Danny bellowed with laughter. Where had he been while they’d talked about his death a few minutes ago? Here he was trying to share his best friend with Katie, and all Travis could think about was taking her upstairs…
Whoa, Trav! Your preteen daughter’s sleeping up there. Better scratch that idea until you two tie the knot.
A little less apprehensive, he opened the folder labeled “Danny” on his desktop. Thumbnail images filled the screen. Travis drew a deep breath before setting it to slideshow. The first image was one of the two of them at boot camp graduation. His mind wandered back to that day, which followed fourteen grueling weeks of training. Neither of them had ever accomplished anything so difficult in their lives.
Several more photos flashed across the screen, dragging Travis into the past with both good memories and bad. The walls started closing in…
“You both look so young.”
Katie’s voice drew Travis back before he could sink too deeply into the abyss. “Maybe from my perspective now. Danny and most of the enlisted members of my unit were eighteen or nineteen with a few exceptions. But I was twenty-two by the time we reached Iraq. I was considered an old man.”
“I can’t imagine being thrust into a situation like that at such a young age.”
He shrugged. “We were damned good at our jobs. Most units were deployed two or three times—one year out and one year home. You mature fast in the Guard.”
The next image to fill the screen was one from a forward operating base well south of Baghdad. “That’s one of his hero shots.” Danny sat on top of a tank with a serious expression on his face, his M4 carbine in front of him pointed skyward.
“Hero shot?”
Travis paused the slideshow before it advanced to the next photo. The term had come out automatically. “Those are…” How to explain it without sounding crass? “They’re shots taken that may be used by the media and the family in the event someone is…”
She stiffened beside him. “My God, you all seriously pose for pics with that purpose in mind? It seems so…morbid.”
“Oddly enough, it lightens the mood. And for most of us, the photos become part of the memories of our service. I treasure all these with Danny in them, regardless of why we took them originally.” It was hell seeing this one, though, because it had been placed on the table in the front of the chapel at Danny’s memorial service.
“You posed for some, too?”
“Sure.”
“Where are yours?”
“Mom has them.” He shrugged. “She insisted. Although I tried to give her ones without me looking scared or armed to the teeth. When I posed for this type of shot, it was always with the thought about what my family and friends would see if confronted with my…”
Katie squeezed his forearm, and their gazes met. Her lips trembled, and he wanted to kiss her in the worst way. “I’m glad your family didn’t have to face that. I’m sure they were worried sick about you every day of your deployments.” Again, she pulled him away from any carnal thoughts.
“It’s always been harder on the families waiting at home than it was on the ones serving in a combat zone. Still is. We stayed busy day and night then dropped into our racks to catch a couple hours of sleep. But our families sat home dwelling on what they imagined was happening to us. Most soon learned not to watch the news, worrying that they’d see reports of casualties where we were serving. They went straight to picturing the worst scenario.”
“These photos give me a clearer image of Danny, in case he ever shows up in my room again.” She shrugged as if she didn’t expect that to happen, but he wouldn’t put it past Danny.
One of these days, he wanted to do something to memorialize his friends—Craig, too, the only member of his team Travis hadn’t brought home. He hadn’t given any thought to that until now. Maybe he was coming to grips with his being gone. Perhaps a tattoo for each of them.
Bringing himself back to what he was doing, Travis started the slideshow again, watching the photos advance ever closer to that day. His mind moved in slow motion toward that day when—
He slammed the lid down on the laptop. He didn’t want to see the photos taken of them shooting the breeze over breakfast that morning, not realizing their lives were about to change—or, in Craig’s case, end altogether.
When his hand trembled, Katie covered it with hers and squeezed. Soon his entire body shook as flashes of light and the aftermath of the explosion impacted his body. He threw himself onto the soldier on the seat next to him, covering him.
“Travis! It’s Katie. You’re in my house in Midway. We’re safe….you’re safe!”
Katie? He blinked himself out of the flashback and saw that he’d slammed her prone against the couch, his upper body covering hers. What the… Filling his lungs with air, he tried to slow his erratic heartbeat as the scene from hell receded back into his memory, leaving his line of sight filled with sweet, innocent Katie. Her breasts pressed against his chest as she, too, struggled to control her breathing.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have asked you to show me those photos and relive this again.”
“I didn’t think I’d lose it like that.” Usually when he was going over the photos, he stopped well before the place they’d gotten to in the slide show. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head. “I was just worried about you.”
“I’m okay.” He was no longer lost in the past. Katie was warm and real and life itself. Her clean, fresh scent mesmerized him.
When he didn’t move to get off her, her forehead furrowed in worry. Time to send Katie up to her bed, even if he needed her more tonight than he’d ever needed anyone before. No way did he want her to have sex with him out of pity.
When she wet her lips and glanced down at his mouth, though, he felt a stirring that didn’t bode well for keeping his libido in check.
His thumb traced her lips.
“Trav—”
He cut off her attempt at putting the brakes on this by closing the gap and crushing her mouth under his. Her body melted against the couch, as she wrapped her arms around his neck telling him she needed this, too. Travis backed off, nibbling at her full lower lip. “Just a taste…” He’d be leaving tomorrow. No sense complicating things any more than they already were.
If only Katie hadn’t opened her mouth and tangled her tongue with his. He wanted to stretch out and strip her of every stitch of clothing, but his daughter’s presence upstairs kept him from totally losing his self-control.
“Let me touch you.” He eased off, and his hand stroked the side of her breast as his lips trailed kisses and bites along the column of her neck. She moaned, her fingers holding onto the sides of his head as though to keep him from stopping. Not that he planned to anytime soon.
Slipping his right hand between their bodies, he unbuttoned her shirt to give him more territory to cover. He shoved the flap aside and pulled away so he could make sure she was okay with where this might go. Her languid eyelids and sultry smile hardened him with anticipation. He glanced at the stairway, feeling like a teenager worried about his parents walking in on him necking with his girlfriend—only the roles had been reversed.
“Don’t go anywhere.” He crossed the room and pulled the wooden pocket door panels from the walls to close off the living room from the hall. At least they’d have a warning if Chelsea ventured down here before she could catch them in the act. When he returned to Katie, he saw she’d removed her shirt and was in the process of unclasping her bra. The exposed expanse of skin made him hard as a rock. He removed her shoes and then sat on the couch to get rid of his own. Standing, he undid his belt and shucked his jeans while she did the same from a prone position.
With far fewer clothes coming between them, he stretched out on the couch again, resting his weight on his elbows. “You turn me on like no woman I’ve ever known.” He bent to kiss her smile away before continuing along his path of seduction.
* * *
&nbs
p; Travis’s words sent a thrill through Kate right to her core. The man could have any woman he wanted, but he desired her.
Something niggled in the back of her mind telling her that it was a bad idea to fool around like this, but Chelsea slept like the dead and Travis had shut the door. Ever since they’d made love in the barn apartment, she’d wanted more.
His mouth teased her earlobe before his raspy cheek grazed down the column of her neck to where his teeth nibbled at the hollow. Her hips bucked upward in response. A definite hot spot for her.
Kate raked her blunt nails over his back and elicited a similar response from his lower body. His hardness connected with her sex, and she gasped. How could she be ready for him so quickly?
But she wanted him buried inside her to the hilt. Now!
Travis, on the other hand, seemed to be in no hurry. He blazed a slow trail downward until his lips latched onto her taut nipple. Ever time he flicked the tight bud, a ripple ran down her body all the way to her throbbing core. When his teeth clamped onto the hard peak and tugged, she moaned with need. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her, his teeth not letting go of her nipple. He continued to pull until she had to arch her back and then released it.
“Travis, we don’t have all night. What if Chel—”
Ignoring her, he did the same with her other nipple. She held onto the sides of his head, afraid he’d stop. The swirling torrent inside her needed release—and yet she didn’t want the moment to come to an end. However, when he ground his erect member against her, she could wait no longer. “Please, Travis. Don’t torture me.”
He only chuckled before releasing her nipple and trailing kisses and nibbles across her abdomen. Oh, no!
She lowered her hands to cover her stretch marks, but he held them captive at her sides. “Don’t cover your body. It’s beautiful.”
His eyes smoldered possessively as if laying claim to her body a half-second before his tongue traced one of the stretch marks lower and lower still until he released her hands and tugged at the waistband of her panties. She lifted her hips to help him remove them, ready for him to lose his boxer briefs, too. But he didn’t finish stripping. Instead, he reached for a pillow. “Lift your hips.”
Knowing full well what he intended to do, she complied. He hadn’t gone down on her when they’d dated in college. She wished she’d showered after they’d gotten back home, but…
“Beautiful.” Travis stared at her until she felt herself growing wetter. Scooting to the end of the couch, he leaned forward, spreading her outer lips and opening her wide. “Hold on, darlin’.”
There wasn’t much to hold on to, but she grasped the seat cushion with one hand and his shoulder with the other. His breath was warm against her skin as he lowered his head until his tongue slid along her cleft.
“Travis!” The overload of sensations nearly made her come undone immediately. Need clawed at her insides as he slowly drove her insane. Why was he avoiding the bundle of nerves that would have taken her over the edge?
His finger slipped inside her, and she almost lost it then, but he still wouldn’t give her the release she sought. “I want you inside me.”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
What? He was waiting for her to ask?
Travis stood and hooked his thumbs in his boxer briefs. She watched, ready to see him in all his glory—
Crash!
Something fell over in the hallway. She and Travis quickly pulled on discarded clothes before Chelsea could open the door. They tried to resume their innocent positions on the couch, Travis even picked up the laptop to pretend they were looking at photos still.
But there wasn’t another sound.
He slammed shut the laptop with a groan. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“About what?” She fought to regulate her breathing and the frustrating ache in her core.
“Not you. Danny. If he wasn’t already dead, I’d strangle him.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“He just told me that we’d thank him later for knocking over the umbrella stand, because we wouldn’t want Chelsea scarred for life if she happened to come downstairs.”
“You mean that wasn’t Chelsea in the hall?”
“No.” He sighed, dragging his fingers through his mussed hair. “But Danny’s right. We need to wait. I can’t picture my folks having sex more than the three times it took to get pregnant with the Cooper kids.” He stood and looked down at her. “So I’m going to take his ill-timed advice and head upstairs. Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving early tomorrow.”
Kate had been taught not to speak ill of the dead and didn’t possess a violent bone in her body. But as she fought to get her breath back to normal, she wouldn’t mind helping Travis strangle Danny. Her body was screaming for release, and Travis was going to bed? Without her?
Well, of course without her. Okay, Danny was right. Damn him. She wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment.
He held out his hand for hers, and she stood as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her near. “I’m going to miss you, Katie.”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
“Hey, I know I said I’d come up here Saturday, but Chelsea wants to come down to my place instead for the Fourth.”
They’d already planned a weekend away from the farm? Not only a weekend, but four days? Stay calm, Kate. She shouldn’t complain, after having deprived him of his daughter her entire life, but God she’d miss her. As hard as it was to say, she choked out the words. “I don’t want to intrude on your plans to spend time with her. Besides, I have a lot of work to do here and wouldn’t have been able to see much of you two anyway.”
“I want you to come, too. You need a break, even if you don’t take through Tuesday. And it would give us a chance to finish what we started tonight.” He bent to place a kiss on her lips and smiled.
“Chelsea would be in the same house there, too,” she reminded him.
“But the master bedroom is on the first floor and I’m going to give Chelsea a room on the other side of the house and upstairs. I can put you in the guest room on the first floor with me then after she goes to bed…” He wrapped a loose strand of hair behind her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
I want to. “I don’t kn—”
“There’s a lock on my bedroom door,” he said, continuing his sales pitch. “While she won’t want to picture us doing the deed, she’d love spending time with us both. What do you say?” When she hesitated further, he cupped her ass and ground himself against her. “Come on. Join us.”
“But I promised Melissa I’d work with her Saturday and Sunday.”
“Then change it to Monday. The Junior League show isn’t until next Thursday. You can stay Friday and Saturday nights and be home early Monday.” Not giving her a chance to answer, his mouth covered hers. When her mind was sufficiently vacant, he pulled away and stared down at her.
“Um, I suppose I could stay until Sunday afternoon.”
He grinned. “Now you’re talking.”
He kissed her again, his tongue skimming over her lips as he tweaked her nipple at the same time. His hand lowered to her sex, and he stroked her. “And I’ll get to finish what I started.”
Sensations flooded through her body, almost causing her to ask if he’d like to go up to the springhouse or out to the barn apartment, but he’d be leaving tomorrow. Spending more time with him would only make her more frustrated.
How was she going to survive the week thinking about the promise he’d just made? She hoped she had some fresh batteries around here somewhere.
Then she remembered what had precipitated the scene on the couch. His flashback. She reached up to stroke his whiskered cheek again. “Will you be all right tonight?”
He chuffed. “Doubt I’ll get any sleep. I ought to make use of your gym in the garage to work off steam, but I’ll settle for a cold shower instead.”
If he had no clue that she was talking abo
ut the flashback and the memories the photos had churned up, she didn’t intend to remind him. He certainly seemed to be in a good mood.
She cupped his face and pulled him closer to hers to give him a rather chaste kiss on the lips. “Good night, Travis. Sweet dreams.”
With that, she left him standing in the living room while she mounted the steps to her bedroom, giving him a cheeky wiggle of her backside. She heard him whistle softly, much the way he had when he’d seen her in that awful hospital gown. He made her feel like a woman again.
Had she just agreed to spend a couple of nights with him and Chelsea? Yes, you did. She’d call Melissa in the morning and see if she could even put her off until Monday by promising her every available lesson between now and the first class in the Junior League show. Of course, Kate knew the girl was already as prepared as she’d ever could be. Perhaps this could be turned into a vote of confidence for Melissa and ease some of her jitters.
But Kate had some jitters of her own. Was she ready to open the door wider to Travis?
Chapter Thirty-One
Travis noticed Katie’s blush first thing the next morning when he came into the kitchen. Chelsea was already at the table, so he couldn’t comment on the reason for it. “Sorry I’m late.” He wasn’t more than a couple minutes past the time Katie had said, but he still felt guilty. She’d agreed to serve breakfast early so he could hit the road and get to the worksite soon after lunch. Hell, in longer than he could remember, he’d actually overslept this morning. He hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in forever.
“Right on time, actually.” She remained intent on watching the bacon fry. Maybe she’d slept in a little late, too. She was usually ready to plate the food precisely when she said it would be served.
He couldn’t resist stopping by her to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Breakfast smells great, Katie.” In a whisper only she could hear, he added, “And so do you.” She swatted him away, casting a worried look at Chelsea as if caught doing something illicit. Last night, she’d agreed to join them for at least part of the weekend. Could life get any better than this?
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