Trigger

22

Stormy took a bite of her eggs, slowly removing them from the end of her fork. Trigg knew she wasn’t intending it to be sexy, but it was.

With her hair tied up into a bun, bits falling around her face, and the warmth of her hazel eyes made him want to hold her in the sunlight and make her feel things she had never felt.

“I will finalize my review later, good sir,” Stormy said with a wink.

Trigg dug into his meal with a smile. He wished he could give her more, but he made the best with what he had found. Throughout his life, he’d gotten good at making do and improvising.

Stormy finished off her eggs and then set the fork down with a sigh.

“You know, everything up until this point has been so surreal,” she said.

Trigg was still eating, so he nodded, listening to her intently.

“It was only this morning that I had a second to stop and truly process everything,” Stormy continued. “I cannot believe I am being hunted for something so well-intentioned.”

Her voice had a quiver to it, and she was gazing off to the side of him. He could feel the compassion in her as the strength in her sentiments faded.

“I’ve wanted to help the world ever since I was a child,” she said. “I know what humans are capable of, such atrocities, and I try not to stay that naive child. But sometimes …”

Stormy abruptly stopped speaking, her voice breaking. Trigg could see tears rising around her hazel gems. It put a lump in his throat. Trigg finished eating then placed his fork and knife down. He leaned forward on his arms, trying to meet her eyes.

“Stormy,” he whispered.

She turned to look at him, eyes still glassy.

“A lot of humans focus on what material object they can attain, what they can steal from others,” Trigg said. “The fact that you are living the opposite life truly says something.”

“But does it do anything?” she inquired.

Trigg sighed. They gazed into each other's eyes for some time, the crackling of the fire the only sound between them.

Trigg knew exactly how she felt. The desire to act for the good of mankind was often looked at with a scoff and an accusation of idealistic thinking. But why didn’t everyone else think that way?

Trigg opened his mouth to speak softly. “Well, as your name implies, you’re a force not to be reckoned with,” he said. “And based on what I know about you, you have already changed the world so much. There’s bound to be push back from people who are working on the dark side.”

Stormy gave Trigg a small smile, wiping away the few tears that had fallen from her eyes.

“You are too sweet, Trigg,” she said.

Trigg shrugged. “I’m only telling the truth. The world needs more people like you fighting for it,” Trigg said, staring at her deeply.

Another moment of silence hung between them. Trigg felt himself being drawn to her like a magnet, removing all other possible obstacles that would tear them apart.

He broke the look by picking up his plate, then standing to take hers.

“I can clean those up,” she said, taking him by the wrist.

He shook his head. “What kind of bed and breakfast would this be if we had the guests do the dishes?”

Trigg picked up her plate and placed them in the sink. He could feel her energy moving around him, even without having eyes on her.

She moved near him as he stood at the sink. Instead of her heat moving around him, he tried to keep his eyes focused on the running water. Her scent was sharper and intensive, more fragrant.

“Trigg,” she said quietly.

He turned to her with no awareness of the water continuing to run. Stormy stepped toward him and placed one soft hand on his stubbly face.

“I mean it, you know,” she whispered. “You are truly something else. A very kind, sweet man.”

Her words were like branding irons to his soul. He wasn’t a good man. He had done terrible things in the name of wealth, exactly the way he had described the terrible people to her.

But he found himself leaning into her touch, closing his eyes. She felt like the softest plush cloud floating in the sky.

Their bodies were getting closer and closer. He could feel her colorful heat flourishing as her coat pressed into him lightly, and he turned away from the sink. She was shorter than him, so he had to make the first move.

Stormy gazed up with him with her gorgeous eyes, colors dancing in the sunlight. Trigg touched her face then found himself being pulled in like he was attached to a string.

Their lips lingered over one another’s for a brief moment, their breaths entangling, becoming one.

Trigg took the initiative and pushed his mouth onto hers softly. She breathed deeply in reaction to his touch. They held each other for a moment, reveling in each other’s taste.

When Trigg pulled away, she was smiling coyly at him. He smiled back at her and went in for another kiss.

This time their mouths opened, welcoming the dance of each other’s tongues. They both breathed in and pushed one other close, hands wandering over each other's bodies. Trigg could feel himself being taken, his rational mind nowhere in sight.

Stormy pulled away for a moment and held his gaze. She reached around him and turned off the faucet.

“Don’t want to waste the water,” she said with a grin.

Trigg took her face into his hands and collided with another intensely passionate kiss. He wanted to fall inside of her and stay there, in all its worth and delight.

Trigg felt her moaning against him as they backed into the counter, fueled with excitement to explore her in every way.