Blue Autumn in the Bayou (Gumbo Love)

by Clay, Ann

  “Look, I can call back if you and Travis are getting busy,” she teased.

  “No, he just got back from the gym. He’s headed for the shower.”

  “An even better reason I should let you go.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you later.”

  “No you won’t. Enjoy, girlfriend.”

  “Thanks.” But instead of following Travis to the bathroom, she went to the kitchen and fixed a light lunch. Something about seeing Travis earlier, in low-riding shorts, revealing his damp briefs and bare chest, set her on fire. When he returned to the kitchen in a T-shirt and a pair of clean shorts, she just couldn’t dismiss the image of him before the shower, which had been charred in her memory.

  She rose from the stool and rushed to meet him as he entered the arched doorway. His fresh shower scent sailed through her nostrils, and as she folded herself into his embrace, she could feel the strength of his body against her. The stubble on his chin grazed her face.

  “You smell delicious,” she managed through a moan.

  “You are delicious.”

  Autumn turned her head into the base of his shoulder and inhaled deeply. Her hands traveled the length of his back until they rested at the blades of his shoulders. She moved her hips closer to his groin and she felt the sudden quake of it as she pressed against him. When Travis dipped his head to retrieve her lips, her head fell back and her lips accepted the onslaught of a kiss so passionate she lost her balance. Travis tightened his hold around her waist and didn’t lift his head until he savored her lips for several minutes.

  “I have lunch.”

  “Are you going to feed me?”

  “Not a chance.”

  He smiled and moved to the refrigerator. “Okay, I guess I’ll have to tell my mother you’ve been mistreating me.”

  “Your mother knows better.” She set a small platter in front of him.

  Travis slipped onto the stool, said grace, and dug into the scrumptious seafood pasta dish she set before him that she’d made earlier and had heated up. They chatted for a minute before she stopped eating, and observed him watching her.

  “You’re a great cook.”

  “I’m a Cajun girl, remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember,” he laughed. “And why are you looking at me that way?”

  “Because you know you want me.” She moved from her stool and walked around to where he sat. She moved close into his person space.

  His smile faltered. “Are you sure that’s what I want?”

  Travis came dangerously close to kissing Autumn’s tempting lips, but resisted with all of his might. This game they were playing now was about to come to a climax. If he touched her now, he would have to break his promise. At this point, they stood at the cliff with nowhere to go, it was time to leap or fall. Whenever he was this close to her, when things were this volatile between them, he feared he would lose the control he’d managed to keep in check over the last several months.

  The desire he saw when he looked at her didn’t help matters much. She lowered her lashes to conceal the hunger, but once she raised them again, the intensity only grew fiercely out of control. She signaled the male in him to respond, and he didn’t fail her. He stood, food all but forgotten, and moved within inches of her without actually touching her. The inflamed energy racing between them flew back and forth, like an open spigot left unattended. Their steamy exchange made him tremble.

  Autumn knew he was trying to stay in control. Her dancing eyes tempted him when she licked her lips. “Can we play a game for a minute?” She stood, gaze still locked with his.

  “If you think you can handle it, sure.” He waited. His middle thickened and firmed at thought of her gesture. “I got this.” He challenged her.

  One eyebrow lifted. “So, I set the rules and you’ll play along, right?” Autumn decided to guard her territory. She couldn’t have another woman tempting her man. Besides, she burned for him, and she wanted a taste of what he’d been holding back all those months.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Okay, here’s the deal.” She moved a little closer. Their bodies almost touched and each could feel the breath of the other on their faces. “You can’t touch me with your hands but I can touch you. Can you handle that?” She smiled into his face.

  Nothing could prepare his body for her challenge. “Yes,” he lied easily.

  “And, I’m in control for at least the next ten minutes.”

  “Okay, control is yours. Can you handle it?” Travis instantly regretted the lie. Just the thought of her hands on him made him crazy. Still, he defied her; he refused to back down at this point. He steeled his body to withstand what came next.

  “Promise.”

  “Promise.” He voice dropped an octave.

  Her breath caught when she moved her mouth an inch from his. “I guess we’ll see.” Her hands slid up the front of him, circled his neck, and she grazed her body up to his. “Are you okay?” she whispered, her lips almost touching his.

  Travis nearly bolted when her hand landed against his flat stomach and traveled up the front of him. He trapped a low groan in his throat to keep her from knowing the true effects of her touch. He dared not use his voice to communicate anything to this she-devil, so he slowly raised his lids, and met her smoldering gaze.

  The unfiltered desire she saw shook her fully. Like a bully, she assaulted him when she opened her mouth, pulled herself up with her arms, and then closed her lips around his. The onslaught completely ripened his penis. It now throbbed against her body.

  He allowed her without a fight to savor his mouth, but for him, it wasn’t an easy task to just stand there and let her have control. His hands moved, but she caught them. “No. Hold them out, like this.” She spread his arms out to his side. Her body still pressed into his, which made him even more aroused.

  Travis took a long breath before he shielded his eyes from her again. The hot air from his nostrils kissed her warmly. I got this, he coached himself inwardly. However, when Autumn came back for the kill with her lips, he moaned. She moved her arm beneath his shirt, jolting goose bumps up his spine. During the assault he opened his mouth more at the command of her wandering tongue, pushing past the warmth of his lips, and tasting him like it was the very first time. For someone who didn’t have a lot of experience with a man, she knew which of Travis’s buttons to push.

  She, too, moaned as she meshed her body further into this throbbing erection. She rolled her hips, wanting to get even closer. A lake of lava flowed through her as she faltered to a near explosion. Autumn moved her arms up and around his neck, and molded her body against him even more.

  Poor Travis stood there, with his arms out to his sides, and his penis pressed against her wet middle and just barely able to withstand more of her torture. He nearly crumbled when she moved up his body adding pressure against his aching penis. And then it happened. With eyes glued shut, he lost the last grip of control when he felt her tremble. He took possession of her body. His hands gripped her shoulder, and pulled her away long enough to hush her protest. “It’s my turn,” he gritted out. He held her at bay with strong hands until he was ready to reel her back in.

  Travis lifted her off her feet and placed her into his lap, as he sat on the edge of a stool. She straddled him and they pressed against each other. Her legs, like an orchestra moving to the next score by the orders of the conductor’s baton, wrapped around his hips. She dropped her head back when Travis trailed hot kisses down her neck. “Now, can you handle this, baby?” he mumbled into her neck. She arched her body to give him more. He nibbled at her breast. “Answer me, Autumn,” he demanded firmly.

  Autumn couldn’t think, let alone talk. She tried, and it took several seconds before she could answer him. “No.”

  Travis lifted his head. He didn’t like what he saw. He stood and gently pushed Autumn away from him. “You’re going to have to marry me, Autumn, before these last three days are up. Otherwise we’re going t
o have hell to pay.”

  His comment quickly lifted the fog that consumed her minutes before. He captured her mouth and pulled her back into his embrace. “Marry me, Autumn.” He mumbled into her mouth, his lips and tongue took what he wanted from the heated and intense kiss.

  Autumn pulled back and looked at him. She searched his gaze for signs of jesting but what she saw seared her straight to the bone. He stared down at her as if he would devour her any minute. “Marry me, sweetheart, because I promise you otherwise, before I leave this city I will have broken my promise to you; and I don’t want to do that. Please.”

  Her brows puckered and her eyes narrowed. “You’re not really asking me to marry you just to bed me, Travis?” she playfully asked.

  Her question stung and he physically recoiled. He pulled his lips between his teeth to calm the spiking temper before he answered. “You know me better than that.” He released her. “You know how much I love you, baby. I want to spend my life with you.” He saw doubt in her gaze. He didn’t expect it.

  Autumn grabbed his arms before he completely released her and looked up at him. “Please, I love you, Travis. I don’t doubt that. And I’m sorry it sounded like it did. Ask me again, baby. Please.”

  He regarded her for a long second before he pulled her close. “Autumn, marry me. I want to spend my life brushing kisses down your neck like this.” He moved his face down the length of her neck and she gasped loudly. Her body buckled and he tightened his arms around her. “I need you in my life, Autumn. I want you to be my wife, my soul mate, my lover, my best friend. I want you. I need you.” He sealed his words with a long, strong kiss.

  It took her a minute to recover and she answered. “I love you with all my heart.”

  “I love you, sweetheart. Please be my wife.”

  “Yes.”

  He lifted her off of her feet and swung her around. “I want to get married before I leave on Wednesday.”

  “Okay. My parents are going to kill me, you know that?”

  “We can tell them together.”

  “I want to do it in person. And you can’t tell anyone until we do it together, in person. Promise me.”

  “I promise, sweetheart. Whatever you want, it’s yours.” Travis walked over to the counter and picked up his blackberry. He dialed Trae’s phone number.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Calling Trae and Reggie. We need witnesses. I don’t trust anyone else with that job. Since Reggie is one of your oldest friends, I figured it would be okay for them to stand up for us, that is, unless you object.”

  “You know we can’t do this without Michael, Travis. You’re all so close. But they can’t tell anyone.”

  “Okay. I’ll have Trae call him.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Everything was moving so fast, and despite her promise to her mother that she would give things time, she felt sure about becoming Travis’s wife. Trae answered the phone while she was in the midst of thinking through what he said because he asked his brother to hold on for a minute.

  “Okay, I trust whatever you decide.”

  “That’s my girl.” He returned to the phone. “Trae, can you do me a favor? I need you and Reggie to get on the first flight to New York on Tuesday. You think you can swing that?”

  “What’s up, big brother? Is everything okay?”

  “It will be. Just get here. Oh, and I also need you to bring Michael with you. It’s okay to bring Denise as well. Let me know when you make the arrangements, and I’ll have a car waiting for you at the airport. Oh, and promise me you won’t say anything to anyone else just yet.”

  “Whoa, can you at least give me a hint…? What’s this about? What’s wrong, man? You’re scaring me. And when should we expect to come back?”

  “It’ll be a one-day trip, and you can expect to return the same day. Trust me and don’t ask any more questions, okay?”

  “All right. I’ll go online now and make the arrangements. I need to make some arrangements for the office, but I don’t see any issues. And I’ll double-check with Michael.”

  “Good. I’ll see you on Tuesday.” He watched Autumn the entire time he talked to Trae.

  “Yeah, man. Talk to you soon.”

  Autumn’s head spun. She grappled for the calmness she needed to not second-guess her quick decision.

  “Let’s celebrate. How about some of that fabulous ice cream you like so much?”

  “You mean the one that doesn’t like me?” She rubbed her hand across her flat stomach.

  “It’s a celebration. I’ll run down and be back in a jiffy.”

  “Hurry back.”

  “I will.”

  When Travis returned, he had several bags. The half-eaten lunch had been discarded. Travis pulled out a bottle of champagne and a small platter from the deli-on-the-go. “We have to celebrate.” Travis held out his hand to her. She trusted him so she pushed her fears aside and allowed Travis to take her hand. He pressed the play button on the iPod docking station.

  Reaching for her, they danced to a slow jam. When the song was done, he pulled her over to the group of bags he left on the counter. He reached into one of them and pulled out a long blue velvet case. Autumn looked at it with a curious glance. “This is for you, something to seal our engagement.”

  Autumn accepted the case from Travis. She pulled the knot of the red satin bow and opened the case. When she looked inside, she glanced at it, and then back at Travis. Her head fell back in a roaring laughter. “What is this?” she punched him in the chest.

  Travis grinned from ear to ear and reached into the case. “Oh, my bad. It was only supposed to be one and a half carat.” He reached for one of the carrots in the case, took a bite, and gave it back to her.

  “You are so silly! I’m not sure I want to marry your crazy behind, Travis.”

  “I certainly hope so.” His expression turned serious. He’d been all prepared to give Autumn the ring he brought with him from New Orleans days before. He couldn’t quite figure out when he was going to present it to her. The intent was to ask her to marry him, and then plan a wedding for some time the following year. Maybe even have a double wedding with Michael and Denise. All he knew was that when he boarded that plane to New York, he wanted to make sure he sealed the deal before he left.

  When he had to stand his ground after meeting her friends, he began to question the timing of his plan. Today he was ready to shut down all the apprehensions. He finally knew what he really wanted. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his grandmother’s ring. He dropped to one knee and held out his hand. “I want to do this right, Autumn. I love you with all my heart, baby. Make me happy. Please be my wife.”

  “Yes, again.” She smiled.

  He placed the princess-cut diamond ring on her third finger of her left hand, and Autumn gasped. “It’s beautiful, Travis.”

  He stood. “It’s my grandmother’s.”

  “Oh, Travis.” She stared mindlessly at the beautiful ring. “You just happened to have your grandmother’s ring on you?”

  “Quit asking questions, woman. I knew before I got here that I planned to ask you to marry me.”

  Autumn hugged him. “I love you.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart. Now, I would like to toast my soon-to-be wife.”

  They sipped champagne and danced until late in the evening. On Monday morning, they drove to the City Clerk’s Office. They’d submitted an application online Sunday evening, but had to appear at the Office of the City Clerk to complete the application. They were the first couple there, so it didn’t take long. A clerk processed the application while they waited. “Honey, this is a sworn affidavit stating that there is no legal impediment to the marriage, and that all the information on this form is correct to the best of your knowledge.”

  “Yes,” they both responded in unison.

  “You have to wait twenty-four hours from this time.” She pointed to the stamped time and date on the application. “Congratulations and best of
luck to you both.” She handed the envelope to Travis.

  “Thank you.” He reached for Autumn’s hand. The first steps had been taken. They made arrangements to pick Trae, Reggie, Michael, and Denise up from the airport at eight in the morning. After the ceremony, they would have brunch, and then get the group back to the airport for a 4:00 p.m. departure back to New Orleans. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on, so when Reggie called back later Sunday evening and asked Autumn if she needed her to bring anything; she assured her that she’d taken care of everything from her end.

  Neither Travis nor Autumn could sleep. They decided to sleep in separate rooms so that when they saw each other the next morning it would feel like it did if they were going through the traditional wedding ceremony. When they stood on the steps to wait for the New Orleans crew, Autumn and Travis took one last chance to affirm their love and commitment to one another. “I promise to do everything in my power to make you feel safe and loved, Autumn.”

  “And I promise to love and respect you as the center of my heart.” She sealed her pledge with a kiss.

  “You have to wait until after the ceremony to do that.” Trae’s voice broke into the interlude.

  Reggie, Denise, and Autumn squealed as they greeted one another. “I can’t believe this. You’re going to be my sister. Oh, my goodness.” Reggie hugged her tight.

  “And I’m going to be an auntie. I’m happy, and…” She turned to address Travis. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

  Michael wasted no time joining in the greeting. “I can’t believe you two are beating us to the altar.” Michael hugged his brother tightly before he turned and greeted Autumn.

  They all formed a circle and briefly hugged. “Come on. We’ve got a wedding to go to.” Trae tugged at Reggie’s hand.

  The ceremony was short and sweet, just as they’d expected. They exchanged the rings he and Autumn purchased the day before. He looked down into his wife’s beautiful face when the judge pronounced them husband and wife. “Mr. Brooks, you may kiss your wife.”