Travis (4 page)

In
the opposite corner of the room from the orgy taking place on the couch,
sitting in a red velvet chair was Logan McCoy. His appearance anywhere near the
playroom was both unexpected and quite intriguing. His wife Samantha didn’t
seem to have any qualms about making an appearance within the masses either,
which shocked the shit out of Travis after what had gone down several months back.

It
was this very place that had gotten the club into trouble after pictures of
Samantha McCoy were used to blackmail Luke and Logan. She didn’t seem at all
concerned at the moment because she was currently sitting on Logan’s lap, her
gaze roaming the room almost as quickly as Travis’. Although, he would have to
say, she was rather reserved in her interests. At least for the moment.

As
Closer
by Nine Inch Nails – how very appropriate – began playing on the
hidden speakers in the ceiling, Travis caught sight of Tag and McKenna once
again. They were standing on the farthest side of the room, Tag against the
wall while McKenna stood in front of him, her back pressing against the burly
man’s chest. Maybe they thought they were being discreet, Travis didn’t know,
but he noticed the way Tag’s hands drifted upward, just beneath the hem of
McKenna’s shirt.

I
want to fuck you like an animal.

Yes,
definitely an appropriate song.

With
his body stiff as hell and in desperate need of release, Travis didn’t wait any
longer. He downed the rest of his whiskey as he watched the couple before setting
the empty glass on a nearby table.

I
want to feel you from the inside.

Movement
across the room caught Travis’ attention, and he turned to see the group on the
couch. A beautiful woman with long, black hair and creamy, dark skin stripped completely
naked at the command of the enormous, linebacker-sized man sitting at one end
of the couch.

I
want to fuck you like an animal.

They
didn’t seem to be part of the group that was already there, but it looked like
the twosome was looking to rectify that situation. It was the type of activity
that usually took place in the playroom. The motto seemed to lean toward “the
more the merrier”.

You
bring me closer to God.

Travis
continued to divide his attention between the pulsing beat of the song, the
attractive couple on the couch, and the pale red head on the other side of the
room. Such a contrast, yet here in this place, everyone was exactly the same,
wanting only one thing: pleasure.

As
it should be.

I
want to fuck you like an animal.

Tag
must’ve sensed his presence because the hair on the back of his neck prickled
and when he looked up into those intense green eyes peering at him from several
feet away, he couldn’t help but smile. A barely perceptible nod was obviously
the man’s way of acknowledging that this was going to happen. Travis was not
complaining, that was for sure. Three hours were a long fucking time to drive
only to end up disappointed at the end of the night.

As
far as Travis was concerned, the party was just about to get started.

It
didn’t take long for the room to heat several degrees and more clothes to
disappear. The group in the corner was by far the boldest in the room: three
women standing behind the couch with three men sitting side by side in front of
them. One man knelt on the floor at their feet, servicing each of them in turn.
If he had to guess, based on the slight discomfort on the faces of all three
men, they were straight as an arrow. That didn’t mean they weren’t enjoying the
fuck out of being blown by a dude. Not that they would admit as much, but in
the same sense, not one of them seemed to be pulling away.

A
blaze of lust splintered in Travis’ bloodstream as he blatantly watched the display.
A sudden vision took root in his brain, and he was no longer seeing the group
but rather Gage on his knees, his lips wrapped tightly around Travis’ throbbing
cock while Kylie stood behind him, her hands wrapped around him as she watched.

His
cock twitched, and he forced himself back to the present. It wasn’t the first
time he’d had random thoughts that involved the two of them. At least not since
he saw them at Kaleb’s.

Realizing
he needed to get his head back on his shoulders and not off in dream land,
Travis turned his attention to McKenna who was standing just a foot away. In
the last few minutes, Tag got a little bolder with his movements and his brawny
hands were now cupping McKenna’s beautiful breasts, her silk blouse riding up
high on her chest, the black lace of her demi bra peeking between Tag’s splayed
fingers.

Nine
Inch Nails morphed into Kings of Leon as
Sex on Fire
queued up. Well, at
least someone was on their game. If nothing else, the music was going to
inspire some of the folks tonight. Travis wondered whether that’s what spurred
Tag to get a little reckless with his hands. Again, Travis wasn’t complaining
because the passion on McKenna’s face was a fucking turn on.

Moving
in closer, Travis kept his eyes focused on Tag’s hands and the rise and fall of
McKenna’s chest as she squirmed and moaned beneath his touch.

“You
looking for an audience or participation?”

When
McKenna’s exotic eyes met his, Travis didn’t need to hear her answer. But he
wanted to.

Her
breaths were coming hard and fast, and Tag’s cardiovascular system seemed to be
getting a workout as well, although the tough, powerful man was playing it off
as his hands firmly kneaded McKenna’s soft, plump tits.

“Answer
me, McKenna,” Travis demanded, wanting to ensure she realized he wasn’t here to
play games.

Either
this was on or it was off. At this point, it didn’t make a damned bit of
difference to him because the room was full of possibilities. Not that he was
particularly interested, but Travis knew he could easily find the satisfaction
he was looking for. In another five minutes, he’d be committed, and he didn’t
want any lingering doubts in McKenna’s mind.

“Both?”
The single word came off as a question and Travis purposely took one step back.

“Either
you’re sure or you’re not. I need to know. Do you want me to watch? Or do you
want me to touch you?”

McKenna’s
eyes slid closed as Tag growled low in her ear, his approval evident. The
lawyer might be all tough when he had to be, but he was quickly caving to the possibility
of where this was going to go.

“Touch
me,” she moaned, opening her eyes and meeting his stare once more.

Moving
closer, Travis eliminated what little space had been between them as he met
Tag’s gaze just over McKenna’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure what the parameters of
this little sexcapade were, and he needed the limits defined before he touched
her.

“Can
I kiss you, McKenna?” Travis asked as he darted his eyes back and forth over
each of their faces. He wanted permission from both of them.

Tag’s
subtle nod was the first, followed by McKenna’s breathless “yes” that followed.

With
very little gap between them, Travis leaned in, trapping Tag’s hands between
his body and McKenna’s as he tilted his head, allowing his lips to hover over
hers.

“Do
you want this show to go on right here? Or do you want to take this somewhere a
little more private?” Travis knew this was a monumental step for the couple. And
being out in the open like this, he expected them both to be a little more
daring, but he wasn’t interested in them doing this because they thought
someone was watching. He wanted them doing this because they wanted to. Less of
a chance for any regrets later on.

“Privacy
would be nice,” McKenna admitted, her labored breaths fluttering against his
lips.

Damn,
he wanted to kiss her if for nothing else than to ensure his mind didn’t start
to wander down paths he had no desire to travel. He just wondered if he was
going to have to keep his eyes open so he didn’t try to imagine that the lips
he was going to kiss belonged to a little caramel haired goddess who had the
ability to level him flat with just a smile.

“Lead
the way,” Travis told her and committed himself to what would happen next. No
matter what that might be.

At
least for the next hour, he wouldn’t need to think.

♂♂

Gage
wasn’t quite sure what the hell he was doing. He’d somehow managed to evade
everything pertinent in his life for the last few days and yet here he was,
waltzing into Club Destiny like his life wasn’t upside down and sideways. It
was Tuesday, and he was looking for a way to numb his mind for a little while.
At this point, he didn’t even care how he managed to do that, so the club
seemed like the perfect answer.

It
also gave him a chance to be someone that he wasn’t for a little while. Here,
in this place, he wasn’t Gage Matthews. No, here he was Chance Reed and that
little bit of anonymity was exactly what he needed. In his humble opinion,
Chance wasn’t nearly as big of an asshole as Gage was.

He
laughed out loud, ignoring the people who looked at him sideways. Yes, if they
thought laughing out loud at yourself was awkward, what would they think if
they found out he was referring to himself as two different people?

Dropping
onto an empty stool at the bar, he waited for the bartender to make her way
around to him. When she did, he ordered a double scotch on the rocks and waited
patiently. Keeping his head down, Gage wasn’t interested in seeing what was
playing out around him. Between the music and the laughter, he knew it wasn’t
anything that would interest him in the least. He couldn’t even bring himself
to smile, much less laugh these days.

He
had royally fucked up, and now he was paying the price. Kaleb was more than
pissed at him, and he couldn’t say he blamed the guy. The woman he’d been
courting for the last couple of months wouldn’t even answer the phone when he
called. And then there was Travis, and quite frankly, Gage didn’t even allow
himself to think about him. Nothing good was going to come out of it if he did.

The
satisfaction of seeing Travis’ stunned expression when he laid eyes on Kylie –
his
wife for the last ten years
– never came to fruition. In fact, the horror
of what Gage had done hit him so hard, he’d buried himself in a bottle of Jack
that night all alone at the monstrous, empty farmhouse. As soon as he managed
to sleep off the hangover from hell on an uncomfortably small couch, Gage had split.
For two days, he drove the open road, never having a single destination in mind
but somehow he’d ended up here. In Dallas.

When
his drink was placed in front of him, Gage mumbled his thanks and wrapped his
hands around the cool, clear glass. Without thinking, he quickly downed the
liquid, reveling in the burn that lit up his chest and the heat that filled his
sinuses. Lifting the empty glass to signal another, he waited patiently for the
bartender to return. They played that little game for nearly an hour before
Gage realized he was suddenly feeling no pain.

“You
going upstairs tonight?”

The
question pulled Gage from his drunken stupor, and he looked up to see Kane
Steele wavering in front of him, a crisp white towel sliding back and forth
across the bar top in front of his face. Wait, maybe Kane wasn’t the one
moving. It very well could be him, Gage thought to himself.

“What’s
going on upstairs?” he slurred, not making the connection because the alcohol
had seemingly rendered him ignorant. He smiled like a fool as he replayed his
words back in his head, moving his tongue around inside of his mouth because it
felt strangely numb.

“It’s
Tuesday.”

As
though that was supposed to mean something to him, Gage tried to fumble through
his booze soaked brain cells to locate the little tidbit of information that
might make sense. No such luck.

“Playroom?”
Kane said with a grin.

Ahhh.
Well, that explained it. Tuesday night.

“I’d
much prefer hanging out here with the pretty little bartender,” Gage slurred.

There
was a growl and Gage turned from side to side to see where it came from. When
he looked back at Kane, the man’s face barely coming into focus, he realized
the sound was coming from him.

Gage
tilted his head, studying Kane for a moment. So many things were swimming
around in his head, but he finally realized what he’d said. Oh, that’s right.
The pretty little bartender was Kane’s woman.
Hmmphh.
The man was a
little possessive. He might want to get that checked.

“I
think you’d be better off upstairs,” Kane urged.

“Shit,
why not. What the hell do I have to lose?” Gage mumbled and pushed his empty
glass toward Kane. “One for the road?”

Kane
looked him over as Gage did his best not to sway on his seat. Right. Like that
was working.

He
had no idea whether he was successful, but something must’ve convinced Kane
because a few seconds later another glass was put in front of him. It took
three attempts, but Gage finally managed to retrieve enough cash from his
wallet to cover his tab and then some. With a tilt of his head, he grabbed the
glass and made his way to the staircase on the far side.

Hmmm,
the room was a little lopsided.

The
smell of sweaty bodies and alcohol hit his nose at the same time the room
tipped some more. Gage stopped, not wanting to spill his drink and grabbed onto
the rail of the staircase. Looking up at the doors, he wondered if he’d even be
able to enter his code to get in. Shit, he wasn’t even sure he’d remember what
the damn thing was by the time he got up there.

Not
having anything better to do, he figured he’d give it a shot. What’s the worst
that could happen? He’d take a trip down the stairs? Maybe it would knock some
sense into him. Lord knows he needed it.

Ten
painfully long minutes later, – hell, it could’ve been an hour, Gage had no
idea – the steel doors were closing behind him, and he was stumbling down the
dimly lit hallway, using the wall to assist. Yup, the world was spinning like a
top on steroids. It seemed fitting. Everything else was out of control at this
point, why not his ability to maneuver on solid ground.

When
he rounded the corner, keeping the hallway from turning sideways by leaning his
cheek against the wall, Gage noticed three people heading toward him. From this
distance and from the booze fogging his eyes, the only thing he could make out
was something long and red, and he was transfixed on the sight.

Moving
along the wall, doing his best not to spill what was left of his drink… Ok, no
need to worry about the drink, he thought as he downed the rest in one gulp
before setting the glass on the floor at his feet.

Fuck.
Mistake.

When
the hallway turned abruptly, Gage dropped to his knees, his legs suddenly too
weak to support him. He only hoped the people down the hall paid him no mind.
If he could just make it to…

Shit,
where the hell had he been going in the first damn place?

Ok,
so maybe he could sit here for a few minutes, let the tilt-a-whirl slow down
first. He’d have a better chance of making it back to his feet that way.

“Gage?”

The
deep, booming voice was achingly familiar, but Gage couldn’t place it. Maybe
his dreams. Yes, he’d heard the voice in his dreams.

He
glanced up at the form in front of him and smiled. He didn’t know why he was
smiling, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

“Get
up,” the voice demanded.

“Yeah,
that ain’t happenin’,” he slurred. Shit, his lips were numb too. If only the
rest of him would follow suit, he’d be in business.

A
strong hand gripped his bicep and pulled, easily lifting him from the floor.
Gage had to work to get his feet under him, but somehow he managed.

“Fuck.”

Yeah,
Gage was thinking the exact same thing as he tipped sideways, the floor
suddenly coming up to high five his face much faster than he anticipated.

♂♂

Travis
managed to catch Gage’s dead weight milliseconds before he face planted on the
tile floor. Every muscle in his body screamed as he tried to hold him up and
then suddenly he had help, the heavy weight lightening considerably.

Tag
had come to assist, steadying Gage’s lax form and helping Travis maneuver him
down the hall. After fishing the keys to his apartment from his pocket, Travis
and Tag eased Gage inside before depositing him on the couch.

“Looks
like tonight’s off, huh?” Tag questioned, but to Travis’ surprise the man
didn’t sound disappointed.

Travis
nodded, his eyes glued to the man passed out cold on his couch. He wasn’t
leaving Gage, so yeah, the night was pretty well shot to hell.

“I’ll
let McKenna know,” Tag said as he was shutting the door behind him.

“Mother
fucker. What the hell have you done?” Travis kept his voice low, but part of
him wished Gage could hear him and would wake up so they could hash this out
the way he’d imagined it.

And
he wasn’t thinking about pummeling Gage into the ground any longer.

He
settled for sitting on the edge of the coffee table and staring at Gage as the
man gave himself over to alcohol induced dreams. He didn’t envy him. Gage would
certainly be hating himself in the morning. Although, Travis was pretty sure,
based on how intoxicated Gage was, he’d been battling his own inner demons for
a little while and probably wouldn’t feel much worse than he had already.

Why
Travis sympathized with him, he had no idea.

He
should hate Gage for what he did. He wasn’t happy, that was a given, but
looking at the man now, his body relaxed, his dark eyelashes fanning out over
rugged cheekbones, he felt something else. What, he didn’t know. It wasn’t like
he could put names to his emotions considering he’d spent the better part of
his adult life running from exactly that same thing.

But,
for some reason, despite the hell he’d put himself through for so long, seeing
Gage threatened something inside of him. Something he wasn’t ready to let go
of. The same reaction he’d had to him each time their lips had touched, no matter
how briefly.

Travis
didn’t care that they knew so little about each other, or that Gage seemed
compelled to keep himself unavailable by engaging in threesomes with Kaleb and
Zoey. There was still a connection there, something that Travis found himself
drawn to. He wanted to experiment, to see if what he felt wasn’t just a figment
of his imagination or a reckless attempt to satisfy the part of himself he felt
would never be satisfied.

It
wasn’t that he wanted to care about anyone, especially a man he had such a prominent
physical attraction to, but ever since the first time they kissed in the Walker
Demo office, Travis found himself thinking about Gage more and more often. He
wondered where he was, what he was doing, who he was doing it with. And ever since
Gage pulled Kylie into his life, he wondered whether there was a reason. As
though he’d been running from this his whole life, and suddenly he was full
circle. Right back where he started from.

Kylie
had been the beginning, and now she was front and center in his life once more,
although she didn’t actually know that yet. Suddenly, all of those thoughts
about Kylie and Gage seemed as though they were real. Almost as though the path
he’d been on all these years was finally rounding the curve and he was about to
find himself knee deep in exactly what he’d spent most of his life searching
for.

Was
that the plan? Did all of this happen for a reason? Were the three of them
supposed to cross paths like this?
Shit.
Travis did not want to get his
hopes up, but he couldn’t help but wonder if everything was finally working
itself out.

Only
he didn’t think the two people involved would give a shit about what he wanted
one way or the other.

Leaning
forward, Travis brushed Gage’s hair back from his face gently. It was a move he
didn’t think himself capable of, but he didn’t want to pull back either. “Damn
you, Gage,” Travis whispered. “What the hell have I got myself into?”

“Travis?”
Gage’s slurred, barely discernable voice drifted up from the couch, and Travis
held his breath. Did he know where he was?

“You
said it would happen again,” Gage continued to mutter, his words running
together but still clear. “You fucking promised.”

Yes,
it’s exactly what he’d told Gage several months before. If he’d had his way,
things would’ve progressed a lot further before now. Only Travis hadn’t been
able to get in touch with Gage. No matter how hard he tried. Not that Gage would
ever believe him. Travis got the impression Gage didn’t think highly of him.

Convincing
Gage would be harder than he thought. He just wondered whether he had the guts
to pursue him.

Full
circle
. The words echoed in the back of his mind.

Travis
closed his eyes, slid the backs of his fingers down Gage’s cheek before pulling
his hand away and sighing.