What You Don't Know (True Hearts Book 6)

by Jaxson Kidman

  There was a small and stupid sense of fame that went through me as I finished up the song. I had about six people who really dialed in on me as I sang words that had only been found in my black notebook. I wondered if those six people recognized me from the band. I was always the guy behind the drum kit, but there were hundreds - probably thousands - of pictures of me with Dez, Adam, and Ronny. They took me in as their drummer, not just a drummer. And I fucked it up by trying to break Dez’s jaw and subsequently bolting out of town.

  I strummed the last chord and looked right at Willow.

  She had her right elbow on the table, her jaw resting on her fist. She was either half-drunk, mostly tired, or completely mesmerized.

  “Thank you,” I said into the mic.

  There was a small roll of applause throughout the bar.

  I stood up and held the guitar, looking at all the strangers.

  All these strangers, eye to eye

  We chase the world away, oh, darlin’, we’ve tried

  Laughing in the corner, hands touching soul

  We can waste it all away, leave back everything we know

  I crouched and put my guitar back into its case. I snapped it shut and stood.

  “Play another one!” someone shouted out.

  “Really?” I called out. “I just put my guitar away.”

  “So what?” a voice called out.

  “Yeah! Play another!”

  The third voice was Willow.

  I shook my head and stepped off the stage.

  My heart was pounding in my chest. I couldn’t take my eyes off her again. But this was different. I had a few people calling out to me, wanting me to get back on stage to play again.

  I didn’t give a fuck about playing guitar in some random shit bar in some random town.

  I stopped at the table and stared down at Willow.

  “That was really good,” she said. “You should keep playing.”

  “Stand up,” I said. “We’re leaving.”

  “What?”

  I jammed my hand into my pocket and threw a bunch of cash on the table.

  “You heard what I said,” I said to her. “Stand up and walk out of this bar with me. Right now.”

  “Wow. You’re all worked up.” She tried to play it cool, but I saw the way she swallowed hard. “Where… where are we going?”

  I leaned down and bushed my lips against her sweet and tender ear. “I’m taking you to bed, bunny, right fucking now.”

  23

  Tickling a Monster

  WILLOW

  His rough fingertips eased down my bare shoulders, sending shivers throughout my entire body. We stood almost body to body, a pool of clothing covering our feet. Everything that had been wildly fast and hot now suddenly slowed. We burned through plenty of time as Travis put me against the wall outside of the bar and kissed me. We rushed hand in hand to the bed and breakfast where I had to desperately hold myself together as I completed the check-in process. With whiskey on my breath. My head a little drunk. Travis’s hands all over my back and my ass, standing so close to me, grinning like a fool at the woman sitting behind the desk.

  We raced to our room with nothing but ourselves and his guitar. My bags were out in the SUV along with Travis’s. My face burned with heat, knowing the woman behind the desk knew exactly what we were going to do. There was no other explanation for rushing in and having no bags. If there was any sense of casual innocence to this place, we were going to ruin it.

  But it all came to a quick stop as he stood there, his thickness throbbing, pressed between us, his hands moving from my shoulders, to my arms, to my waist. His grip tightening as his stare hit me hard.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered.

  “Breathing this moment in,” he said. “Because this moment will never happen again.”

  “And what moment is that?”

  Travis dipped his lips down to mine. “The moment when we want each other so fucking badly that we’re willing to put everything on the line.”

  Before I could respond, he slipped his right hand around and down, grabbing the back of my leg and pulling me even closer to him. He bent his legs, allowing himself to slip between my legs, his hardness already applying pressure to a tender and willing area of my body. I gasped and forgot the words that had been flirting on my tongue.

  Travis did the same with his other hand and lifted me up off the floor. My legs began to wrap around him. I was finally eye level with him, my breasts squished against his chest. The tips of our noses played for a couple of seconds, almost naturally. I swore I wasn’t moving. I swore he wasn’t moving. But our noses kept touching left to right.

  We finally kissed.

  Sloppy, whiskey laced tongues. Me groaning like a fool because the sense of desperation in my body was overwhelming. I thought our first time was going to be our last time and I couldn’t envision someone stealing that memory.

  But here we were again.

  The swell of his cock pressing against my slit, his hips rocking back and forth, sliding himself against me, teasing me into a wet temptation that left my legs tingling. Toes curled painfully tight, biting his lip as we kissed, because I was already almost embarrassingly close to finishing.

  Just the sight of his body. The command of his hands. The way he touched me, ripped at my clothes, growled when he saw my bare breasts and gently kissed them. The trail of kisses he left to dry on my neck, it all worked itself into one special spot that was now burning with desire to just climax.

  Travis’s hands cupped my ass and he lifted me with ease. I grabbed his shoulders and settled by running my fingers through his hair and interlocking them around his neck, looking down as he kissed down my chest. I had never been handled or touched this way before in my life. This was beyond the whiskey and the music. This was deeper, like a passion that had been waiting for far too long.

  His tongue made circles around my right nipple. I arched my back as I groaned, thrusting my chest hard at him. I put my head back and let out a sigh of relief as he engulfed me. The room started to spin so I shut my eyes and lost myself to the moment.

  That’s all it was.

  A moment.

  We were having moments together. Collected on this crazy road trip that had a destination for Travis, but not for me. I was the one out on the run. He was the one trying to get to a place that felt like home.

  Yet in his arms, listening to his kisses work across my chest to my other breast, I pulled forward and looked down, realizing that right there, in that moment, that’s when I felt like I was at home.

  Travis looked up at me and I nodded.

  “Right now,” I whispered.

  He grinned and all but jumped at the bed.

  I let out a small yell as I collapsed to the bed, Travis staying right with me. With his hands to the bed and elbows locked tight, he hovered over me, allowing me to see his wickedly cut and tattooed body. I gently placed my hands on his chest and ran them down, feeling everything. From his chest to his toned stomach, down to the perfectly cut V shape that took my fingertips to his thatch of hair and his thickness. I moved my left hand back up his body while my right hand gripped him and positioned him where I needed him to be.

  I touched his face as he pressed forward, entering me.

  I gasped as though it were my first time.

  Travis kissed me, stealing yet another breath of mine.

  He lowered himself down more, slowly adding inches to my core. My hands quickly went for his back, clawing at him, trying to dig into his hard muscle as the wild pressure increased to a climatic level.

  I arched my back again and broke our kiss, so I could breathe. I let out a whimpering groan as my hands slapped to the once perfectly pressed sheets on the bed.

  “Fuck,” I managed to groan as my inner thighs began to tremble.

  Travis took himself as far as he could go, a depth only meant for him, and he held there, his powerful body pressing tightly to mine.

  My hands
curled around the sheets and pulled. My hips bucked hard as I began to finish.

  My eyes met with Travis’s and my cheeks burned with fire.

  “Fuck, Willow,” he said in a rough voice.

  I throbbed and moved at him, needing him to love me through this.

  His right hand touched my hip and he began to ease his way out. The rush of warm pleasure made me bite my lip.

  Travis was there a second later to kiss me.

  He slammed his body forward, his hint that anything slow and cute was done.

  I tried to cry out, but he kissed me, leaving the sound muffled.

  His body moved hard and fast, leaving me hanging on the thin line of another climax. He made a move back and put his feet to the floor. His hands clamped to my hips and held tight, inching me to the edge of the bed. I propped myself up on my elbows and had a front row seat to something that had been the ultimate fantasy in my mind for a long time.

  Travis holding my waist as he took me. Pumping his body with force and speed, sparing nothing between us. My body danced with his movements, the pleasure becoming so much that it was just part of the norm now. I felt like I was in an endless state of climax, my core aching against him with each thrust he gave me.

  With a sudden move, Travis forced his right hand to my back, spreading his fingers wide. He lifted me and moved onto the bed, taking me with him, never leaving me. Without putting me back down, he made another move, pulling me on top of him as he rolled to his back.

  I let out another desperate cry, my hands pounding down to his chest. I was straddling him, hovering over him, my hips already gently rocking back and forth against his body.

  “Ah, fuck,” Travis growled. “You’re going to be the death of me, bunny.”

  His hands touched my curvy sides and came around and cupped under my breasts. He pushed, sitting me straight up and down, leaving me so exposed to him. It was one thing to have his body on top of mine, loving me, protecting me. But now I was on top of him. The sexiest man I’d ever known.

  My left hand rested on his chest while my right hand eased down his body, coming dangerously close to touching myself. I felt his stomach moving with his breathing. Something so simple as that made me ache with a wild need. I bucked my hips, riding him, lifting and lowering, feeling his cock becoming my favorite toy. I started going slowly, but couldn’t keep that pace. It felt good, but going faster felt even better. I looked down at Travis, his dark and brooding eyes burning at me. The curl of his lip, the way his teeth were slightly gritted together.

  He groaned and grunted, fucking at me as I took control of him.

  I was in control. Of Travis…

  That set off a spark inside me that I never knew was there.

  I lost myself to him and wanted to be the one who made him come.

  I pumped my hips as hard as I could, bringing myself to another climax. This time though, when it hit me, I collapsed forward, losing feeling in my legs. My nails scratched hard up Travis’s muscular body, my hands settling to the bed. My mouth was an inch from his. All I could smell and taste was whiskey and sex.

  His left hand grabbed the back of my head. His right hand touched my lower back.

  “Not yet, Willow,” he whispered. “I’m not fucking done with you.”

  He pulled me down for a kiss and pulled my lower half down.

  I cried out into his mouth as he groaned into mine.

  The moment began wilder than before.

  I was on top of him, but he was back in control of me. His hands were big, strong, holding me, moving me. Using me…

  Travis stopped kissing me, but he didn’t take his lips away from mine. Our lips touched and slid against one another by the movement of my body against his.

  I felt him thickening, thrusting up and harder at me, ready to let go.

  My hands tightened harder around the sheets as I felt everything. I breathed heavily. He matched my breaths. When I groaned, he grunted. When I whimpered, he hissed. We found ourselves locked in this forever kind of moment that I knew had an ending, but refused to believe it.

  That lasted a short while as Travis pressed hard against my lower back. I drove my hips down, taking all of him one more time, holding there as he released himself inside me.

  I tried to cry out, but had no breath.

  Travis hurried and buried his face up into my neck, grunting and kissing my skin.

  My eyes were wide open, matching my open heart.

  It was the greatest feeling in the world.

  But I couldn’t help but wonder if this time was actually going to be our last.

  Getting dressed was not an option. I simply took the heavy comforter and wrapped it around me. I finally took the time to look around the beautiful room. It was so cozy. Definitely a far cry from the cookie cutter look of a hotel room. Travis had gotten dressed and left to go and get our bags from the SUV.

  The room was like a glorified bedroom. At the foot of the bed there was a couch. Directly across from the couch was a fireplace. The walls were a honey color and the wooden floors a chocolate brown color. Everything was so comfortable. I sort of wanted to sleep here for the next six months.

  My phone started to buzz from the pocket of my jeans on the floor. I scrambled to get it and it was Wren. I plopped down on the comfy couch and accepted the video call.

  The first thing I heard was Max’s tired whine.

  That was followed by Wren yelling, “She’s not answering!”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” I said. “Wren. Max. I’m here.”

  The screen did ten backflips and I was then looking at the light on the ceiling in my bedroom at my apartment.

  “Hello?” I yelled.

  The phone moved again, and Wren appeared on the screen.

  “Hey,” I said. “What’s-”

  “Talk to your nephew,” she said.

  Max came to the phone. His eyes were puffy and red. Tears on his cheeks. Clear snot collected around his nose. He chewed on his pointer finger, the sign that he was scared.

  “Hey, Max,” I said. “What’s wrong? What’s got you nervous?”

  “I had a bad dream,” he said.

  “That was an hour ago,” Wren said.

  I swallowed hard.

  That’s not how it works with a kid, Wren.

  “Oh, no,” I said in a soft voice. “A bad dream?”

  “Yes,” Max said. “There were monsters…”

  “Okay. Max. There are no such thing as monsters. We know that. It was just your mind making funny stuff up. It’s really late though, Max. You need to get some sleep.”

  “That’s what I told him,” Wren said.

  “Max, climb into bed and get under the covers. I’ll read you a story.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  The phone did a stomach twisting dance as he got into his bed.

  “Give Mommy the phone to hold,” I said. When I saw Wren’s face, I smiled. “Just let him see me for a minute.”

  “Whatever,” she said.

  I stared at Max.

  That’s when the guilt really hit me.

  He missed me. He didn’t trust being alone with his own mother.

  I had to put on my brave face, so he would fall asleep.

  “Max, it’s time for sleep,” I said. “There are no monsters. If you see one again, try to tickle it. Did you ever hear the story about the tickle monster?”

  “No,” Max said.

  “Oh, wow. Okay. Listen to this…”

  I sat there wearing nothing but a comforter in a B&B somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And I had to make up a story about a monster that was mean, but when tickled, became nice. I had no clue what I was saying, but it worked. Max’s eyes finally started to shut. When he rolled to the other side of the bed, that’s when I knew I had him.

  It made me smile that I was able to help him fall asleep, even though I wasn’t there.

  Wren left the bedroom and sat down at the dining room table.

  “Sorry about that,�
�� she said.

  “Don’t be. It’s not easy when kids get scared.”

  “I know that, Willow. I know what I’m doing.”

  “I didn’t say…”

  “He kept asking for you. I think he had a bad dream about you.”

  “Oh.”

  I frowned.

  The guilt weighed on me heavier.

  “Sorry I’m not there,” I said.

  “It’s not your job.”

  I didn’t say anything else.

  Wren slowly raised her eyebrow. “Are you wearing a blanket?”

  “What? No.”

  I moved my phone.

  “You liar,” she said. “You’re wearing nothing but a blanket.”

  The door to the room opened and in came Travis. With our bags thrown over his shoulders. To my surprise, he lifted his right hand and showed me a bottle of whiskey.

  My eyes looked at Travis, then back to the phone.

  “Oh, I get it,” Wren said. “He’s back for more. Damn, Willow, I’m jealous. Travis was always as sexy as hell. And you’re getting a shot at him.”

  “Wren, shut up,” I said. “Don’t call me again if Max wakes up.”

  “Don’t be like that,” she said. “I’ll text you first. In case you’re mid fu-”

  “Goodnight, Wren,” I said and ended the call.

  I looked at Travis.

  “Well then,” he said.

  “Max had a bad dream,” I said. “She, Wren called me… where did you get a whiskey bottle from?”

  Travis smirked. “You realize I’ve been gone for about twenty minutes, right?”

  “Oh? Has it been that long?”

  “Wow. For the woman who worries about everyone and everything, you didn’t notice I was gone that long. Not sure how to take that.”

  “Maybe I’m just relaxed.”

  “Glad I could help,” he said with a wink. He dropped the bags to the floor and tossed the whiskey bottle to the bed. “I went back to the bar.”

  “You did?”

  “I bought a bottle.”

  “From the bar?”

  “Well… I had to play a song first.”

  “Wait. You played a song to get whiskey?”