A Winter Sabbatical (Books We Love holiday romance) (10 page)

“Meeoooow.”
The tiny sound lifted Marissa’s heart.

“Thank you!” She leaned across and lightly
kissed Travis on the lips. “Has she got a name? Is she toilet trained? Has she
had her injections?” Marissa was getting carried away, she knew she was, but
couldn’t stop herself. “What am I going to feed her?”

Marissa stood up, taking the kitten with
her. She headed straight for the kitchen, looking for milk.

She could feel his gaze on her back.
Knowing Travis, he was more than likely laughing at her, but she had no
intention of turning around to check.

“Should I warm the milk or will she drink
it cold?” Travis put his fingers over her lips, bringing her words to a halt.

“You’re babbling.” He laughed and Marissa realized
he was joking with her again. “Okay, let’s start at the beginning. No, she
hasn’t got a name. No, she’s not toilet trained, but yes, she’s had all her
injections.”

“She’s not toilet trained? Right, that’s
your
job – you brought her here.”
Marissa smiled, then placed a bowl of warm milk in the laundry, along with the
kitty litter tray, and some kitten food that Travis had brought.

He’d also purchased a cat basket complete
with suitable bedding.

Satisfied that the kitten, who now had a
name – Ceefor, C for cat – was settled into her new home in the laundry,
Marissa closed the door wondering what to cook for dinner. Travis must surely
be getting hungry by now.

Marissa made her way to the kitchen and
stood staring into the open-doored refrigerator, wondering what she could do
with the little that was available. After all, she hadn’t shopped for two weeks
as a result of her deception to Travis.

“Forget it,” Travis told her. “My shout. Do
you want to go out, or eat in?” She probably looked a mess after the day she’d
had. Maybe eating in would be best?

“In, please. And we’ll go Dutch.”

“The hell we will. This is my treat.”
Travis came up behind her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. It felt so
wonderful, if only it could go on forever.

Stubborn,
that’s what he was. Stubborn.
“Then I’ll supply the
drinks.” That much she could do. If only the rest of her decisions were that
easy.

“The choice has to be yours,” Travis told
her. “But if it were me, I’d want someone here with me.”

He watched as Marissa warred with herself.
He didn’t want to leave her alone for the night, but if that was what she
wanted, who was he to argue?

“Stay. I want you to stay.” She looked
apologetic. “It’s not like I don’t want you, it’s just that,” – she shrugged
her shoulders – “It’s all too hard. Decisions are tough for me right now.”

He understood. He knew where she was coming
from. Hell, her emotions must be all over the place.

This time he’d come prepared. Travis
retrieved a small overnight case from the car.

It would be hard, lying in bed next to her,
and not touching her in a sexual way.

His mind drifted back to that night on the
rug. He’d never see that rug in quite the same way again.

Marissa stood in the open doorway watching
him. She wore a slinky satin nightie. Didn’t she know what she did to him? How
would he survive the night with her, when she was wearing something like that?

Travis decided he’d never seen anything or
anyone, quite so provocative as the beauty standing before him at this very
moment.

Whoa
boy!
He told himself.
Nothing sexual, remember. You are here purely to comfort a friend.

If he continued to remind himself,
everything would be all right. At least, that’s how it was supposed to work.

Chapter Six

Travis was wide awake.

He couldn’t remember a night that was quite
so hard.
Yikes – what a choice of words!

Marissa had stood at the end of the bed for
a virtual eternity. He wanted to help her, tell her everything was fine, but he
couldn’t give her that guarantee.

God help him – he
wanted
to take her pain away. He wanted to hold her in his arms,
and wanted to love her and make love to her, for the rest of her life.
The rest of his life.

Travis wanted everything to be normal, for
her.

Marissa was finally asleep. He’d lay
watching her for hours, listening to her breathing. She tossed and turned, and
Travis thought she would never settle.

Four a.m. Now he was doing Marissa’s trick.
Staying awake all night. He was determined not to wake her. She definitely
needed all the sleep she could get.

Travis pulled the comforter further up over
her shoulders, and Marissa rolled onto her side and snuggled against him.

Damn! It was really testing having her so
close. Her arm came up around him, then he heard her indrawn breath. She
sounded startled.

Had she forgotten he was there? Possibly.
She wasn’t used to another person in the bed.

Travis whispered his assurance, and Marissa
rolled away from him, and back into sleep.

 
He
lay awake for another forty minutes, finally deciding to get up. He was so far
awake now that he might just as well get up and do some work. He’d lost an
entire day’s work yesterday, not that he was really bothered, but he might as
well try to catch up while he could.

Predicting another day away from home, he’d
had the foresight to bring some paperwork back with him.

Carefully, cautiously, he climbed out of
bed. He slipped his bathrobe on, then as noiselessly as possible, went into the
dining room where he sat at the table for some time working.

Travis ran his fingers through his ruffled
hair. He couldn’t concentrate. Maybe he should go back to bed; he might get to
sleep this time.

He decided instead to make himself some
coffee, then try and work a little longer. That way, he would be well and truly
ready for sleep.

Six a.m. The sun was up. Roosters were
crowing somewhere in the distance, and large semis were heading toward their
destinations.

Travis was beyond sleep. He downed his
second, or was it third, cup of coffee, and was about to tackle something a
little more complicated.

Marissa’s piercing screams echoed through
the stillness of the early morning. A throbbing ache ripped his heart in two.
Travis had hoped the nightmares had ended when Marissa opened her soul to him.

He ran to her side in the shortest possible
time, then cradled her head against his chest. His arms came up around her
back, and Marissa slipped hers around his waist.

She was still half asleep, and sobbing. She
tried desperately to get out of the bed, and if that was what she wanted, he’d
better let her, Travis acknowledged.

It was almost as though she wasn’t awake;
her eyes were closed, and she didn’t say a word to him. Maybe she was still
asleep?

Travis stood beside her, his arms tightly
wrapped around her. Marissa seemed to understand he was there, and rested her
head on his shoulder.

How
could
he exorcise her demons? He was sure that talking about Jeremy would rid her of
them forever. Apparently not.

***

Marissa sat on a fold up chair in the back
yard. The view was simply breathtaking.

To the left, rolling hills and paddocks
jotted with cows and sheep, to the right, mountain views, and straight ahead
was the forest.

Travis was asleep. Poor guy – she’d given
him a hard time and he’d barely slept.

His work was spread out over the dining
room table, and that’s exactly where she left it. Marissa didn’t want to try
and clean it up, in case she put it out of order. No point making life harder
than it already was.

It was getting close to lunchtime. Travis
wanted to be woken by two at the latest he said. Otherwise he’d never sleep
tonight.

Marissa sat stroking Ceefor as she purred
to her heart’s content. It was so nice having a kitten around again. Except for
the toilet training, that was. She’d already cleaned up a couple of small
puddles today.

Still, Ceefor was young – she’d learn
quickly. At least Marissa hoped she would.

A noise behind her alerted Marissa that she
was no longer alone.

“Hey, sleepy head.” She reached up and
touched Travis on the arm, and Ceefor scampered off her lap.

“Hey, yourself.” He was so darned sexy, it
was almost killing her just to look at him. He had on his black jeans, the ones
that always got her heart racing. They were only half zipped, and his chest was
bare. How could she survive?

Marissa’s eyes slowly travelled from the
top of his beautiful head right down to his bare and sexy feet. The air between
them sizzled.

She felt the heat creep into her cheeks as
she realized Travis was watching her.

Travis laughed. “Had a good look?”

“Guess so.” She shrugged her shoulders at
him. “Would’ve been better if you didn’t have those jeans on, though.”
Did she really say that?

Travis squatted down beside her, and
Marissa wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned in and kissed him square
on the lips. Life was so complicated, and she was making it even more
complicated with her reactions.

She was lost in his kiss, his arms, his
lovemaking. Travis deepened the kiss, and Marissa felt her nipples tighten into
tiny little peaks as Travis slid his hand leisurely along her thigh.

“Oh, my, God,” she heard herself whisper.

“Ditto,” Travis whispered back.

They stood together, still in their
embrace, and Travis lifted Marissa into his arms, then strode into the house.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked.

Marissa nodded confidently, then leaned
forward and began the kiss again.

Travis stood at the bedroom door. “Last
chance to change your mind,” he asked.

“I’m absolutely positive.” This was what
she wanted. And she was sure it was what Travis wanted too.

Her eyes searched the room. It was no
longer a cold, harrowing place to sleep. It seemed to have new warmth. It was a
place of comfort now, not a place of terror.

She scanned the clothes thrown hurriedly on
the floor, the comforter ruffled beyond belief, and the pillow scrunched into a
little bundle where Travis had laid his head.

The room had somehow undergone a
transformation. It had become a haven. Travis had given Marissa back her life.

***

Travis stood under the warm water of the
shower, Marissa next to him. He needed a shower to wake him up. Not that he
really
needed waking up. Marissa had
done that.

Maybe he should have had a cold shower? An
icy cold one.

He looked down at Marissa. Her hair was
pinned back into a neat little bun, so that it wouldn’t get wet.

His eyes travelled further down. He licked
his lips as he gazed at her shoulders. Her beautiful bare shoulders.

Those shoulders just turned him on.

Boy oh boy – so did those breasts. Those
wonderful breasts with their tiny little buds, just waiting for him to touch
them, to suckle them, and to tantalize them.

Travis rubbed his soap-covered hands over
Marissa’s back. He loved the feel of her; he loved to touch her – anywhere. And
she wasn’t complaining either. She had her hands lathered up too, and was
roaming his body. Her tiny hands were moving in circles all over his buttocks.

Oh Lord, how could he cope?

She picked up the soap again and lathered
her hands once more, this time rubbing his chest; around and around in tiny
circles, then bigger and bigger. Travis felt the friction of the soap, and
Marissa’s hands, running through the hair on his chest.

“It’s definitely time to get out of here,”
Travis whispered. He lifted Marissa’s chin with his fingers, and kissed her
lips as the water continued to run over them, tantalizing and tormenting him
even more.

Marissa lifted one leg and wrapped it
around his thigh, and Travis turned off the water.

He passed Marissa a towel without a word,
and they dried each other off.

Travis lifted her and gently carried her
into the bedroom. He stood at the doorway, then looked at the bed.

He threw back the rumpled comforter then
carefully laid Marissa on the bed. He looked her up and down. He wanted to know
every nook and cranny. Wanted to know what made her tick, what make her laugh,
and what made her cry.

She looked so fragile, so vulnerable, and
oh so loveable. He knew she could be a veritable tiger when she wanted. But she
was
vulnerable, and he’d needed to
keep that in mind.

He kneeled on the bed in front of her, and
Marissa sat up. Her arms around his neck, her touch, even her gaze, were enough
to turn him on.

Man, did he have it bad.

Slowly he laid her down, then lightly
kissed her cheek. But it wasn’t enough.

His lips slid to her mouth, and Marissa
opened her lips to him. He was sure he would explode when their tongues met.

She tasted sweet, but what else did he
expect?

He slowly worked his way down, gently suckling
on her neck, trying not to leave little marks, love bites. He was sure she
wouldn’t like that.

Then Travis found himself at her sweet,
inviting breasts. He leisurely slid his tongue across each one. With each
movement, his arousal grew even more. He found himself almost straddled across
her, and was sure he would make a fool of himself if he weren’t careful.

He felt the gentle touch of Marissa’s
fingers as they slid over his back. He tensed. Not because he didn’t want her,
but because he wanted to prolong these moments as long as possible.

He heard her groan, soft and low, but with
pleasure.

Her hands moved lower, over his buttocks,
urging him to move lower still.

His fingers slid to her abdomen, and over
her hips. Oh Lord, how much more could he endure?

Not much, he was sure.

Marissa’s hands slid up around him, urging
him on, and her legs slid open. And that was the end for Travis. He couldn’t
wait any longer. He needed her, and now!

Quickly shoving a condom over himself, he
pushed himself into her, slowly and gently. It felt so good.
Hell! It felt wonderful.

He looked into Marissa’s face. He didn’t
want to cause her any more emotional pain.

Was she coping all right?

Marissa lifted her hands, and cupped his
face, pulling Travis close, kissing his lips.

Yep,
she was fine.

He moved slowly, pushing harder and harder,
quicker and quicker, thrust after agonizing thrust. He had to hold on.

He felt his arousal growing bigger still.
He couldn’t remember feeling so big, so hard. So damned aroused.

Marissa moved with him, her legs wrapped
around him. She shuddered beneath him and he felt her orgasm begin. That was
the end for him. Travis emptied himself into her as they became orgasmic
together.

He collapsed in a heap.

It was late in the afternoon when Marissa
awoke. Travis was sound asleep beside her. She hadn’t slept this well for ages.

She rolled over, crashing into Travis, and
waking him up.

“Ready for another round?” he asked,
grinning broadly.

His hair was ruffled, and he’d messed up
her bed again. Not that she was complaining.

He reached over and brushed at a wisp of
hair.

His touch racked her body with need – for
him. She slowly slid her hand down his body, finding her intended target,
knowing what it would do to him.

It wasn’t long before Travis rolled onto
her, into her, and their lovemaking began all over again.

***

Marissa wanted to get out of the house.
She’d been stuck there for days, she told him.

The four walls were squeezing the life out
of her, and her eyes pleaded with him. How could she be expected to work if she
was feeling stifled, Marissa argued. Travis, softie that he was, gave in.

They drove to the picnic grounds in
silence. Neither one willing to discuss or dissect their lovemaking or their
rationality.