Fierce-Ella (The Fierce Five Series Book 5)

by Natalie Ann

  She stopped what she was doing and looked up to see Hurricane Jolene come twisting in like she always did when she was taken by surprise.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Travis?”

  She shouldn’t be surprised that either Brody or Aiden ratted her out. It was probably Brody since he was the one that loved to butt heads with their mother so much. Aiden always tried to be the good son.

  “I wasn’t aware I had to announce it to anyone,” she said.

  “All your siblings let the others know when they were dating someone,” her mother said.

  “We’ve been on four dates in a few weeks time. Not a lot of time spent together. Last night he came in for a burger and I saw him at the bar and figured it was a good time to make it known. How often have any of the boys stated they were dating someone after four dates?”

  She knew she had her mother there when she came back with, “That’s beside the point.”

  “I think the point is, you’re annoyed that I found someone on my own before you could hand select who you think would be a perfect match.”

  Her mother crossed her arms. “That’s not fair, Ella Marie.”

  She smirked at her mother, knowing she was right. Gosh, that felt wonderful. “The truth often isn’t.”

  Her mother laughed. “I have to say it was pretty funny what you did though. Brody had his panties all in a twist last night when he called me on break.”

  “I thought you might like that. Something you might have done in your day?” Her mother was good at putting people on the spot for cause and effect. It was nice to know she appreciated the way Ella made her relationship known.

  “Definitely. Everyone knows by now. Aiden called Mason when he had a minute and then I think Jessica might have told Alex who would have told Cade.”

  “None of the other boys wanted to tell Cade?” she asked, finding that strange.

  “Ella. We aren’t stupid. Cade was the worst of them when it came to you and boys since you went to college together. As much as Brody probably wanted to rub Cade’s face in it to get a reaction, he probably felt some of the sympathy over it since Brody was just as guilty as Cade.”

  There was no use hashing over old news. “It’s done with. I’m dating Travis now. Please stop trying to find a man for me.”

  “Did you start dating Travis so I’d stop looking?”

  She didn’t want to admit that because it’d make her look bad. “Not really. Why do you ask that?”

  “Because then it’d still be me that had a hand in it.”

  Ella laughed. “You’re impossible. You’re determined to lay claim to having a hand in finding all five of us mates. I hate to break it to you, but you had nothing to do with this.”

  Her mother snorted. “Really? We’ve used McKinley security for years and just now when you know I’m trying to set you up you decide to approach him. I’d like to think I gave you the nudge.”

  There was no arguing with her mother and she wasn’t even going to try. “Whatever makes you happy, Mom.”

  “It does make me happy to think that. But the bigger question is, are you happy?”

  “You know what? I’m getting there. I’ll be even happier to get him naked.”

  She expected her mother to be shocked or outraged, but instead her mother said, “You are so much like me it makes me proud. You know what would make me prouder?”

  “What?”

  “You putting your personal life before work once in a while.”

  Then her mother raced out of the room as fast as she came before Ella could even make a comment.

  Occurred to Her

  The next night, Ella took a risk and drove by Travis’s house when she’d gotten out of work.

  The cat was out of the bag. Everyone in her family knew she was dating Travis. After her mother left her office, Mason and Jessica stopped over, then Cade and Alex. She found it funny none of her brothers could talk to her alone. They all seemed to need the support of their significant others. Wusses.

  Mason was the sweetest about it, but she didn’t expect any different. He’d just said he was happy to know she was trying to have a life outside of work and Travis seemed like a great guy. That damn comment about her personal life and work again.

  Cade was a bit surly, but Alex shot him a few stares and he finally relented with, “I guess it was going to happen eventually. It’s nice to know it’s someone that isn’t afraid of us.”

  She frowned. “First off. We’re dating. We aren’t at any stage where you can say it was going to happen eventually. Second of all, what do you mean by someone who isn’t afraid of ‘us’?”

  Cade looked at Alex and said, “Don’t pinch me again.” Then he turned to her. “You know we all made a pact to protect you. It wasn’t a secret. You always know everything before the rest of us, right?”

  “Yeah, I knew.”

  “But did you know that we did that because we wanted to see if anyone would ever stand up for you?”

  She didn’t know what to say. “You mean stand up to me?”

  “No,” Cade said. “Stand up for you.”

  “Oh.” That thought never occurred to her.

  “Ella. If no one was going to stand up for you against us, then they weren’t good enough for you. Not worthy of you. It’s as simple as that. You really picked a bunch of losers, you know.”

  Her eyes started to fill with tears that she’d always fought back around anyone and Alex ended up pinching Cade anyway. She loved her future sister-in-law. “What did I say?” he asked, his voice rising slightly.

  She moved forward and hugged the brother that tormented her the most. “I thought it was because you guys were just being asses.”

  “Well,” he said, hugging her back, “we were. But deep down if someone couldn’t stand up for you and tell us to back off, they weren’t man enough for you. They’d never stand a chance with you either. We figured we might as well save them the pain of falling in love with you and having you squish them on the concrete with your booted heel.”

  She knew Cade was just trying to make her laugh now. She never cried in front of anyone and he was shaking slightly while she hugged him. He was probably afraid he was going to get in trouble with their mother.

  “I always told you guys I didn’t need protection, but now I know your heart was in the right place. So thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Cade had said and then he and Alex left along with Mason and Jessica after Mason had given her a hug and kiss on the cheek too.

  The only person she hadn’t talked to yet was her father, but he was out on his boat fishing with friends. He did send her a text with a smiley face and a thumbs up so she took that as some form of acceptance too.

  She knew part of her brothers being overbearing fell on her. In the beginning she thought it was funny and since Cade liked to make people laugh he kept pushing. She should have put her foot down when the others joined in, but by then it was too late.

  With that all out of the way, she was ready to move forward. She hoped Travis was ready because she wasn’t leaving his house tonight without getting what she came for.

  ***

  Travis heard the knock on his door as he was stepping out of the shower. He pulled on a pair of athletic shorts quickly and tried to towel dry off as best as he could as he walked down the hall, not even bothering to walk back to his room for a shirt.

  He looked out the curtain on the door window and saw Ella standing there with a huge smile on her face.

  “Hey. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” he said.

  She took one look at him, stepped in the door and kicked it behind her. The towel that was in his hand just went sailing to the floor and her arms went around him, her mouth to his.

  “Don’t turn me away tonight,” she said before she kissed him again.

  He couldn’t even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. Instead he lifted her up so she was on her tiptoes and she could wrap her legs around his waist so
he could carry her down the hall to his room with no hesitation in his step.

  “I don’t plan on it. You’re okay now with it?” he asked one more time.

  “I’ve been fine with it for a while. Why have you waited?”

  “Just wanted to make sure we were at the same spot at the same time,” he said.

  He laid her on the bed, then came down on top of her. “I like this spot and this time right here,” she said, her teeth attacking his neck.

  “Me too.”

  His hands went to the bottom of her shirt, tugging it out of her tailored pants and then lifting it over her head. The lilac-colored bra was lacy and pretty and wasn’t staying on for long.

  With fast and nimble fingers, he had it unhooked from behind her back and discarded it somewhere in the room. He didn’t bother to look where because he didn’t care. Instead his eyes went right to her breasts.

  No, they weren’t large by any means, but they were more than a mouthful and that was all he was thinking of.

  “Travis,” she said, her back arching as he pulled her nipple into his mouth and latched on like a starving puppy looking for nourishment.

  “No talking,” he said, then pulled her back into his mouth. Her hips were rising and pressing against his, her nails biting into his shoulders and back.

  “I’m going to come from that alone,” she said, her voice catching. She had said she hadn’t been with anyone in a long time, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever been with someone who had an orgasm with so little prompting.

  “Don’t stop yourself. I’m just beginning,” he mumbled, then moved to the other side, his hand coming up to work over the wet nipple he’d just abandoned.

  “Damn!” she said, the back of her head hitting the bed as her body started shaking. Holy shit, she wasn’t kidding when she’d said she was going to come, because her breathing was catching, her hands gripping the comforter, and her back arching.

  If there was a sexier sight than Ella stripped only from the waist up and pulsing on his bed, he’d yet to see it.

  He moved his mouth down her waist to the button of her pants. Now her breath was coming out in long whooshes of air. “Are you breathing like you’re doing yoga?” he asked, recognizing the motion.

  “Yes,” she said, sucking air in through her nose and letting it out of her mouth. It was funny, but he wasn’t about to carry on a conversation about it either. Not now at least.

  “Find a rhythm then, because I’m about to send you over again.”

  The minute her pants were undone, he lowered them off her legs with her panties. In a brief flash he saw her lace underwear probably matched her bra. He’d have to appreciate that another time too.

  There was no moment to wait in his eyes. He spread her wide, looked his fill, and lowered his mouth to taste her. She was wet. She was sweet. She was hot. And she was shouting out his name again a split second later.

  Jesus, he wasn’t getting to savor her one bit tonight and it was probably a good thing because he’d reached his limit. If he thought he was barely hanging on for control before, it was nothing compared to now.

  Nothing compared to the tension in his body that rivaled any pain he’d ever felt from all his injuries in the service. He was rock hard and probably pulsing just as much as Ella was at the moment.

  He stood up fast and discarded his shorts all the while keeping his eyes on hers. She was lying on the bed, her eyes closed, her breathing nice and level.

  But he didn’t want her level and he didn’t want her eyes closed.

  He wanted them locked on him and he wanted her shouting out his name once again.

  No control.

  No holding back.

  No more of the discipline that they both had in common.

  This was meant to be wild.

  Meant to be hot.

  Meant to be intense.

  He grabbed a condom out of his bedside drawer. “Ella,” he said. “Open your eyes.”

  She did. She looked into his gaze, then she let hers wander the length of him, a smile filling her face and her arms coming up and opening wide. Welcoming him.

  He leaned over her and into her arms, then slid right in. She was tight, but she was soaking wet and she was chanting his name as her hips rose to take all of him.

  Slow and steady would have to wait. There was no place for that right now.

  What he needed, and what she wanted, was for them to be one. He knew because he was feeling the same and so far they’d both been on point with feeling the other’s needs.

  He was going to take her there with him. He was going to let her hold him. And he was going to keep her protected in his arms whether she wanted it or not.

  His hips started to move in and out, not slow, not controlled, but hard and forceful. All that breathing she’d been doing was gone like her clothes around the room.

  Her legs came up and wrapped around his hips. “That’s it,” she said. “Just like that. Give it to me like that. I can take it.”

  So he gave it to her. He slid out and in. His mouth was almost bruising hers in his need to taste, to feel as much of her as he could.

  The bed was creaking, his body was covered in sweat, hers matching as it slid under his with each movement of them meeting and retreating.

  He felt her muscles start to clench around him and knew she was close, which was a good thing because he knew he was going to blow.

  She started to move her head side to side on the bed, but he put his hands in her hair and held her in place. “Look at me, Ella,” he said through gritted teeth. Her eyes popped open. Deep brown and filled with emotions he couldn’t pinpoint. “I want you to know who is with you right now.”

  “I know, Travis. I’ve known for a long time,” she whispered before her back arched and she squeezed him so tight he had no choice but to close his own eyes in the enormity of what they’d just shared.

  Just See You

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Ella said a few minutes later. She was still lying on her back trying to take inventory of her loose and limber body. Who would have known going so long without an actual partner would make her body want to float to the sky afterward?

  “I’m trying to figure out if I’ve got enough energy to give you a fourth orgasm.”

  She burst out laughing. “You only had one. I’m going to be really disappointed if all you can handle is that one tonight.”

  He rolled her quick and covered her body. “I can give it to you all night long if you’re up for it?”

  She ran her hand down the side of his face. “Nothing has to be up on me.”

  He shook his head and rolled off of her, her body immediately feeling the loss. “I can’t believe you hid this personality from me for so long.”

  “It’s better this way,” she said, watching him stand up. And she didn’t want to admit how hard it was to even show him this much of herself. She felt so weak right now from what they just shared and she was wondering if it was making her drop the guard she’d built so high and strong for years.

  He started to walk out of the room naked and she couldn’t help but let her eyes linger all over his body. He really did have a magnificent physique.

  “It probably is,” he agreed.

  She plopped her head back down and then scooted up the bed a bit more. This was where she was always awkward. She didn’t have a change of clothes or anything she’d need to spend the night. Not that she would have anyway. In her eyes, it might be too early for that.

  This was sex that she’d been craving for weeks, but her heart was telling her it was more than she’d want to admit.

  She had no clue where his head—or heart—might be and until she had a better understanding of things, she was going to be holding back just enough.

  The debate of whether or not to get up and change was taken out of her hand when Travis came back into the room and all but dove on the bed and pulled her into his arms. “You waited for me,” he said.

  “I guess I did.” He
held her for a few minutes. Both of them quiet and almost...troubled. “Are you seeing ghosts?” she asked.

  He turned his head and looked at her, a perplexed expression on his face. “I just see you right now.”

  She sighed and put her head on his chest. “Travis. We’re both uncomfortable at the moment now that we aren’t rolling around and getting into the groove. You said I was the only other woman ever here. I just want to know if you’re having regrets?”

  “No regrets at all. I’ll admit it’s odd, but it’s not like I’ve been celibate.”

  She didn’t want to think of that. “Why haven’t you brought anyone here? Is it because this place held too many harsh memories?” She didn’t know why she couldn’t just let it drop. Why she had to push so much.

  Part of her wanted to understand. The other part just wanted to know that he wasn’t going to back away because something underlying was bothering him more now.

  “No harsh memories. Julia never lived here. She stayed when I was in town, but when I left so did she.”

  “But you were having a child. You were engaged. Why not try to make this her home too?”

  Was it his decision or hers? She’d hate to think Travis wouldn’t want the mother of his child or his future wife living in his house without him.

  “She didn’t like being alone. She still lived at home with her parents,” he said, standing up and gathering his clothes, so she did the same thing.

  Cuddle time was over and she put her foot in her mouth. No surprise there and she wondered why she just couldn’t let it be. Seemed she was picking up some of Cade’s bad habits just now. “Oh. I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.”

  “It’s fine. What do you want to know?”

  She was going to compartmentalize her questions. Not too much about their relationship. Nothing about the daughter he lost. Though if she was honest, he didn’t talk with a lot of emotion. More like he was detached. That was worse in her eyes.