by Zoey Marcel
She removed her glasses to wipe away a thin sheen of sweat from the bridge of her nose. She'd forgotten about the damned humidity. The warm temperature was calming, but the moisture in the air made her clammy. She put her glasses back on, hoping she didn't look like a complete mess when she saw the three Langley brothers.
The blacktop basked her bare feet in pleasant warmth. It had been forever since she'd walked down the road without shoes on—a childhood habit that was strangely summoned from its jaded sleep upon walking back into this bluegrass region of innocence.
Her thoughts shifted to the tape she'd turned into the police in another city in California. Beck Hammond would never hurt her again. She wouldn't let him. Slade and the others sure as hell weren't coming near her again either.
But would they be arrested without sufficient evidence? She'd had no marks on her body, and the tape hadn't been the nightmarish rape Beck had filmed. It was a dull recording of Beck, Slade, and possibly Bruce all playing Scrabble together. The date on the tape had been the same as the hellish video she'd been after. The police had watched the tape in its entirety and then given it back to her when the recording was deemed useless and the contents contrary to her claims.
The cops in Beverly Hills had been contacted and said they'd investigate the Hammond estate once they got a warrant. Hopefully they caught Beck and Slade red-handed and broke into that vault of horrible secrets. It nauseated her to think of anyone seeing the contents of those tapes.
Kayla tried not to think about the fact that her water bottle was empty. She'd lose too much water from sweating if she didn't drink some soon. That couldn't be good. Would her immune system suffer from dehydration? Fortunately, there were no sick people around, just lazy-ass, happy horses grazing contentedly all over the plane of food they trampled.
Kayla's heart caught in her throat, and her pulse roared to life. The Langley ranch was getting close, so very close. She hoped the cowboys weren't married. Would she be able to keep herself from bawling her eyes out in front of them if they were?
What about her daddy? Was he still mad at her for leaving home and moving to a state he considered saturated with deviance? She would go visit him, but first she'd stop by the Langleys’ ranch since it was coming up.
****
Travis Langley drove the tractor into the barn and parked it before shutting the engine off. Time for a break. He wiped his forehead with his arm and climbed down, taking a cool swig from his water bottle. Leaving the lid off as he held the bottle, he moseyed out of the barn, allowing the water a moment to settle in his gut.
A small, curvaceous woman coming up the road almost made his neck snap when his head jerked to look at her. Man, she looked like Kayla Sanders. Yeah, right. His sweet little Kayla just happened to decide to come home to him today, wearing—Oh lord, what a dress. The sleazy black number looked more like a slip. Probably just some random woman.
He watched her closely, finding his body moving almost involuntarily toward her. His mouth hung open when he got a better look at her. It was Kayla. His baby cricket had come home to him. The plastic water bottle landed on the ground with a muted thunk and an erratic gurgle of spewing liquid when he dropped it. He quickened his pace, wondering what the hell he would say to her after being apart for so long.
Kayla stopped at the split rail fence and just stared at him with her lips parted. She looked like an adorable, hot librarian or a sexy nerd with her big black glasses, but they didn't overpower her face. Rather they seemed to flatter her like she'd been born with them.
She had more tattoos than before. One on each thigh, a portrait of Marilyn Monroe on the inside of her right forearm, and some word scrawled all fancy-like on her collarbone, though she was too far away for him to read it clearly. She had a few colorful tattoos on her left arm, but not enough to qualify as a sleeve.
The bitty black dress hugged her hourglass figure, and the cleavage pretty much screamed “Here are my titties”, but he didn't mind one bit.
She had big, chunky bracelets on her right wrist, one black and the other a turquoise kind of color. He would have called it blue, but she'd always corrected him when he grouped all shades as one color. He must learn the different shades she'd insisted. Turquoise was about the only one he remembered her beating into his head.
Her long, wavy curls of sleek ginger fell soft and free over her shoulders, flirting with her beyond distracting breasts. Her plump limbs were tan, and he had to smile at the way she stood barefoot with her high heels in one hand. She'd always loved running barefoot in the spring and summer.
He waited for her to speak first, but she just stood there gaping at him, looking as if she might cry.
“You came back,” he breathed in disbelief.
“I did,” she said, seeming stuck in a state of shock. “Did you ... are you married?” She twiddled her fingers and averted her eyes, but her voice cracked with the threat of tears. “I … I know you always talked about getting married and having kids someday.”
“I'm not married, Kayla. I never married.”
The organ in his chest swelled with joy. He wanted to give noogies to his brilliant, knucklehead brothers for talking him out of marrying Veronica years ago. He'd just been straight with her and told her he couldn't promise forever when he'd always love someone else. She'd been understanding and informed him of a job offer she'd accepted in Chicago. They'd parted ways on good terms and said they'd keep in touch, but he knew like she probably had that they wouldn't.
Now Kayla had come back to him, and it was his turn to be happy again.
She stared at him, blinking rapidly like she wrestled with an army of tears.
“Jake and Keith never married either.” Travis felt the nurturer in him stir when he saw the tear dribble down her cheek. He heard the break in his already softened tone. “We waited for you, cricket.”
She broke down and cried right there in front of him. He breached the confounded feet between them and threw his arms around her so tight he heard the air being squeezed from her in a breathless gasp. She hugged him back and sobbed onto his shirt.
“I missed you so much, girl.”
Kayla squeezed him hard and cried harder. “I missed you, too, all the time. I thought I was never going to see you again.”
He kissed the top of her head and lifted his eyes to heaven, mouthing a soundless thank you. “I always prayed you'd come back to us, but seven years eats away at a man's morale. Why'd you stay away so long?”
“Because I was stupid,” she wailed. “I'm so stupid.”
“Shh. No. You're back now. That's all that matters.”
He cupped her cheeks and laid one on her. Her enamored whimper drove him crazy as he rubbed his lips against the smooth softness of hers, feeling his sex drive roar to life when her lips parted for his questing tongue.
He should have kissed her years ago and told her how he felt. Instead he'd tried to do the right thing even though his smitten heart had told him it was wrong. And she thought she was the stupid one?
Their tongues twined slowly in a hot, silky caress of saliva and heart. His possessive side wanted to pin her up against a tree and show her just how much he'd missed her, but he didn't want to scare her off. The dirty fun would come later. Right now he just wanted to hold her and taste her sweet mouth.
She moaned softly and pressed into the erection straining against his jeans. He deepened the kiss, getting even more excited that she rubbed her hands up and down his chest through his shirt. When her thumbs grazed his nipples, electric pulses shot off in every part of his body.
He broke the kiss, grinning from ear to ear. “You don't know how long I've waited for that, darlin'. I tried so damned hard to get over you, but you've gotten under my skin. I'm incurable.”
She gave him a beautiful smile, but then her eyes got big and she staggered back away from him. “Oh no, you kissed me!”
He snickered, scanning her lush body head to toe with a blatant disregard for discretion. “Yo
u just got that one figured, huh?”
“Oh God, spit!”
He smirked. “What?”
“Spit my saliva out.”
“What for?”
“I … I have...” Her eyes squeezed shut, and her chest heaved. The way her angelic face contorted with misery made him think she was about to tell him somebody had died. “I have mono.”
He shrugged. “Well, I probably got it now, too, so come here, girl.”
“Don't!” She stepped backward suddenly and put her hand in front of her. “Please. I need you to live.”
Her plea startled him. “Live?”
She shook her head, putting on a weak partial smile. “I mean be okay. I just need to go to the doctor and get some medicine. Will you take me, please? I'd drive myself, but I don't have my driver's license with me.”
“Sure. Let me clean up a bit and then I'll drive you. Call ahead, but you might have to wait until tomorrow to go on such short notice.” He waved her over. “Come on inside and I'll get you something to drink.”
“Thanks. Do you mind if I use your shower?”
“Not at all. Go ahead and take one first. I'll fix you something to eat.”
****
Kayla refrained from doing a double take when Travis held open the screen door of the rambling brick farmhouse for her. He'd always held the door open for her, but it had been a while since anyone treated her like a lady. It struck her funny for a second, and she wasn't sure how to react aside from thanking him.
Cozy warmth had her feeling small and dainty in a good way. He made her feel feminine—something she hadn't felt like in a long time. Being viewed as a lady again touched her deeply.
“Just make yourself at home while I fix you something to eat.”
“Thank you.”
She pulled one of the chairs out from the table and then sat, feeling timid. She wasn't a shy person by nature, but the long duration of their separation rendered a slight awkwardness despite her jubilee over their reunion.
He got a water bottle from the fridge and then handed it to her.
“Thanks.”
She readily gulped the water, pausing only to adjust to the cold surge streaming down her esophagus. She hoped the chilly water didn't upset her stomach.
She tried not to beam like an overzealous idiot as she watched Travis move around the kitchen. The five foot ten stud walked like a man, and he filled out those boot-cut jeans nicely. The white T-shirt clung slightly to the sweat dampening his back. His straight brown hair had gotten longer. He wasn't as lean as he used to be. He was stocky, but not overly so.
The slight twang in his nasally drawl gave her stomach a satisfying rising sensation that felt a lot like flying. He made small talk with her, but she barely heard a word he said. She was too busy getting wet at the knowledge that she was really here with him again. Her body trembled with hot need at the way his sapphire blue eyes kept sweeping over her low-cut neckline and her exposed legs.
She'd been embarrassed to look like a tart before, but now she was glad to be dressed so trampy in front of the cowboy she'd always wanted to seduce.
He grinned, stealing her heart all over again. “This is crazy. You're really here. Tell me this isn't a dream.”
“You're not dreaming.” Kayla smiled, wondering why her throat felt parched again when she'd just quenched her thirst. She might be oversexed, but she was starved for lovemaking.
Travis had a brown Fu Manchu and chinstrap that only added to his country-boy manliness. “You want something to eat?”
“Do you have any oranges?”
“Oranges? Girl, you need something that will stick to your ribs.”
“Do you have plain oatmeal?”
He smiled. “I was thinking something more along the lines of steak.”
Steak sounded wonderful, but she must be strict as hell with her eating. “I'm kind of on a diet.”
He frowned. “What for? You look great.”
Her heart moved with joy. “Thank you, but it's not to lose weight. I'm just trying to be healthy.”
I'm just trying to survive.
He got her an orange from the fridge and some string cheese. “How is that?”
“Perfect. Thank you.”
He tidied up in the kitchen while she ate.
“So where are Jake and Keith? Do they not live here anymore?”
“Nah, they moved into town a few years ago. They run the club.”
“Oh yeah?” Her pulse turned jittery. The word club reminded her of Master Hugh, even though he'd never taken her to one. “What kind of club?”
“A BDSM club.”
Hadn't Master Hugh once been a Dom at a club in Lexington? “What's it called?”
“The Black Dragon.”
Her mouth fell open, and her lips involuntarily curled with fond memories of her Master. “Oh wow. That's amazing.”
Travis glanced over at her, seeming enthralled by her. “What's that?”
“I actually used to know someone who worked as a Dom there.”
He smiled. “Oh yeah? What's his name?”
She waved him off. “Oh, I doubt you'd know him. It was years ago. You and your brothers were probably kids or teenagers when he worked there.”
“Yeah, it's been around for a while.”
“Does your sister still live here?”
“No. Miranda met a couple of Doms online and took a trip with Keith down to New Orleans to meet them. She must have liked them a lot, 'cause she never came back. We've got to move her stuff down to her. Been meaning to do that. She asked us to ship it to her, but I'm thinking I'll just drive it down and pay her a visit.” Travis pulled out a chair and sat with her. “It's so good to see you, Kayla.”
Kayla couldn't hide the enthusiasm behind her smile this time. “It's great to see you, too. I feel so blessed to be sitting here right now with you.”
“I feel the same way. It's been way too damned long.”
“It has.”
Her eyes stung, but she crowded out all negativity from her troubled mind. She wouldn't let herself think about the future. She wanted to focus on the here and now with the cowboy she loved. Well, one of the cowboys she loved.
He gave her a heartwarming smile. “You've got a West Coast accent now.”
“Nu-uh, I'm not the one with the accent. You are.”
Travis shook his head with a crooked grin. “No, girl, you're in the Midwest. You're the one talking with an accent.”
Kayla smiled, letting her eyes drop demurely when she felt the subtle warmth infiltrating her cheeks. She had so much experience now she shouldn't be blushing. Seeing a man she'd known since she was a little girl shouldn't make her shy and vulnerable. But it was a good kind of helplessness. The kind that made her want to surrender and see where it led, not the terrifying, degrading sense of defenselessness that left her feeling ashamed and weak.
“I should probably just shower at home,” she said reluctantly. “I've got to go see how my daddy's doing. That's going to be awkward.”
Travis's expression became downcast. “About that, I don't know how to tell you this.”
A chilling sensation sprang up on the back of her neck, and goosebumps emerged on her arms. “What is it?”
He looked like he really didn't want to be having this conversation with her. “Your daddy's dead, Kayla.”
She stared at him, feeling numb with shock. The news didn't trigger the tears she would have expected, merely a surreal sense of disbelief.
Travis continued, looking sympathetic and uncomfortable. “He was helping a neighbor harvest hay last summer. The bales weren't small. They were those great big Twinkie-looking ones. Anyway, one of them fell off the truck and … it landed on him.”
The numbness persisted. Only the awful tingling on her scalp and nape offered any feeling to the unreal moment.
Travis grappled for her hand, looking concerned as hell about her. “He died instantly. They said with the way it all happened it's most likel
y that he didn't feel any pain.”
Her chest felt heavy and her eyes watered, but the tears and pain didn't come. The numbing sensation fought the natural reactions of mourning away.
“Are you okay?” He squeezed her hand, appearing even more worried.
“I'm fine,” she said quietly. “Thank you for telling me.”
She tried to process the horrific information in the deafening silence. She couldn't, but she needed to be alone. She knew that much. “May I use your shower please?”
A look of surprise crossed his face before he resumed composure and nodded. “Sure. I'll wash your dress and under-things for you and see if we can find you something to wear in the meantime.”
****
Travis went into the guestroom where Kayla was getting ready for bed. His breath caught, and she stole another little piece of his heart with her precious smile and the baby-blue satin pajama shorts and tank top she wore. It looked like something a woman would buy at Victoria's Secret.
Then the thought occurred to him that she had probably worn it in bed with other men. He had to mentally tell himself to calm the hell down when he realized his fists were clenched.
“All settled in?” he asked.
She plumped her pillow before getting into bed. The act made her breasts jiggle a little, driving him crazy.
“Yep. I appreciate you letting me stay here.”
He smiled, wishing they could cuddle in bed together all night long. “It's my pleasure. You can stay as long as you need to. I'm sorry we sold your daddy's ranch. It was what he wanted. We placed all the money from it into an account for you. We never touched it. That money's all yours.”
She gave him a meek smile, seeming grateful but weary. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“I would do anything for you, Kayla.”
She met his ardent stare and her lips twitched, but her eyes lowered in sadness. “I believe you would.”
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
He started to leave and hit the light, but her voice stopped him.
“Leave the light on, please.”
The worried expression on her face surprised and intrigued him. “If you like. Sweet dreams, darlin'.”