Page 22 of Theirs to Love

Emily smiled at him; he looked so unsure of himself that she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking half the time. The other half, she could see every emotion, every ounce of love that he had for her shining back at her, in his eyes. “You didn’t scare me, Travis. I was just thinking about—things.” She wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear that she had her hopes up about seeing Jack again.

“May I join you?” He looked her body up and down and she opened her arms in invitation.

“I’d like that Travis,” she whispered. Emily watched as Travis slowly unbuttoned his shirt and slipped off his jeans, stepping into the warm spray of the shower with her. He pulled her into his arms, and she wrapped her body around his needing everything he was offering her and more. They had become good at comforting each other but they never lost the passion that always existed in their relationship.

Travis pushed her against the shower wall and lifted her against his body allowing Emily better access to shamelessly rub herself all over him. After the day that they had, finding out that someone was still watching them and that Jackson was possibly coming back to them, she needed to feel Travis, touch him, and know that he wanted her as much as she needed him.

Emily wrapped her legs around Travis, and he slid into her wet core holding her ass in his big hands controlling her every movement. She liked that Travis gave her what she needed, even craved during sex. Emily liked being submissive, especially with her demanding job. Travis took over where Jackson had left off but never pushed her to her limits as Jack had. She knew that Travis was missing that in their relationship. Jackson fulfilledthat need for him pushing him to take more and give more and Travis seemed to long for that again.

Travis pumped into her body hard and fast taking every ounce of pleasure that she was willingly giving him. She could feel her climax building deep within her core as she took what she needed from him, riding his cock, and pulling him down to kiss his mouth. Their bodies slipped and slid in unison until she couldn’t hold back any longer. She screamed out his name and minutes later, he shouted out hers pumping his seed deep into her core.

Travis released her, letting her slide down his big body. He soaped her up and then lathered himself up. She looked over at him while he was rinsing off and the worried, lost look he wore earlier was back in place.

“Travis, please talk to me, tell me what’s wrong,” Emily pleaded. “I want to help you, but I don’t know how.” Travis leaned through the warm spray from the shower and gently kissed her lips forcing a smile onto his beautiful face. Emily reached up and pushed a strand of wet blond hair from his eyes, running her hands down to playfully tug his beard.

“You help me more than you already know, baby,” Travis whispered. “I’d be completely lost without you.” Travis took one last kiss and turned off the water. “Let’s dry off and get into bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I have to find us a safe place to stay while we figure out who is still following us and Jack—” Emily stilled at the reminder that Jackson was supposed to reappear in their lives almost as quickly as he exited two months ago.

“I know.” She softly smiled up at him. “And, when he shows up we’ll be ready for him. This time, we won’t let him walk away without a fight.” Travis curtly nodded and towel-dried her body.

“Right, hopefully, we will get some answers too. I need to know where he’s been this whole time. How was it so easy towalk away from us, leaving us to suffer not knowing if he was safe and alive all this time? I need some answers, Em.” She nodded, knowing that this whole thing had gnawed at Travis. For the first few weeks, he felt as though he had done something wrong, that Jackson could walk away so easily. Honestly, she felt the same way, only blaming herself instead of Travis. The three of them needed to find a way through this mess to be able to get to the point where they could heal and move forward—together. Because any other option felt wrong.

Jackson

Jack had driven through the night to get to the address that his Captain had texted him. He was afraid his boss had told Emily and Travis about her father’s involvement in the case. He wanted to be the one to break the news to Em and hopefully, she’d let him comfort her and help her to pick up the pieces when her world came tumbling down around her.

God, he missed them both so much, and here he was being a complete coward sitting in his truck and watching the room that they were in. He was afraid of what he’d find in that room. Since Travis and Em were still together, that had to mean that they moved on without him and he couldn’t blame them. He was the one who left them, disappearing from their lives for two months but he did it to keep them safe. And now, he was cowering in his truck worried that they wouldn’t listen to him, trusting that he left for them and not because he didn’t want them—because he did. He wanted them both more than he wanted his next breath.

Jack scanned the parking lot and was about to man up and go in to face the two people that he loved most in the world when he noticed a white truck sitting across the street from the hotel. It had been sitting at the abandoned gas station all morningand his cop instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong. He pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed Travis’s number. He didn’t miss the way his stomach did a flip-flop at the thought of hearing Travis’s voice again. He dreamed of his sexy, gruff voice whispering in his ear, night after night.

“Yeah,” Travis’s growl woke Jack’s body, making it come to life for the first time in months.

“Trav, it’s me—Jackson.” He heard some shuffling and whispering on the other end of the line and he imagined the two of them in bed together naked and the thought nearly tore his heart in two.

“Jack, where the fuck are you?” Travis’s demanding tone made him smile. He wasn’t going to let Jack off the hook so easily. He liked that Travis held him accountable, it kept him honest when it came to his feelings about them both.

“I’m in the parking lot but you can’t come out just yet. I think that you are being watched. There is a white pickup truck in the parking lot across the street,” Jack filled him in on the truck’s description and Travis cursed into the phone.

“That’s the one that was following Em and me yesterday.” Jackson could hear Emily’s sharp gasp on the other end of the line and his heartbeat sped up knowing that she was so close. He wanted to be able to pull her into his body and comfort her. She was probably scared and worried about him and that gave him hope that they would be able to find a way to forgive him. Emily was the glue that held the three of them together.

“Are you all right, Jackson?” Em asked. He could tell that she was crying, and it gutted him to still be causing her so much pain.

“I’m fine, baby. It’s the two of you that I’m worried about. There is no one in the truck so I’m assuming the asshole that has been watching you is around here somewhere. I need the two of you to get dressed and grab your stuff. I’ll keep an eye on thingsout here. When you are ready to leave, text me and I’ll pull up closer and you can jump into my truck. We can come back for your truck later, Travis.” They both agreed and Travis ended the call.

A few minutes later Emily texted him and his heart nearly exploded when their door opened and the two of them ran to his truck, hand in hand. Travis opened the passenger side door and grimly looked in at Jack. He nodded and helped Emily up into the back seat. She was still crying, her tear-stained cheeks reminding Jackson that this wasn’t a happy reunion. He hoped like hell that he could change that though.

“Em don’t cry baby,” Jackson crooned turning to face her. “I missed you so much,” he whispered. He wanted to pull her to the front seat to sit in his lap so he could wrap his arms around her and tell her that it was all going to be all right, but they didn’t have time for that.

Travis got into the front passenger seat and buckled up, “Seatbelt, Em,” he barked. She did as he asked, and Jackson didn’t miss the wave of anger that was rolling off Travis. Honestly, it scared the shit out of Jack that Travis refused to even look in his direction after he got into the truck.

“Travis, I—” Travis held up his big hand effectively stopping Jack from the words that he wanted to say next. God, he wanted to pull Travis into his body and kiss him; remind him who was in control. But he knew that Travis wouldn’t allow that right now. He needed an explanation, and Jack didn’t have time to give him that. He needed to get as far from this place as possible and find them a safe place to stay. Then, he’d sit them both down and tell them what he found out about the case and remind them both how much he loved them.

Jackson drovefor hours finally finding a little town out in the middle of nowhere. There was little chance that the town even existed on a map and Jack counted himself pretty damn lucky that he even found a motel for them to stay in. Travis had spent most of the ride in silence, brooding next to him and he had to admit, it was fucking sexy. Emily fell asleep about halfway through the drive only waking up when they stopped for a bathroom break or food. Jack didn’t miss the way the two seemed to be connected, always touching each other or holding hands. Hell, they even shared silent looks of communication that Jack secretly envied. He wished like hell that they would let him in, but he knew that it was going to take more than just a few silent hours in a truck for that to happen.

“Em, wake up baby,” Travis whispered. He reached over the seat and gently nudged her. She yawned and stretched, smiling up at Travis and Jackson remembered the way that she used to smile at him. His heart stuttered at the thought of her underneath him smiling up just like that.

Jack got out of his truck and quickly scanned the area for anyone who might have tailed him. He had kept an eye out the entire drive and he knew that Travis had done the same. He wasn’t about to take any chances with Travis or Emily; he just got them back and he wouldn’t chance losing them again.

“Can we get some food, I’m starving?” Emily said around another yawn. Jack couldn’t help his laugh.

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