she replied looking up to meet his dark brown eyes.

“Any ideas about how to handle your father?” Brian asked.

“The only thing I keep coming up with is confronting him. Running away and hiding isn’t the answer. The only way to truly deal with this is to confront him. I’m definitely not looking forward to that because I know he’s going to throw up the fact that I’m twenty-seven and not married, and that it’s time for me to settle down and be an ‘adult’ as he so eloquently puts it,” Tatyanna mumbled.

“It’s all going to be okay,” Brian promised as he rubbed her back.

“I hope so. I just wish he could see that I don’t need to marry someone rich and powerful to be happy. I’d love it if he would just see how happy you make me,” Tatyanna said quietly.

“I have something for you,” Brian said as he shifted away to get something out of the bedside table. When he turned back towards her, he held a black velvet box in his hand.

“Brian, what is that?” Tatyanna asked.

“It’s something I bought a few months ago. I know it was crazy to buy it seeing as how we’ve never dated, but I’ve known for quite some time now that you’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I don’t expect you to accept it now, but I want you to know that I’m serious about us and that I want to marry you whenever you’re ready,” Brian said while watching her face for a reaction.

Tatyanna sat quietly as she processed his words. She couldn’t believe that this man was telling her that he loved her and wanted to marry her. How long had she waited to hear those words come from him?

“Brian, I can’t believe this. I never expected that you would have such strong feelings for me. I’ve been in love with you for a while now. It seems like forever, but I’ve known since I first met you that you were someone I wanted to have in my life for good. Who knew it would be like this?” Tatyanna asked with a giggle.

“So what does that mean exactly?” Brian asked with hope showing on his face.

“I love you! And, yes, I’ll marry you!” Tatyanna exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him. They kissed and smiled at each other before Brian pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her left ring finger. The two carat, princess cut diamond winked up at her.

“I love it,” she sighed before raising her left hand to rest against his cheek.

“I can’t wait for you to be my wife,” Brian said with a smile on his face.

“Me either,” Tatyanna replied with a matching smile on her face. “I guess I should go see my dad now, huh?”

“You’ll feel better once you get it over with,” Brian said as he climbed out of the bed. “Come on, beautiful. We’d better get going.”

“You’re going with me?” Tatyanna asked with surprise.

“Of course I am. We need to tell him together and explain everything to him and your mom,” Brian said with reason.

“Do you know how much I love you?” Tatyanna asked with a smile on her face.

“I’m beginning to see it,” Brian answered with a chuckle.

About an hour later, Brian put his SUV into park just outside of Tatyanna’s parents’ home. They both sat there quietly for a moment before Brian turned to face her.

“Let’s go,” he whispered.

“Okay,” she replied before they both climbed from the vehicle. Brian met her at the front of the car and took her hand in his.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he reassured her. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Haner,” Tatyanna replied. “Thank you for kidnapping me.”

Brian’s only answer was a loud laugh as he pulled her towards their future.