“Ha. If I’m going to do that, I’m going to need a lot more of this.” And she tossed back the contents of the glass, this time prepared for the bitter taste and overly sugary alcohol.
“Well, okay then. Scoot over.” He sat down on the bed, and poured her another drink. Then while he starred directly into her eyes, he took another deep drink straight from the bottle.
“All right. Where do I start?” She could feel the warmth from the alcohol starting to spread, and she knew that she was going to end up drunk by the end of this. “Well, a year ago my roommate was attacked in our house and almost killed. And I wasn’t there. I was at a stupid concert. And when I got home, there was crime scene tape everywhere. And I couldn’t go into the house until the whole thing had been gone through. But then I did, and I saw her room. I saw the blood. And I thought there was nothing worse than what I was seeing, until I was on the third coat of paint and I could still smell it. And then she moved out. And the nightmares started.”
She stopped talking and took a small drink, not wanting to toss back another glass too quickly. She looked at Travis, but he wasn’t watching her. Instead he was staring straight ahead at the wall.
“Did you know, um. Did you know that we all had to go to counseling after her attack?” He asked, coughing a little, and putting his closed fist to his mouth. “We didn’t catch the guy at first. And that messed with us. A lot of us. Maya is family, you all are. And the fact that something happened to her and we couldn’t even catch the guy screwed up our heads. We had some group sessions about it. But it got better after he was caught. I mean, I didn’t have nightmares or anything. Just that feeling, like I should have done more.” He still didn’t look at her, but he did take another drink from the bottle.
She didn’t look away from his face, but she raised her glass and emptied it. Only then did she look away, and set her glass on the bedside table. Brandi scooted so that they were sitting side by side, legs almost touching. And she took the bottle right out of his hands and took a drink.
“Well, damn.”
“Yeah. My parents thought there was something wrong with me because I kept blowing them off for Sunday dinner. But that’s when the group counseling was. And I didn’t want to miss it. Have you talked to anyone?” He turned to her and met her gaze, but when she shook her head slightly he snagged the bottle from her to take a drink.
“That bottle’s already almost half empty. You sure you wanna talk about all this tonight?” She said it with as much joviality as she could muster, which was quite a bit thanks to the alcohol moving through her system.
“Yeah, why not?” He shook his head and took another long drink from the bottle.
“I don’t know. You hate me. You’ve hated me since the day we met.” She felt the bitter truth of her words, and couldn’t bring herself to look at him when she said it.
But then his hand was holding her chin and gently pulling her face up to meet his.
“I never hated you, Brandi. I just couldn’t look at you, at those beautiful green eyes and not see the woman who ruined my life.”
Chapter 5
There. He said it. For the first time in the six months he had known her, he admitted out loud what he had been too afraid to say to anyone.
“What do you mean? Who do I look like?”
“My ex-wife.”
“I- I don’t understand.”
“Well, I guess it’s my turn to tell you a story.” Silence stretched out between them, and a tension he could cut with a knife.
He kept drinking from the bottle of Jack until he felt the familiar pull of the alcohol in the pit of his stomach. When he was finished there was less than a fourth of the bottle left. Sighing, he handed it over to her, hoping that she’d say no. But she didn’t. Instead, she took a big drink from the bottle and then rolled it between her hands and fingered the label while she was waiting for him to start his story.
“We met in college, while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. She could be your twin, you know. Well, maybe not. She’s pale with long hair. And I was done the minute I looked into her eyes. They looked just like yours. We got married a few months later. And I thought it was love. But it wasn’t. She loved the idea of my money, my family’s money. Of not having to work a day in her life. And when she found out that my brother was going to make more money than I did, it was over. I found them on my birthday, in our bedroom.
“I haven’t seen either of them since. I walked away from that divorce with everything and nothing at the same time. I kept all of my money, and everything my parents had set aside for me as part of my trust. But my brother got her. And I still see pictures of them at my parent’s house. But they moved to the west coast. I never want to see either of their faces again. And the worst part is that I don’t even miss her. Just him. I miss my brother. And if I could see him without her there I would do it in a heartbeat.”
“Damn. You need this more than I do. How long ago was that?”
“Let’s see. I’m turning thirty-three next week. So ten years.”
* * *
She felt herself whistling before she caught herself. “Well, I guess I should probably mention that ten years ago, you’d have been considered a weirdo for finding me attractive. I just turned twenty-four last month.” She smiled, even though she knew that she was baiting him.
It was important to her that he not think of his ex when he was thinking of her. It meant that there was no way that he’d get involved with her. And suddenly, Brandi wished that they could go back to him hating her. That was something she could hope to overcome one day. But this, this would be something that could never be worked out. Even if they messed around or slept together, he’d look at her after and think of his ex-wife and the life that he could have had with her.
“I know. Even though you look so alike, you are two different people. There’s no way that she would have spent her night helping cut and move trees. You’re a good person. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I never gave you a chance.” He sounded sincere, but Brandi knew that there was enough alcohol in his system to keep either of them from holding each other to what they were saying.
Still, she looked at him. Into the blue eyes that she couldn’t get enough of. And everything made sense. The fact that he never looked her in the eyes. The reasons that he never stayed anywhere that she was.
“Does anyone know? About your ex? That I’m her doppelganger?” The words hurt coming out, but she needed to ask them.
“No. I mean, yeah people know that I’ve been married before. But it was a long time ago. And I was away at college when it all happened. I didn’t bring her here with me. And I’m glad I didn’t. It would make this so much harder.” He was looking into her eyes too now, and her chest was heaving with the shallow, rapid breaths that she was taking.
“Would make what so much harder?” She felt the world closing in around them, and before she chickened out she took the last drink of the whiskey and looked at his lips, licking her own. “Screw it,” she said.
And she kissed him. His hands came up to either side of her face and held it there as he returned her kiss. Light and teasing at first, his tongue pressed against the seam of her lips and she parted them just slightly. But his tongue pushed through and joined with her own. She tasted him and whiskey, a combination that immediately set her core on fire. Brandi dropped the bottle and it landed with a muffled thump on the carpeted floor next to the bed. She brought her hands up in a copy of the hold that he had on her. But it wasn’t enough. She pulled back slightly and bit his bottom lip.
He growled at her, like an animal. And then he reclaimed her mouth with his own, letting go of her face and moving his hands down her arms to wear the shirt didn’t quite reach her elbows. He touched her there, and even though her arms weren’t an erogenous place normally; with him they were.
She moaned as his tongue danced across hers, and pulled him down on top of her, hoping for more. She wasn’t disappointed when h
e followed her direction and pressed her into the bedding. His erection was unmistakable against the fabric of his pajama pants. And there was nothing to stop her from releasing him. When she moved her hand down between the two of them and brushed his length a shudder went through his body, and he ended their kiss. She leaned forward but the position they were in prevented her from reaching his lips.
“Are you sure?” He whispered the words as he looked directly into her soul.
She nodded, and then a phone started to ring.
“Shit.” He said, and answered the phone. “Masterson.”
Brandi could hear the surprise on the other end of the line. “Travis? Why are you answering Brandi’s phone? Never mind, I don’t want to know.” She heard Teri’s voice clearly through the phone’s speaker.
“Damn. Sorry, let me get her.” His face flushed as he looked down at her, and she shrugged.
Reaching for the phone, she pushed him off of her and grabbed it. “Hello?” She managed in a sleepy voice.
“Good. You’re okay.” There was humor in the other woman’s voice.
“Of course I’m okay, Teri. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, no one’s heard from you since this afternoon at the gym. We wanted to make sure that you weren’t stuck under a tree somewhere. It’s now five in the morning and we haven’t heard from you in twelve hours.”
“No. I was sleeping. So instead you wake me up. Thanks.” She couldn’t help but try to cover up the fact that Travis had answered her phone, but she knew that nothing she said would put Teri off.
“Yeah. Yeah. No problem… You know you’re going to have to explain this to me later you know? You owe me for not running around the office as soon as I hang up with you and telling everyone what you two are up to tonight.”
“Goodbye, Teri.” She just wanted to hang up the phone on the redheaded dispatcher who had taken Brandi under her wing. But the other woman kept talking.
“Later, slut.” And Brandi hung up on her before anything else could be said.
“Well that was awkward.” She managed to get out, before she put her phone down and hung her head in her hands.
“No.” He whispered, “not awkward at all. Come here.” And he pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, let’s just sleep. I’m not going to fight this anymore.”
Brandi knew that it must be physically painful for him. She could see the tent in his pants even in the dark as he lay on his back with her held flush to his body. But he didn’t complain. So she didn’t mention it. The last thing she thought of before falling asleep was how come he’s not running for the couch after that massive cock block?
* * *
The pre-dawn light danced across her face as it streamed in through the bedroom window, and Travis couldn’t help but stare. She was still sprawled out across his chest, and sometime in the last few hours his arm had given up and fallen asleep. It was tingling now, and he tried to move it out from underneath her body, but stopped when it felt like he was being stabbed by hundreds of tiny needles.
Travis didn’t want to think about what almost happened last night. He didn’t want to think about how hard he still was at the thought of being with her, inside her. It was too tempting. He knew that she was the type of woman who wanted more. She would demand more from him, and he could never give that to her. He would never be able to be that man. But damned if he could bring himself to move her body off of his. She was warm and soft and perfect in every sense of the word. She didn’t feel like a skeleton, and he knew that some might call her fat. But she wasn’t. She fit.
The storm had come and upended things on the quaint little island, but Travis couldn’t help feeling like the storm in his life was only beginning. She was snoring now, and there was a wet spot on his chest from where she was drooling steadily. He was content to just stay in bed with her in his arms for as long as possible, but his phone ringing interrupted his thoughts. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only just after 6 A.M.
Brandi jerked up off his chest with confused eyes. “Oh, hell no. It is too early for this. I’m going back to bed.” And then she was rolling off him, grabbing a pillow and putting it over her head. As he crawled out of bed, he heard more soft snores from underneath the blanket.
Smiling to himself, he grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and a pair of sweat pants and put them on before taking one last look at the lump on his bed that Brandi had made of herself and grabbing his still ringing phone. Instead of the pang of regret for having a woman in his bed, he felt something stirring in his gut that he didn’t want to think about.
“Hello?” He asked once he had gotten into the hallway.
“Please, dear holy baby Jesus. Please tell me that you did not sleep with that woman. Teri told me that she stayed there when I came on duty this morning but I didn’t believe it.” Brian’s voice filled Travis’s ears, and he didn’t know how to answer that.
“Um. Why is that any concern of yours?” He was trying to keep his voice down, afraid that Brandi would wake up and hear his conversation.
“Because Maya would kill both you and me if anyone hurt that girl. She’s had a messed up life, and then after the attack she took care of my girl. She doesn’t deserve to be one of your random hookups just because she was convenient. I care about her. And so does Maya. So if you haven’t screwed her, you need to keep your dick away from her. And if you have, you better make sure that she doesn’t get hurt or so help me I will make you regret it.”
“Take a pill, old man. I didn’t do anything with her.” He whispered into the phone, but Brian wasn’t paying any attention to him.
“And another thing. Just because she looks like your ex, does not mean that she’s a conniving snake in the grass. Don’t forget that I have known Brandi longer than you have, so I’m not gonna let you fuck with her. She took care of Maya when I couldn’t. I owe her everything, and you’re not gonna be the one to break her heart if I have anything to say about it.”
“Brian. Calm the fuck down.” Travis wasn’t whispering anymore. In fact, he was almost yelling. Brian may be a friend, and someone that he enjoyed working with, but what right did he have to warn him away from Brandi? “There’s nothing happening between me and Brandi. We got stuck during the storm. That’s it. And even if I did fuck her, it’s none of your business.” He pressed end, wishing that he was using an old rotary phone that he could have slammed to relieve some of the anger that was making it hard for him to think straight.
What the hell? If he wanted to start something with Brandi, he could. It wouldn’t matter what Maya, or Brian, or anyone had to say for that matter. He had avoided her since the beginning just because she reminded him of his ex, and he was tired of it. Tired of the way that she would smile at everyone else and not him, the way that her face lit up when she looked at any of their friends. He wanted her. Wanted her more than he had wanted anyone since Jessica, and there was nothing keeping him from taking her. Brian’s words just spurred the action quicker than he had intended. If Teri hadn’t called the night before, he had no doubt in his mind that he would have been inside her repeatedly.
Chapter 6
Brandi heard him on the phone, and decided the best thing that she should do was to pretend like nothing had happened. Then she could just go back to work and everything would go back to normal.
She heard his footsteps coming back towards the room and held her breath, trying to get her heart to slow down. By the time he turned the knob, she was ready for him to try and wake her up. Instead, he shuffled around, and then the bed moved as he crawled back into it. He pulled her into his arms, nuzzling her hair, but she didn’t know how to respond.
“I know you’re awake.” He whispered, “I know you probably heard whatever we were talking about. But it wasn’t you. I mean, it was you. I just… No one needs to know about this. It’s none of their business.” He pulled her tighter to his body, and she melted into his arms.
He kissed her neck, his hands finding their way
under the hem of her borrowed shirt. Brandi squirmed under his touch, and the shirt rode higher, making it easier for his hands, and she felt his hard length pressed against the seam of her ass through his pants. His fingers grazed her shaved mound, and she couldn’t help shimmying back into his body.
“Oh. Yes.” She whimpered as he pushed one callused finger to the spot where her clit was and rubbed.
She felt the heat building, and moisture was creeping out of her as she pushed back into his erection, moaning as he continued to push her button. Brandi grabbed his hip with one hand and used her other hand to guide his finger lower, into her folds. Travis bit her shoulder, and the next thing she knew she was flat on her back and he was pushing her legs onto his shoulders while he got an unhindered view of her pussy.
“So fucking beautiful,” he said right before he licked from her clit straight down, stopping only when his tongue was buried inside her.
She watched, enraptured, as his thumb pressed onto her clit and two of his fingers joined his tongue, working inside her until he found the spot guaranteed to make her gush onto his hand. He hooked his fingers, rubbing against it continuously, and Brandi saw stars right before her body started to convulse around him. The orgasm seemed to last forever, and he didn’t lighten his touch at all. She watched him wipe his mouth on the inside of her leg, and look up at her with a smile.
“You taste like honey and rain, all rolled into one. Fucking perfect.” Before she could answer him, Travis sealed his mouth to hers, and he tasted the unique combination of both of their scents. While he kissed her, he worked himself out of his pants, kicking them onto the floor.
It felt like an eternity before he was naked and his head was pressed to her opening. “Are you sure, Brandi? You can say no and I’ll stop. It’ll kill me but I’ll find a way to stop.”
Welcome to Serenity Harbor Page 40
