‘I’m sorry, I kind of forgot myself th—’
‘Shh,’ Travis held a finger up to her lips. ‘No more talking.’ His hands were already sliding to the back of her head, closing the distance between them. His lips brushed against hers, parting them, delving deep within and she sank into him.
Her hands wound up around his neck as she pushed her body into his, desperate for more contact. His lips left hers to trail kisses down her neck, his hands moving down, lightly teasing her breasts. She groaned, her nipples hardening beneath the attention, begging for relief. Finally he grabbed hold of them, pressing his palms flat against her nipples but there was too much fabric between them.
Together they pulled off her t-shirt, made short work of her bra and finally he was touching her, tasting her, driving her so wild she almost sank to the floor. He guided her towards the lounge, his tongue lavishing her breasts as he slid her out of her jeans. And then she was free and his fingers were against her, stroking her through the silk of her panties, working her up, the blood surging in her veins until she thought she wouldn’t bear it anymore.
‘Now. I need you now,’ she gasped, reaching for his pants, tearing at the fabric, desperate to feel his firmness inside her.
‘What about—?’ He started to pant, even as he tugged himself free. She almost lost her train of thought at the sight of his rigidness, so thick and hard. She just wanted to…
‘Mmmm,’ he groaned as she wrapped her lips around him, his hands sinking into her hair and pushing her closer. Delight shivered through her at his obvious pleasure, and she ran her tongue down his sheath, sucking him deep inside her mouth.
She felt him grow, felt him rocking against her and she knew he was losing his mind and wouldn’t last much longer. She sucked hard and deep, and left him there, as she bent down, reaching for her jeans, for the little package in her pocket. She tore the plastic and slid the condom down his rock hard member, her body turning to liquid as he shivered beneath her touch.
And then he was on top of her again, pushing her back onto the sofa, his mouth on hers, his wicked, wicked fingers wreaking havoc on her. He slid his hand beneath her knickers, sliding the fragment of fabric from her before parting her legs with his, teasing her, tempting her, until finally sliding inside her.
His lips found hers again, devouring her, as his body wound her tight. She whimpered, unable to stop the sounds of pleasure escaping as he moved inside her, pounding her, stretching her, taking her higher and higher.
Her eyes locked with his, and she knew he was close, could feel him building up, could feel him… and then the world exploded around her and she forgot everything.
‘Do you always have condoms in your pocket?’ Travis asked lightly as they lay on the couch afterwards.
‘Well, I might have come here with a bit of a plan,’ Kelli answered, twining her fingers through the light spattering of hair on his chest.
‘And how did that plan work out for you?’
‘No complaints, so far,’ she added.
‘So far?’
‘Well, you know, it could just have been the leather,’ she teased, tapping the lounge beneath them.
‘I don’t think so,’ he declared, propping himself up on one elbow next to her.
‘And how would you know?’ she laughed at his affronted expression.
‘How about I prove it to you?’ he whispered, running a finger down her torso, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.
‘You think you could?’ she asked huskily. Instead of answering her, he slid off the lounge, carried her into his bedroom and set about proving just how wrong she was.
‘Okay, so you were right. It wasn’t just the leather,’ Kelli conceded a while later, as she snuggled, beyond satisfied, against his lushly pillowed bed.
‘Haven’t you learnt yet? I’m always right.’
‘Nooo. Not always. This once,’ she conceded.
‘And the snoring,’ he added, holding two fingers in the air.
‘Okay, so twice. That doesn’t mean always.’
‘Trust me, it’s always,’ he said, laughing as she knocked his hands down.
‘Somehow, I don’t think I can,’ Kelli assured him. ‘Although there was something else you were right about.’
‘Really?’ he asked distractedly, rolling up onto his side so he could trace swirly little patterns across her stomach. He must have read something in her expression though, because he stopped swirling his fingers and focused on her eyes. ‘What’s that?’ he asked, cautiously.
She dropped his gaze, looking down at the fingers now resting on her stomach, fortifying her courage.
‘Jimmy,’ she whispered.
He didn’t say anything after her, just lay there watching her, giving her the time to put her thoughts, her words in order. ‘It wasn’t my fault. I can see that now. It means a lot that you…that you cared enough to prove it to me.’
‘I just hated seeing you in all that pain, especially when it was unnecessary. Grieving is hard enough, but blaming yourself on top of that…’ He stopped, his eyes intense as they looked into hers. ‘I’m glad you’ve realised this.’
Kelli looked down at her hands. ‘Me too.’
They fell silent, content with each other’s company; happy to lie in peace and listen to each other’s breathing.
A melodious ring broke the silence.
‘What’s that?’ Kelli asked, but Travis was already rolling out of bed.
‘My phone,’ he answered, pulling on a pair of boxer shorts before heading into the living room to find it. Kelli followed him out, slipping back into her clothes as he picked up the vibrating device.
‘It’s Sean. Do you mind if I take this?’ Travis asked, though he was already settling into the lounge, ready for a chat.
‘No, go ahead,’ Kelli smiled. ‘I might put together some dinner,’ she said, moving away so she could give him some privacy.
‘Don’t go,’ Travis grabbed her hand as she walked past, tugging her back into the room. ‘I’d like you to meet him, if you want to?’ she could hear the hesitancy in his voice, and knew how big a step this was for him.
‘That…Yes,’ she mouthed, nodding fiercely. He wanted her to meet his son! One more tug on her hand and she dropped onto the couch beside him.
Travis slid the green answer button across the screen and then hit the icon to put the phone on speaker.
‘Hi, Sean.’
‘Hey, Dad. Guess what?’
‘What?’
‘You’re mad and I’m not,’ the young boy said before bursting into peals of laughter.
‘That’s a good one,’ Travis said, chuckling in response. ‘Where’d you learn it?’
‘Steve got me this book of jokes. He reckons I could be a comedian when I grow up.’
‘Maybe, son, maybe,’ Travis answered. Kelli searched his eyes, looking for a hint of the pain he’d had the first time Sean had spoken about Steve, but there was none. ‘Hey, Sean.’
‘Yeah, Dad?’
‘I’ve got someone here with me.’
‘Is it Aunty Ana?’
‘No, Aunty Ana is at work. It’s…it’s a friend of mine. Her name’s Kelli.’
‘Hi, Sean,’ Kelli burst in quickly, not wanting to eavesdrop a moment longer.
‘Hi… Kelli,’ Sean answered, though he sounded a little shy.
‘So that was a pretty cool joke you just told, but I bet you haven’t heard this one: What do clouds wear under their shorts?’
‘Um…I don’t know.’
‘Thunderpants,’ she answered, grinning at her own cleverness. Well, mostly grinning because she actually remembered the punch line.
Beside her, Travis groaned. ‘All right, we might leave the jokes to someone else.’
‘What? I thought it was pretty good. What did you think, Sean?’
‘Sorry, Kelli, but that was so lame. Like, lamer even than Dad’s jokes. And they’re really bad.’
‘Really? How bad are we talking?’ Kel
li asked. ‘Dumb and dumber bad?’
‘Much worse,’ he assured her.
‘Lucky he doesn’t get paid to tell jokes then.’
‘That’s right,’ Sean said between spurts of laughter.
Score! She got the boy to laugh.
Feeling more relaxed now, the three of them chatted away for a while longer, Kelli and Travis snuggled up on the lounge together as Sean told them all the exciting news after his day at Bondi Beach. The conversation was winding down to an end when Sean suddenly got serious.
‘Um, Kelli, are you…are you my Dad’s girlfriend?’
‘Oh…I…’ Kelli froze like a startled fox. They’d never talked about it. Of course they hadn’t. They’d only just done it, but she couldn’t say that to his son.
‘Yes, she is.’ Travis answered for her, and she felt the final chunk of ice in her heart melt.
It was hard for Kelli to maintain a normal conversation after that, so she was pleased when the round of good nights started. Once Travis disconnected the call, he turned towards her, his eyes worried.
‘I hope you don’t mind I told Sean you’re my girlfriend. I know it’s been quick. Too quick, even. But the way I feel, I just…’ He broke away, and she could see the faintest glimmer of a tear in his eye.
He pulled her hands to his mouth scattering kisses across her knuckles before looking deep into her eyes again. ‘I think I love you,’ he whispered all in a rush. ‘I’ve never felt this way before. Never this strong or this fast or—’
‘I know. I feel it too,’ Kelli answered, her heart swelling so large, she thought it might burst with happiness. ‘I love you, too,’ she added.
His doubts disappeared with her words, and the happiness in his eyes mirrored hers.
‘And what you said before,’ she whispered in his ear, ‘About me being your girlfriend.’ Concern flickered in his eyes again—just for a second. ‘That was just perfect.’
The End
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ISBN: 9780857991881
Title: A Heart Worth Mending
Copyright © 2014 by Amanda Canham
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 4/132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2060.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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