It's Always Been You (37 page)

“Em’s phone is at Beatrice’s as well,” Ed said.

“Why can’t you guys chill?” Nate mumbled. “We can have our own night out. After all the work we’ve done this week, we could go to Rooster Bar and raid their top-shelf Scotch. My treat?” Nate eyed them hopefully. “How about a strip club? You know the girls won’t mind as long as it’s hands off, right?” Nate met Travis’s eyes, which were unwavering. His friend’s shoulders slumped. “You guys are going to get me into trouble.”

Travis and Ed crossed their arms on their chest. Ed was leaning heavily on the door.

Nate sighed, “I’m not going to get outta here alive unless I spill, am I?”

Both men nodded.

*****

Caitlin was getting dizzy; she couldn’t even finish the one drink she’d been nursing all night. The music was too loud and the club was getting too packed. Packed with all kinds of people. Some were just too beautiful to look at. Some were too scary—like they were right out of a gangster movie. This evening’s theme was “Speakeasy,” which explained why Beatrice dressed her in a vintage flapper dress that skimmed her butt and the abundance of Al Capone-attired male clientele.

It was already half past midnight; the three of them were in line to this room Beatrice couldn’t wait to enter.
 

“So what exactly is in there?” Emily asked, words slurring. Travis’s assistant just finished her third drink.
 

“BDSM-lite,” Beatrice quipped.

“Tell me you’re joking.” Caitlin made a move to get out of the line, but Beatrice yanked her back to the front. “I don’t think I’m up for watching someone flogged in front of an audience. Are you?”

“I could be a domme,” Beatrice whispered to both of them. “I’m just trying to see if it works for me.”

“So all this talk about foreign dignitaries was all you blowing smoke up our asses so we’d come with you?” Emily asked.

The smug smile that Beatrice flashed them affirmed her deception. Damn, she may not have fallen far from the apple tree after all.

“Password,” The big bouncer guarding the door asked Beatrice. The redhead whispered into the bouncer’s ear. He nodded and let the three of them through.

A welcome blast of cold air hit Caitlin’s overheated skin. The room was dark, and all she could see were dark silhouettes at first until she moved further into the room where tiny pin lights cast a mysterious purple glow over the audience. The spotlight was on the stage. She couldn’t see anything at this point, but she heard the crack of a whip and someone shouting.

“Three!”
 

There was a low voice; Caitlin couldn’t understand the words.

“Here,” Beatrice dragged her to whatever space was available near the stage. A couple, dressed in nothing but leather, courteously moved aside to make room for the three of them. Caitlin gasped at the sight of the woman who had her wrists bound by manacles against a wooden X-shaped structure. Her back was bare, red welts marking her skin. Her tight skirt was bunched up around her waist, revealing a tiny scrap of underwear.

“Four!”

The man with the whip walked forward, ducked his head and whispered something in the woman’s ear while his hand went to her pussy. He took a step back and that was when Caitlin saw the erection bulging on his crotch.

“Oh, my,” Caitlin whispered to Beatrice, who looked like she was focused on the scene. “You think you can whip a guy like that, check how hard he is, and then whip him again?”

“Shut up,” Beatrice retorted, but there was a tone of anxiety in her voice.

Caitlin snickered as she continued watching the scene. The man finally dropped the whip and spun the woman around. “Oh, my God, are those really . . .” Caitlin glanced over to Emily.

The brunette nodded and grinned. “Uh . . . huh . . . nipple clamps.” Just then, Emily’s smile died on her lips, and her expression turned to one of deep consternation—Caitlin wasn’t too certain because of the dim lighting. She was startled when warm hands gripped her hips and she was yanked against a solid chest.

Before she could panic, a voice in her ear said, “Enjoying yourself, sunshine?”

Caitlin, for some reason, got turned on and apprehensive at the same time. Travis’s voice was laced with retribution, which didn’t bode well for her short-term. She tried to twist her head to look at Beatrice, but Travis had gripped her jaw. “Don’t take your eyes from the scene. He’s going to make her come.” His hips hit her ass and pushed her against the barrier that separated the stage from the audience. A familiar hard ridge ground between her butt cheeks.
 

“Travis,” Caitlin hissed. “Bee . . .”

“Nate took her somewhere else. Same with Emily, Ed’s with her. Just you and me, babe.”

Yeah, right, plus fifty other people who were in one state of arousal or another including her.

“You’re in big trouble.” His breath fanned her face; one hand went under her skirt and cupped the heat between her thighs. “First, for wearing a dress like this.” His fingers slid inside her and he groaned. “Fuck. Is this wetness for me?” His fingers scooped up some of the moisture and began to circle her clit. A moan escaped her. “Is it?”

“Yes,” Caitlin gasped.

“Good. Because if I find out you’re getting wet without me to fill you with cock, that’s number three.”

Two fingers slid in and out of her in a punishing rhythm.

“Wait, what’s the second?” Caitlin squeaked, getting breathless as she arched desperately against him.

“Leaving your phone at Beatrice’s so I can’t track you.”

Oops, there is that.

The hand on her jaw lowered to her breast and began to tease her nipple through the thin fabric. They were already hard as pebbles. The pulsing below her belly escalated to a fevered pitch. “Watch, Caitlin. He’s fucking her with his fingers.”

Caitlin’s eyes flew back to the stage, and sure enough, the man was pounding away at the woman’s pussy. Travis was gripping her tighter now, and another groan rumbled through his chest. She was ready to come, and when his thumb rubbed her clit hard, she shot off in waves. His hand went back to her jaw. “Shh . . . you have to be quiet, Cat.” He withdrew his fingers and pressed down on her pubis as she pulsed against his hand. Pleasure innervated her body in jolting tremors; the danger that someone might see them must have added to the intensity of her orgasm. She was shocked at her wanton behavior, but she knew it was because she trusted Travis implicitly, so she could let go of her inhibitions.

The woman on stage screamed. Her release coming as the man unclasped the nipple clamps.

When Caitlin finally came down from her high, the hand disappeared from under her skirt to close around her wrist. She was dragged away from the scene.

“Where’re we going?”

Travis’s expression was unreadable when he said, “Finding some place private to fuck the living daylights out of you.”

“Travis, I—”

He pulled her against him and growled, “In what universe did you think I would be okay with you wearing a dress like this?”

“I—”

“You did it behind my back, too. I’m not with you to protect you against those jackasses who want to cop a feel.”

“I was careful—”

He continued dragging her, not even bothering to listen to her any longer. He was clearly enraged. They seemed to have gotten further into the BDSM room toward a secluded hallway. She heard Travis curse and turn around, whipping her along with him, but not before she saw a woman being nailed against the wall by a man whose pants were hanging down, baring his ass.

It might have been the sudden about face, or it might have been everything that happened tonight, but her dizziness returned with a wave of nausea.

“Travis …” she squeaked.

He continued walking ahead of her, her shorter legs in high heels having to run to catch up.

“Travis . . .”
 

And then her world turned black.

*****

“Travis . . .”

Caitlin’s husky whimper drifted up to him. He ignored her. He was pissed and so fucking turned on right now, he had trouble thinking. She was not going to sweet-talk herself out of a major ass-whooping followed by a hard-pounding fuck. He might as well take her home because she wasn’t going to come up for air until morning.

His right shoulder suddenly got jarred by a dead weight, his hand almost losing its grip on hers. At first, he thought she had stumbled, but he turned in time to drop to the floor to catch her falling body.
 

“Caitlin, what the fuck?” Surprise quickly turned to fear as he realized she was unconscious.
 

Fuck!
 

He scooped her up immediately and shouldered his way through the crowd. “Let me through!”

He made it to the entryway of the BDSM room where a bouncer stopped him. “Can’t let you carry her out of here.”

“She’s my wife,” Travis roared. “She fainted.”

“Oh, my God, what happened?” Emily rushed up to them.

“I don’t know,” Travis said tersely.

“I’ll bring the car around,” Ed said and disappeared into the sea of bodies.

“You know this guy?” the bouncer asked Emily.
 

“Yes. He’s her husband,” Emily replied with a hint of exasperation and worry.

The bouncer nodded, giving Travis permission to leave with an unconscious Caitlin. Not that he would have waited a second longer. At the entrance of the club, the guard was apparently notified of a man coming through with an unconscious woman because the door was opened for him, and he was outside in no time at all.

He saw Beatrice hurrying toward them.

“What happened?”

“Passed out,” Travis clipped. “You and I are going to have words, Bee.”
 

It was then that Travis noticed the big man who stepped forward and gripped Beatrice’s arm telling the redhead firmly, “I’m not done with you.” The man’s whiskey eyes shifted to Travis. “Hello, Lieutenant.”

“Shit. Gabriel?” Travis said hoarsely.

“You have no right following me here!” Beatrice yelled at the newcomer. “This is stalking.”

“Oh, please, Bee, your scream can wake the dead,” Caitlin croaked from his arms.

“Cat?” Travis whispered in relief.

“You can put me down, Trav. I’m fine. I think.”

“No way. I’m taking you to the hospital. You fainted once during our honeymoon, too. Ed’s bringing the car around.”
 

As if on cue, the Escalade pulled up in front of the club.

“Gabe, we need to catch up. Man, you just disappeared off the face of the planet,” Travis said, still reeling with the appearance of his former SEAL buddy, but his focus was on Caitlin right now. “I have to take my wife to the hospital.”

Gabe nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”

*****

Pregnant?

Holy shit!
Caitlin’s mind screamed in panic as the words of the doctor sank in. Travis was also stunned, but there was a tender look on his face as he glanced at her. The look in his eyes simply melted her into a gooey puddle, although not enough to quell the anxiety threatening to explode from her gut. As if sensing her turmoil, his hand squeezed hers in reassurance as they listened to the doctor.

“It’s still early. It’s around six weeks judging from your last cycle.”

“Wait. How?,” Caitlin asked, dazed. “Six weeks ago, that’s around the time my birth-control shot lapsed.” She looked at Travis. “But we took precautions and used a condom.”

A guilty look crossed Travis’s face. “Ah, it broke twice, remember?”

The doctor’s lips twitched. “There you go.”

“Do you have an obstetrician? I can give you referrals if you want,” the doctor asked when she couldn’t bring herself to say anything else.

“We’ll take care of it,” Travis said abruptly and stood up.

The ER doctor nodded. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Blake.”

They walked out to the waiting room where Ed and Emily hung around for news.

“Well?” Emily asked, obviously confused by the differing expressions on their faces. Travis’s was pure triumph and male satisfaction, and Caitlin wanted to kick him in the ass with how well he accepted this life-altering circumstance. He had not mentioned anything about starting a family with her again, and she thought now that the legalities with their marriage status was okay, he might have changed his mind about getting her pregnant to tie her to him. Obviously, she was wrong.

 
She was still feeling nauseated, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the news or her condition.

“She’s pregnant,” Travis announced, grinning.

“Oh, my God,” Emily squealed. “Congratulations!” The brunette’s eyes landed on Caitlin’s face, which probably looked like she was about to face the executioner. “Um, right?”

“She’s still getting used to the idea,” Travis said.

“Thanks, Travis, for reading my thoughts,” Caitlin grumbled. “And you’re not supposed to tell anyone for twelve weeks.”

“Our lips are sealed,” Em said with an accompanying “zip it” motion to her lips. Ed clapped Travis on his back.

“I’m going to get fat,” Caitlin informed her husband. “You’re up for that?”

Travis turned her in his arms, leaned in, and said, “You’re pregnant. Pregnant is not fat. Is that what this panic is all about?”

“I’m not panicking.”

“Right . . .” Travis eyed her dubiously. Then he tucked her into his side and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll figure it out, sunshine.”

The comfort of his arms did make her feel better. Her nausea started receding, and the first inkling of excitement at the prospect of motherhood started to tickle her heart.

*****

Travis was exultant, but he tried to reel it in, even if he wanted to lift Caitlin and spin her around in pure exhilaration. His woman was in shock right now; although, it seemed she was less tense than she had originally been at the hospital.

They dropped off Emily and Ed at their home. It was almost 3:30 a.m. when they finally pulled into their garage. Caitlin had dozed off and was just rousing when Travis exited the car to go around her side to open her door. The skirt she was wearing was bunched up around her hips exposing the mound between her thighs. His cock predictably stirred. Well, her being pregnant certainly earned her a reprieve from his ire. He’d forgive her any transgression right now. However, her being pregnant also reminded him of the infinitely pleasurable activity of how she got that way. He grew harder. It was that mating instinct. It had to be.