Texas Heat (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 2)

by Faith Loveright

  Laurie stood next to Travis and he pressed her against the car, leaning towards her. He whispered softly in her ear, pretending to be nibbling on her neck. “Don’t look now, but Ma’s watching… We need to make this good.”

  The next thing she knew, his lips were eagerly caressing hers and his hands were moving slowly from her waist to the sides of her breasts. By the time the kiss ended, Laurie was weak in the knees and she was sure if he wasn’t propping her up, she would have melted into a puddle of goo at his feet.

  “What was that for?” she whimpered when his lips left hers to move to her jawbone. Travis would have answered but his mother was headed their direction. Apparently she was finished waiting for him to introduce her to the woman she believed he’d married. “I’d begun to wonder if you’d make it in time,” the older woman said, approaching Travis.

  “Ma, don’t start. I told you, our lives have been busy. Plus we had a really long drive. We got here as fast as we could; given the late notice you gave us.”

  “Better late than never, I suppose.” Travis sighed and Laurie laughed, reaching her hand out in offering. His mother shook it. “Since it’s pretty clear my son has no intention of introducing us, I’ll do it. Then I’ll scold him later for losing the manners I instilled in him as a child,” the older woman said, sending Travis a glare.

  “My name is Laurie,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “Can I admit something to you?” the older woman asked as she took Laurie by the arm and led her into the house, expecting Travis to grab their luggage.

  “Sure,” Laurie said, following her in to the kitchen. “When Trav told me he’d gotten hitched, I was convinced he was spinning a bunch of lies, just to make me feel better.”

  Travis dropped their suitcases on the floor just behind his mother and cleared his throat. “Ma, I’ve never lied to you before, what made you think I’d done so now?”

  “Because you’ve never been one to settle into a relationship for more than a couple of weeks. No matter how hard I’ve tried to get you interested in seeing a woman who might be good for you, you’ve rejected the idea… at every turn.” “What can I say? Until I met Laurie, no other woman has ever given me any reason to consider tying the rest of my life to hers.”

  Laurie rolled her eyes at him and smirked. “So, where can we put our things?” she asked, when he shot her a look that begged for help.

  “In Travis’s old room of course,” the woman answered as if the question was ridiculous. “I turned it into the guest room after he moved out. Surely your husband talked to you about this…”

  “What can I say? Travis and I have more of a physical relationship. We don’t talk much.” Travis grinned and pulled her into his arms. “On that note, it’s been a really long drive. My wife and I are going to call it an early evening. We’ll chat more tomorrow.”

  Chapter 8

  Laurie stilled in the bedroom doorway, staring at the bed as Travis stood at her side, nibbling on her neck. “When you said we’d be sharing a bed, I thought it would be somewhat larger…”

  Travis ushered her into the room and kicked the door shut behind them. He sucked her earlobe into his mouth, breathing hard. “It’ll be plenty big enough for what I have in mind,” he told her in a gritty voice.

  “Your mom’s not watching anymore,” she whimpered as he slowly began backing her towards the bed.

  “Thank God…” the words were said as he lowered her to the bed.

  “Trav…”

  “Don’t talk,” he begged, brushing his lips against the curve of her shoulder, moving towards her neck. As his hands moved to the skin of her thigh, Laurie sighed lustily. “I thought we agreed to hold off,” she whimpered warily as his hand moved towards her hip under her skirt. “Tell me you don’t want me… honestly, and I’ll stop,” he promised, knowing she couldn’t do it any more than he could have.

  Giving up on putting a stop to things, Laurie settled her hands on his chest. A deep sigh came from within her as he settled his body between her legs.

  Down the hall, a crash sounded in the hall followed by a blood-curdling scream. Travis groaned and stood up. He went to the door and pulled it open. “Ma? You alright?” he called out, shifting uncomfortably in an attempt to hide his raging erection.

  She was on the floor at the other end of the hall and he cursed as he rushed to her side. “Ma? What happened?”

  Laurie straightened her clothes and rushed over to them. “Should I call an ambulance?” she asked nervously.

  “No dear… I’ll be fine. Just help me up,” the older woman answered; her voice shaking. Travis swept her up into his arms and started to carry her towards the front door and Laurie settled her hand on his shoulder. “She doesn’t want to go to the hospital,” she said softly.

  “And I don’t want to sit by and do nothing other than watch my mother die,” he told her in a breaking voice. “For the love of Pete, boy… I’m not going to die… not yet anyways,” his mother scolded. “Now, help me to my room.”

  “Ma, the whole reason we’re here is because you called me and told me that you were practically at death’s door,” he argued.

  “It’s high time you came home and brought your bride here to meet your Ma. At death’s door or not, you should have wanted to bring her home, Trav.”

  “I have a very crazy schedule and a successful practice. It’s not as if I could easily just drop everything to come home just because my mother feels the need to control my life.”

  “Honestly, Travis. I don’t want to control your life. I only want to be part of it. You got married behind my back and didn’t bother to tell me about it until I tried to set you up on a date.”

  Laurie looked at him and smirked. He laughed and settled his mother onto her bed. “What did you want me to do, Ma? I’m a happily married man. I couldn’t very well agree to go out with another woman.”

  “No, you couldn’t… but you could have bothered to tell me you were getting married in the first place so I could have been there.”

  Travis glared at his mother and then turned his gaze towards Laurie. “We were in a bit of a hurry,” he said desperately.

  “It was my fault,” Laurie found herself saying. “When Travis asked me to be his wife, I was so excited I couldn’t wait… I begged him to rush the wedding. I forget about what family life can be like when the family doesn’t live practically in your lap. My brothers are overprotective and are forever sticking their noses into my business. Don’t blame Travis for our rushed nuptials. I just wanted to get married before my brothers could do something to stop it from happening.”

  “What about since the wedding?” she asked; the hurt showing clearly in her tone of voice. “I don’t even know how long you’ve been married.”

  Travis sent Laurie a look that begged for help and she smiled at him, walking over to him and looping her arm around his.

  “It was love at first sight, wasn’t it, Trav?” she said, looking up at him with a look of sweet affection on her face.

  “Absolutely,” he answered, wrapping his big hand around the back of her neck and tugging her closer so he could lower his mouth to kiss her.

  “Tell me about the wedding,” his mother asked, pulling her blanket up to her neck, getting cozy and looking from one of them to the other.

  Travis sat on the edge of the bed and took his mother’s hand in his own. “You need to get your rest, Ma.” Laurie walked over to him and ran her fingers through his hair in a loving gesture. “We got married a couple of months ago,” she said, winging it. “It was a quaint wedding, just us and the justice of the peace. We didn’t need anything fancy,” she said when the older woman frowned at her son in response to what Laurie had said.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t give her a real wedding … I raised you better than that, Travis.” “Oh, he wanted to,” Laurie rushed to explain, not wanting to cause a rift between Travis and his mother. “Rushing into the quickie wedding was my idea.”

  “Why? You aren�
�t pregnant, are you?” she asked, lowering her eyes to Laurie’s belly. “What? No!” she answered, moving her hand to cover her flat belly as her eyes flew to Travis, looking to him to save her.

  “Not that we’ve exactly gone out of our way to avoid pregnancy,” he said, grinning widely as he reached down to grab her butt.

  Laurie spun around to stare at him in disbelief. “We aren’t exactly trying, either,” she said, staring into his eyes.

  “We could be,” he said softly, pulling her tightly into his arms, looking lovingly into her eyes.

  “Travis… what are you saying?” Laurie asked in a shaky voice. He lifted his hand to rub his thumb over her cheek, cupping her chin with his hand. “I can’t think of anything I’d enjoy more than making a baby with you, Laurie.”

  His mom started laughing and Travis lowered his head to brush a kiss across Laurie’s lips, choosing to block out the sound of his mother’s laughter. Laurie slumped against him and lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck. The kiss was wild and out of control and Travis picked her up, turned on his heel and headed straight back to his bedroom.

  Travis kicked the door closed and carried Laurie back to the bed, pulling her shirt off over her head before he put her down. He pressed hot kisses to her chest, sucking her nipple into his mouth. “I need you,” he told her huskily before moving his mouth over to her other breast.

  Laurie moaned as he moved his mouth down her stomach to her waist line. His hand smoothed up her thigh under her skirt. “Trav…” the word came out as more of a groan than a spoken word. “Please don’t tell me you want me to stop,” he begged, pressing a hot kiss to her inner thigh, making her tremble.

  Travis moved his lips up to tease the already damp, swollen lips between her legs through her underwear and Laurie gripped the sheet in both of her fists at her sides. When she didn’t tell him to stop, he quickly pulled her underwear down her long legs and flung them across the room.

  Laurie gave up pushing him away and tugged him up so she could kiss his lips. Travis groaned and stopped touching her long enough to rip his pants and underwear from his body.

  “I feel as if I’ve been waiting for this moment forever,” he whispered huskily as he tugged her skirt and underwear from her body, baring her body to his view.

  “Touch me,” she begged as he moved his mouth back to the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder to place a hot kiss complete with wandering tongue.

  “I’m going to do a lot more than touch you,” he promised, pressing his groin tightly against hers, pressing just the tip of his engorged member into her moist core, making her whimper with need.

  “Trav… please,” she begged; her whole body trembling with need.

  “Tell me you want me,” he demanded in a gritty voice. “I want you… now,” she answered, rotating her hips, taking him further into her heat. Travis moaned and pushed forward, groaning even deeper when she wrapped her legs around his hips, forcing him to thrust the rest of the way into her body.

  Laurie cried out in pleasure and dug her fingernails into the skin on his shoulders. Their lovemaking was hot and by the time it was over, they were both sweaty, breathless and exhausted. Travis held her in his arms, feeling more than a little woozy. “I knew we’d be incredible together, but I never imagined it would be that spectacular.”

  “Just hold me in your arms and with a little luck, we’ll both get a little sleep now that we’ve given in to the longing.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning, Travis woke up to find the bed beside him empty and he wondered at the equally empty feeling in his chest that accompanied the realization that she’d left him without saying anything. He frowned in response and got out of bed, tugging a fresh pair of underwear and pants on before making his way down the hall in search of Laurie. His mother would expect them to appear at the breakfast table together. He had to work hard to convince himself that it had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to see her.

  He found her in the kitchen, cooking over the stove and talking in an animated voice to his mother. His heart leapt in response and he wondered at the warm fuzzy feeling that he was experiencing as his gaze swept over her face. His legs felt like cooked noodles as he made his way over to the stove and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing a hot kiss to the side of her neck.

  “Morning, beautiful. I missed you when I woke up to find you’d left me,” he murmured honestly; not caring that his voice was loud enough that his mother could hear him. He had wanted her to believe them to be a happily married couple anyway. If he was able to be honest with Laurie and convince his mom that he was hopelessly besotted with the woman she believed was his wife, Travis could only see the good in that.

  Laurie forgot all about the food she’ d been cooking and slumped against him, lifting her face, moaning as he kissed her with greedy lips.

  Travis had meant to keep the kiss mellow and calm, but the way Laurie had all but caught fire in his arms, he couldn’t seem to remember much of anything other than the fact that the woman in his arms had blown his mind the night before and that he very much wanted it to happen again… and again and again.

  “I’m beginning to understand why I hadn’t heard about your wedding before,” his mother said, laughing so hard she began to cough. “The two of you are so wrapped up in each other; you lose complete ability to recall much of anything else… or anyone else for that matter. Believe me, I’m pleased to see my son happy with the woman he’s chosen… but perhaps, you could save the X-rated stuff until you’re behind closed doors?” she added when Travis moved his hand under Laurie’s shirt to fondle her breast.

  He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed as he removed his hand from her shirt. “Sorry, Ma. I did warn you… We’re still in our honeymoon faze. You’ve done nothing but pester me to settle down with a woman for as long as I can recall. I’ve finally done it, and now you want to complain. You can’t have it both ways, Ma.”

  Laurie was still breathing hard and was struggling to focus on anything outside of the man who was still holding her in his arms. “Don’t give your Mom such a hard time, Trav,” she scolded, cringing at the husky tone that the words had come out in. “She cares about you…”

  “As I’m sure your brothers care about you. Are you saying that you condone their interference in your life?” he asked, looking down into her face and ignoring his mother all together.

  “That’s not fair,” she said, stepping backwards away from him, wrapping her arms around her body in a comforting gesture. “My brothers interfere in every single aspect of my life and scare anyone and everyone that I enjoy in my life away. Your mom just wants to see you happy. She’s not trying to control your life. Can’t you see the difference?”

  “I am happy” he told her huskily. “Happier than I’ve ever dreamed of being… and it is all because of you. Not her.”

  His mother cleared her throat loudly. “I’m right here, you know…” “And I’m going to step outside for some fresh air,” Laurie said, wringing her hands. “I want to check under the hood of the car and make sure everything is still looking good.”

  Travis started to argue but bit his tongue when he saw the stunned look on his mother’s face at Laurie’s mention of looking at the car. After the door slammed shut behind Laurie, he looked back over at his mother and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck.

  “My wife is a mechanic,” he explained lamely. “Digging into an engine soothes her when she’s upset.”

  “Perhaps you should go to her,” his mother suggested, looking towards the doorway where Laurie had disappeared.

  Travis nodded his head and ran down the hall and outside. He stilled when he saw Laurie leaning over the engine of his car with her arms deep in the engine. That strange swelling in his chest hit him again and he lifted his big hand to touch the spot over his heart in response. There was no denying the response Laurie always spurred inside of him; the only thing was that he was scared to death of what it
might mean.

  “Laurie?” he asked, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. When she hummed with pleasure, he brushed a kiss against the side of her neck.

  Her voice came out in a husky sigh when she finally found it to speak. “Trav… please…” “I didn’t mean to embarrass you with my Ma,” he told her, moving his mouth to her shoulder blade to plant a kiss there.

  Laurie groaned loudly. “I knew going in that we’d have to make her believe we were newlyweds… I just never expected the guilt that came with the lies. I also never thought I’d end up feeling…” she stopped talking in the middle of the sentence as the words turned into a large lump in her throat.

  “I care about you a lot more than I’d intended too,” Travis admitted pulling her body tighter against his so that she could feel his erection.

  As he said it, he realized the truth behind the words and felt emotion bubble up deep within him. He lowered his head and kissed her brow. “The car’s fine, Laurie… Come back inside,” he pleaded quietly.

  “I couldn’t possibly face your mom right now,” she argued softly; sighing lustily when he put his knee between her legs and pushed them apart so he could settle his body between them.

  “Ma likes you,” he told her huskily, pressing his body eagerly against hers. “The feeling is completely mutual,” Laurie admitted, feeling her knees go weak when his hand settled at her waist.

  “I can’t tell you what it means to me to have her love my wife so much,” he told her honestly, pressing another heated kiss to her neck.

  “But I’m not really your wife,” she argued; her voice shaking as he reached up to play with her breasts. “Travis…” she moaned, feeling needy as his fingers tweaked her hardened nipples.

  “You could be,” he said, his voice cracking as he said the words. “How about it, Laurie? Marry me for real… Be my wife,” he pleaded quietly, moving his hand between her legs to rub over her moistened core.