He chuckled. “I know how, babe,” he assured me. “How do you want me to make you come? Do you want my hand, my mouth, or my cock?”
I bit my lip, his words turning me on more than I’d thought possible. “Do I have to choose?” I whimpered as his tongue traced the shell of my ear.
He dropped his head to my chest with a groan. “Christ, you’re sexy.” His mouth found my nipple, sucking hard through the fabric of my camisole.
I moaned, arching up into his mouth, wanting more. I barely recognized this wanton woman, but I liked her.
His hand shoved my camisole up as he took my bare breast with another delicious lick. His head moved further, kissing down my belly until he reached the apex of my thighs.
He shoved my legs apart, diving between them with such fervor I had no time to be self-conscious. I simply gave myself over to him.
“I’m going to come,” I whimpered only seconds later. My warning was followed by a cry I didn’t try to suppress as I shattered into pieces beneath him.
He kissed and licked his way back up my body, settling again between my thighs. “That was too easy.” He grinned, bending to kiss my neck. “You taste so delicious, I didn’t want that to end.” He pressed into me, and my tingling nerves perked up in answer. I raked my fingers down his spine, pulling him closer. “I don’t want to push you.” He seemed to war with himself.
“You’re not. I admit I didn’t think I’d be ready this fast. I don’t have much experience,” I admitted quietly. “But this feels natural, being with you. I want you,” I shared.
“You sure?” he demanded.
I nodded. “I’m sure.”
His expression turned from indecision to pure lust as he leaned over me to open the bedside table. He sheathed himself in seconds, and without delay began to press inside me.
“Christ, you’re tight.” He groaned, his muscles taut as he visibly restrained himself.
“Don’t hold back.” I shook my head, needing him to give me everything.
He looked down at me, his expression nearly feral as I watched the last vestiges of his control snap.
My hands raked his back, moving to his backside, clutching his taut muscles, wanting him deeper, harder. His mouth took mine in a claiming kiss before moving to my neck, where I felt his teeth nip my skin.
I’d never been so consumed, so completely… claimed. I was lost to everything but him, and I never wanted to be found.
When my orgasm loomed, it was so overwhelming I was nearly afraid of it.
He groaned as I tightened that much more around him. “Let it go, baby. I’ve got you.”
Having no other choice but to obey, I let go and there was no going back. I rode the wave of no return with an adulation I’d never felt until now. It was as though a dam broke and everything I’d been up to until now, everything I thought I’d understood, was washed away. It was just Travis, just us.
His low growl registered moments later as he rumbled his release, his body collapsing onto mine.
I held him tight, wrapping as much of his big body in my arms as I could as we panted for breath.
He pulled away slightly, his forehead pressed to mine. “That was crazy.” He grinned, his breathing still labored. “I knew it’d be good with us, but shit,” he marveled. “The only regret I have is that we can’t stay in bed all day and do that over and over again.”
“Something to look forward to.” I grinned up at him.
****
After showering, a quick breakfast, and a walk for Able where Travis didn’t drop my hand once, we headed off to Talon.
It was located on the industrial side of town, and I watched with building curiosity as we pulled through a gate and drove into the underground parking garage of what looked like a massive building.
A quick elevator ride later we stepped into a large, open-concept office space. Aside from a sleek conference room to the right, the rest of the space was open, with several desks lining both sides of the wall.
Despite it being Sunday, Theo and Declan both sat at desks, intent on whatever they were working on.
“The gym’s back there.” Travis gestured toward the far back wall where a door sat propped open. “There’s a kitchen and a room for the guys to crash if need be, as well,” he added.
I looked around the incredible space, realizing for the first time how successful Travis really was.
“Unfortunately, there aren’t any yoga mats in the gym.” Theo sighed theatrically, a teasing glint in his eye.
The last few times I’d seen him, he’d been so serious. Despite it meaning that he was giving me shit, I was glad to see the old Theo.
I raised a brow. “Oh yeah? Maybe you should change that. Yoga is a killer workout.”
“Right,” Theo scoffed.
“You wanna bet?” I challenged.
Declan sat back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, watching our exchange. Travis simply shook his head beside me.
“Hell yes, I want to bet,” Theo replied enthusiastically.
How had I known he’d say that?
“Fine. I’ll lead you in a class. If you’re not sore the next day, I’ll....” I searched for a good term for our bet.
“You’ll do our PT workout with us,” Theo finished for me.
“PT?” I looked to Travis in confusion.
He grinned down at me. “Physical training,” he reminded me.
The competitor in me wanted to say I’d do that anyway, but instead I responded with a simple. “Fine. If I win, you have to come to my class every day for a week.”
Theo clapped his hands together. “Hell, yes. When are we doing this?”
“I have classes all week. Pick one that works for you.” I shrugged.
“What if I choose a beginners class?” Theo dared me.
“You’ll still be sore,” I threw back.
Declan threw his head back and laughed. “Dude, I might come just to watch you fall on your ass trying to do that shit.”
Theo shot him a look. “What are you talking about? I’m fucking graceful.”
“All right, all right. Can we get some shit done?” Travis demanded, though he was hiding a smile. He turned to me. “I won’t be long. Where do you want to be?”
“I’ll just wander around, check out the gym,” I replied. I was curious to see the rest of the space.
“All right, babe.” He dropped a kiss on my temple.
I was pleasantly surprised at the affection in front of his team. I hadn’t expected it.
I left the guys to their work and wandered back to where he’d said the gym was. Upon stepping through the doorway, I promptly dropped my jaw in shock.
This wasn’t a gym, it was a… fitness supercenter. It was easily the size of a parking garage, with ropes hanging from the ceilings, tires leaning on the wall to the right, and rows upon rows of cardio and weight-training equipment. A yoga mat was probably the only thing this gym didn’t have.
The rooms off the gym included a place to sleep, complete with two sets of bunk beds, a locker room, and a small kitchen.
By the time I made my way back to Travis’s desk, my head was spinning at the sheer magnitude of the space and how much funding he clearly had to support it.
Travis and the guys were in the conference room, so I plopped down in the chair next to his desk and pulled my book up on my phone. I’d devoured two chapters when a call came in from an international number.
Ryan.
“Hello?” I asked through the crackle of the poor connection I’d grown used to over the last few years. “Ryan?”
“Emmie?” His voice sounded faraway, and I stood up, walking to the back of the office so I wouldn’t disturb anyone when I raised my voice to be heard.
It had been a few days since he’d been able to check in, and I was thrilled to hear his voice. We had so much to talk about; he still didn’t know about Travis, but our check-ins had been so brief. “Hey!” I grinned. “How are you?”
“O
h you know, dirty, tired.” He chuckled. “How are you?”
“I’m great,” I replied, loving how true those words were. “I have a lot to catch you up on.”
“I want to catch up, too, but Emmie, unfortunately I don’t have time right now. I actually called to let you know I’m going off the grid for a while. I didn’t want you to worry.”
My back stiffened. “Off the grid?”
“I can’t say much more than that, but it could be a few weeks until I’m able to get in touch.”
I swallowed back the emotion his words immediately incited. The thought of anything happening to my baby brother was unimaginable.
“Ryan, please be careful,” I begged.
“Always,” he assured me, sounding so different from the boy he’d been not so long ago. “I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“Love you, Ry,” I murmured.
“Aw, don’t go getting all mushy on me,” he complained, as he always did. “Love you, too,” he added, his tone losing its levity.
The line went dead, and I blinked furiously against the tears welling in my eyes. He’d been in the service for years, and it hadn’t gotten any easier.
I knew it never would.
I took a moment to collect myself, leaning against one of the bunks in the room I’d sequestered myself in.
“Em?” Travis’s call sounded from the front of the office.
I took a shaky breath in and attempted to pull myself together.
He poked his head into the room a moment later, his brow pinching in confusion. “What are you doing back here?”
I shook my head, not wanting to get into it now. “Nothing. Any chance you could drop me back at your place?” I asked hopefully.
He eyed me doubtfully, knowing there was something wrong, but nodded in agreement. “Let’s get you home.”
Home.
I ignored the reference, assuming it was a slip of the tongue, and agreed with a nod and small smile.
He placed a hand on the small of my back, protectively guiding me out to his Jeep. I could tell he wanted to ask me more questions but he didn’t press, not yet.
The fact I had a man so concerned for me, who wanted to know me in a way few had in the past, had me willing to do as he asked. To let him in.
I just hoped like hell that when I did, he could handle it.
Chapter 12
After Travis had dropped me off, saying he’d be home in a few hours, I wandered his home, still marveling at how empty it felt. Finally, I launched into some yoga, hoping to center myself and take my mind off the call with Ryan.
By the time I heard the garage door open, I’d showered and was attempting to do something I rarely did, and almost never did well: I was cleaning.
“Em?” Travis’s tone was wary as he eyed me sweeping the broom across his hardwood floors.
“Able’s hair gets everywhere,” I grumbled.
“Em.” His tone was more forceful, trying to get me to look at him, but I knew if I did I’d lose it. Just hearing his voice was making a knot grow in my throat.
Suddenly the broom was taken gently from my hands as he tipped my chin up to look at me. “Talk to me, babe.” His dark eyes were so concerned for me, his tone so gentle that it broke the last vestiges of control I had left.
I burst into tears.
He pulled me into his chest holding me close. “Are you okay?” he demanded.
I nodded against his chest, unable to speak.
He wrapped an arm around me, guiding me toward the couch, where he pulled me into his lap. Able paced at his feet, clearly worried. I didn’t think he’d ever heard me cry. I curled up in a ball, relishing the feeling of Travis’s strong arms around me, of his heart beating under my cheek.
He held me patiently, waiting as I desperately tried to pull myself together. I couldn’t decide if vomiting in front of him or ugly crying onto his chest was worse.
Though I supposed vomit was never the choice if there was one.
I pulled back, wiping my eyes. “Sorry.” I exhaled on a rasp. “I thought I could hold it together, until I saw you.”
“It’s one of my gifts,” he replied dryly.
I smacked his chest. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
His expression was cautious and full of something close to hope when he spoke next. “How did you mean it?” The question clearly mattered to him—or at least the answer did.
It was so soon to share what I felt, but one look at him had me unable to do otherwise.
“I meant that I’m used to taking care of myself. And of others,” I murmured. “Growing up, I couldn’t afford to fall apart. I guess the habit just stuck.” I toyed with the frayed edge of his T-shirt cuff. I couldn’t meet his eye, and that little stubborn streak allowed me to continue. “One look at you, and I realized I could actually fall apart. That if I did, you’d help put the pieces back together.”
His hand lifted, tilting my chin so that I looked at him. “Always, Em,” he swore, his expression so earnest I had no choice but to believe it.
“Always is a long time,” I murmured.
“Yeah,” he agreed without hesitation.
The silence that followed stretched between us, and I knew I needed to keep going. In for a penny, in for a pound.
“Ryan and I had it all right growing up,” I began. “I didn’t have the easiest time making friends. The kids used to tease me about my wild hair and braces.” I winced at the memory of my gawky self. “Ryan used to get into fights with anyone who teased me. Even when he was just a little thing, he’d threaten the biggest and oldest kids. It never mattered to him.” I shook my head with a small smile at the memory. “My parents made sure we had what we needed. Enough food. Clothes. But they weren’t around a whole lot. To this day, I’m not sure if they loved us,” I mused distractedly. “Anyway, at the end of my junior year, they took off.”
Travis stiffened. “What do you mean, took off?” he demanded.
I shrugged. “They up and left. They left a note saying they were going on an extended vacation. Left us some money, and never came back.”
“Shit.” He swore vehemently. “Do you think something happened to them?”
“No,” I scoffed. “I think they were tired of being parents. They had shit timing, too. I was still only seventeen, and I couldn’t risk Ryan and me being separated, so we hid their absence. We kept up our normal routine, lived sparingly off the money they’d left us, and tried to keep up appearances. Once I turned eighteen, I applied to be his legal guardian.”
Travis continued to stroke my hair, his fingers sliding down my neck in a rhythmic gesture as he listened intently. “That’s a lot to take on,” he murmured.
“I didn’t think about it that way. Ryan and I were a team.”
“When did he join the Marines?”
“Right after graduation.” I sighed. “I was so proud of him, I still am, but he—” I swallowed hard before continuing. “He was all I had.”
“He’s not all you have anymore,” Travis replied resolutely. It was a moment before he asked gently, “What happened today?”
“Ry called—said he has to go off the grid for a while. He’s my baby brother, you know?” I said hoarsely, hoping he could understand. “I know he’s in danger all the time, but having it put so bluntly and knowing he won’t be able to check in for a while was hard to take.”
He kissed my temple. “I’m sure that was tough. And I can relate. I’ve had to go off the grid more than once. Sam has been in your shoes before. It’s never easy, but I always came back in one piece. He will, too.”
Something about him saying that, despite knowing there was no way he could know for sure, eased the ache in my chest a bit.
“Thanks,” I replied, tensing slightly with my next question. “Will you have to go off the grid again?”
His fingers paused their movements through my hair before starting back up again. “Maybe. It will never be my choice to do that, but I don’t want to lie and
say it could never happen.”
I craned my head to look at him. “I’d rather you be honest.”
He offered a gorgeous smile. “Believe me, Em. Having you to come home to won’t have me volunteering to travel.”
“Don’t you think we’re moving sort of fast?” I asked cautiously.
He shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve waited over thirty years for you. Doesn’t feel fast to me.”
My heart quickened its pace. He’d been so open with me, something I knew didn’t always come easily to him. I wanted to do the same. “There aren’t many people I’ve been close to in my life. Men in particular; it was just always too complicated, it didn’t feel right. It was easier to bury myself in a great love story in one of my books.” I swallowed hard, working up the courage to finish my thought. “But I told myself if I ever found that man—the one who made me want to open up, who made me feel, well, the way that you do, that I’d give him everything and never look back. And in case you haven’t gathered, you’re that man.”
I looked down, unable to meet his eyes after laying myself bare. He didn’t allow me that, and instead tilted my head up in that trademark gesture I’d come to love.
“Are you scared to death?” I squeaked.
A slow smile spread across his handsome face as he slowly shook his head.
“Are you going to say something?” I demanded.
“I’m going take you upstairs and prove I’m as yours as you are mine. I’ll ask my questions later.”
He didn’t have to prove anything, I already believed it, but I was more than happy to let him try.
****
“It’s why you work so much,” he stated hours later as we lay wrapped up in each other in his bed, with Able at the foot and Buster nestled in the curve of my back. “Because your parents left you.”
“Yeah,” I murmured. “The money that they left ran out when I graduated. I put myself through school, and I’ll be paying my loans until the day I die.” I laughed darkly. “And I needed to support Ryan through high school. He hated it, got a job to try to help out, but he was just a kid. He needed to focus on school. He’d have to be a man soon enough. That day came so quick.” I trailed off thoughtfully.
Claim (Talon Security Book 2) Page 8