Bear Seeking Bride: Travis: (4 page)

“That was sexy, and hot. I want you to do that to me all the time,” he said, and kissed the top of her head.

Her stomach took that moment to growl loudly.

“Ummm…,” she raised her head to look up at him. “You’re going to have to feed me first.”

They both started laughing, and then got out of bed after a quick chaste kiss.

Bree went to shower, and he pulled on his jeans and threw the steaks he’d originally planned for dinner on the grill. A few minutes later, she walked into the kitchen with damp hair, wearing nothing but one of his tshirts. The soft material barely covered her ass, and if he didn’t need to feed her, he would have abandoned the steaks again and taken her on the kitchen counter.

“I borrowed one of your shirts,” she said. “I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “I like seeing you in my clothes…and out of them. If we didn’t need food, I’d take you again on this counter.”

She turned and looked at the counter, as if inspecting its usefulness, and then rose up to kiss his chin.

“Maybe later,” she said. “I’ll get the plates.”

When she reached into the cabinet to grab the plates, the shirt rode up and exposed the luscious, soft globes of her ass.

“There’s no maybe about it,” he said.

When it came to Bree, he felt insatiable, wild and uncontrollable, but he didn’t care. First he would feed her, and then he would take her again, this time on the kitchen counter.

He forced himself to go back outside and check on the steaks.

Sabrina stood in the back of the sandwich shop and waited for her number to be called. The guys were working hard to finish a job before the wedding, and she’d volunteered to pick up sandwiches from their favorite place.

The guy behind the counter had given her a crooked smile, and though he’d been shy, something about him made her think of Caroline. Maybe it was because the shop was packed, and loud, but the owner worked with quiet diligence. He seemed to need a bit of livening up.

As she waited, her mind drifted to Travis and the time they’d spent together over the past week. They’d spent every night together since the first time they’d made love, and she was beginning to see the perks of waiting to have children. Travis was insatiable, and he often woke her up before the alarm with his tongue between her legs.

She’d been lucky enough to rent a chair at a popular hair salon, and two weeks after the wedding, she would start working part-time. They’d made plans to go ring shopping on Saturday, and Travis had booked a hotel in the city for their honeymoon after the wedding on Sunday.

In four days she would be Mrs. Travis Mallory, and she was giddy with excitement.

Her apartment was the only loose end. After their honeymoon, they planned to drive out to her old place and pack up her belongings. He’d given her the opportunity to redecorate his home, but she liked most of his things more than her own, so she’d opted to keep his furniture, but use some of her things to add a feminine touch.

Even though they were embarking on a new life together, she wanted him to see her home and meet her friends. It was important to her that he see a glimpse of the life she’d lived before they met.

When her order was up, she grabbed the bag and drove out to the job site. Travis had instructed her to park against the curb on the other side of the street, and as she gathered her belongings, another car pulled up and parked on the dirt in front of the trailer they were using as an office.

A thin, petite woman got out of the car, stomped up the stairs and disappeared into the office. The woman’s clothes were skin tight, and her make-up reminded her of the woman she’d seen with Simon all those months ago. They way she’d parked made it seem like she owned the place, and Sabrina thought she might be the land owner.

She approached the building, sandwiches in hand and noticed the door hadn’t completely closed. She could hear Travis and the woman talking, and she paused on the second stair when the words became clearer.

“You didn’t have to send off for a human, Trav…I’ll marry you,” the woman said.

“You want to get back together? You’re—” A huge truck drove by, drowning out most of his words, but she caught the end of his sentence. “I’ll send her home.”

“You and I were so good together,” she said. “Don’t you remember?”

“Okay,” he started, and Sabrina carefully backed down the stairs and ran back to her car.

Trent stopped next to the driver’s side door on the vehicle, prepared to back into the space behind her, but when he saw her running he rolled down his window.

“Sabrina, what’s wrong?”

Tears had welled up in her eyes, but she hadn’t allowed them to fall. She dug around in her purse for her keys and firmed her voice.

“Nothing, but I need to leave right now. Please move your car.”

“I thought we were having lunch?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” she said and looked up at him, a silent plea.

“Get in.”

She heard the door to the trailer open, but she couldn’t look back. She needed to get away as soon as possible. Trent unlocked the door, and she jumped into the backseat of his sedan. When she closed the door, he sped away in time for her to see the blond in her car, backing away from the office.

He drove to a small picnic area on the outskirts of town, and got out of the driver’s seat. He held open the door for her, and waited while she dabbed away the few escaped tears with a napkin from the sandwich shop.

“Bring the sandwiches,” he said, when she made a move to get out of the car.

They walked to a nearby table and he sat down across from her. She thought he would eat, but instead he talked.

“What happened?” he asked.

She shook her head, and then shrugged.

“I guess…he’s getting together with an old girlfriend.”

“Not possible. What makes you think that?”

“I overheard him and a blond woman talking inside the trailer.”

“Then you overheard wrong,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Was it the woman that left when we did?”

“Yes. She told him to send me home, and he said some stuff, and then he said okay.”

“What stuff? What did he say?”

“I don’t know, a truck went by and…,” she trailed off. While relaying the scenario to Trent, she realized how ridiculous the whole thing sounded. What had she actually heard? Nothing that indicated he would send her away.

Did she really have so little faith in him? The thought jarred her. After everything they’d shared, she trusted him, but her actions proved otherwise.

“Oh god,” she said. “Trent, I made a huge mistake.”

“Yes, you did,” he said, smugly. “Ready to go back?”

“Please.”

Trent drove her back to the job site, and they walked across the street together. Before she faced Travis, she had to ask him something.

“Trent, wait,” she said, placing her hand on his forearm.

“What is it?”

“Why did you help me? Why didn’t you let me go?”

“You make him happy,” he said, simply.

“Thank you,” she said, and kissed him on the cheek.

“What the
hell
is going on?” Travis roared from the top of the stairs.

Without waiting for a response, he shifted and charged toward his brother.

***

Travis hung up the phone and turned to look out the window of the trailer. The job was almost complete and he knew he’d be able to take the following week off without leaving his brothers in a bind.

Placing that ad had been the best thing he’d ever done, and if he had his way, he’d marry Sabrina today. He would have suggested it to her, except he knew he needed to finish out the work week, and they wouldn’t be able to leave until Sunday anyway.

Only four more days.

The door to the trailer opened and he swiveled in his chair, expecting to see Sabrina or Trent. Tyler had called to say he’d be a few minutes late.

Instead, Cassie walked into the small box.

Cassie was a bear shifter he’d dated a few times nearly a year ago. He’d known on the first date she wasn’t the one, but he’d suffered through two more evenings with her in case he’d judged her too quickly. He hadn’t. After the third night he let her go with nothing more than a kiss on the cheek.

He had no idea why she would visit him.

“Cassie. What are you doing here?” he asked.

“That’s not a very nice way to greet me after all this time, Travy.”

Blah.

The shortening of his name had always made him sick to his stomach.

“Sorry, but I’m very busy. What do you need?”

“You,” she said, and sauntered around the desk toward him. “You didn’t have to send off for a human, Trav. I’ll marry you. Let’s get back together.”

“You want to get back together?” he stood to stop her from trying to sit on his lap. “You’re delusional. You and I were never together, we just dated a few times and it didn’t take long to figure out we weren’t compatible. Sabrina is my mate and her place is here, in Bear Canyon, with me. I’ll never send her home.”

“You and I were so good together,” she said, hugging him. “Don’t you remember?”

“Okay,” he said, pushing her away from him, “you have to go. There was never anything between us, and there never will be.”

“Fine, marry your stupid human,” she said, as she stomped toward the door. “There are plenty of men in this town who are better than you, anyway.”

He watched her shoulders slump and realized she wasn’t as confident as she pretended to be. In that moment, his anger faded and he sympathized with her. He knew how difficult it was to find someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

“There’s someone out there for you,” he said before she pushed open the door. “He may not be in this town, but he’s out there.”

“Thank you, Travis,” she paused, still facing the door. “Tell your mate I said congratulations, and…I’m sorry.”

She pushed through the door and seconds later he heard her car start, and then she sped off the packed dirt in front of the office. It would take a special kind of man to deal with her day in and day out, but he hoped she found someone to make her happy.

Travis glanced at his watch, wondering about Bree. The wait at the sandwich shop never took more than ten minutes; she should already be here. He dialed her cell-phone and panic started to well in his chest when it went directly to voicemail.

Had something happened? Should he go look for her? Where was Trent?

His brother should have also already been here. Where was everyone?

He pushed open the door to look outside and saw Sabrina and Trent walking across the street. Both cars were parked on the curb, but it looked as if they had arrived together. Suddenly, Bree placed her hand on Trent’s forearm and kissed him on the cheek.

What the hell?

Irrational jealousy, rage and several other emotions he couldn’t define swamped him.

“What the
hell
do you think you’re doing?” he yelled.

Then he ran.

He shifted mid-stride and charged his brother. Sabrina, yelled for him to stop, and tried to wave him off, but Trent shoved her out of the way. He roared when she saw her hit the ground and slide across the dirt, but seeing her hurt only fueled his anger.

Trent was the enemy, and the man was going down.

His brother dropped his cane and started to shift. Travis hit him halfway through the process, and Trent flew. He finished his shift in mid-air and landed on all four paws.

Travis roared long and loud, and Trent responded with the same determination. He’d laid down the challenge and had Trent accepted.

“Travis! Trent! Please stop this!” Sabrina stood and pleaded for them to stop, but they both ignored her.

Travis took a step forward, prepared to attack, but Tyler ran over and stood between them. Always the peacemaker, Tyler held one palm toward each of them, effectively putting an end to the start of the fight.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” he asked, and then he checked on Bree. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m okay,” she said to Tyler, and then looked directly at Travis as she spoke. “I overheard Travis talking to a woman about getting back together, but when I tried to leave, Trent stopped me and pointed out how silly I was to believe something I only heard part of, not to mention the fact that Travis and I love each other. I thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, like any good
sister
would, and Travis saw us and assumed the worst.”

Travis shifted back and walked over to Bree and hugged her. She hugged him back, hard, betraying her calm appearance. He’d frightened her.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Me, too.”

“Oh geez,” Tyler said, and picked up Trent’s cane.

He waited until his brother was out of earshot before he spoke again.

“I did assume the worst, though I’m not sure why,” he said. “I guess because I trust you, but I don’t trust him around you. You’re too perfect.”

“We’re both to blame,” she said. “When I explained what I’d heard to Trent, I realized how stupid I’d been. I’d hardly heard anything at all, but I’d been ready to run.”

“Well, to be honest, she did offer to marry me, but I told her I’d already found you and I wasn’t about to give you up. In the end, she admitted to being lonely and apologized.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

“Yeah, but it happens. That’s why I placed that ad; I needed to find someone to take away the loneliness.”

“I’ll do it,” she admitted, staring up at him.

“For how long?” he asked, semi-teasing. He’d been shaken, too, and he wanted to hear her reassurance.

“Forever.”

He lowered his head and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on her lips.

“Oh, god, get a room,” Trent yelled, on his way to the trailer.

He maneuvered past them with his cane in hand, and Tyler followed carrying their lunch.

“Will he be alright?” Bree asked. “It looked like you hit him pretty hard.”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. It’s not the first time we’ve been in a fight, and he likes that I don’t take it easy on him because of the cane.”

“Lunch now, kiss later,” Tyler called to them. The two brothers were already waiting inside the trailer.

“We do have to keep your strength up,” he whispered, as he nuzzled her neck.

She laughed and pulled him behind her into the office.