I dragged Kristen out onto the dance floor so I could keep a closer eye on things and not have to talk to her anymore. We were a few feet away from Greg and Becky as they danced. His hands gripped her ass as he pulled her against him.
Rage like I’d never seen before made my vision waver as he whispered something in Becky’s ear. She blushed and nodded slowly, and they started to make their way toward the doors that led outside. She was stumbling, and his arm was around her as he guided her through the bodies on the floor.
I pulled away from Kristen and stepped in front of them, blocking their path. Becky swayed against Greg, her eyes diluted and unfocused. “Where you going, Brimsnot?” I demanded, my tone ice.
“It’s Brimstone,” Greg scowled. “And none of your business.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” I said, stepping toward him with a playful grin on my face that did little to hide my rage toward him. “It’s definitely my business, because you’re with my buddy’s little sister. I know that if he were here, he wouldn’t let you leave with her.”
“Well he isn’t here,” Greg retorted, standing tall. He was still a little pipsqueak. The top of his head barely came up to my chin.
“No,” I responded, rolling my neck and cracking my knuckles. “But I am. You’ve fed her so much alcohol that she can barely fucking stand. She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Gordon was there too, with his girlfriend at the time Melanie Clayton. He ditched her the same way I’d ditched Kristen when he noticed the altercation happening on the dance floor. Steve and Grady, also in attendance, joined us as well, the four of us standing as a united front.
“Whatever, she’s not worth it,” Greg the coward muttered, releasing Becky and pushing through us.
Becky’s eyes filled with unshed tears and she swayed, off balance without him there for support. The broken, hollow look in her blue eyes called to me. Gordon stepped forward and caught her before she could fall. Her face was red with shame and hurt. “Get her home,” I said to Gordon before taking off after him.
Greg Brimstone deserved more than the black eye I had given him when I caught up with him in the school parking lot. Even now, my fists clenched in repressed anger. It still pissed me off that he’d said those things, that he had made her feel worthless.
I slowed when I passed room 200, knowing hers was next. I swallowed, my heart pounding in anticipation. A moment of hesitation had me stopping between the two red doors as I seriously contemplated what I was about to do.
My hesitation came from a place of not wanting her to feel worthless. I knew that no matter what I said, Becky would find someone to do this with. I knew that she needed it, and I even understood why. That fact alone had me moving again, and two large steps later, I raised my hand and knocked twice.
Becky opened the door in a white silk robe that ended just above her knees and did little to conceal how very naked she was beneath it. Her dark hair hung heavy and wet over her shoulder, and I could see beads of water on her collarbone from her recent shower.
The air around us seemed to dissipate, or maybe I was having a heart attack. Something was seizing within me.
Enchanted, I walked into the room, my feet moving on their own accord, my eyes unwilling to part from the sight of her in that robe. My hands twitched as my eyes dropped down to her creamy legs. I was hard in two seconds, if that.
“I already had this robe,” she blurted out, and a bemused smile broke out on my face. She flushed, clearly flustered, and I chuckled at her nervousness. “I just meant I wasn’t trying to impress you. I worked tonight and I wanted to shower, I just didn’t want to use the hotel robes. Who knows how often they wash them?” She shrugged, closing the door when I had cleared it.
“That’s both deeply disturbing and amusing.” I arched a brow, the corner of my lips twitching up.
“I watched a documentary on hotels once,” she said, giving me a small smile.
The hotel room wasn’t very large, there was enough space for a queen sized bed, two bedside tables, and a dresser with a television on it. “Guess that explains the comforter on the floor?”
She nodded in response, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.
I stepped toward her, stopping so that her breasts were just inches away from me. I brought my thumb up and tenderly brushed it across her bottom lip. “You don’t need to be nervous,” I told her. “It’s not too late to put the brakes on this.”
“I don’t want to put the brakes on this,” she murmured. I had to swallow back my own wave of nervousness, and it unsettled me. Random hook ups, no strings attached—that was my deal. She knew it, I knew it, but this felt different and I didn’t want to think about why.
A shiver rolled through Becky’s shoulders as she peered up at me, her eyes were locked on mine. I knew there was no turning back.
I kissed her, my lips tasting hers tentatively, like I was afraid she would bolt. I was almost expecting it, but she surprised me by returning with fervid kisses of her own. I picked her up and pressed her against the door, grinding my pelvis into her.
The silk tie of her robe came undone. I paused, my cock throbbing at the sight of her supple breast. I lowered my head to catch her nipple in my mouth and she arched her back, letting out a sound caught between a whimper and a moan.
And I was a goner.
Becky
I didn’t do things like this. I hadn’t been with anybody since Aiden’s sperm donor. He had been my first, and so far, my only. Between parenting, going to school, working and taking care of Mom, there wasn’t time for extracurricular activities.
The ache of missing Mom was profound, I couldn’t breathe without feeling it, and I couldn’t escape my thoughts, or at least…I hadn’t been able to until Travis flashed his killer smile at me.
Kissing Travis awoke something primal in me, a hunger that I hadn’t known existed, and it ignited when my robe fell open on its own accord. Or maybe his expert hands had untied it, and I just hadn’t noticed because I was too busy nearly coming undone from just his lips and the way he kissed me.
Never, in all of my life, had I been kissed like that. Like I was wanted, cherished.
I moaned, and he swallowed it. He tugged my bottom lip gently with his teeth and my hands raked through his hair. His hands squeezed my ass as he lifted me against him and pressed me against the hotel door.
“Bed?” he suggested, and I moved against his hardness in response. He carried me to the mattress, practically falling on top of me.
Travis’s hand cupped my cheek. He brushed my hair out of my face, his eyes smoldering and my heart pounding. For several beats, he looked at me like that, like he could see into the very depths of my soul, and as if what he saw there didn’t frighten him.
Our lips collided again, tongues stroking and teeth nipping at tender flesh. I pulled on the buckle of his belt, releasing it, and used my hands to free him from his jeans. I loved the way that he felt in my hand—velvety smooth, thick and long and so very hard. He let out a low hiss when my fingers brushed across his tip. His tortured expression made me feel more powerful than I’d ever felt before.
He made me feel desired.
I watched as his finger gently brushed against my core. His eyes widened at my body’s response to him, and I flushed. He tugged his wallet out of his back pocket and grabbed a condom before discarding his jeans somewhere on the floor.
Once he had the condom on, I crawled over top of him, moving my wetness against his tip. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous, Becs,” he murmured reverently. He slipped his hands through my open robe and held me, almost guiding me, as I slowly dropped down on him, taking him to the hilt. I paused, my eyes locking on his as I rocked my hips.
I thought it would hurt, but I was too turned on. I thought he’d be selfish—I only had one lover to compare him to, and he was as selfish as they came—but Travis wasn’t. Everything about this moment felt ethereal.
Travis gave me the control, he let me set the pac
e. He was gentle and thorough, even as we moved frantically against each other.
With Richie, I never had an orgasm. Often times, he was too lazy for foreplay. I was never ready for him like I’d been ready for Travis, and that was just with one look. The kissing…that had been foreplay in itself.
My orgasm came hard and fast, and I’ll never forget the look on Travis’s face when I trembled around him. His brows furrowed and his eyes drank in the sight of my pleasure, the feel of it. He kept moving my hips, driving into me several more times before he found his release. He shuddered, pulsing inside of me.
His eyes were wide with wonderment, and he was looking at me in a way he never had before. He tenderly brought his hand up to cup my cheek. As his thumb brushed across my swollen lips, I drew in a heavy breath.
Everything about that moment scared me. The look in his eyes, the tenderness of his touch, the feelings being with him that way had brought up…it was all too much.
I moved off him and laid against the mattress, tugging my robe together. I tried not to look at his heavy cock as he removed the condom and tossed it into the waste basket beside the bed.
Travis let out a sigh of contentment and rolled over to face me. His peaceful expression changed when he looked at me. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, his brow creasing with concern. His hand came up to cup my face once again and his green eyes peered intently into mine.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I told him. “I’m just…that was…” I trailed off, unable to complete my train of thought. My body was still tremoring with little shocks of pleasure. I never knew that sex could be like that. Had I known, I wouldn’t have ever gone down this path with him.
It would only lead to my self-destruction.
For some stupid reason, this revelation depressed me. I could feel the tears brimming, but I held them back. I’d wanted this, and Travis had delivered. I tried to control my breathing the way my therapist had instructed. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. I’d had many therapists over the year to help me deal with my varying levels of trauma, and they all had similar methods of coping with the crippling panic that would hit me at odd moments.
“I know,” he grinned, buying my excuse. He pulled me to him so that my head rested against his shoulder and my breasts settled against his rib cage. I could feel his heart pounding beneath the palm of my hand. “That was incredible, Becs. You’re so stunning.”
Then he kissed me. His lips were slow and gentle on mine, igniting more embers of desire but working to soothe me at the same time.
His actions confused me. None of this felt like a one-night stand. I’d seen enough movies and read enough books to know that they were supposed to be quick and dirty. Once the deed was done, they’d part ways. No emotion, no conversations. That’s what I’d expected from tonight, and the fact that I wasn’t getting it made me feel completely out of control.
I broke away from the kiss, tugging my robe back on as I practically jumped out of the bed.
“Whoa, where’s the fire?” he chuckled, still gloriously naked.
“Thank you for tonight,” I said, my mind made up. “I’d appreciate it if you could keep this between the two of us,” I added as I started to walk toward the bathroom. I wanted to get dressed and go home, where I could fall apart in peace.
“Wait just a minute,” Travis demanded. He was tugging on his jeans as I froze, my hand on the handle of the bathroom door. “Can’t we just talk about this?”
“It was a one-night stand, Travis,” I said tiredly.
“I know that,” he argued, his brow furrowed. I couldn’t tell if he was confused or hurt, or both. “But our night’s not over yet, is it?”
“I have to get home,” I told him, crossing my arms as he walked over to me.
“Neither one of us is leaving until we talk about this,” he insisted. Although he was close, he was careful to not invade my space or corner me. He gently took my hands, holding them in his as he looked into my eyes. “I can tell you’re freaked out, and I get it—I expected it Becky. I wasn’t going to come in here, fuck you and leave you, and honestly I’m insulted you thought I was that kind of person.”
I gaped at him. I had no response. “I wasn’t counting on you caring.”
I hadn’t meant to speak the words out loud, but they tumbled from my lips without consent, coaxed out by the devout look in his eyes.
“Of course I care,” he told me, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe I thought otherwise. “I told you that the other night. I care about you, I always have. Brock is the brother I never had, and you are—“
“Don’t you dare say like a sister,” I scowled, pushing away from him as my eyes narrowed. His lips twitched with a repressed smile.
“I can honestly say I’ve never looked at you like that,” he confessed.
“Because you never looked at me?” I challenged. I don’t know why I was standing there, talking to him like this when I should have been dressing and getting the hell out of Dodge, but this conversation intrigued me.
Maybe because I’d always been aware of him. How could I not be? Even before the fame, Travis was irresistible. His charisma, his dimpled smile, and those hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief were known to entice every woman he encountered. In high school, he’d had washboard abs and a dimpled smile that made every girl in a forty-mile radius swoon. He was in even better shape now, and that fact didn’t go unnoticed by me.
“Oh trust me, I’ve always looked at you,” he told me, smirking. “But the point is; I care, you are my friend. So talk to me. What are you feeling?”
I hesitated, biting my lip. “Overwhelmed,” I finally answered, almost sagging in exhaustion. I was tired of fighting my impulse to trust him. “I’ve never…it’s never been like that for me.”
“You’ve never got off?” Travis arched a brow, surprised.
I blushed, embarrassed. “Well, if I did…it wasn’t like that.”
He nodded, unable to hide his smug grin. “I won’t lie, hearing that makes me feel good.”
“I’ll bet,” I replied dryly. He stepped toward me again, his hands tugging my hips against him.
“That’s not the only thing bothering you,” he hedged, his eyes reading every raw emotion in mine. “We’re friends, right?”
“…Yes…” I breathed.
“Do you trust me, Becky?” he asked thickly.
“I do,” I replied, my answer easy and honest.
“Then tell me about it. Don’t just repress it. Lean on someone else for a change,” he said.
I pulled away from his embrace, walking back to the mattress. I sat down, drawing my robe closer to my body. “This is the first time I’ve been…intimate with someone since…Aiden’s father.”
Hearing this, Travis frowned as he sank down beside me. “You’re not feeling guilty, are you?”
“No,” I shook my head animatedly. “It’s not that…it’s just, I haven’t let anyone touch me since then and you…well, you were so gentle and…I just. I didn’t know it could be like that. It scared me.”
“Why?” he questioned, his voice soft. He brushed a strand of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear.
“I don’t want to get hurt again,” I whispered, closing my eyes. I couldn’t bear to see the pity in his.
When I finally did open my eyes, there was no pity; only tenderness and empathy. My heart wavered, along with my certainty and control.
“I will never hurt you. You don’t have to worry about that, Becs,” Travis assured me. “If you just want tonight, I understand, but I personally wouldn’t mind doing that again,” he continued, his eyes caressing me with sincerity. The charismatic, devil-may-care attitude was gone; he was open and sincere. It was a side to him I’d never seen, a startling opposite to his carefree nature.
“So, what…like a friends with benefits thing?” I asked dubiously.
“We don’t have to define it, we can just hang out when I’m back and you’re free. But yea
h, basically friends with benefits,” he shrugged, grinning. “I can’t treat you like a one-night stand, Becs. You’re a friend first, and I want to see you again. It could be fun, what do you say?”
The lump of emotion in my throat made it impossible to speak. My heart was pounding in my chest, maybes and what ifs cascading down on me like heavy raindrops.
“I don’t know,” I finally said when I found my voice. I stood up on trembling limbs, my heart thundering in my chest as I stared at him with confounded astonishment. I truly hadn’t expected him to want more from me, which was why I’d approached him about this in the first place. I figured he’d be down for one night and content to go on his way, back to his life of concerts and tours and models. “What’s in it for you?”
“I get to help you face your fear of intimacy, without the pressures of an actual relationship, and I get to have sex. Lots of it. With you,” Travis winked playfully at me. “I’d say we both get something positive out of this arrangement.”
“But you could have sex with any woman, why me?”
“You’re real,” he shrugged. “I don’t have to worry about you selling what happens between us to the highest bidder, and you don’t expect me to be any more than I am.” His words were vulnerable and he seemed uncomfortable with his honesty.
I sank back down beside him, facing him, and chewed on my lower lip as I contemplated his words.
“Sex is a great stress reliever,” he pointed out, waggling his eyebrows.
I stared at him for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons as I fought off a smile. He was right; sex was a great stress reliever. While my mind was still whirling, my body was as relaxed as if I’d spent the day at the spa. The knots in my neck weren’t bothering me for the first time in days. “If we do this, we’re going to need ground rules.”
“Like what kind of ground rules?” he asked cautiously, his lips twitching with amusement.
“Like…” I trailed off, contemplating. “Nobody can know, and you can’t do boyfriend things.”
“I’m going to need clarification on ‘boyfriend things’. Technically speaking, this would be a thing that a boyfriend does…” Travis pointed out, moving closer to me. He kissed the side of my neck while his left hand drifted down my collarbone, parting my robe. His calloused fingers teased and taunted the peak of my nipple.
Rebel Song: (Rebel Series Book 3) ((Rebel Series)) Page 4