by Tessa Layne
When the back of her knees hit the edge, she scrambled to the center while he rolled on a condom. “Shoes stay on.” His eyes were wild with lust as he climbed over her and pushed her back. “Remember, hard and fast.”
A thrill rippled through her as she dropped her knees. With a possessive growl he thrust home, mouth crashing to hers in a claiming kiss. He filled her completely and she nearly wept with the joy of it. She lifted her hips, meeting him stroke for stroke as their sweat-slicked bodies raced for oblivion. Travis’s ass clenched and he let out a long, low moan as he thrust deeply into her, his climax wracking his body. Two more thrusts and she chased him over the cliff, bright lights exploding behind her eyes.
He collapsed on top of her, and she welcomed his weight pressing her into the mattress. “I love you, Elaine,” he said softly, almost reverently. “It’s like we were made for each other.”
A fire glowed brightly in her chest, expanding to encompass her whole body. She brought a hand to his cheek. “I love you.” She lifted her head to kiss the corner of his mouth.
After a moment, he rose and disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a warm washcloth and curling her into his arms once he’d finished ministering to her. He kissed her temple and took a deep breath, chest expanding into her back. “About seven years ago, I was in charge of an op that went wrong. We ran into a teenager while we were in transit between locations. We should have taken him out. But the look in his eye…” He sighed heavily. “It was too much like my brother. I couldn’t pull the trigger. He must have alerted the insurgents in the area we were there and they must have tracked us to the next town, because in the middle of the night, the building we were sheltering in was compromised. We lost half our team.”
Her stomach dropped at his confession. She turned in his embrace and her heart broke for him. His face was tortured, eyes lost in the memory. “Oh, Travis. I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve never talked about it outside of the survivors, and when I made the report.” His voice was heavy, resigned. “But after the tornado I started having nightmares about that op again. Only this time, there were people from town in my dreams.”
Pain for him needled her. She didn’t know what to say. What could she say? It explained so much.
“I’d gone through counseling right after I got out, but Weston suggested I talk to this guy up here.”
“Did it help?”
He took a deep breath, nodding. “Yeah, it has.”
“What do you talk about? He’s helped me get a better perspective. Figure some things out.”
“Like what?”
“Like I want to return to ranching once I retire from law enforcement.” His eyes searched hers, and she met his gaze steadily. “I’ve learned a lot, working with Hope and Flipper. The physical labor is good for me. For my mind. It settles me.”
“Then shouldn’t you do it now?”
“Hard to be a rancher of one. And I’m a good police chief.” He stroked along her side, hand coming to rest on her hip. “A lot of small towns have crippling issues with substance abuse, and we don’t. I like to think it’s because I’m doing something right here. That we’re doing something right. And if I’m sheriff, maybe I can help other communities in the county.”
This man had her whole heart. She cupped his face. “I love you, Travis. I love your passion and your commitment to this community. I love the way you’re gentle with Dax and how every choice you make is driven by care for people.”
His eyes warmed. “I love that kid. You too.” He kissed her nose. “If no one’s told you this, you need to hear that you’re a great mom, and you’re raising a great son.”
“I haven’t always… Prairie gave us a fresh start.”
He pulled on her wrist, exposing her arm, and brushed tiny kisses along her scars. “Whatever caused you to do this,” he murmured against her skin. “I’m so sorry. If you ever want to talk about it.” He raised his head, eyes glowing intensely. “Whenever you feel ready. I’m always here for you.”
She shut her eyes against the hot sweep of emotion pricking her eyelids. “Thank you.”
He kissed her gently, brushing his hand through her hair, then settling it at her hip. “Tell me your dreams Elaine. You must have dreams.”
His voice wrapped around her, settling heavy in her bones. Calming her. “I was too concerned with survival to have dreams.”
“What about now?” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, thumb making lazy circles at her waist. “There must be something?”
Heat crawled up her chest. She’d never told a soul because saying the words would surely mean it would never come to pass. But she could share this much with him. “I always wanted to go to college.”
He tightened his embrace. “It’s not too late. The community college takes rolling admissions. You could start in January.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze. His hazel eyes sparked with excitement. With belief in her. Her heart constricted. She didn’t deserve this man. She tucked her head under his chin and burrowed into him. “I’ll think about it after the election.”
CHAPTER 25
“You know you should be out talking to voters, right?” Weston said, full of disappointment. “The election is nine days.”
“Help me unload the horses,” Travis answered, stepping out of his old beat up truck.
“How many phone calls did you make last week?” Weston called after him as he walked around to the back of the trailer.
“Hundred and fifty,” Travis grunted as he slipped the bolt and swung open the door.
Weston caught the gate, frowning. “This is a close election, dammit. You could win this thing, but not if you don’t ask for votes.”
Travis stepped into the trailer and grabbed Flipper’s halter, turning the mare and guiding her out, tying her to a corral post. “Isn’t that what my mail is doing for me?”
“Of course. But a personal ask is always more powerful.”
Travis pulled back the interior gate, and reached for Sunny’s halter, leading the mare out of the trailer and setting her next to Flipper. Hope had introduced the two horses and over the last few weeks, gotten them to accept each other. Excitement fluttered in his chest. Dax’s eyes would be saucers when he saw Sunny here. “I never should have let you talk me into this.”
“A little late for regrets now that you’re neck deep in it,” Weston snapped. “Polling shows the tide turning in our favor if we hit him hard. But we have to take the punch.”
Travis bent over the trailer hitch, releasing the electric cord first. “I’ve already told you, I’m not gonna run DC politics in Prairie. I don’t care what you or your family know about campaigns. Not gonna run my campaign that way. Period.” He flicked the safety chains to the ground, where they landed with a clatter.
Weston placed his hands on his hips, gazing skyward. “That’s the problem. You’re not running a campaign at all. I’ve done all the op research you need, and Lawson ain’t clean. You need to go for the throat this final week and knock him out. Don’t be naive and think he’s not researching you. He’s going to hit you where you’re most vulnerable. I’ve left a dossier on your desk at work sent to me from one of our friends. You might want to spend a little time researching.”
He knew exactly which friends. Weston had maintained deep connections with several units of SEALs in the years since he’d retired. Many had ended up in private security, or in shadow ops. He presumed that some of the collecting methods were… not quite above board. He’d never risk his reputation as a lawman by using the information. However useful it might be. “Never. You know that bends the rules.”
“Not like you haven’t bent the rules.”
“Not at the office. Never at the office.”
“C’mon,” Weston pleaded, a note of desperation in his voice. “Aren’t you the least bit curious? About him? Lawson’s as greasy as they come.”
“Course I am.” His fingers itched to research Elaine too. Dig into the p
ast she guarded so closely. Only he never did it out of a sense of propriety. And the hope she’d share her secrets with him the way he’d shared some of his. He sighed heavily, chest tight. “Look, I do it for one person, what’s to stop me from spying on anyone else? No way, man.”
Weston’s brow drew tight. “What are you going to do if you lose?”
Travis stared at him for a long moment, then threw his head back, laughing. “You really do want my job, don’t you?”
The corner of Weston’s mouth twitched.
“Ha. I knew it.” Travis slapped his thigh, still shaking with laughter. “If I lose, you’ll have to wait a little longer for my job.” He shrugged. “And maybe I’ll become a dilettante rancher, now that I’ve got horses to tend to. Help me get them settled. Storm’s a comin’ and I want to check on Elaine and Dax.”
The clouds were piling up to the west, tall and imposing. The air felt sticky and heavy, the kind that produced ugly storms. A shiver slithered down Travis’s spine. It wasn’t tornado season, but that didn’t amount to a hill of beans in Kansas. Hell, he’d heard the sirens pop in November. They could just as easily sound in September, especially with the weather so topsy-turvy lately. Given Dax’s reaction to a simple summer storm, he wanted to be there with them, or bring them back home if the weather was going to turn dangerous.
The realization hit him like a two-by-four to the head. Home. The thought had slipped out as naturally as breathing. Elaine and Dax belonged here. Belonged home. Would she consider moving in after the election? He’d make a nice dinner and ask her as soon as everything was over.
The sky rumbled ominously by the time he turned his SUV toward town. It was only four, but the sky had gone black. The sirens began their eerie whine as he pulled up to the sole light in Prairie. “Dammit,” he spat, hitting the accelerator. Two minutes later he skidded to a stop in front of Elaine’s trailer, glowing in the eerie dark. Worry thrummed in his veins. Prairie couldn’t survive another direct hit. Crossing the walk in two leaps, he burst in the door, grateful for once that she always left the door unlocked.
His heart wrenched at the sight. Elaine sat huddled on the floor looking up at him through terrified eyes, a very scared Dax cowering in her lap. Crossing and dropping to the floor next to Elaine, he pulled Dax into his lap and draped an arm around her, pulling her close. “It’s okay. We’re safe. I’m here. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
“But the sirens,” Elaine answered tightly just as a clap of thunder opened up the heavens. Rain pounded on the roof of the trailer, turning the tiny space into an echo chamber.
Keeping his voice calm, he raised his voice enough it could be heard over the noise. “Check the weather app I installed on your phone. It should pull up the satellite image.”
Dax buried his head into his shoulder, trembling. Travis rubbed his back and kissed his head. “It’s okay, kiddo. I’m here now. We’re gonna be just fine.”
He was damned well gonna make sure of it. This trailer was a fucking death trap. Anger at himself rising with each flash of lightning. He couldn’t believe how many storms they’d endured over the summer in this din, and she’d never said anything. His brave, sweet Elaine. Soldiering on, an army of one. No more.
She handed him the phone. Relief melted some of the tension in his neck. The worst of it was to the north. They were in for a doozy of a storm though. As if on cue, the lights flickered and went out, casting them into shadow. Dax whimpered and Travis automatically patted his back.
Then a clunk hit the roof, followed by another. And another.
“Hail,” Elaine murmured.
The pinging and clunking increased in speed until the trailer sounded like they were underneath the bleachers at a stadium when fans stomped their feet like crazy.
Elaine turned to him, eyes wide. “Travis. Your car.”
He shook his head. “Will be fine. What’s important is that we’re safe.” He tightened his embrace on the two. At that moment, nothing else mattered. They were together. They were safe. Fuck the election. It wasn’t important. At least not as important as Elaine and Dax. They were his life. His family, his home. Nothing mattered more than having them in the center of his world. “That’s it,” he growled when the hail had passed. “You’re not staying here a second longer. You’re coming home.”
CHAPTER 26
It was still raining heavily, but the worst of the storm had passed as Travis turned onto the drive. He lifted his chin, talking into the rearview. “Once the storm has passed and you’re settled, I’ll take you out to the barn. I have something to show you.”
Elaine’s mind reeled. The whole way over she’d been in a quandary. If Travis was asking them to move in, she would have to notify Officer Marshall, even though her final probation hearing was scheduled for the day after the special election. On the other hand, if she was just ‘staying over’… but Travis had made his intent very clear. And strangely, it felt right. They already spent so much time together over here that Dax had a toothbrush and a spare set of pajamas for the nights they worked late. How would Dax feel about her sleeping in the same bed as Travis?
Only one way to find out.
Travis brought the SUV to a stop and turned to her. “Wait here.” He hopped out and sprinted to the porch, returning a moment later underneath an umbrella, with a second in his hand. He opened her door and handed her the folded one. “I’ll bring in Dax.”
She opened the umbrella and hopped through the puddles, jumping up the porch steps. Dax clung to Travis, arms wrapped tightly around the big man’s neck, as he carried the boy from the vehicle. The tenderness he demonstrated to Dax hit her smack in the center of her chest. Travis set Dax down next to her and unlocked the door. “Welcome home.” He turned to her with an eager smile and extended his hand.
She’d have to get used to carrying a key. Taking a big breath, she smiled back, and slipped her hand in his.
He pulled her across the threshold and led them upstairs. He opened the first door on the right. “This is my old room. Now it’s my weight room. Dax, you can come in here anytime, as long as there’s an adult with you. Got it?”
Dax’s nodded solemnly, eyes like saucers.
Then Travis opened the next door on the left. “This is your room, buddy. It used to belong to my brother, Colton. Come on in. Take a look.”
Dax stepped into the room, taking in the rodeo posters plastered on the walls. “Is your brother a cowboy?” he asked, voice full of awe.
Travis’s face pulled tight and a muscle ticked in his jaw. Dax didn’t notice, he was too busy staring at the posters of cowboys on bucking bulls and broncos. But she could tell it pained Travis to be in here. His shoulders tensed and he kept drumming his fingers on his thigh. If they stayed, maybe they could paint the room for Dax, make it new for both of them.
“He is,” Travis answered warily.
“Can he show me how to do that?” Dax pointed to a picture of a cowboy on the back of a bucking bronco, feet airborne, head tossed back, hand in the air.
Travis huffed out a wry laugh. “He rodeos and isn’t here.” He reached down and ruffled Dax’s hair. “But, you get good at riding Sunny and we can discuss the rodeo later.”
Dax stared up at him critically. “Promise?”
Elaine smothered a laugh. There was something totally endearing about the way Dax negotiated concessions from Travis.
Travis stuck out his hand. “Promise.”
They shook, and Travis pulled him into a hug. “C’mere. I want to show you something.” He straightened and led them across the hall to another shut door.
Elaine stared uneasily at the enormous lock protruding above the handle. It looked like a deadbolt. There was no way she was staying in a room with a lock that big on it. She’d rather camp out on the couch.
The door fell open silently with a turn of the handle. Travis gestured into the large master room, dominated by a king-sized bed. “I thought your mom and I could sleep in here, so we’re right across
the hall from each other.”
Elaine’s throat clutched. This was all happening too fast. She should have thought to prepare Dax. Suss out his feelings beforehand. She gave Travis an apologetic grimace but he shook his head just barely.
Dax looked at the bed and back to Travis, a serious expression on his tiny face. “Like you’re my dad?”
All the air squeezed out of her lungs. The longing in his voice was palpable. Travis would make a great dad, but she couldn’t ask him to be that to Dax. This was too much. She never should have agreed to come. She’d talk to Travis as soon as Dax went to bed and set things straight.
Travis bent and placed his hands on his knees, gazing steadily at Dax. “Well, I was hoping we could discuss that, man to man. See, your mom and I love each other. What do you think about that?”
Dax lifted his eyes to the ceiling, thinking. After a moment he nodded. “I think that’s okay.”
“Now, I’ve never been a dad before, but if I was a dad, I’d want a kid like you.”
Dax puffed up, a smile spreading across his face.
Her heart had to still be beating – she was still standing. Her insides felt tossed around like an upside-down salt shaker. She bit down on her lip unsure of what to expect next.
Dax toed the fringe of the rug. “I’ve never had a dad.”
“Would you like one?” Elaine perked up at the husky note in Travis’s voice. She wasn’t the only one with her heart in her throat.
Dax shrugged and nodded. Of all the things she’d never been able to give her son, raising him without a father hurt her the most. But raising him with a revolving door of bad examples would have been far worse.
“Do you think we can try it for a bit?” Travis asked. “See how it’s like?”