AintNoAngel (8 page)

Oh god. He knew just the right spot and within seconds she
was a quivering mass. Sucking her into his mouth, he fluttered his tongue over
her and she came, hard, her juices flowing and her hips grinding against his
face. His name escaped her lips and she felt him smile.

* * * * *

She didn’t know how much time had passed as she lay there,
her eyes closed and her body still trembling. Travis lifted his head from where
he had been resting it on her thigh.

Opening her eyes, she saw him smirking. “Good for you?” he
asked.

Numbly she nodded and sat up. His smile was contagious. She
felt her own lips curve and he responded with a full grin. It transformed his
face and she blinked in surprise. He really was gorgeous.

He stood and held out his hand and pulled her to her feet.
Gently he pulled her jeans up over her hips and did them up then situated her
breasts back in her tank top.

He took a step back and, closing his eyes briefly, reached
down to adjust the bulge in his jeans. The very large bulge in his jeans. Her
eyes flew to his and he grinned again.

“I told you.” He was awfully smug about the fact that she
had moaned his name out again.

“Yes, you did.” Looking at her watch she groaned. She was so
late. “Come on, we have to get to work.”

Opening the door for her, he followed her out. “Yes, ma’ am.”
She giggled as they headed for the truck. Everything felt better with him next
to her.

* * * * *

He had made his own bed and now he had to sleep in it. He
had worked beside her all day, visions of her that morning on her bed keeping
him distracted. It didn’t help that he would catch her staring at him from
under her lashes every now and then.

Brad and Marc worked with them and they had gotten a lot done,
landscaping a large yard. It had been more years than he wanted to count since
he had done anything like this and even then it had been contracting, not
landscaping. But he had to admire Jessie’s vision when it came to design.

She was smart and funny, making him chuckle along with her
and not once during the day did he feel like an outsider. They had accepted him
into their fold quickly and it was nice to be a part of something that didn’t
end with someone behind bars.

They knew each other well enough to joke around but he had
noticed how Marc and Brad had watched over her throughout the day. They were
loyal to her and he wondered if they had any idea about her past. Or if they
just cared about her.

He had never known a gay couple before. Most of the time
they were just guys. But then Marc would grab Brad’s ass or their hands would
touch as they passed each other. It was different, especially for someone who
hadn’t been around it before.

But they were both nice guys and they were good to Jessie
and that was all Travis cared about.

Once he had caught Jessie watching them as they touched and
flirted with each other. Her face had been sappy and sad. But then she had
noticed him looking at her and had turned away.

She deserved more than this.

More than a simple sexual relationship. She was a wonderful
woman. The kind who any man could respect and he was just going to end up
holding her back. He wasn’t cut out for the long term.

But damn if he could turn her away. He had never gotten a
woman off and not taken what he wanted. Ever.

He tried his damnedest to think of a time with a woman when
he had been so selfless while he helped Marc sink a new tree. Nothing came to
mind that was even remotely close.

When they were done for the day he jumped in Jessie’s old
pickup. He couldn’t help watching her as she drove them back to the house. Her
hands were small but capable on the steering wheel of her truck. They were
gentle and efficient when she worked with her plants but he had felt the bite
of her nails on his back and had seen the way she held her gun.

She wasn’t going to back down easily.

It made him think about her tumbling into his arms with a
gun in her hand. She was a contradiction. Soft, womanly body but nerves of
steel. She needed him for sex and to make her feel protected but what happened
after that?

He wondered what she would have done if they hadn’t met that
night at the bar.

Who would she have called? He looked her way but she was
staring straight ahead. After everything that had happened between them she acted
as if she was still embarrassed about this morning. But he understood. He was
damn shocked himself. Even if it wasn’t for the same reason.

He was still no closer to a decision on what to do with her.
He knew that she wanted him in her bed. He could see it in her eyes every time
she looked at him.

This whole situation was out of his realm of experience. He
didn’t get involved with clients. The last woman he had been seeing he had met
at a club and they had kinky sex for two months before it faded out.

He was used to being in charge when it came to women. It was
easy to keep them at arm’s length. But Jessie was different. He didn’t like
that he had no idea what was going to happen.

She wasn’t just some pretty woman looking for a good time.
Her life was at stake and it added a little something more to everything they
did together.

It was a dangerous game he was playing but he had gone too
far already to back out now, especially when he swore he could still taste her.
He couldn’t just shut off wanting her and she had made it obvious that she
wanted him too.

He shifted in his seat, trying to ease the uncomfortable
tightness of his jeans. He could smell her scent in the close confines of the
truck cab and it was driving him insane.

He casually rested his arm of the back of the seat, putting
his fingers at the nape of her neck. He heard her take a deep breath but she
didn’t object to his touch.

Smiling slightly to himself, he tangled his fingers in her
ponytail hanging down her back. She ignored him and kept her eyes on the road.
Her hair was unlike anything he had ever seen, long and curly, but it was the
color that got him. It looked like a dark-red until the sunlight hit it and
then it shimmered like there were strands of gold mixed in.

Weaving his fingers through it, he watched as it slid over
his hand like silk. He always did have a thing for women who had beautiful hair
and she was no different.

He didn’t remove his hand when she pulled up in front of the
house. Shutting the truck off, she turned her head slightly to look at him and
he could see she was more affected than she wanted him to know. Her cheeks were
pink and her breasts were heaving.

Reaching out and grabbing the underside of her thigh, he
pulled her into his lap. She came willingly. He couldn’t stop the growl that
sounded in his chest as she settled between his legs.

He used one hand to pull the elastic band from her hair so
it spilled out over her shoulders, and the other to hold her against his chest.
His fingers weaved themselves in the hair at her nape and used it to tug her
face closer to his.

Catching her beautiful blue gaze, he knew that this kiss
would be different. That the battle he had been fighting to avoid being with
her had been dying a slow death. He knew that once he gave in now, it would all
change but it was one battle he was willing to lose.

Holding her gaze, he lowered his mouth and pressed it to her
lips.

Jessie was swept away by his firm lips and seeking tongue.
His hands came up to cup her face and tilt it for better access.

She rested her hands on his chest as he continued his
assault on her mouth. His tongue went deeper and she groaned, his voice
matching hers.

When she could no longer catch her breath he pulled back
just enough to leave a trail of kisses down her neck. His mouth was amazing,
applying just enough pressure to make her quiver and her belly erupt in
butterflies.

Reaching her shoulder, he stopped to gaze into her face. “We
have a problem, don’t we, Jessie girl?”

“What problem would that be, Travis? The fact that a psycho
wants to kill me for something I didn’t do? Or the fact that I’ve dragged you
into this and we have no idea when or if Cyrus will even show up here?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said as he laid his forehead
against hers. “I’m talking about the agreement we made and how I’m not going to
be able to keep my promise to you.”

“What promise?”

“The promise to keep my hands off you.”

“What about all that talk about protecting me and not having
any distractions?”

“You are a distraction either way.” He let out a deep breath
and Jessie suddenly felt guilty. What if he ended up hurt because of her?

She shouldn’t have pushed him. He was right and she had
brought him here to help her, not to be her fuck buddy.

Scooting off his lap and back to her side of the truck, she
could feel his eyes boring into her.

“You’re right, Travis. I need you to protect me and you
can’t do that when we’re…you know.”

He ran a hand down his face before staring at her again. “So
you’re telling me that you understand me now but you didn’t this morning?”

Jessie hesitated for a minute before she answered him.
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”

She saw the confusion on his face and didn’t know what to
say to erase it. She just couldn’t take the chance that he would get hurt. He
had become something special to her in the short time that they had spent
together.

Even if he had just been that man to give her peace of mind
so she could sleep at night. Or the only man who seemed to be able to give her
an orgasm with no effort whatsoever.

But she wanted to get her hands on his background check. She
refused to be lied to again like Cyrus had done to her. He had told her he was
one thing and then she suddenly found out he was entirely something else.

This man was confusing. He went from comforting her to
driving her crazy, rejecting her and then giving without taking. It was more
than she wanted to deal with right now.

Her life was a disaster. It always had been and probably
always would be. It wasn’t the sort of life that a strong man like Travis would
want to live and she couldn’t see herself doing anything but running the
landscape business.

“Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

“Of course I’m sure!” she snapped but she wasn’t sure at
all.

Jumping out, she slammed the door behind her and stomped to
the house but by the time she reached the door, she was regretting her
decision.

Grabbing a bite to eat, she took it to her room. She didn’t
want to face anyone or anything for the rest of the day. She needed a shower
and some sleep. With Travis downstairs she knew that she was safe enough to do
just that.

* * * * *

Jessie made it to town the next day just before Maggie’s
office was due to close. She was itching to know more about Travis.

“Jessie! I expected you this morning. I was just going to
pack up and drive up there and deliver this.” She handed Jessie a manila
folder.

“Thanks, Maggie. Anything interesting?” She flipped over the
pages.

“That information was hard to get and after a certain date,
I can’t find anything else about him. It’s as if he fell off the face of the
earth,” she said with a smirk.

There were several pages and Maggie was obviously ready to
go home.

“Thanks again. You will send me the bill?”

“Of course, just like always.”

Heading home, all Jessie wanted to do was take a nice, long shower
and have a quiet dinner. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Marc and Brad joined her at the dinner table and after
Travis had washed up Betty decided to eat with them as well. Something she
never did.

But the way that Travis raved over her cooking, it was no
wonder she wanted to stay. Brad cleaned up dinner and Marc and Travis started a
game of cards.

Jessie watched for a couple minutes and then poured herself
a glass of wine and retreated to her room.

Travis fit in here. The guys liked him and Betty had a
serious case of hero worship. Even if the man wasn’t a hero quite yet.

Opening the file on Travis, she read over his information
quickly. Now that she had time to read it, it somehow felt wrong and she wanted
it over with.

But then something stopped her in his work history.

He had been a police officer, in Hill Valley no less. He had
started the same year that Cyrus had been elected chief of police.

The wine in her hand was suddenly more appealing and she
drank the whole glass down. It made her mouth dry and her stomach revolt. The
words on the paper blurred as her eyes watered.

But it didn’t change anything. Travis was a cop.

Holding her head in her hands, she wondered how her life had
turned out like this.

Travis played cards with Marc for an hour before Marc went
off to find Brad. The house was quiet and he wondered if Jessie was asleep
already.

He imagined her lying on her bed, naked and waiting for him.
It was a nice thought but he knew it wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t know why
she had suddenly changed her mind. But figuring out why women did the things
they did was beyond him and something he didn’t usually lose sleep over.

Except with Jessie.

Suddenly he heard glass breaking upstairs and he was off
like a shot. Taking the steps two at a time, he came crashing into her bedroom,
the door slamming against the wall.

Jessie was sitting in a chair by the window and the
wineglass she had taken up with her was lying in a pile on the floor across
from her.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

But she didn’t turn from gazing out the window.

Squatting in front of her, he reached for her hands but she
pulled away from him.

“Jessie girl, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t call me that, Travis!” she yelled and her eyes were a
blazing blue when she looked at him.

Okay, she was seriously pissed. He’d better tread carefully.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he demanded.

“You want to know what’s going on?” She stood suddenly and
he almost went on his ass. She stepped around him and threw a sheaf of papers
at him.

He caught them and looked down. It only took him a quick
glance to know what it was. A background check. His background check.

She knew he had been a cop and had worked with Cyrus.

Jessie watched as Travis looked over the papers she had
thrown at him. His expression never changed but she knew the moment that he saw
what she was upset about.

“This is my past, Jessie. It has nothing to do with here and
now.”

She didn’t understand how he could say that. “You worked
with Cyrus! You didn’t feel the need to tell me that you knew him? That he was
your boss?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why the hell not? Did you think I would never find out?”
she raved at him.

“No, I was going to tell you after this was over with,” he
told her. His voice was as calm as hers was angry.

“So your plan was to catch him and then say to me, ‘Oh, by
the way, Cyrus was my boss once.’ Really? And how did you think I was going to
react?”

“Jessie, I didn’t think that it was an issue. I have my
reasons.”

Suddenly Jessie remembered him. She remembered that Cyrus
had gotten a rookie cop fired for not following orders. Cyrus had come home
several nights in a row, raving about some young guy who didn’t know his place
and didn’t know how small towns worked.

She had heard about the murder of a young girl on the
outskirts of town that year. Cyrus had assured her that the evidence had
pointed to a man who had just been passing through and not to worry. But she
also remembered him getting very upset when she had asked too many questions.

She had learned quickly after he backhanded her at the
kitchen table and she hadn’t brought it up again.

“You are the rookie cop he got fired, aren’t you?”

Travis sat heavily in the chair she had just vacated and he
seemed to be looking everywhere but at her.

She didn’t think he would answer her but really she didn’t
need him to.

She stood rooted to the spot where she was standing, feeling
like a stranger in her own room.

Travis let the papers fall from his fingers onto the floor.

“Yes, I’m the rookie he got fired.”

She caught his gaze and it was bleak. It wasn’t what she
expected from him. She thought he would have any other reaction—anger,
defensiveness, even just denial. But none of those things were on his face.

It took the temper out of her and she sat on the bed, hard
enough to make it bounce.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked quietly.

He stood and paced to the door and back. “You know, there
are a lot of reasons why I didn’t tell you. But the biggest reason is because I
didn’t want to.” He turned to look at her then, pain that surprised her in his
eyes. “I didn’t want you to look at me differently. I didn’t want you to think
for one second that I was anything like Cyrus.

“But I now know that keeping it from you makes me just as
bad as him and I’m sorry, Jessie.”

Jessie sat stone-still. He was apologizing. Cyrus had never
apologized. Travis was nothing like him.

Travis stared at her for a second before turning to leave.

“Wait.” Her one word stopped him in the doorway.

Standing up, she went to him and even though his body was
tense and unyielding she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. It was
her own form of apology. He took a deep breath when she laid her head on his
back.

“I really wish you would just explain to me what happened,”
she told him. He turned slowly to face her and she looked up at his face.
“Please, Travis. Just tell me what happened so I can understand.”

His eyes closed briefly and she thought for a second that he
was going to relent. But then he said, “I’m sorry. I can’t. I won’t put you in
any more danger.”

“But…” Jessie began but he placed his finger on her lips.

“Just know that I intend to end this for you so you will be
free and someday there will come a time when you will understand. I want you to
remember this. I’m just trying to keep you safe. That’s it. End of story. And
I’m not doing it because you hired me. I’m doing it because the world wouldn’t
be the same without you, Jessie girl. It needs you.”

He reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I
need you,” he whispered.

It was the first admission he had made that went further
than their one-night agreement. It wasn’t pink roses and a white picket fence
but it was more than she had hoped for.

Her arms were still around him and she lifted up on her toes
to kiss him. He didn’t respond at first, but she didn’t give up. She pressed
her lips against him harder and then flicked her tongue out along his bottom
lip.

It spurred him into action and his arms came up tight around
her. He took a step forward as he kissed her back, then another. Until the
backs of her legs were hitting the bed. But it barely registered before he
tumbled her on it and she was lost in him.

He wasted no time in removing her clothes. Jerking her shirt
over her head almost roughly, he tossed it away and went after her jeans. He
moved away long enough to yank his own clothes off and then fell back on her
now-naked body.

Something was different about him as they came together. He
wasn’t taking his time like he had before. There was determination in his eyes.

He slid a hand between their bodies, rubbing her pussy and
spreading her juices to ease his entrance. Rolling a condom on quickly, Travis
spread her legs and hooked them behind his back as he thrust deep within her.

Jessie felt him claim her with every inch of her being. His
cock was a perfect fit and she could already feel the tensing of her muscles in
anticipation of the orgasm that she knew he would give her.

Her nails dug into his back as he began to drive into her
over and over. He groaned low in her ear as he moved and it sent warm shivers
down her back.

Jessie released her legs from his hips and lifted them.
Travis paused to grip both of them together and put them over one of his
shoulders.

The change in angle had her moans growing in decibels and he
smiled down at her.

“Come for me, Jessie girl,” he whispered.

It was all she needed and she clenched around him, her legs
going tight and straight. He plunged once more and then threw his head back as
he growled out his release.

Jessie took deep breaths as he rolled off her and to the
side. She turned to face him and couldn’t hide her smile at the coating of
sweat on his skin and the deep breaths he was taking.

He smiled back and pulled her into his arms. It was warm to
be cuddling but Jessie wouldn’t give it up and move away and Travis never
complained.

They woke up early, curled on Jessie’s little bed together.
The sun was shining bright through the window.

They smiled at each other but neither said anything as they
both got around for another day.

Betty had breakfast ready and they ate at the kitchen table
with Marc and Brad like always. But they were both quiet and the guys exchanged
a look before finishing quickly and leaving them alone.