‘Dean,’ he whispered.
Dee nodded. She remembered that voice and it made her skin crawl.
Then, another voice spoke. ‘Let’s get this shit loaded.’
This time it was unmistakable. It was Vince.
Dee gave Travis a sidelong glance. Okay, so now they knew Vince was involved. But they still didn't know the details of what he was doing. What was the “shit” they were loading? Dee didn't want to give away her cover yet. She wanted to know who else was involved, and so they waited.
The night was cold and still, and Dee was acutely aware of the heat coming from Travis’s body. Any uncertainty or fear she felt about what they were undertaking was overridden by the feeling of desire for him. His thigh might as well have been a branding iron, it was so hot and demanding—and so difficult to ignore.
Travis’s steely gaze was locked on the dispatch area. The space was well-lit by floodlights, but unfortunately, their view was somewhat obstructed by the pallets. Travis fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone.
She gasped. ‘What are you doing?’ she whispered.
Travis simply held a finger to his lips, and again she was lost in him, the intensity of the situation forgotten in an instant. All she could focus on was his face and his lips.
She eventually tore her gaze from him and glanced down at the phone. She held her hand over it.
He looked at her, his eyes soft.
‘It’s okay,’ he whispered, then raised the device, holding it up to the gap between the pallets. With its camera feature open, he zoomed in on the dispatch area, which looked like a well-lit stage on the phone’s screen. They were unable to see the entire zone, but the section Travis had his phone trained on was illuminated and easy to view. If anyone walked into their line of focus, they’d be easily identifiable.
Vince came into sight next. He was carrying something that looked heavy, something white and packaged similarly to the paper they sold, stacked in chunky reams, one on top of the other. Dee strained, trying to identify whatever it was that Vince was carrying. Even though it looked like reams of paper, she knew it wasn’t, yet there was something decidedly familiar about the parcel. While Dee's brain tried to process what she was seeing, Travis solved the riddle.
‘Drugs,’ he whispered.
Dee let out a soundless sigh and her heart compressed inside her chest. It was worse than she thought.
Her mind froze as she took in the sight before her. Vince walked out of sight and then Dean came into view carrying a similar stack of rectangular parcels. Now she knew what they were, it was undeniable. She’d seen similar parcels lined up on tables in news stories. She might not know what kind of drugs they were, but it was obvious they were illegal drugs, and they were being hauled into the truck by the kilogram.
Her place of work, the business she was supposed to be running, was operating a drug ring right under her nose. She swallowed against the rising feelings of dread and despair.
As her stomach went into freefall, a new figure came into view. This person was also carrying a stack of drugs. His back was turned towards them, but as he walked to the truck, his face came into full view.
Travis gasped. The face on his phone’s screen was Pete’s.
24
The blood in Travis’s veins stilled. Pete? No, not Pete.
Not Pete.
He toyed with the phone, wincing as he desperately tried to focus on the familiar face. As the realisation sunk in, he lowered it, letting it rest in his lap.
He looked at Dee. Her face was crinkled with worry.
As his gut clenched, his heart ached. He longed to be somewhere else, anywhere but here, watching as his best mate loaded the substance that had killed Annie’s mother onto the back of a truck in the Olsen’s dispatch area.
This was a new kind of horror.
Kim was gone. His mother was falling fast, and he couldn’t save her. But this? This was something new for Travis. This was total and utter betrayal. He told Pete everything, trusted him as much as he trusted himself. Watching him load drugs onto that truck was like spearing his heart with a knife in slow motion.
While he sat frozen on the concrete, Dee took up his phone. She positioned it back where it had been, training it to focus on the dispatch area. From there, she took photo after photo. Evidence that would incriminate all of them. Vince, Dean … and Pete.
Travis didn’t know how he should feel. Part of him wanted to wrench the phone from Dee’s hand to protect Pete. But his mother had taught him well. Travis knew right from wrong. So, he let Dee take the photos of his best friend. She had the right. She was the boss. And what Pete was doing was wrong.
The next ten minutes were interminable. The crew of three loaded the truck with illicit drugs and Dee took photos while Travis watched in a state of utter despair.
Once the truck was fully loaded, Vince and Dean bolted the doors closed and bid goodbye to the driver. The truck backed out and drove away and then Vince told Pete to shut off the lights.
Dee and Travis watched it all unfold as if they were watching a car accident in slow motion. They couldn’t leave before Pete and Vince did, so they stayed in their spot on the concrete.
As soon as Vince, Dean and Pete had disappeared, Dee and Travis rose silently from their hideout. With stiff joints and cold bones, Travis led Dee through the side gate, locked it, and they silently walked the two blocks to the ute.
Once inside, Travis turned the engine over and began to drive. Dee was the first to speak.
‘I don’t know whether to vomit or scream,’ she said.
Travis took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. He turned up the heat, hoping the warmth would defrost his mind as well as his body and that he might gain some clarity so he could figure out what the heck to do next.
‘We need to go to the police,’ Dee said. ‘I need to ring Christian and the Olsen Corporation’s head office as well. God, what a mess. Do you think we should we go to the police now?’ she asked Travis. ‘I mean, should we go right now, this minute?’
Travis was incapable of answering, though he knew his answer should be yes. Yes, they should go to the police right now. And, if it had only been Vince and Dean in the photos he and Dee had taken, Travis would not be driving home right now. He would be driving towards the police station. But it wasn’t just Vince and Dean. Pete was involved too.
Pete, who Travis had known since kindergarten. Pete, who’d been the first to visit the hospital when Annie was born. Pete, who was about to become a dad. There was no way that Travis could turn in his best mate. Not right now at least. He needed time. He needed to speak to Pete. Most of all, he needed to understand why.
‘I think we should wait till morning,’ he told Dee.
‘You think so? You don’t think we can get in trouble for holding on to this evidence?’
Travis couldn’t be sure, but he needed to stall. He’d take the heat if there was any trouble. After all, the pictures were on his phone.
‘Not for holding on to it for twenty-four hours. Plus, maybe you should speak to the Olsens first. It is their company after all. See how they want you to proceed before you do anything.’
Dee nodded slowly, a look of agreement spreading across her face. ‘That makes sense,’ she whispered. ‘Can you believe Pete is involved?’
Travis groaned. ‘Obviously not.’
It came out harsher than he’d intended, but in all honesty, he really didn’t want to speak about Pete. He wanted to go home, have a shower, defrost and go to bed.
‘I’m really sorry. That must’ve been hard for you to see. I mean, Pete seemed like a really great guy. So did Vince.’
‘Pete is nothing like Vince.’
If she could see the hypocrisy in his comment, she was kind enough not to point it out.
‘I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. What was I doing thinking that I could run a company like this? I have no idea what I’m doing. I believed and trusted in the one person who was dupin
g me the whole time. And now I have to ring Christian and tell him a drug ring has been operating right under my nose. He trusted me and I’ve let him down.’
Travis was grief-stricken over Pete, but he also understood how much of a shitshow this was.
‘Listen,’ he soothed, ‘this is not your fault. You did the best you could. This stuff has probably being going on for a long time, long before you came to town. I’m the one who should have known.’
‘Why should you have known? You were just trying to do your job. How were you to know your best mate was a crook?’
‘Pete is not a crook,’ Travis shot back.
‘Travis, I understand this is upsetting for you, but there’s no denying what we just saw. Pete and Vince are running drugs from the factory floor. That’s trafficking. Best mate or not, he is a criminal.’
Travis found it hard to fight the groundswell of emotion bubbling up inside him—his love for his friend, anguish over Pete’s actions, and his ever-growing feelings for Dee. It was becoming too much.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘can we talk about this tomorrow?’
She gave a sarcastic laugh. ‘Seriously? Tomorrow? I need to talk about this with someone. I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight. Please, Travis. We need to talk about this. I need you to help me figure out what to do.’
Travis stayed silent. He didn’t want to speak. He couldn’t.
They pulled into his driveway. He opened the door and ushered Dee inside. The house was quiet and he felt the urge to go and check on Annie but remembered she was at his mother’s house. Instead, he wandered into the lounge room, turned on the heater and stood in front of it. Dee followed, looking tired and dejected.
‘I’m going to have a shower,’ she said, her voice soft and distant.
All Travis could do was nod. He watched her go and then lifted his gaze to the ceiling. He felt for Dee. She had given up a job she loved to try something new, to take a chance on Mason Valley, and in return, Mason Valley had squarely smacked her in the jaw. His chest ached as he considered the depth of her disappointment. She was a good person. She loved his daughter. She had come to town intent on making a new home and improving Olsen Paper.
As he thought about Dee, a small spark ignited in his belly and, as the sound of the running shower caught in his ears, the spark quickly became a blaze. The space between his thighs throbbed and the thought of her peeling away her layers sent spasms through him.
Without another thought, Travis walked from the heater, his mind stuck, caught in a haze of desire and his need for Dee. His body wouldn’t allow him time to reconsider.
What he was about to do would most likely turn out to be a mistake. But quite frankly, he didn’t give a damn. He rapped his knuckles softly against the bathroom door, then he turned the knob and pushed the door open.
25
Dee had already pulled her hoodie over her head and had just removed her undershirt and bra - her nipples were puckered and pink, when she heard the knock on the door.
She didn’t know if it was the effects of the evening’s events or that her need for Travis had reached boiling point, but curiosity overrode hesitation and in a stilted voice she called for him to come in.
As Travis entered, she covered her nipples with her fingertips, but the look in his eyes—the steaming and unmistakable desire she saw there—caused her to lower her hands. She dropped them to her side, her mind filling with lustful thoughts as she waited for his reaction.
His blue eyes caught on her chest, and captured by his gaze, her nipples tightened. Travis’s mouth slackened and he took a breath.
Steam filled the room. Travis shut off the taps, then turned back to Dee. His eyes were a dark shade of navy and his gaze was so intense it made her breath still in her chest.
‘Turn around,’ he said, his voice soft but commanding.
Dee felt every cell in her body tingle. Her core pulsed as she turned to face the mirror.
She heard a noise behind her, and when Travis came into view, he was without a shirt. His broad chest, long strong arms and amazing face were visible in the mirror.
He stood behind her, his gaze trained on her nipples. She watched intently as those blue eyes travelled from her nipples up her chest, along her neck, to her face and finally rested on her eyes. His gaze on hers caused something deep within her to shift, as if that look alone had awakened some long-sleeping beast.
He put his hands to her hips and glided them over her skin. He brought his mouth close to her ear.
‘I’ve wanted you from the first minute I saw you,’ he whispered.
The heat of his breath on her ear and neck mixed with his words made her want to explode.
Her voice was raspy, nowhere near as confident as his, when she said, ‘My God, I wanted you, too. I wanted you that day and every day since.’
He turned her until she was facing him, then he brought his mouth down on hers. When his lips took hers, she felt with all certainty that this was the man for her. His kiss was deep and luscious, and she opened her mouth, beckoning his tongue. He obliged, caressing her with long languid strokes. His hand found her breast and he palmed her nipple, then broke their kiss and pulled on her hair at the nape of her neck to tilt her head back.
She sucked in air as his kiss found her breast, and a long held moan of desire worked free from her throat. Travis tended to one breast with his hand, while his mouth tended to the other. Dee was so wet, so full of desire, it frightened her. She was about to come and was still wearing trackpants. As if sensing her urge for release, Travis paused. He stepped back and looked at her and with questioning eyes.
All she could do was nod. He closed the gap between them, kissed her between her breasts, then knelt, delivering a trail of kisses down her belly. Hooking his thumbs into the band of her pants, he pulled them down. She stepped free, and he looked up at her as she stood naked above him.
‘Holy shit,’ he whispered. ‘I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone as much as I want you right now.’
Dee, stupid with desire, could only whisper. ‘Me too.’
Travis rose, undid his belt buckle and the button of his jeans. He freed himself from all remaining clothing and kicked it aside.
Dee looked him over, desire mixing with concern as she took in the size of his penis. Fully erect it was huge, bigger than any she’d seen. She had been with men before, absolutely, but she’d never encountered anyone close to Travis’s size. She wondered if he would fit, if he would hurt her. Her fears fell away, mixing with wisps of steam. She was willing to accept Travis however he came. If that meant a little discomfort, it was well worth the price.
As if sensing her trepidation, Travis asked, ‘You okay?’
‘Better than okay,’ she said. Smiling, she stepped closer to him.
In an instant, his mouth was on hers again. The feel of his mouth, the earthy scent of him, the press of his length against her belly—it drove her wild. She backed up against the vanity and perched on the countertop as his hands explored her. His fingers traced the sides of her body, working along her waist, to her hips and around to her bottom. Each stroke, each pass of skin against skin set her nerve endings alight.
She freed her hands from the countertop and moved them over his arms, her fingers seeking the contours and ridges of muscle. He tongued her breasts and she threw her head back as her hands sought him out, searching for the part of him that excited her the most. When her hands found it, her mouth opened, and she let out a breathy sigh of delight.
He raised his head, smiled and sucked her bottom lip as she let her hands explore him—his silky length, his strong and incredible width. Yearning and curiosity built as she imagined gliding her tongue along his length and taking it in her mouth. She sighed and pushed all trepidation aside as she imagined it sliding into her.
Travis brought a hand down between them.
‘I know I’m big,’ he whispered. ‘Let me make sure you’re ready for me.’
She waited, moaning as he used his fingers to explore her folds. Then, placing the tip of his middle finger at her entrance, he looked into her eyes and slowly, purposefully, slid it into her.
‘Oh, yes,’ he said before retracting it.
Gently, he lifted her from the vanity and turned her around.
‘I need to take you this way first, till you get used to me,’ he said, looking at her reflection in the mirror. His smile was all mischief.
He opened the draw near her thigh and pulled out a condom. She watched his reflection, unadulterated need pulsing through her as he readied himself.
He locked his gazed on hers and it seemed as though he was staring deep into her being. He guided her legs wider and used his hands to position her buttocks higher. Holding her hips in his palms, he brought them together, his tip pushing against her core, as slowly, inch by inch, he reached for her centre.
Dee felt an unbidden sensation. It wasn’t quite pain, more discomfort, but as he slid deeper and deeper into her core she was overwhelmed with pleasure.
He stared at her in the mirror, his gaze so fierce and intense it was almost frightening. Longing rose in her like a tide. As he withdrew, the friction caused her eyes to roll, but no relief was given as he entered her again. As he pumped into her, she felt the tension in her body and mind release. Every feeling of uncertainty and concern left her, and all she could feel was Travis, all she could think about was Travis, all she wanted was Travis.
They gazed at each other, a double set of blue eyes alight with desire and the unspoken understanding that what they were sharing was hard-earned.
Just as the pressure and the build of desire overwhelmed her, Travis took her in his arms and turned her so that her back was against the vanity. He kissed her lovingly, longingly, and entered her again. This time his movements were frantic, fuelled by need, and his kiss strengthened as it commanded her lips.
As they moved together, Dee cried out, and as her body released, she became aware of a growing realisation—Travis represented everything she’d been hiding from, and now, without doubt, it was Travis who was bringing her into the light.
Winter in Mason Valley Page 16