Hadn’t helped.
Between alternating thoughts of Kylie and Gage – some of which overlapped into intensely erotic fantasies – he decided to forego trying to get himself involved in a situation that might make things worse before he had a chance to set Kylie straight.
Travis put the truck in Drive and pulled away from the curb. Since it was obvious Kylie wasn’t going to give him any suggestions, Travis took it slow while he thought about where they could go to talk. He wanted to avoid anywhere public and thanks to the time he’d spent there when he was in the Army, Travis knew there wasn’t much to do in the small town Kylie lived in, so it didn’t take him long to make a decision. Coyote Ridge might not be the most logical place, and surely Kylie would question him, but for some reason, Travis wanted to give her a little glimpse into his world – let her see him as a person and not just the man who hightailed it out of her life when the honorable thing would’ve been to stick around and work it out.
Today, taking her to his home town just felt like the right thing to do.
“Where are we going?” Kylie asked when they entered the on-ramp to Interstate 35 South.
“I want to show you something,” he told her, not going into detail because he didn’t want her to put the kibosh on his plans before they even happened. When she didn’t say anymore, he took that as a good sign.
Several minutes later, with only the sound of the tires speeding along the pavement to fill the strained silence, Kylie finally spoke up. Travis was surprised it took her that long.
“So, um, what was it like growing up with six brothers?” She didn’t look at him as she asked the question, but Travis didn’t need her to. She was making small talk, and right now, he appreciated it.
“It wasn’t easy.” Flipping on his turn signal, Travis changed lanes, preparing to take the next exit. “There were seven of us, and my parents, in one house. Maybe it was easier that we were boys, and we were all into sports and such, but that much testosterone in one place was combustible at times.”
“I can imagine. How’d your mother survive it?”
“She’s the strongest woman I know,” Travis told her. Lorrie Walker had a backbone of steel, and she didn’t take any shit from her boys. With Curtis around to knock a few heads together when needed, she managed to run a tight ship while they were growing up. In fact, she still did. And when she spoke, they listened.
Travis wasn’t sure how much about him that Kylie cared to know, but he wanted to share himself with her. He would ignore the fact that he was about ten years too late in doing so. And he was probably setting them both up, but at this point, he didn’t know what he had to lose. As far as he was concerned, he’d lost everything already…
“My parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary last year. My brother Kaleb got married not too long ago, and Zane, the youngest, is planning to get married later this year, we hope. Oh, and we just found out that Zoey and Kaleb are expecting,” he explained.
“Wow, that’s great.”
“Yeah. They’re proud. Mom’s already started turning one of our old rooms into a nursery for when they come over.” Travis kept his eyes on the road.
“Will that be your parents’ first grandchild? I mean… Do you have any children?”
“No, Kylie. I don’t. I’ve never even had a serious relationship after you, and no, before you ask, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Are you and Gage…?”
Wow, if that wasn’t a loaded question. Were they what? There were so many ways to answer that, but none he figured Kylie would be happy about.
This wasn’t where he thought this was going to go. Shit.
“Let me explain a few things to you before you jump to the hard questions, all right?” He wasn’t about to attempt to do that while they were driving. He needed to be able to look her in the eye, and the least she could do was hear him out. He didn’t deserve more than that, but as far as he was concerned, they both deserved to hear the truth.
Kylie nodded, but she stared out the window without saying anything more for long minutes. Travis fought the urge to drum his fingers on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to let her think he was nervous. He wasn’t.
He absolutely wasn’t.
He was so fucking nervous.
“Are you the oldest?”
Travis welcomed the questions for the first time in his life because it was easier to answer her about his family than to dig around in his head trying to make sense of his own irrational thoughts. “Yeah. Then there’s Sawyer, Kaleb, the twins Brendon and Braydon. Then Ethan and Zane. Zane’s the youngest, he just turned twenty six.”
“Do they all live in Coyote Ridge?”
Nodding his head, Travis kept his eyes on the road. “We all live on our parents’ ranch. Not together though. Well, except for Kaleb. He and Zoey just moved into her family’s home on the adjacent land beside the resort.”
“They live with her parents?”
“No.” Travis smiled. “Her dad wants grandkids, so he moved into the guest house so Kaleb and Zoey could have the big house. That’s the house Gage took you to.”
Kylie got quiet again, and Travis wondered whether it was because she was remembering that day.
“I couldn’t imagine growing up in a house with that many kids.”
And Travis couldn’t imagine it any other way.
“How’s your sister?” he asked before the silence could get too unbearable.
Kylie never had introduced him to her family, mainly because they lived several hours away. Until last night, he’d never laid eyes on her sister, but Kylie always talked about her. They were close, he remembered.
“She’s good. I think she needed some time away from my dad and his girlfriend, so she came here for a week. I’m hoping she’ll get some rest, but last night, after I went to bed, I heard her on the phone. I think she’s talking to one of your brothers.”
Travis wasn’t going to correct her and tell Kylie that her sister was talking to two of his brothers. The twins considered themselves a team. A two-for-one special they liked to tease. If Jessie was getting involved with them, Travis was pretty sure she’d be getting with both of them.
He wondered what Jessie’s straight-laced sister would think of that. Did she only see things as black and white? Was her world void of all shades of gray?
For the next half hour, they talked about inconsequential things like the weather and traffic as they made their way back to Coyote Ridge. Based on the way she fidgeted in the seat, it was clear that Kylie was just as nervous as he was. And that was all sorts of fucked up because Travis didn’t get nervous. Ever. Except apparently when he was in close quarters with this woman.
If Kylie was surprised that they’d arrived in his hometown, she didn’t show it. Rather than try to explain himself, Travis drove through town as though this were just any other day, offering some details of where he grew up, taking her on a brief tour of his old stomping ground. After driving by the high school that he and his brothers graduated from and pointing out his parents’ house, Travis continued on until they reached the site where Alluring Indulgence was being built.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” Kylie stated when he pulled down the long winding front drive of the resort that wasn’t quite finished.
Although Travis didn’t respond, he tried looking at the resort from her perspective, and he didn’t disagree with her assessment. The place was intimidating, taking up more of the land than Travis even expected. But then again, he had added some additions along the way which meant he’d had to venture outward if he wasn’t building up.
The landscape was relatively the same. They’d managed to keep most of the trees that had been on Zoey’s father’s property originally, weaving the driveway entrance between them and adding several more to balance things out.
Serene. That’s one word Zoey continued to use when she referred to the effect AI would have on people. Travis would pretend he didn’t care about anythin
g but the money, but truth be told, he was proud of what they’d created.
“We should be finished with construction by early next year,” he went on to explain.
“Can we go in?” Kylie surprised him with the request, but Travis found himself eager to show her around.
Leaning over the seat he grabbed two hard hats from the back, handing one over to her. “Put this on.”
Kylie took the hat from his hand, placed it on her head and then looked back at him. Damn, even with the bright yellow thing on top of her head, she was gorgeous.
“Stay right there. Let me help you out.” There was a lot of debris on the ground, and the last thing he needed was for her to get hurt. It had nothing to do with any sort of lawsuit either. He just wasn’t sure he could bear to see her injured in any way.
Opening the door, he offered his hand and helped her down to the ground. They managed to walk around most of the scattered boards and random nails, along with chunks of concrete littering the walkway.
“I thought there was going to be a hotel.” Kylie glanced around as Travis pulled her up close to him. He kept her close while they maneuvered down a narrow plank that would lead right up to the main entrance of the resort.
“There’s a hotel. We’ve also got several decent sized bungalows strewn behind the clubs. They offered more privacy than adding to the hotel would have.”
“Where’re the clubs,” she asked as Travis stepped through the entryway that would soon contain several sets of doors that would open automatically to welcome their guests arrival.
They continued to move forward, and Travis slipped his hand around Kylie’s in a casual move, disguised as him helping her maneuver through the piles of additional materials.
“Well, you’re standing in the guest registration,” Travis explained, turning and signaling with the wave of one hand in the direction of a long wall. “That’s where you’d check in if you were coming to stay with us.”
“Wow, this is gonna be monstrous,” she said with awe.
Travis glanced down at her, watching intently as she admired what he and his brothers had worked so hard to design.
“Then over here,” Travis began as he turned away, forcing himself to stay focused. “These doors will lead into a common area. It’s sort of a pass-through where people can congregate between the two clubs.”
Travis led her through the oversized doors. The room wasn’t complete, only the outer half-moon shaped wall formed by massive steel beams that went up at least fifty feet, forming a glass dome that covered the area. From the hotel rooms that faced this side, guests would be able to see into the space. If that was their thing.
“Those are the clubs,” he told her as he pointed to each end of the room.
“Nightclubs?”
“In a sense, yes.”
“I’ve read about the resort on the internet,” she told him skeptically. “You can be honest with me.”
“Anything you want to know, just ask.”
“Are these types of clubs even legal?”
Her question shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. “They are,” he said as he clamped his jaw shut.
He should’ve expected her to look down her nose at his design. In his experience, there were often more people who weren’t willing to keep an open mind and experience what a fetish club or a swingers club might have to offer. As it turned out, it looked like Kylie was one of those people.
“Do guests have to stay at the resort or can they just visit the clubs? Who will you allow in?”
Travis swallowed hard and then pasted on a smile. “It’ll be by invitation only, and yes, in order to utilize the amenities, they will have to be a guest here.”
Kylie continued to comb the area with her eyes, slipping her hand out from his as she ventured farther away. He remained where he was standing and simply watched her. Not for the first time did Travis have some deep regrets about all the things he’d lost back when he walked away from Kylie. She was beautiful, smart, and a spitfire in bed from what he remembered.
But Travis hadn’t left her because of her, or anything she did. No, he’d walked away because he didn’t want to risk seeing the disappointment in her eyes when she found out the truth about him. And on top of that, he hadn’t been willing to risk that he might do something unacceptable because he would always feel as though a part of his relationship was lacking.
And truthfully, Travis knew she wouldn’t have understood his reasoning then, and he didn’t expect her to now. But he owed her an explanation.
Trying to lighten the mood because he was beginning to get weighed down by his own thoughts, Travis moved closer, grabbing her hand again and leading her toward one of the two grand staircases on each side of the doors they’d come through. “We’ve added a spa up on the first floor,” he explained as he motioned up the wide staircase that would soon be covered with expensive, plush carpet.
“Can we go up there?”
“Sure.” He held her hand as they ventured upward, following the rounded curve that led to the landing above.
When they reached the top, Kylie stepped over to the wrought iron railing that overlooked the area between the two club doors.
“Wow, this is a great view,” she said with that same hint of awe in her voice. “What exactly will be going on in that area down there? It looks like you’ve designed it so people can view it from everywhere.”
Travis wasn’t sure he wanted to answer that, but today was supposed to be about explaining himself. And since this resort and everything that would happen within its walls was what he was all about, he decided to go for broke. Taking his chances, he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her body as they looked over the rail together.
“Alluring Indulgence is all about exploring your most intimate desires. No holds barred. If you receive an invite and you choose to stay here, you’re giving yourself over to your sexual fantasies.” Kylie shivered, and Travis lowered his mouth closer to her ear as he continued, “Anything can happen here, as long as it is consensual between all parties.”
“Anything?”
Kylie was breathless, and the rasp of her voice struck a sensual chord deep inside of him.
“Anything.” He let his mouth brush against her ear. “If you want to watch, you’ve got plenty of opportunities to do so. Or, if you want to be the object of someone’s attention, you won’t have to go far.”
“Are you saying…?”
Travis decided to lay it out for her. “Picture this.” Pointing to one side of the room, he said, “Over there, there’s a woman. Short blonde hair, big, beautiful breasts, long legs. She’s leaning against the wall, her skirt pushed up around her waist. Between her spread legs, there’s a dark haired man on his knees, and he’s lapping at her sweet pussy while he fingers her slowly.”
Travis paused, pointed to another spot. “And over here, there’s two men sitting on a black leather couch, one of them has his slacks unbuttoned, a glass of bourbon in one hand while stroking his cock with the other. He’s watching the red headed woman who is straddling the man sitting beside him. She’s got her hands on his shoulders, and she’s raising and lowering herself on his cock. Fucking him. Slowly taking him all the way inside of her as she watches the pleasure etched into the hard angles of his face.”
When Kylie’s breath hitched and her body tightened, he kept going. “And right there,” he said as he pointed to the middle of the room, “there’s a red velvet couch. This one is circular, and it doesn’t have any sides. All around it are both men and women, their eyes focused on the three people in the center. The man with dark hair slicked back out of his face is on his knees, his cock sliding ruthlessly in and out of the woman’s mouth. He’s holding her long, black hair tightly in his fists as he fucks her face. Behind her, there’s another guy, this one is bald. His broad chest is heaving as he pounds into her, fucking her, slamming into her pussy over and over again.”
A full body shiver wracked Kylie’s body and
Travis stopped talking. He gave her a moment to regain her composure, wondering what she was thinking. Several minutes passed as she continued to stare over the railing.
“Want me to keep going?”
Kylie shifted, and Travis took a step back, letting her go. She looked surprised, but her face was flushed and the way her teeth were gnawing at her bottom lip told him she’d enjoyed hearing the story as much as he’d enjoyed telling it.
Taking her hand, pretending as though he hadn’t just made her wet from his storytelling, Travis led her away from the railing. “Down this hallway, and one on the other side, there will be several restaurants and boutiques. The idea is that once the guests are here, they won’t need to leave until their vacation is over.”
“I’m not sure they’ll want to leave,” Kylie mumbled beneath her breath and Travis pretended not to hear her.
Kylie didn’t say anything more, but she seemed to be interested in the details, her head swiveling back and forth as she continued to take it all in. Travis could only imagine what she was thinking. In recent months, there had been a number of articles written on the resort and Travis had decided to be candid with the details. Needless to say, they had attracted the attention they were hoping for.
Travis stood still, holding Kylie’s smooth, delicate hand in his, their fingers linked together as though she were as comfortable touching him as he was her. While she was distracted by the various designs within, his eyes raked over her soft curves, the generous swell of her breasts, the slender column of her neck. She was still just as reserved as he remembered, but as always, she had a backbone made of steel, and it was clear she wasn’t letting her guard down for a minute.
Again, he didn’t blame her.
“Are you hungry?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.
Her head jerked toward him as though she’d forgotten he was there with her. He wondered if she were playing out her own fantasies in her head.
Travis (Alluring Indulgence, #3) Page 14