AintNoAngel (7 page)

After a few seconds he collapsed on top of her and Jessie
closed her eyes, her arms and legs wrapped around him as their bodies cooled
and their hearts slowed.

Hours later they lay in his bed, the light shining in dimly
from the street lamps outside. Jessie was sprawled on his chest as Travis ran
his fingers up and down her back.

Before long, curiosity got the better of her. “When did you
get your tattoo?”

He was quiet for a long moment and she wondered if he wasn’t
going to answer her.

“I was eighteen and I had just found out that I had been
adopted.”

She traced her fingers over it. “Do you regret it?”

“No, it’s a symbol of my youth. I grew up the day that my
adopted parents told me about my real parents.”

“Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps.”

He was quiet and Jessie hoped that she hadn’t pushed too
hard. She didn’t want to make him upset but she wanted to know more about him.

“I went to see them that day,” he began. “My real parents.
They had a big office in the city. I just took off and didn’t say where I was
going. It took me a couple days to get there. Plenty of time for me to think
about what would happen.”

He paused and Jessie knew it was painful for him to talk
about. “What happened?” she gently prodded.

He sighed. “You aren’t going to leave this alone, are you?”

She smiled at him. “Probably not.”

He reached out for her hand and laced their fingers
together.

“When I got there they wouldn’t see me.”

Jessie sucked in a breath. She didn’t understand how some
people could be so cruel.

“But as I was leaving my father caught me at the door. He
said that he was sorry but they just couldn’t deal with a kid. I think he was
surprised to see that I was practically an adult. But it didn’t change
anything.”

“I’m sorry, Travis.”

“Don’t be sorry. It was a long time ago.” He closed his eyes
and Jessie leaned up to kiss his cheek before settling back on his shoulder.

“I look just like him,” he whispered.

Jessie lay awake for a long time, thinking about what he had
told her. He may say that it was in the past but he still wasn’t over it. He
was stubborn and she wondered if he would ever be able to leave it behind and
reconnect with the parents who raised him.

She would give anything to have her own parents back.

Wednesday dawned bright and clear. It was going to be
another scorcher. Jessie made several phone calls and did some paperwork while
the guys loaded the last of the supplies they needed for the day into the
trucks.

Travis had been adamant when they had gotten back from his
apartment Tuesday morning that they sleep separately. Needless to say it had
put a strain on their relationship.

He had made himself scarce all day Tuesday and then had
avoided her all day today too. He kept himself busy, first with setting up the
call-trace equipment on her phones and then taking it upon himself to be the
resident handyman.

He had fixed a window in the little-used dining room, rehung
the hinges on the greenhouse door, realigned a drawer in the kitchen and lord
knew what else.

But he certainly hadn’t been coming to her to ask what
needed to be done so that only left one person—Betty.

He insisted on sleeping on the old, lumpy couch in the
downstairs den. She had tried her best to get him to sleep in the spare room
next to hers. He said he wanted to be down there if she needed him but she
would have felt much better if he was right next to her. Either in the spare
room or in her bed.

It should have shocked her that she let herself rely on him
this fast. After all, she had already learned this lesson.

But Travis was different.

Cyrus had viewed her as a possession, a pretty thing that
gave him a challenge. But Travis on the other hand looked at her like a real
man looked at a woman.

Oh, she had no delusions that he would suddenly change his
mind and want something more. But if sex was all he wanted then she would be
happy with that.

Sex with Travis was something that she had never before
experienced and she wanted more of it. The only problem was he insisted they
didn’t do it again.

But maybe that was the point. They had no pretenses between
them. They both knew what the situation was and there were no expectations. It
offered her a chance to just do it.

Without the usual doubts that crept in when she was looking
for a prospective partner.

She understood his reasons for not wanting to be distracted
and honestly it was flattering to think that she did that to him. But she
didn’t want to regret not taking advantage. It was a double-edged sword.

But she was in a constant state of arousal. She couldn’t
concentrate on anything. All that was going through her mind were the images of
Travis on top of her, reflected in his mirrors.

She dreamed of him all night long, dark, deep dreams that
left her breathing heavy and unsatisfied. She had taken a few extra minutes to
decide what to wear that morning.

A stroke of luck had produced a slim blue tank top that
wasn’t too over-the-top obvious and she had put on her most comfy jeans that
rode low on her hips. But if Travis had given her a second glance at breakfast,
she hadn’t noticed it.

Leaning back in her desk chair, she knew she should be doing
paperwork.

Brad came into her office and dropped a stack of mail on her
desk.

“We are all loaded up, boss. Marc and I will head over and
Travis can ride with you if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll take a quick look at the mail and
we will be right behind you.”

Brad left and Jessie turned to the mail. The usual junk and
bills. But her heart stuttered when she saw another battered envelope addressed
to Jessica Parker.

Might as well get it over with, she told herself, and
grabbed it to go on the back porch to read it.

* * * * *

Travis finished helping the guys load the supplies and waved
as they drove off. He was to ride with the boss. Glancing around and not seeing
her, he decided to take a quick look around. He headed to the house first and
checked for access points and exits. No harm in being prepared. He had already
looked once as he was fixing little things but he hadn’t really looked around
the outside of the house yet.

Following a small path, he stopped cold next to the back
porch when he heard the soft sobbing. He stayed frozen for a moment, trying to
place the voice, but it was too muffled to tell for sure. Coming around the
corner, he saw Jessie with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

She was still sobbing and in her hand was a piece of paper.
Another threat from Cyrus he was sure. He reminded himself that this was just a
job as he walked up the stairs. Her head lifted and the despair in her eyes
tugged at something inside his chest. He didn’t like to see this strong woman
brought to tears by an asshole who wasn’t worth her time.

Before he realized what he was doing he scooped her up and
sat in her chair with her in his lap. Her body stiffened and she drew in a
sharp breath but after a minute she relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder.
He tried not to dwell too much on the fact that it fit perfectly there.

She stopped crying after a few minutes and his hand reached
around to rub her gently on the back, soft, soothing strokes. She released a
sigh and shifted so her head was tucked under his chin. It felt right, and he
could smell the sweet scent of her shampoo and his fingers came up to play with
the ends of her hair.

But then he started noticing other things, like her ass cupped
in his lap and her boob pressed against him. Oh shit, his cock sprang to life,
hard and hot in seconds. With no way of hiding it he looked down at her
apologetically.

* * * * *

Jessie was surprised when he pulled her into his arms and
held her while she cried. He didn’t ask any questions that she couldn’t answer
and she greedily soaked up the feel of him. She had no idea how long they sat
there like that before she felt a hard heat under her bottom and through her
jeans.

Lifting her head to look at him, she said, “There seems to
be an uprising going on here.”

His mouth lifted in a smirk. “Seems that way.”

She knew it was evil but she couldn’t help shimmying just a
little in his lap. His eyes closed briefly and a low, soft groan escaped his
lips. The sound caught her off guard and it gave her belly a slow roll.

She took a few seconds to gaze at him up close in the
sunshine. Long, dark lashes framed his gray eyes that had flecks of green in
them. His jaw and cheeks were covered in dark stubble. Her fingers lifted and
she traced them along his chin and down his neck then up to run over his smooth
head.

His gaze roamed over her face and down over her breasts and
her nipples hardened in response, pushing very obviously against her tank top.
His eyes shot back to hers. “Seems you have a little of your own uprising going
on.”

Chuckling with him, she laid her head back on his chest. “What
do you suggest we do about that, Travis?”

He remained quiet until she looked back at him. His stare
was pained. “You know we can’t do anything about it, Jessie girl.”

Suddenly it came over her what she was doing, trying to
seduce a man who didn’t want to be seduced. She had asked him to protect her
and she knew he would do it and she shouldn’t be asking for more. Leaping from
his lap, she dashed into the house and up the stairs to her room, slamming the
door behind her.

* * * * *

Travis sat for a minute, breathing heavy and trying to
regain control of his raging hard-on. She was so tempting he didn’t know how he
was going to hold out against her. He wanted her, bad, and she wanted him too
but he couldn’t let his head get all muddled with a female right now.

He had figured that being with her a couple times would ease
the sharp edge of need but really it had only made it worse.

He needed to stick to the plan.

Catch Cyrus and somehow prove he had murdered Candy Marsh
and keep him from ever getting near Jessie again. Then he could move on and
leave all this behind him.

Running his hands over his head, he took several deep
breaths and wondered what she had been so upset about. He would never forget
the lost look on her face.

Glancing down, he saw the sheet of paper that she had been
clutching lying on the porch floor. He read it.

From Cyrus, obviously, but no signature and it gave no clue
where he was. His eyebrows shot up and he whistled through his teeth at the
amount he was asking for. Ten grand. It was a lot, but nowhere near worth a
human life, let alone Jessie’s.

Cyrus was a bastard and Travis was either going to send him
to jail or to the morgue. Then Jessie would be free too.

Free to have a life and to meet someone, get married and
have some kids.

But when he pictured her with someone else his blood went
hot and raging.

He had hurt her by turning her down but she didn’t know how
much he was suffering too. Maybe he should just explain his reasons a little
better.

It might break the ice that had built up between them this
weekend. After all he shouldn’t be avoiding someone he was trying to stay close
to so he could protect her.

Going inside and up the stairs, he went to her bedroom door
and pushed it open. He stopped dead in his tracks. His still-half-hard cock
came back full force at the sight before him.

* * * * *

Jessie had been embarrassed for all of two minutes before
she got pissed. Who needed him anyway? She was perfectly capable of taking care
of things herself. And she was about to prove it.

She was still hot and bothered from sitting in his lap and
feeling his hard cock under her ass. She pushed her jeans down her hips and,
leaving them at her knees, lay down on the bed. Popping her breasts out of the
top of her tank, she pinched her nipples and imagined his tongue on her
instead.

Moaning his name, she ran her fingers down her belly and
between her legs. She was already wet and dripping and her fingers slid over
her sweet spot. Oh how she wanted him. Flickers went over in her mind of him
with his shirt off, loading the mulch, as she continued to rub, the image
taking her higher.

She rubbed back and forth, her fingers going faster and her
hips coming off the bed.

“Travis…” she groaned as her body quaked and she reached her
peak, exploding from within and making her legs tremble.

Coming back down slowly, she realized that her fingers were
a poor substitute for Travis. Sitting up, she tried to jiggle her boobs back in
place.

Then she saw him frozen in the doorway and she could feel
the heat blaze immediately over her face. Oh shit! He really did not just watch
her do that. Oh. My. God. She had panted out his name!

The last thing she wanted was for him to know how much she
thought about him and use it in some way against her.

She didn’t know what to do and it seemed neither did he. He
hadn’t moved a muscle.

“I… Um…” She just didn’t know what to say. She had just gotten
caught with her pants down, literally.

Jerking the blanket up off the bed, she covered herself. It
seemed to snap him out of it because he blinked.

Clearing his throat, he took a step farther in. His eyes
darkened, his jaw clenched and for a moment she thought he was mad. Her mind
scrambled for a way out of the most awkward situation of her life.

He appeared to come to a decision and, nodding his head
once, he entered the rest of the way in and kicked the door closed behind him.

“What are you doing?” Her voice was high and nervous even to
her own ears.

He didn’t say anything as he stalked to stand over her bed,
catching her eye as his hand closed over the blanket she was holding to her
chest. Slowly he pulled it from her grasp, his eyes never leaving hers, giving
her plenty of time to stop him.

Why, she didn’t know.

Grasping her hand, he pulled her to her feet in front of
him. He bent his head and ran his nose along her neck, sending little shivers
of awareness through her.

“I shouldn’t be doing this but I’m finding you very hard to
resist. And I wouldn’t dream of leaving a woman hanging after she moaned my
name like you just did.”

His hands were at her sides now, his fingers trailing along
her skin, leaving her panting. She was finding it hard to breathe and her legs
were still unsteady. She couldn’t bring herself to look at his face,
embarrassed beyond belief.

“Hey.” His voice trembled along her skin and, lifting her
chin, he captured her gaze. “Don’t be embarrassed. I can’t tell you that I’m
sorry but I can tell you that it was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jessie didn’t believe him. Not for a minute. But she couldn’t
help her body’s reaction to his words.

“You don’t believe me?” He was searching her face, looking
for an answer when she still remained mute. “Do you want me to prove it?”

Did she? She wasn’t sure but before she gave herself too
much time to think about it she nodded.

“Say it, Jessie. Do you want me to prove it?” His fingers
held her chin in place so she couldn’t look away.

Damn him, she didn’t want to admit it. He had turned her
down not a half hour ago and now he had changed his mind? But it was not the
time to back down.

“Yes, prove it.” She said it like the challenge it was and
she watched, mesmerized, as his gray eyes darkened and lowered to her exposed
breasts. She flushed again as she felt her nipples go hard and puckered.

Then his mouth closed over one tight peak and she grabbed
his shoulder for support. Her other hand came up as he moved to the other side,
her knees went weak and he pushed her backward on the bed.

Surprised, she bounced once before he was on her, lavishing
generous attention on her breasts. Back and forth, one peak and then the next,
everything else faded away and she moaned loud and low.

Making his way down her belly, he stopped to stick his
tongue in her navel, causing everything to clench.

“I like you moaning my name. I’m going to make you do it
again.” His mouth got lower and hovered over her little patch of strawberry
curls as he spoke. His warm, wet tongue connected with her clit and her hips
jerked off the bed.