Travis (6 page)

When
the silence got to be too much, Kylie picked up her iced tea and her nail
polish and stood to go inside. She didn’t have the restraint to sit out here
and wait for him to talk. As far as she was concerned, Gage couldn’t say
anything to right the wrong as it was. There was no reason to listen to him
try.

“Well,
I’ve got things to do, so you’re welcome to go try to sell sorry somewhere
else,” Kylie said through clenched teeth as she moved to the door.

Just
before she reached the knob on the screen door, Gage’s strong fingers wrapped
around her arm and damn it all to hell, the heat in his touch was like an
electric current plugged directly into her vein. On instinct, she jerked away
from him and whirled around until they were face to face, spilling tea down the
front of her shirt in the process, but she ignored it.

With
as much of a glare as she could muster, Kylie met Gage’s knowing brown eyes.

“I
shouldn’t have done it, Kylie. I know that now. I wish I had known it then.”

“You
can honestly stand there and tell me that you had no idea that what you were
doing was wrong on so many levels? I’m not even sure you are who you say you
are. Hell, maybe your name isn’t really Gage Matthews.”

“It’s
actually Jason.”

Kylie
jerked, her attention focused directly on his face. “You lied to me about your
name?”

“My
full name is Jason Gage Matthews. I go by Gage.”

“Is
your birthday June twenty fourth?” Kylie had no idea why she asked that, but
she knew she’d eventually catch him in another lie.

“Yes.
Born in nineteen eighty.”

Kylie
stared up at him, letting the memories of their conversations flood her. Based on
the stories he told, he was a police officer and had gone to the academy fresh
out of high school. His parents died when he was a teenager.

“How
did your parents die?” she questioned him and the instant the faint sadness
clouded his eyes, she regretted the question.

“They
died in a car crash,” he said, his voice low and full of pain. “I was fourteen
years old. They were coming back from one of my dad’s business trips in
Houston. He fell asleep behind the wheel.”

Kylie
felt like a complete and total jerk. That’s the same story he’d told her the
first time, and just like then, her heart broke for the little boy who lost his
parents so tragically.

“My
grandparents took me in, raised me until I graduated from high school. I went
to the police academy as soon as they’d let me in. I’ve been undercover for the
last few years, working on various task forces. Would you like me to give you a
phone number so you can verify that?” Gage grabbed the back of his neck with
both hands and turned away from her, pacing several feet away and then back.

Kylie
forced herself to keep her composure. She had every right to question him. He’d
obviously had ulterior motives when he showed up at her doorstep. She didn’t trust
him. She had no reason to.

“You
lied about who you were and why you were here, Gage.”

“Not
true.”

When
he took a step closer, she took one step back. Her butt hit the screen door,
and she realized she had nowhere to go. This wasn’t going to go well, she could
feel it. Even as angry as she was, the pained look in his eyes still managed to
steal an ounce of her resistance. “No?” It was the only word she could come up
with.

“No.
I hired you to renovate my house.”

“Is
that right? So you’re telling me that it was just a coincidence that we both
happen to know Travis Walker?” The cold chill of the tea against her skin
wasn’t doing a damn thing to lessen the sweltering heat of anger forming on her
insides. Heat infused her face as the anger bubbled hotter, threatening to
overflow and cause a scorching stain on the wood at her feet.

“How
do
you know Travis anyway? It’s obvious the two of you are friends. Or
were anyway,” she said, forcing the angry tears to stay locked up behind her
eyes. She could not afford for this man to see her cry. He wouldn’t understand
that they weren’t sad tears.

“We’re
not friends,” Gage answered quickly.

“Not
friends. So what? Family?”

“No,”
Gage said sadly, thrusting his hands through his hair as he turned away from
her. “I’ve known him most of my life.”

“But
you’re not friends? Jeezus, Gage, could you just answer the damn question?”
Kylie was hovering on the edge of murderous rage, the thoughts from that day
flooding back as Gage seemingly tried to explain in as few words as possible
how this had all come about.

“His
brother is one of my friends,” Gage answered, turning back toward her and
locking her in place with his dark brown eyes. “What about you, Kylie? What
happened between
you
and Travis?” he asked, resuming his place in front
of her so that she was once again trapped between his towering frame and the
screen door. His nearness caused Kylie to lose her train of thought.

“
What?
”
He was not the one who should be asking questions here. As far as she was
concerned, Gage Matthews should be groveling at her feet after what he did.

“What
happened? The two of you are still married. Why is that?”

“It’s
none of your damn business,” she argued, seriously tempted to launch what was
left of the iced tea right in his face. Twisting out from between him and the
door, Kylie managed to escape inside. She didn’t have time to shut the door
before Gage was right behind her.

“Damn
it, Kylie. Talk to me.” Gage’s tone was sharp, and it only pissed her off more.

Kylie
snapped.

Turning
to face him, she gave in to the urge and threw the rest of the tea right in his
too handsome face, small chips of ice and amber liquid raining down on him
while her body vibrated with the strength of her rage. If she had expected satisfaction
from such a juvenile act, well, she got it. The stunned look on Gage’s face
made her heart flutter wildly, but she wasn’t even close to being able to
smile.

She
felt her face heat further, knew she was about to scream. “Fuck you, Gage. I
don’t owe you a damn thing. If you want the story, why don’t you talk to
Travis? You obviously know him much better than I do. And I have nothing left
to say to either one of you.”

Doing
her best not to throw the glass at him as well, Kylie turned abruptly, heading
to the kitchen before slamming her glass and the bottle of nail polish on the
granite countertop before taking a deep breath. She was lucky neither shattered
beneath the jarring impact. Her hands were shaking, her breaths were ragged and
uneven and those damn tears she had fought to hold in had spilled free, running
down her face.

The
next thing Kylie knew, she was being pulled around, her body coming up flush
against Gage’s hard chest seconds before he crushed his mouth to hers. Her brain
told her to fight him off, to push him away because she didn’t want this, but
her traitorous body ached in violent need of what he was offering.

Wet
shirt met wet shirt, hot skin melded together as the desperation won out, both
of them eagerly seeking what the other was suddenly giving. Kylie thrust her
fingers in Gage’s soft hair, knocking his Stetson off in the process as she
held him close, their tongues licking and tasting.

So
good. Jeezus, the man could kiss. Hot, sensual. There was a thesaurus full of
adjectives that came to mind describing how incredible Gage’s mouth felt
against hers, but she pushed all thought from her brain. For nearly three weeks
she’d been ruled by emotion and right now, Kylie was going to be led by sensation.

Nothing
more, nothing less.

When
all was said and done, she was still kicking him to the curb.

♂♀

It
was a damn good thing Gage had waited until the massive hangover from three
days earlier had subsided. He wasn’t sure he could’ve faced this angry side of
Kylie without firing on all cylinders.

And
right now, with her molded against his body, Gage couldn’t have let her go if
she insisted. The way Kylie’s mouth fused to his, her small fingers latching
into his hair, sending sparks of pleasure/pain trickling along his spine, he
wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to let her go.

The
soft, rounded curves of her breasts were crushed to his chest, and he had the
sudden urge to lick them, to taste her sweet skin. When her fingers released
his hair, Gage continued to palm the back of her head, holding her close. He
damn near sighed in relief when she yanked his shirt up and over his abs,
forcing him to release her mouth so she could rid him of the clammy cotton.
Once he was shirtless, Gage didn’t hesitate before pulling her against him once
again, one hand cupping her ass, the other her head as he bent his legs,
aligning them perfectly so he could grind his erection against that sweet spot
between her thighs.

Later,
much, much later, Gage would replay what had happened to try and understand how
they got to this point, but for now, he wasn’t going to over think it. He
needed this woman more than he needed to breathe. Air was suddenly an extraneous
element that meant little without this woman’s taste flooding his tongue.

Kylie
managed to remove her shirt, barely breaking their kiss in the process and Gage
growled, a feral sound that reverberated up from his chest, when his bare skin
met hers. Hard against soft.

Attempting
to keep them both upright, Gage maneuvered them against the kitchen wall, his
much bigger body crowding her until she couldn’t do anything more than wrap her
arms around him.

When
she bit his lip then licked the sting as she clawed his shoulders with her sharp
little nails, Gage damn near forgot what he was doing. There wasn’t an ounce of
gentle in her movements, and he wasn’t sure he’d survive if this headed that
direction anyway. He wanted to devour her. Right here in her kitchen.

“Touch
me,” Kylie insisted, her lips brushing against his mouth as she spoke.

Gage
was so damned surprised, he couldn’t even question her. He wanted her to keep
talking, to tell him exactly what she needed but he couldn’t get words to form.
He unclipped her bra, roughly dragging the silky white lace down her arms until
it fluttered to the floor. Gripping her beautiful tits with both hands, Gage
pressed his mouth back to hers, wanting to taste her desire, to inhale the need
he could sense building.

Kylie
broke the kiss, tossing her head back as she moaned. “Mouth. On me. Now.”

Cupping
one breast in his hand, Gage hefted the glorious weight in his palm as he
leaned in and sucked the pebbled tip deep into his mouth, firmly stroking her
nipple with his tongue while squeezing the other between his finger and thumb,
the heavenly taste of her skin making him light headed.

Lord!
He wasn’t sure he was going to make it through this in one piece. This woman
was a firecracker, the fuse lit and ready to go off at any second. Her assertion
was erotic as hell, something he wouldn’t have ever expected from her.

Kylie
gripped his forearm, dragging his hand down between her legs, letting him know
without words exactly what she expected.

“Fuck,
baby,” Gage groaned. “You’ve got too many clothes on.”

“Take
them off,” Kylie moaned, quickly unbuttoning her shorts while he continued to
lave her nipple, biting it firmly as she cried out.

Gage
had to pull away and drop to his knees in order to get the rest of her clothes
off of her, but once he was there, he knew heaven awaited him. Lifting her leg,
he propped it on his shoulder before burying his tongue between her slick
folds. Kylie’s sudden shudder, followed by a lascivious scream told him he’d
hit the spot. Her fingers once again gripped his hair even harder than before
as she held his mouth right where she seemed to need him. Right where he wanted
to be.

Using
his tongue, Gage circled her clit, licking, sucking, before sliding one finger
inside of her. Her soft, slick heat coated his finger, making him growl more
insistently. Somehow he managed to keep his composure, gliding his finger
inside of her, rasping her clit with his tongue. Slowly. Over and over until he
felt her legs begin to tremble beneath the sensual onslaught.

He
suspected she didn’t want him to go slow, but he damn sure didn’t want to hurt
her. It was one thing for her to cause him pain, something else entirely for
him to do the same.

“Gage!”

Releasing
her clit from between his lips, he glanced up at her, pulling his finger from
the hot, wet depths of her pussy before sliding in two. “That’s it, baby. Ride
my fingers.”

Kylie
began rocking against him, her hips meeting each thrust of his hand and Gage
felt the insistent throb of his cock begging for release.

“Oh,
yes! Yes! Please!”

Gage
wasn’t sure what she was asking for, and for a moment, he wasn’t even sure she
was talking to him, but then her body stilled, her legs shaking as her release
gripped her. With her head thrown back, her beautiful curves on full display,
Gage knew he’d never seen anything as fucking hot as Kylie when she came apart.

Reality
hadn’t quite sunk in, but it was hovering right on the forefront of his mind
when he pushed to his feet slowly. He wasn’t sure what had happened or how they
got to that point, but he was suddenly scared as hell that she was going to realize
what she’d done.

What
happened next stunned him damn near stupid. Kylie lifted her head, baby blue
eyes swirling with hunger meeting his gaze before she took a step closer, her
fingers rapidly working the button on his jeans before pushing none too gently
until his cock sprang free, standing tall and proud and begging for attention.

“Kylie,”
Gage whispered her name, emotion clogging his throat because he knew as soon as
she did what she was about to do, there’d be no turning back for him. As much
as he wanted to be the playboy extraordinaire, he wasn’t.

He
was going to fall head first, and he feared she didn’t intend to be there to catch
him.

“Fuck!”
Gage stumbled back a step, gripping the granite top on the island as Kylie took
his cock deep in her mouth before she’d even made it to her knees.

Without
thinking, he slid one hand into her silky hair, holding her steady as he thrust
in and out of her mouth, the pink tip of her tongue darting out to lave the
engorged head before every down stroke. Good Lord, the woman was going to drive
him out of his mind.

It
didn’t take long for Gage to realize she had very little experience with blow
jobs, but her innocence only spurred him on more. Made him want to savor the delicate
rasp of her tongue against his brutally sensitive flesh. He kept his eyes
locked on her, watching her mouth as she took him deep until he couldn’t hold
on any longer.

“Kylie.
Baby. I’m not going to be able to stop,” Gage rambled. “You keep doing that,
and I’m going to come in your mouth. Baby. Fuck!”

Gage’s
hips took on a rhythm of their own as he tightened his fingers in her hair only
slightly, trying not to make her gag as he barely restrained himself from
driving his cock deeper into her welcoming mouth. When she wrapped both hands
around the base of his dick, Gage knew he was done for.

“Kylie.
Last warning, baby. Oh, fuck!”

Gage
lost it. His body erupted as Kylie proceeded to suck him dry and leave him
boneless. Lowering himself to the floor without an ounce of grace because his
jeans were still wrapped around his ankles, Gage laid on his back on the cold
tile floor, closing his eyes as he fought to breathe.

He
was right.

Head.
First.

That’s
exactly where he landed.