Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 (19 page)

He walked over and caught her face between his hands. “Not silly at all.” He kissed her. Her lips were soft and plump and exactly the right size. When she leaned into the kiss, he enfolded her in his arms and took the kiss deeper, enjoying the tangle of their tongues. He soaked up her taste like a smoker’s first drag on a cigarette. He pulled back to look into her eyes, now dark with desire. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“So am I.”

He took her hand and led her back to his bedroom.

Nervous nausea had filled Caroline’s stomach when she’d pulled into Travis’s garage. She’d mentally crossed her fingers that his invitation to come back for a few days was sincere. Now, as she held his callused hand and they made their way to his bedroom, a feeling of relieved bliss replaced the nervous nausea. Although, finding herself back in his bed produced a whole different kind of nervous energy.

The summer spread had been pulled back. The blue sheets from last night were gone. In their place, a fresh set of beige sheets covered the bed. On the right side, where she’d slept last night, a single red rose lay on the pillow. Her breath caught when she saw it.

“Oh,” she said with a sigh. She looked at Travis, who seemed to be watching her with bated breath. “The rose. For me?”

He grinned. “Who else?”

He turned her to face him. Lifting his hand, he ran a finger along her cheek, the callused tip leaving excited nerve receptors in its wake. She leaned into his hand then turned to kiss the palm. Stepping closer until her breasts met the flat hardness of his chest, she slipped her hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a deep, soul-seeking kiss. When she parted her lips, he thrust his tongue into her mouth, starting a tangle with hers. Licking, nipping, kissing, he worked along her chin, down her neck and then back up to her ear.

“Come to bed with me,” he whispered, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. “I’ve thought of nothing else all day.”

She reached for the top pearl-button snap on his shirt and pulled.
Snap
. Then she pulled again.
Snap
. Each snap raised her heart rate by five beats. By the time she reached the last snap, her hands were at his waist and her heart rate was soaring. She smoothed her hands over his hard pectoral muscles, enjoying the crinkle of his chest hair against the palms of her hands. She traced each muscle, each tendon of his upper torso until he was vibrating beneath her fingers with need. He jerked the tail of his shirt from his jeans, ripped it down his arms and tossed it into the corner.

He ran his gaze down her body and back to her face. “Looking at you right now is like looking at a wrapped present. I don’t know whether to rip off all the wrapping and get right to the present or take my time, pulling off each ribbon and piece of tape until the prize is finally exposed.”

The combination of his gritty words with the appreciative gleam in his eyes had her quivering with desire. She pulled her cotton top over her head and tossed it into a chair.

“Let me make the decision easy for you.” She reached behind her back, unfastened her bra and let it skitter down her arms and float to the floor. After toeing off both shoes, she pushed the button on the waistband of her shorts through the buttonhole. Her fingers grasped the pull tab on her shorts’ zipper. Slowly, she slid the zipper down.

“Aw, hell.” Travis swept her into his arms and deposited her in the middle of his bed. With one swift move, he finished unzipping her shorts and had them off in a nanosecond. His jeans and briefs were hurriedly kicked into the corner to join his shirt. “Damn you’re a tease,” he said, joining her on the fresh sheets.

He pulled her into his arms. Hot, needy flesh met hot, needy flesh. He kissed her, his tongue doing long, complicated spirals inside her mouth.

Caroline rubbed her breasts through the coarse hair of his chest. Her nipples stood erect. She wanted to touch and rub against his body in every way possible.

He kissed and nibbled along her chin and down her neck. When his mouth latched on to her breast, she arched.

“More,” she gasped out. “Suck harder.”

He did, drawing more of her flesh into his mouth with strong suction. Her sex tingled and ached for relief. When he blew hot breath across her erect nipple, she squirmed with pent-up desire.

She cradled his head in her fingers as he licked and sucked her breasts. Involuntary guttural moans rattled in her throat. Technically, she hadn’t been a virgin when they first made love, but she’d never had these feelings before, this overwhelming desire to touch and be touched everywhere. Travis had the ability to reach areas inside her no one ever had.

“God, Caro,” he gasped as he kissed his way down her abdomen. “Your skin tastes like honey.”

He wedged himself between her legs, spreading them wide with his hard body. Shoving his hands under her ass, he lifted her aroused sex to his mouth. He kissed her vulva, sucking gently on the inflamed tissues.

Caroline’s legs quivered. She felt the muscle spasms of her vagina. She slammed her head into the pillow and knotted the sheet in her fingers.

With a flick of his tongue, he separated her folds, licking along each side, rimming the edge of her opening. She squirmed in his hands. Her insides whirled like a weather vane in a tornado. An intense, almost painful energy built inside her.

“Stop, Travis,” she said with a low moan. “I can’t take any more.” She shifted her hips in his hands, trying to move away while simultaneously trying to move closer.

He wouldn’t let her go. He dug his fingers into the flesh of her ass as he held her firmly against his mouth, using his tongue to torture her again and again, building the swirl of electricity inside. When he jabbed the tip of his tongue inside her, she screamed as wave after rippling wave coursed through her. There seemed to be no end to her climax. As the orgasmic jolts would begin to subside, Travis would use his tongue to ramp them up again. She grabbed whatever she could to hold on to…the sheets, the headboard, his hair. She pounded her head into the pillow. She lacked the ability to open her eyes or make a sound other than moans and cries. Finally, she found her voice.

“Please,” she begged. “Mercy.”

He lowered her hips to the bed and covered her with his body. “Caroline,” he whispered in her ear. “Darlin’, I need to be inside you.”

“Oh, God, yes,” she said with a plea. “Please.”

She heard the rip of foil only seconds before she felt the head of his hard penis pressing at her opening. She spread her thighs wide. He pushed in, stretching tissue unused to such girth. Oh Lord, it felt so good. She moaned and pressed her hips down on his shaft until he was imbedded to the hilt.

A deep-chested groan rolled from him. “You feel so good,” he said. “I hate to move.”

She smiled, knowing he couldn’t see it. She wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed her thighs while tapping his butt with her heel. “Giddy-up,” she said with a giggle.

He laughed and pulled slowly out of her. Her breath caught in her throat and held until he thrust back deep. He pulled out and thrust hard again.

“I’m trying to take it slow,” he said with a gasp. “I just can’t. You.” He thrust into her. “Feel.” He thrust again. “Perfect.”

“Faster,” she said. “Faster.”

He did as she asked, moving in and out of her rapidly. The swirl of energy built again, each thrust pushing her higher until she came with a cry. He pushed inside one more time before he pressed firmly inside and held. The hard pulse of his orgasm rocked her.

Collapsing on top of her, he groaned. “Damn, woman. You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

Caroline traced her fingers down his spine, enjoying the twitches of his firm muscles until she reached his butt. His hard, solid muscles barely indented when she squeezed.

“Yeah. I kind of liked it too,” she said in a whisper. “I liked it a lot.”

“Be right back,” he said as he slid off her. He stopped suddenly. “Oh shit.”

“What?” She sat up. Travis was staring at the broken remains of his condom.

He looked at her, his eyes wide. “Holy hell, Caroline. This hasn’t ever happened before.”

“No problem. Really. Don’t worry about it. Give me a minute. I’ll be right back and explain.”

Caroline hopped from the bed and headed for the bathroom. By the time she returned, Travis had disposed of the faulty condom and was waiting for her in bed. She slipped under the sheet and moved across the mattress until their bodies touched.

“I am so sorry,” he said.

She shook her head, a sad smile tugged at her lips. “Like I said, it isn’t a problem.” She lowered the sheet until the hem was just above her mons. “Surely you’ve noticed the scars here.” She pointed to a number of faint lines crisscrossing her flesh. “I was in a bad car accident in high school.” She pulled the sheet back up. “I probably shouldn’t have lived. My boyfriend didn’t.” She paused as the easily recognizable survivor guilt rolled over her. She sighed and then continued. “I had quite a bit of abdominal trauma. The surgeon who did my repairs took my right ovary out. She told me it’d been ruptured in the accident. There was damage to my uterus, but at my age she didn’t want to remove it and the remaining ovary. She repaired everything the best she could, but I was advised that my chances of getting pregnant were like one in a million.”

Travis wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight. “That’s awful, babe.” He slid lower in the bed, taking Caroline with him. She rested her head on his chest.

“I think it was that doctor who stimulated my interest in medicine. Without her, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Not having children is a small price to pay for living.”

Travis toyed with the charms on Caroline’s ever-present bracelet. “That sucks. Really, really sucks.”

Caroline shrugged. “It is what it is. So anyway, this morning’s broken condom is nothing to lose sleep over, at least as far as pregnancy is concerned. I promise.” She looked up at him. “As far as sexually transmitted diseases go, you have nothing to worry about from me. One of the requirements of the company I work for is annual testing for most diseases I could transmit to a patient. HIV. Hepatitis. Herpes. MRSA. You name it and I’ve probably been tested for it.” She glanced away. “And let’s face it. I haven’t been with a man in a couple of years, so yeah, I’m squeaky clean.”

“It’s been over ten years since I’ve had sex without a condom,” Travis said. “Back when I was married to Susan. I haven’t had all the testing you have, but I don’t think you have anything to be worried about with me. I’m pretty careful. But I’m willing to be tested for anything if it would make you feel better.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. If anything happens, then we can deal with it.”

They lay there in the quiet, Caroline listening to his heart’s steady rhythm while he continued to finger her bracelet.

“No Texas?”

“Excuse me?” She raised her head to look at him.

“No Texas charm,” he clarified.

Settling back down on his chest, she sighed. “Haven’t found the right one yet. But I guess I need to get busy. I don’t have much time left.”

Not much time left. The words opened a canyon of regret. Regret that she was moving on. Regret that this thing with Travis was just friends with benefits. Regrets that she’d never have children—although that regret caught her by surprise. She’d thought she’d handled that one a long time ago, but here it was raising its ugly head.

Regret was a waste of time. Too bad she couldn’t convince her mind of that.

Chapter Eleven

When Caroline awoke, she was alone in bed. She stretched her arms over her head. Tight muscles unused to her activities of late protested. After slipping on Travis’s robe—the belt wrapped twice around her waist—she made her way to the kitchen. A white piece of paper was propped on the coffee maker.

Morning, darlin’.

Headed out at four. Didn’t want to wake you. Have a nice day. See you tonight.

T

Caroline clutched the note to her chest and laughed at her silly response…like a fifth grader who’d just gotten her first note from a boy. Still, she couldn’t throw it away. She shoved it in the robe’s pocket and poured coffee. As she sipped, she glanced at the clock. Almost eleven. How decadent to sleep all day. She sort of liked it.

A muted beep had her searching for her cellphone. After finding it at the bottom of her purse, she scrolled for messages. A lunch invitation from KC Montgomery flashed from text messages. That sounded like a fun way to spend her last free day. She texted KC back to accept and then hurried to the shower.

After lunch, Caroline ran by her house to get clothes for Tuesday and to check her email. She had a couple of emails from Noah. They broke her heart. He was so lost without Mamie. She answered him back and promised to come see him soon, but her gut twisted at the thought of walking back into Mamie’s house after she was gone. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face that.

The office receptionist emailed Caroline’s patient appointments and hospital round lists. Both lists were extensive, but she was ready to get back to work. Her real world—the one where she slept alone, ate alone and watched television alone—could wait a week or so.

Monday night, Travis surprised her with steaks off the grill and homemade ice cream. Somehow, the ice cream made it to the bedroom. As she licked the ice cream from the dips and valleys of Travis’s chest and abdomen, she remembered how much she loved sweet and salty together. She was pretty sure she’d just found a new source for this favorite combination.