by Sophia Lynn
She whimpered, overwhelmed by how he ran heated hands over her body, how she sheathed him, how very good it was. She could feel herself tensing around him even as she rocked back against his body, and she was aware of how she whispered his name and how she squirmed back against him for more.
Eddy yelped as Travis leaned down to scoop her up, bringing her bare back to his chest as he thrust up into her. The changed position, the sound of his harsh and needy breath in her ear, the way he moved her as if the only thing in the world that mattered was her pleasure and his, they all sent a low and increasingly heavy throb of pleasure through her body. It started from the base of her, where they joined, and radiated in heat until she was nothing but need and warmth from her head to her toes.
Without hesitation, she lost herself to the sensations, to Travis's body thrusting up into her and to her own hoarse cries of need and wonder.
"Come on, sweet girl," he growled in her ear. "Come on. I'll take you there, all you have to do is trust me. All you have to do is want it, and I swear that I will give it to you, come on..."
She might have asked what he meant, but then the waves of pleasure grew even more powerful, shocking in their strength and in how they took her over. It felt as if her body was moving without her willing it, and the only thing that mattered was getting more.
"Please, please, Travis," she moaned, her hands closing into fists. "More, please..."
Travis swore, thrusting into her even harder, and then she was utterly lost, her body tightening with every muscle clenched and then exploding like a star going supernova. The only thing she could see was light, and the only thing she could be was Travis's.
Eddy shuddered with wild abandon in Travis's arms, and it wasn't until she was almost done, just a wrung out pile of nerves and sensations, that Travis gave one final push into her, filling her, clutching her even harder as he did so.
The way he held her touched something inside her that the fading pleasure had never begun to reach. He held her as if he would never let her go. He held her as if he had found her again after a long time without her, and now he wasn't going to lose her again.
They both slowly returned to earth, and Travis pulled her to slump next to him on the chaise, Eddy's legs pulled up and her body nestled under his arm. At some point, she realized he had removed his expensive jacket and draped it over her shoulders to keep her warm.
"Hey," he murmured when she looked up. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," she murmured. "Better than. How about you?"
He looked down at her as if surprised at being asked, and then he nodded.
"Better than I have been for a long time."
There was something heavy there that Eddy thought needed to be teased out at some point. She almost asked more, but long experience told her that Travis wasn't ready for that yet. He had never been amazing at having things pried out of him. It only made him hold on tighter, clam up more. No, when he was ready, he would come out with it. She could be patient for the moment, especially when being patient was so pleasurable.
"So," she said. "What do you think of the chaise?"
There was a beat, and then Travis broke into laughter.
"Are you serious?" he asked. "Are you really serious with that right now?"
"I'm a small business owner, and I have learned that no matter what the situation, I should always be closing," she said peaceably. "And honestly, there is just a lot to recommend about this chaise. It's sturdy, it matches the aesthetic that we've tentatively laid out for your office, it's a dream of a color..."
Travis hugged her, still laughing, and there was something different in that kind of affection than there had been during their lovemaking. That was passion and fire, things that took her breath away. This was something different, and she wanted to bask in its warmth forever.
"I'll take it," he said. "I'll take it. I just refuse to have it in the office. Christ, can you imagine? I put that in the waiting room or something, and every time I meet a client, I think about..."
"I was thinking it could go in your own office," Eddy said serenely. "You're a high powered executive type. When you need a break from the stresses of the workday, you can go have a lie down...a little nap, a little time for you. Nothing wrong with that."
"If I start thinking about what we were doing here while I'm at work, I might as well just go home," Travis said. "That's just going to be the whole day shot."
Before Eddy could answer, a chime rang, telling her there was a customer at the door, and she hurriedly went to put on her clothes. Her hair was short enough it would likely pass muster no matter what Travis had done with it, and well, she was a small business owner after all. No opportunity too small.
"Get yourself in order," she said, stepping into her shoes. "I'll make sure they don't come down for a bit, but um, maybe put a sold sticker on the chaise, okay? Even if you don't want it..."
"I want it," Travis said gravely. "It's mine. I've marked it. I will fight anyone who tries to take it from me."
Eddy laughed, heading up the stairs, and she had to quell the silly girlish excitement that fluttered in her heart.
Chapter Seven
Travis
In the end, Eddy convinced Travis to put the chaise in the office after all, after a thorough cleaning. It was a gorgeous piece, but as he had suspected it would, it distracted him every time he went to sit on it or hell, even when it glanced at him too long.
It wasn't that they had had good – all right, mind-blowing – sex on it. If that was the only thing, he could have coped just fine. He didn't make a habit out of sex in his office, but it had happened a few times in the last few years. It hadn't been a problem.
Whenever Travis looked at the chaise, however, he didn't think about sex with Eddy. At least, he didn't only think about sex with Eddy. He thought about how long her family had run the Recollection, and how she seemed to be a part of it, ready and willing to take up the banner. He thought of how she had introduced him to the piece as if there was a relationship there, and he thought about how firm she was in her conviction that he needed to be a part of the process.
It was kind of a lot to have on his plate when he was trying to work.
Still he managed, more or less, until around three when his phone rang, and he put aside some paperwork to answer it.
"Eddy, hey, what's up?"
"What's up is that Sofia bit a kid at daycare."
For a moment, the words didn't register in the least. He had been spending the evenings over at Eddy and Sofia's place, getting to know Sofia, and she was a genuinely sweet and calm kid. She could ask the most cutting questions at the most unexpected times, she had green eyes that felt as if they could cut right through him, and always, she was gentle.
"Our Sofia?" he asked in bemusement, and Eddy snorted.
"No, the Sofia that always wants me to buy her Dresden shepherdess collection, yes, our Sofia. The daycare wants to meet with Sofia's parents. I'm heading over there right now. Are you coming?"
Something closed a heavy hand around Travis's heart.
"Do you want me to come?" he asked, and Eddy paused, her silence deep through the phone line.
"I think this is up to you," she said. "This is part of the deal, not just sitting around and playing with ponies, right? It's the middle of your workday and mine. Our kid is in trouble. What are you going to do?"
"Be there, of course," Travis responded, because doing otherwise hadn't occurred to him. "Do I need to call a lawyer?"
"Probably not, but man am I glad that's on the table for you. See you there."
Travis got in the car and managed to meet Eddy in the parking lot at the day care. She was outwardly calm, but there was a halo of tension around her. She was as tense as a piano wire, but she accepted him squeezing her shoulder.
"It'll be fine, okay?" he said quietly, and she gave him a tight smile.
The woman who met them in the cramped little office space was a few years younger than they were with a very tired look in
her face.
"My daughter," Eddy said immediately. "Where is she, is she hurt...?"
"I promise you, Ms. Baker, Sofia's fine, we just needed to—"
"I want to see her," Eddy insisted. "If she was hurt, I swear—"
She subsided when Travis put a hand on her shoulder.
"You're sure she's fine?" he asked, and the woman nodded.
"Very. And up front, I want to reassure you that Sofia is not in any trouble. She actually stepped in to prevent another child from being bullied."
Travis blinked.
"Really?"
"She did. We've been having behavioral issues with one of the other children for a while, and he was picking on one of Sofia's friends. This time, Sofia didn't hesitate and, well. No harm was done, and we will of course be separating the children out after this, but it is policy to inform the parents immediately and to send all involved home for the day..."
"Sofia... bit another kid to protect her friend?" asked Travis again, and Eddy rubbed her hands over her face.
"This is what I get for reading her stories about people being brave and standing up to bullies," she said wryly.
"Sofia is with one of the aides right now, and I want to reiterate, she is not in trouble," the woman said, and Travis smiled at her before he and Eddy went to find their daughter.
When they did find her, she ran from the aide to wrap her arms around her mother's legs, hiccuping a soft sob.
"I thought the owner said she wasn't hurt," Travis snapped, and the aide gave him a baffled look.
"She's not," she said. "She's just been sniffling a little for the last few minutes."
Eddy and Travis both crouched down, and Sofia went from Eddy to Travis. It hurt his heart in a way he was completely unprepared for when her hot little face was pressed against his shoulder, when her tiny arms clutched him as if she were drowning.
"Awww, Sofia, what's the matter?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
"I don't want Mama to be disappointed," she wailed, the word almost too big for her small mouth. "I have to go home from school, and... and..."
Eddy stroked her daughter's dark hair, and something about the love and worry and amusement in her face hit Travis like a cannon ball.
"Honey, I'm never going to be disappointed in you for protecting someone else. It's okay. It's okay. We're here because we love you. Come on. Let's go."
Still sniffling a little, Sofia took both Eddy and Travis's hands, and they walked out into the sunshine.
"So how about I go get some ice cream and meet you back at the house?"
"Let's make it the Recollection," Eddy said, making a face. "I should be open for another four hours, but it's going to be a quiet day, and Sofia likes playing with the tags."
"They tell you what things cost," Sofia supplied, brightening up, and Travis laughed.
"Sounds like a date to me," he said. "That'll be one vanilla for me, one butter pecan for Eddy, and... let me think, Sofia, what was it you liked? Bugs and peanut ice cream, right?"
As he had hoped she would, she squealed a no, shaking his hand imperiously.
"Noooooo, not bugs and peanut!"
"Mud and leaves?"
"Noooooo, Daddy, it's strawberry!"
Every time she called him that, the world made a little more sense.
"Got it, back with the ice cream in a while."
As he turned to go, he caught Eddy's expression out of the corner of his eye, something strange and lovely, but then he kept walking because, well, he had some ice cream to get.
“So yeah, that's why we can't hit or bite people,” Travis said over the remnants of ice cream a little later. He sat on the big armchair at the Recollection, and Sofia sat attentively on the matching ottoman, her head tilted to one side and her green eyes bright as she considered what he’d said. She had been quiet and attentive as he made his explanation, and Travis at once felt both proud that his words were having an effect and vaguely terrified of getting it wrong.
“So you've never hit or bit anyone?” she asked at last, and Travis's smile froze on his face.
Behind Sofia at the counter, Eddy was unpacking some new boxes of acquisitions to file them, and she gave him an interested look over Sofia's head. Damn her, she gave absolutely no hint of coming to his rescue with some kind of supplementary explanation, and on top of it, she would know very well if he lied. He was never violent, never got into any trouble, but he had been a scrapper as a teen, and all right, maybe he had gotten into a few fights in Chicago when he first went there. They were all in the past, and no one had ever been seriously hurt, but Travis knew that kind of nuance would likely be lost on a tiny child like Sofia.
“Well,” he said, flailing a little as Eddy put down her pen to see what he was going to say, “well, yes, unfortunately, I have been in fights.”
“Was that the only way you could protect yourself?” asked Sofia, her eyes wide. Both Eddy and Travis had been very clear that she was allowed to protect herself. No one wanted that instinct stifled, and he was glad they were agreed upon that.
“No,” he said reluctantly, and when Sofia frowned trying to fit all of this information together, he reached over to take her small hand.
“Look, when I got into fights, it was a mistake. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing, and I wasn't thinking about how bad things could get. What I'm trying to do now is to stop you from making the same mistakes.”
He smiled at her tentatively.
“Wouldn't it be much cooler to make better and more interesting mistakes than I did?” he asked, and Sofia giggled.
“It's like when I tell you not to touch a hot stove,” Eddy said. “You trust me, so you know that I want the best for you. I'm trying to save you from figuring out how badly a burn hurts without your having to actually get burned.”
“Ooh, I understand,” said Sofia, and Travis shot Eddy a wry look over her head.
“Thanks for finally joining the discussion,” he said, and she grinned at him.
“It's good to see how you handle things,” she said. “It's important.”
He made a face at her, which she returned, and Sofia giggled and tried one of her own.
Travis had traveled all over the world since he had left Springwell. He had made more money than most people could dream of, he had done a lot. And yet he couldn't remember the last time he felt as accomplished as he did now, sitting in a small-town antiques shop, helping his tiny sweet girl figure out one of life's little wrinkles.
When it hit seven, Eddy wrapped things up and turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
“You coming over tonight?” she asked, and he smiled, taking her hand and kissing it.
“Of course I am. I'm making chicken parmesan, remember?”
He was staying over most nights of the week now. Eddy had given him his own drawer and a section of the closet for his suits. He was getting used to maneuvering her tiny kitchen, and in the morning, he got to wake up to his two favorite people in the world. Who would have thought it?
Dinner was lively, and then since Travis had cooked, Eddy cleaned up. From the table, going over some work he had put off earlier, he watched Eddy do the dishes as Sofia insisted on helping, and saw how Eddy let things take way longer so she could show Sofia how to carefully wipe the silverware and pans dry.
After that, there was some television time, and when Sofia started to yawn, it was time for bed. Travis even liked it when she whined a little and then gave in without much problem. This was something that felt as if it was embedding itself in him, a process that he would look to in other moments of his life when he wanted peace.
“You're good with her,” Eddy said that night as they changed for bed. “You're patient.”
“If you think she's demanding, you've never seen a group of investors who can't decide whether they want in or out,” he said with a smile. “She's a piece of cake compared to grown adults who don't know what they want.”
“Still. You're good. I wanted to say that. Not
everyone is. I wasn't.”
He blinked as she climbed into bed next to him, warm and soft and perfect in her over-sized T-shirt. He wore a comfortable pair of old boxers, and they pressed their legs together under the covers. They had their own sides of her bed now, he had his own pillow. It felt good.
“You're an amazing mother...”
“Well, I do my best. But the first few months, even the first few years, there were these moments where I was sure I couldn't do it. I was going to ruin this tiny human being. I was messing up. She would yell, I would yell back. I cried a lot. I called my dad for help every day, and Sheridan as well. I was just overwhelmed.”
“You were alone,” he said quietly, stroking her hair as she laid her head on his shoulder. “You're an amazing mother now, and that's what matters. Sofia's amazing.”
Eddy let out a long breath, and he realized that she had been afraid to tell him that.
“It's all right,” he said. “You've done amazing work with her. She's loving, she's bright. She's so smart it's scary, and she's got that great big heart. What else could a parent want?”
Eddy sighed with relief, hugging him more firmly.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Imagine how she's going to do when we move up to Chicago.”
Travis wasn't prepared for Eddy to stiffen or for her to sit up, switching the lamp back on to look at him.
“Say again?” she asked, and he gave her a quizzical look.
“When we move up to Chicago. It's probably a little late to do it for this school year, and kindergarten's basically daycare anyway, I think. We can do some searches and get her in some place really good when she starts first grade. Maybe the suburbs, but there are some very good private—”
“Stop. I need to— why would Sofia be going to school in Chicago?”
“Because that's where I live,” Travis said in surprise, and Eddy edged away from him on the bed, as if she had spotted a snake and needed to move very slowly to figure out how to get away.
“No... it's... what are you talking about, Travis? I thought you moved to Springwell.”
