“But you don’t actually believe her.” It was more of a statement than a question, as if he knew she’d yet to toss out the stack of Bridal magazines collecting dust in the back of her closet.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” She downed the last of her drink and signaled the bartender, suddenly eager to shift her attention to a different subject. “Hit me again.” She was just about to take another gulp when Travis plucked the glass from her hand.
“We’d better do this now while you can still stand up.”
“Do what?” she asked as he pulled her from her seat.
“Dance.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” She dug in her heels as he tried to tug her onto the large sawdust covered dance floor.
“Too drunk?”
“Too clueless.” When his gaze caught and held hers, she added, “I don’t really do this kind of dancing.”
“What kind do you do?”
“The boring kind.” Her gaze slid to a man currently spinning his partner and her stomach lurched. “I’m liable to fall on my face.”
“I’ll catch you first,” he promised. As much as she wanted to turn and walk the other way, she knew she couldn’t back down now. Everyone in the place was watching her, including Suzie Cantrell and her group of admirers.
She fought down her fear and let him lead her out onto the dance floor.
“Now what?” she asked as he turned to face her.
“Now you relax.” He slid an arm around her waist and took her hand. “Dancing is all about letting loose and having fun. If you’re worried about what you’re doing, you’ll screw it up for sure.”
“Let loose,” she murmured to herself, rolling her head from side to side and shaking out her shoulders. “I can do that.”
“And have fun.”
“I don’t know if I can do that.” And that was her problem in a nutshell. She’d been so busy searching for Mr. Right, she’d never taken the time to slow down. Relax. Enjoy. And she wasn’t sure she even knew how.
A knowing gleam lit his eyes as he stared down at her. “Just follow my lead.”
He started slow at first, his foot sliding forward, pushing against her leg and urging her backward. And then the move started all over again with the opposite foot.
They moved around the dance floor slowly, tentatively at first. But soon she fell into step with him and she didn’t have to think so much. Her body followed his, leaning this way, sliding that way until she stopped worrying about looking like a hussy. Instead, she started to feel like one with each sultry sway and twist.
“You might be right after all.” His deep voice slid into her ears and drew her from the hypnotic rhythm of their movements.
“About what?”
He winked. “You might have a little hussy in you.”
His words startled her and she stiffened. “How did you know—? Whoa!”
Before Holly knew what was happening, he twirled her in the opposite direction. She was dead certain she was about to eat some hardwood, but then his fingers tightened around hers. Just as she teetered to the side, he pulled her back to him, turned her under his arm and the roller-coaster ride started all over again.
By the time the song faded to a close, Holly could hardly breathe. Her heart hammered and her pulse raced and she experienced a rush of excitement unlike anything she’d ever felt before.
Okay, so she’d felt it before. The burst of light headedness. The surge of wow. The I can’t believe this is happening.
She’d felt it last night in the closet with Travis. When he’d felt her up and kissed her senseless and plunged so deep that she’d forgotten everything except the lust pulsing through her body.
A slow, sweet George Strait song poured from the speakers and Travis pulled her close. He felt so strong and smelled so good. She actually stopped thinking about what she should do—namely strut her stuff back to the bar now that she’d gotten everyone’s attention and toss down a few more drinks to give them something to really talk about.
At the same time, the two drinks she’d already had had obviously gone to her head because instead of should, she did what she wanted to do. What felt right.
She moved closer to Travis.
He was so strong and powerful and suddenly she couldn’t help herself. She leaned into him, molding herself to his hard frame and closing her eyes.
And for the next few moments, the world slipped away.
TRAVIS HAD NEVER been much for dancing. Sure, it provided a nice little warm up for getting up close and personal, but he’d stopped with the pretenses the night he’d lost his humanity. He much preferred ditching the formalities and getting right to the good stuff.
But when Holly slid her arms around his neck and leaned into him, he had the crazy thought that there might be something to this. It had been a helluva long time since he’d just held a woman.
Since he’d wanted to hold one.
He cursed the crazy notion just as soon as it moseyed into his brain. He didn’t want to hold Holly Simms. He wanted to push her up against the wall and sink his cock into her lush body and his fangs into her sweet neck.
Sustenance.
That’s all he wanted from her.
He tried to focus on the way her pelvis cradled his crotch. He moved against her, setting the pace with a subtle side-to-side motion that made his hard-on pulse and his fangs tingle. He needed to forget about her soft, warm breaths against his neck and the feel of her silky hair tickling the underside of his jaw. He wanted to forget, but then her warmth seeped inside him, chasing away the cold that gripped his bones. His nerves started to buzz.
He held her so easily, as if he’d been doing it his entire life.
He hadn’t. He knew that. But there was just something about the steady thump thump thump of her heart against his chest.
It felt right.
She felt right.
And Travis held her tighter.
HOLLY FELT HIS arms tighten and a burst of happiness went through her, followed by a whisper of contentment that scared the bejeesus out of her. Because this wasn’t about happiness or contentment or happily-ever-after.
Reality bolted through her and every muscle in her body went tight. “I think I need some air.” She pulled away, suddenly desperate for a deep breath that didn’t smell like Travis Braddock.
A few seconds later, she pushed through the rear door of the honky tonk and out into the back parking lot. A few cars dotted the area and two Dumpsters sat to her right. Laughter and music filtered from inside, mingling with the buzz of crickets. She drank in a huge lungful of oxygen and tried to calm the explosive pounding in her chest.
Happy? Content? Seriously?
What kind of Love Buster was she? She could not fall for this guy. No matter how strong his arms had felt sliding around her. Or how his eyes glittered so hot and bright. Or how he smelled like leather and fresh air and something so incredibly alluring that she couldn’t seem to think straight when he was close.
It was only physical, she reminded herself. Those things were only the result of the intense chemistry that sizzled between them. The lust. It wasn’t like they had an actual emotional connection. She hardly knew this guy and he hardly knew her. No way was he meant to hold her like that again and again, ’til death do us part.
“Holly?” His deep voice rumbled in her ears and she became acutely aware of the man standing behind her.
She hadn’t even heard the door open and close. No footsteps. Nothing. Yet here he was.
The facts whirled in her head, hinting at something that she didn’t have time to think about because here he was.
Get it together, girl. Remember your objective. This is a business arrangement. He gives you something. You give him something.
And that was the problem itself.
She knew the deal she’d made with him, what she’d promised, and what waited at the end of the night—the best sex of her life. And it was that all-important fact that play
ed with her sanity. Sex had always been part of a relationship, the culmination of time spent together and feelings shared. So it only made sense that she would think crazy thoughts her first time out of the gate. Like how no man had ever held her quite so firmly, so purposefully, so perfectly. How no man ever would.
She shook away the ridiculous sentiment. This had nothing to do with a relationship and everything to do with a business deal. Sex was just sex. It was all a matter of keeping her perspective.
She knew she didn’t have a chance in hell of doing that inside. It felt too much like a date at this point, the anticipation building with each smoldering glance, each lingering touch.
She needed to get out of here, head for the nearest motel, chuck all the niceties and just get to it. Down and dirty. Cheap and tawdry. No strings.
She drew another deep breath and forced her feet to turn. “Okay.” She nodded and did her best to control the sudden fluttering in her stomach. “I’m ready.”
A frown creased his brow. “Ready for what?”
“You know.” She braced herself. “The rest of our deal.” She rolled her shoulders as if about to climb into a wrestling ring. “Let’s do it.”
The words were like a direct bolt of heat to Travis’s already throbbing erection. His undead heart pounded. Adrenaline surged through his body and his nerves came alive.
But while it was exactly the invitation he’d been waiting to hear from her luscious mouth, there was just something about the way she said the words— as if she were agreeing to take a spoonful of Castor oil—that jabbed at his ego and tightened his already tight muscles.
“You want to leave now?”
She nodded. “I got what I wanted—everyone saw us. So it’s only fair that you get what you want.”
And the sooner we get this over with, the better.
Her desperate thought punctuated the statement and kept Travis from throwing her across his shoulder and heading back to his room to collect payment for services rendered.
But suddenly, he didn’t want her to have sex with him half as much as he wanted her to want to have sex with him.
Plain and simple, he wanted her to want him, the way he wanted her. The need was so fierce and raw that it compelled him to reach out when every ounce of common sense told him to run the other way.
Though she was turned on and anxious, pulling her into his bed wouldn’t be enough. She was still thinking. Still worrying. Still fortifying her guard.
He wanted her to stop. To feel. To want. So much that she reached for him.
“If that’s the way you want it.” He stepped toward her. “Then let’s do it. Right now.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Here?”
“Why not?”
11
“I DON’T KNOW if this is such a good idea—” Holly started to say. But then he kissed her, his lips wet and hungry, his tongue greedy.
The humid night air closed around them, upping her body temperature and making it hard to breathe. Or maybe that was him. He surrounded her. His scent filled her head.
“Shouldn’t we go somewhere,” she breathed when he finally pulled away. “Somebody might see us.”
“Isn’t that the point, darlin’?”
It was. At the same time, there was just something about the way he held her—so firm and possessive—that sent a wave of uh-oh through her.
“You want to convince the entire town that you’re a bad girl?” His gaze smoldered. “Then play the part and give them something to talk about.”
Amen.
That’s what her brain said. She’d waited for this moment forever. The chance to prove to everyone that she was through being good.
At the same time, she and Travis were in a back parking lot. Their only audience was a crate of old liquor boxes, a Ford Prius that belonged to one of the waitresses and a beat-up GTO.
At least that’s what she told herself.
She certainly didn’t hesitate because this felt like something more. Her heart pounded at the thought of kissing him, touching him, regardless of their surroundings. There was just something about the way he stared so deeply into her eyes that made her want to slide her arms around his neck and never let go.
She balled her fingers, determined to resist as he dipped his head and caught her lips in another scorching kiss.
His tongue plunged deep, stroking and stirring the inside of her mouth and her heart pounded faster. He tasted of whiskey and dark desire and her knees trembled. Before she knew it, her fingers flexed and tangled in the soft cotton of his sleeves and she held tight. The kiss was thorough, consuming, mind-blowing.
And then it was over.
Thankfully.
That’s what she told herself, but there was no mistaking the disappointment that spiraled through her as he pulled away, quickly followed by a rush of anticipation when he reached for the button on her shorts. Strong fingers worked at the opening. The zipper slid and the denim sagged. The frayed ends tickled her legs as he urged the shorts down over her thighs, her knees, until they pooled around her ankles.
He slid his hands around her bottom. His fingertips burned through the lace of her panties as he drew her legs up on either side of his hips and lifted her. A few seconds later, he set her down onto the hood of the old GTO.
He wedged himself between her parted thighs and urged her backward until her back met the cool metal hood. He unbuttoned her shirt and unhooked the front clasp of her bra. The cool night air washed over her bare skin and pebbled her nipples.
“These look good enough to eat,” he murmured, touching one ripe tip. He circled the sensitive bud, tracing the areola until it throbbed and her skin flushed hot.
His gaze drilled into hers for a heart-stopping moment before he lowered his dark head. The first leisurely rasp of his tongue against her throbbing nipple wrung a cry from her throat.
Her fingers threaded through his hair as he drew the quivering tip deep into his hot, hungry mouth. He suckled her long and hard and she barely caught the moan that rippled up her throat. Her skin grew itchy and tight. Pressure started between her legs, heightened by the way he leaned into her, the hard ridge of his erection prominent beneath his jeans.
She spread her legs wider and he settled more deeply between them. Grasping her hips, he rocked her. Rubbed her. Up and down and side to side and—
“Where did you say you parked the truck?”
The question barely penetrated the haze of pleasure that gripped her senses. Her eyes snapped open and her ears tuned in to the footsteps in the far distance.
“It’s right over here,” a man’s voice said. “Just relax.”
The reality of what she was doing right here, right now, sent a burst of panic through her.
“Wait.” She grasped his muscled biceps, but Travis didn’t miss a beat. “Someone’s coming.” She tried to stare past him, but the Dumpster blocked her view.
“Easy,” he murmured against her skin. He sucked her long and deep for a heart-stopping moment before leaning back. “If we can’t see them, then they can’t see us.” His fingertip traced the edge of her panties where elastic met the tender inside of her thigh. “Stop worrying,” he whispered, dipping a finger inside and testing her moist heat.
One rasping touch of his callused fingertip against her swollen flesh caused her to arch off the hood. She caught her bottom lip and stifled a cry.
With a growl, he spread her wide with his thumb and forefinger and touched and rubbed as he dipped his head and drew on her nipple.
It was too much. And yet not enough. She clamped her lips shut and forced her eyes open. But he was there, filling her line of vision, his fierce gaze drilling into hers. Searching and stirring and begging her to fall…no!
Her hands trembled and she fought against the pleasure beating at her senses. She stiffened, her hands diving between them to stop the delicious stroke of his fingers.
As if he sensed her sudden resistance, his movements stilled. His chest heaved and hi
s hair tickled her palms. Damp fingertips trailed over her cheek in a tender gesture that warmed her heart almost as much as her body.
“You’re going the wrong way. This is the back of the building.” The voice pushed through the haze of pleasure beating at her senses. “Let’s head around the side.” Gravel crunched and the footsteps faded into the pounding of her own heart.
“Do you want more?” His gaze was hot and bright and feverish as he stared down at her, into her. But there was something else, as well. A desperation that reached down deep and touched something inside of her.
She eased back down onto the hood. She spread her legs wider and he slid down her body. At the first rasp of his tongue, she almost jumped out of her skin. He licked her up and down, side to side and…there. Right…there!
Her lips parted and she screamed at the blinding force of the climax. Her voice echoed, blending into the sound of music coming from inside. Travis gripped her and held her firmly to his mouth, tasting and laving as she exploded into a million pieces.
Once she could breathe again, she reached down and tugged at the button of his jeans, hungry for more, pulling his zipper down, she freed his hard length. She squeezed him, stroking him from root to tip once, twice, and then she let go, determined to let him take the lead.
To take what he wanted.
He growled, the sound so low and deep that it sent a tremble up her spine. The head of his penis pushed just a fraction of an inch inside her. He swore under his breath, the sound sizzling across her nerve endings and set them ablaze. A split-second later, however, the fire died as a cool wind whispered over her.
“Next time,” he murmured.
Her eyes snapped and—
He was gone!
She struggled upright, her gaze searching for him, but the parking lot was empty.
“Next time.”
His words echoed in her head and disappointment rushed through her. She’d wanted it tonight. Now.
Just to keep her on track, of course. Sex was a reality check. A reminder that this wasn’t a real date.
But damned if she didn’t feel as if he’d walked her to the front door and left her with a chaste kiss on the forehead.
The Braddock Boys: Travis Page 8
