Rather than answer him, she dug her hands into his sides and pulled him into her with one move. He was big, too big. It had been too long since she had anyone inside her, and she gasped with how full she was.
“Oh, god. You’re so tight. So fucking tight. Mine. Tell me it’s mine, Brandi.” When she didn’t answer him immediately, he gyrated his hips, and pulled out slightly, causing her to growl. “Tell me your pussy is mine, or I’ll stop.” He nipped her ear, running his nose down the side of her face until he was at her chin. But he didn’t move.
“Fuck. It’s yours. Just move. Now. Fuck me.” Laughing, he pulled completely out and then slammed back into her.
It was hard, the way that he kept fucking her, but she liked it. There was no other way to describe what was happening. Her juices made it easy for his cock to slip in and out of her, but she still felt the stretch every time he pushed himself into her tight sheath.
“Please. Harder. Yes. Travis.” Her voice was strangled as she came apart around him.
His movements became erratic as he pumped into her body, until finally he pushed deeper than before and his cock swelled inside her. Brandi screamed as he triggered another orgasm that racked her entire body while his warm release coated her insides.
He collapsed on top of her, still hard inside her; she kissed him until he started it all over again.
* * *
It wasn’t until almost 10 a.m. when he finished for the second time, and they both showered and got ready for another long day of helping get the island repaired.
By the time they had finished for the day, the power was restored to the island, and all of the major trees were removed from the roads. All of the residents had been accounted for, and there weren’t any casualties. It was considered successful, and both the Emergency Management Agency and the Sheriff’s Department were considering commendations for all those that chose to assist in the cleanup effort.
Travis found himself dragging his feet when it came time to drop her off at her car, trying to find a reason for her not to go. He followed her as she got out of his car, and to the driver’s side of her tiny beast. He couldn’t help that his arms found their way around her. She tried to pull away from him, but he held her in his arms in the fading light as the last of the storm clouds faded into the distance.
“I don’t know what to say. This isn’t going to be easy between us. I’m a mess. You don’t want to get involved with that.” She whispered brokenly, and he closed his eyes so that she couldn’t see the pain that flashed through them briefly.
“It doesn’t matter. We can be broken together. I just know that I want you. That’s all that should matter, along with you wanting me also.” He kept his eyes closed, afraid that if he opened them that she would see every emotion he was feeling.
“I do want you. But what happens now? What will we do? I mean, we work together. How does this play out for us in the long run?” She was panicking; he could feel it in the way she was taking short, rapid breaths, and the way that her heart was racing.
“Stop. Brandi, just look at me.” He opened his eyes to see her looking right at him. “I can’t tell you that I won’t hurt you. That this won’t end as a catastrophe. But what I can do is tell you that I don’t want anyone else. Fuck everyone else, all our friends. I’m not saying that I’m in love with you. That would be crazy. What I’m saying is that this storm has given me a chance to put all my petty shit aside and see what I could have with you.” Travis felt the tension leave her body with every one of his words until there was nothing but the steady thump thump thump of her heart matching his own.
“Okay. I want that.” She smiled at him. “I want to try. But we need to take this slow. Because there’s no point in dating someone if forever isn’t the end game.”
“With you? I don’t think forever will be enough.” And he meant it, but they had to go back to the real world to see if it would last, and that scared him.
Chapter 7
Going back to work wasn’t the cake walk that Brandi thought it would be. Five minutes into her shift with Teri, the redhead jumped up and gave her the evil eye over the monitors. The room that they worked together in had no windows to the outside, and only had fluorescent lighting. It gave the other woman fairy-like qualities that made it impossible not to give her exactly what she wanted.
“You better spit it out, bitch. I’ve kept the wolves at bay by lying my ass off about where you were when you were on the island. But no more. You better give me all the details, or I’m opening my mouth.”
“You’re not going to let me say nothing and get away with it, are you?” But she knew the answer without Teri having to say it. “Never mind. Just sit your punk ass down, and listen to this.”
Brandi waited until there was no one else in the building though, before she started her story.
“You know that I had a crush on him before I ever started working here, but I never said anything. And then I started, and he pretended like I had the plague. Or whatever. But then, during the storm, he was there for me when I needed him. He found out about my nightmares.” Brandi had told Teri about the dreams, working together for twelve hours a day sort of required that amount of honesty between each other.
“But I didn’t think it would be anything but drunk flirting, or whatever, that night. He’s the one who wanted more. And he told me that I looked like his ex-wife.”
“Wait, he’s been married?” Teri gasped at her, the question plain in her eyes.
“Yeah. And get this. The bitch left him for his brother. And they’re twins.”
“He’s a twin. Shit- are they identical? Is he still with the ex? If not, is he single? Cause Travis is pretty hot. And I wouldn’t mind biting off a piece of something that looks like that.” Teri giggled, and her face lit up. Pale, with freckles sprinkling her cheeks and nose, she looked a lot younger than her thirty-year old self.
“Get over yourself, you ass. I think I might be falling in love with him. And that’s ridiculous.”
“Ha. If you think love cares what you look like or how you think it should be, you’re crazier than normal. I say jump, if you need to. Jump in with both eyes wide open. He might hurt you, but in the end you won’t live unless you try.”
“Ugh. You haven’t helped at all. You’re supposed to talk me out of it.”
“Sorry, peach. I can’t help with that. I think it’s a good idea. But I believe in happily ever after. Go on and reach for yours, girlie. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Oh, I dunno. Maybe he could fall in love with someone else.” Brandi put her head in her hands and took a deep breath.
Before Teri could say anything else, however, their 911 phones started ringing, and they never had a chance to finish. She was left not knowing what she should do at the end of the night. Travis was there, though. Waiting for her. He was leaning up against his personal vehicle, a lifted F-250 that was gun-metal gray with black composite rims. The lift kit meant that Brandi would have to grab the ‘oh-shit stick’ and pull herself up into it whenever they rode together.
“Hey baby. I thought you could use a ride home. Well to my home. I mean, my place. Well shit. I’m not saying this right. Would you like to come home with me and get some sleep? I want to wake up with you in my arms and then spend the day together.” He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt that said SHSD in gold lettering on it.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. Why are you up? It’s four in the morning.” She laughed at the look in his eyes that said he knew exactly what time it was when he showed up there, and exactly what he wanted. “Come on then, take me to my place to get a change of clothes. You’ll have to bring me back for my shift tomorrow though.”
“Deal. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms, and the kiss he gave her was filled with heat and promises of what was going to happen when they were alone together in his bed.
He helped her into the truck, and Brandi didn’t look back.
* * *
Brandi was swept off her feet, literally. Travis kept her in his bed every night, whether they were working or not. He also refused to keep their relationship a secret, regardless of the fact that Brandi thought it might be easier to handle if they could decide if they were serious or not. He flat out told her that they were serious the minute she let him in.
Brian tried to fight Travis for them being together, and Maya had to threaten to kick him out of the house to get him to back off. But he held his ground until Brandi told him that Travis made her happy and was helping her with the nightmares she still had after Maya’s attack. The other guys made a point of checking in with her to make sure that he was treating her right and even went so far as to make sure that Travis sent a mass text to every female in his phone telling them that he had a girlfriend. Brandi even thought that the text was a good idea, until Travis’s mom called him and yelled about the fact that she wasn’t told he had a girlfriend and was livid that she had to find out via a text message.
Mamma Masterson had insisted on meeting Brandi that day, and had driven to the Sheriff’s Department just to do it, since Travis told her that Brandi was working at the time. The spitfire was just as short as Brandi was, and when she stormed into the station, she knew exactly what was going to happen. The woman walked right up to the window and Brandi looked at the other woman and felt inadequate. She was dressed in a pair of slacks that were tailored to fit her frame, and had a soft blouse on that hugged her curves. The older woman had silver streaks throughout her hair that no color had attempted to cover.
“You. Get out here and give me a hug.”
Brandi didn’t even hesitate to comply with her demands, only sending Teri a silent plea for help as she left the room. When she heard the laughing from behind her, she knew that no help was coming.
It was strange for her to meet her boyfriend’s mother that way, but the woman had just smiled, called her a ‘crazy little thing’ and pulled her into a hug when Brandi had offered her a hand to shake instead. They had gotten together at least once a week since then just to have Sunday dinner, and both Travis’s mother and father told her that she was the reason that he was opening up again.
September faded quickly into October, and as the days led into November, Brandi knew that there was no doubt as to how she felt about Travis. By the time Christmas was approaching, she knew that she was in love with him. But he hadn’t said anything about his feelings or what he wanted out of everything to her and that first discussion they had about not being in love had put her on edge about it. She was afraid that if she told him how she felt that he would reject her, or worse, pity her. So she waited, and every day a feeling of inadequacy grew, telling her that maybe he didn’t even want to be with her.
They weren’t living together. But they spent every night that they were able to together. They had exchanged keys so that if one of them had the night off and the other didn’t, they could sneak into bed at the end of the shift just so there was a little bit of cuddling, and sex.
Chapter 8
She was out shopping in Bangor at the mall for last minute Christmas presents with Maya when she saw him walking away with another woman on his arm. She looked at Maya, “I can’t be seeing that. Am I seeing that?”
“Oh my. Come on. Let’s go. Before he turns around.” She grabbed Brandi’s shaking arm and pulled her towards the exit.
She wanted to yell at him. To fight and tell him that he broke her, but all she could do was cry. She followed her best friend out of the mall to their waiting cars, the shopping forgotten. Everything else forgotten.
“Maya. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“It’s okay, sweetie. You don’t need to worry about it right now. Let’s get you home and get something delicious and alcoholic in you for this.”
“I can’t. That’s why I asked you to come today. I found out I’m pregnant. And now I don’t know what to do.”
“We go home. That baby will be loved no matter what. You’re going to stay with me for the holidays. You don’t need to be alone.” Maya nudged her towards her car. “You get in there and follow me, you hear me. We’ll watch chick flicks and torture Brian until he leaves us alone and takes those boys with him.”
She climbed into her tiny car, and waited until Maya pulled out in front of her before she put her car in drive. It was snowing harder now, and she knew that she shouldn’t be driving. And she was crying, which would only make things worse. She didn’t see the other car that was sliding and going too fast as she was trying to follow Maya’s SUV through the parking lot. She didn’t feel anything when it hit her on the driver’s side, and she flipped into a snow bank. She didn’t feel the pain tear through her stomach and head as the steering column came at her. She only felt the tears that were still falling as darkness stole reality out from underneath her.
* * *
“Are you sure you don’t mind helping me? I could ask Dad to, but there’s no way that he’d get it right. I want it to be perfect.” Nadine grabbed his arm and laid her head on it as they walked into the department store. There was a tingling at the back of his head, but Travis ignored it and pushed through.
“Of course I don’t mind. I need to get some last minute stuff for Brandi anyway. She’s been a little on edge lately, and I think it’s cause this is our first Christmas together.” He wanted everything to be perfect.
“Are you going to tell her how you feel, finally?” The little minx had the audacity to pinch him, before taking off down the aisle.
For twenty-two, Nadine had grown into a beautiful young woman, and Travis knew that he would have to talk to her boyfriend soon about not breaking his cousin’s heart.
“Yeah. I think it’s time. I just worry, because if I tell her how I feel- she’ll have the power to hurt me. And no one has been able to do that since my ex.”
“You can say her name, you know? It’s been forever.”
“Fine. Jessica was nothing like Brandi. Where Brandi is light and shiny, Jessica was always dark and gloom. I love her. I just need to find the right way to say how I feel. It needs to be perfect.”
“You know that you have to let go of that old hate and stuff. They’re going on ten years together, and you’re the only one who can’t see that Jessica was never meant to be yours. Even I knew it and I was only twelve way back then. You deserve a chance. Don’t let your anger take it away from you.”
“You’re right. Damn, when did you get so smart?”
“I don’t know. Sometime around when you used to threaten to shoot all my boyfriends and when you showed me how everything is supposed to work. I listened.” She shrugged her shoulders. “What’s going on out there?” She pointed to the doors, where red and blue flashing lights were racing through the snow covered ground. “Looks like an accident.”
“Well shit. Let’s go see if I can help.” Travis pushed his way through the crowd of people that were gathering at the doors to the store, content to watch the calamity outside from the warmth inside. There was a car upside down, a car that looked just like Brandi’s. “Oh. What the hell?” He started running, ignoring Nadine and everything else as he made his way to the car. He couldn’t see her. There were firemen surrounding the car, but there wasn’t an ambulance.
“How many people were injured?” He barked out to the nearest man.
“I think they transported the driver of the car to the hospital, but she wasn’t alone. There was a brunette with a ton of tattoos with her. Why? Friend of yours?” The fireman looked at him, but Travis already had his phone out dialing before he could answer.
“Excuse me. You can’t be here anymore.” A police officer was at his back, but as soon as he saw Travis he stopped. “Hey, man. It’s been a long time. What’s going on?”
“Logan. Thank fuck. Do you know where they took the driver of the car? I need to find her. It’s Brandi, man.”
“Oh, I don’t know. The ambulance dispatches themselves. If you give me a minute, I’ll
see if I can find out.” The other man stepped away while Travis kept hoping Brandi would answer. After her phone went to voicemail for the fifth time, he broke down in tears.
“Please, baby. Answer the phone. I need to know you’re alright. Please, just call me back.” When he hung up, he racked his brain for what she had said her plans for the day were. Something to do with shopping… and then it hit him. Maya. She had said she was going shopping with Maya.
Relief poured through him as he picked her name from his phone book. “Where is she, Maya? What hospital did they take her to? What happened in the first place? What the hell is happening!?” He was frantic, and started talking as soon as the other line connected. Logan hadn’t gotten back to him yet with any information about where they took Brandi or what her injuries were.
“Why do you care, asshole? We saw you with her.” She seethed into the phone. The words biting at his brain.
“You saw me with who? What? What in the hell are you talking about?” Travis hadn’t been with anyone else since the day of the storm, Brandi was it for him.
He hadn’t even wanted to come to the stupid mall but his cousin was staying in Maine after graduating a semester early, and she wanted to get some last minute gifts.
“The woman who was hanging all over you. Now leave me alone. My best friend needs me.” She hung up on him before he had a chance to explain, and he was left staring at his phone while the snow continued to fall around him.
It took him two hours to find out where she was and by the time he made it to the right hospital they had already taken her into surgery. Maya was in the waiting room, her face red and tears falling down her face. She didn’t even look up at him as he approached her, so he sat next to her and took her hand, silent even though all he wanted to do was shake her and ask what was happening.
“Did you know?” She whispered to him, squeezing his hand in hers.
Welcome to Serenity Harbor Page 41
