Page 103 of It's Always Been You

“Wouldyou mind explaining what that was all about?”

“Think,” Travis snapped as he walked behind his desk. Better to put the table between them until he could calm the fuck down.

“Because I kissed Caitlin?” Nate said incredulously. “Jesus, Travis, I mess around that way with Bee all the time and you always laughed.”

“Bee is not my wife,” Travis shot back. “Cat is. And I don’t like another man’s mouth ever touching her.”

Shaking his head, Nate said, “I kissed her on the cheek.”

“Once, I can overlook, but you kissed her on her neck. Andthat,” he spat. “is too intimate.”

Nate sighed, “That was an accident. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable is not what I’m feeling right now,” Travis snarled. “I was this close to punching your face.”

“You need to calm down that shit temper of yours.” Nate spread his hands on the edge of the desk, leaning in, and glaring at Travis. “Now is not the time to spread your anger around.”

“Then stop pissing me off!”

“Shit, Travis, do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? If you playfully kissed one of my girlfriends, I’m not going to strangle you.”

“That’s not my thing. I don’t maul women the way you do.”

“Damn you!” Nate’s eyes flared at him. “I don’t maul women. There’s nothing wrong with being affectionate to close friends.”

“If you saw me do the same to Sylvie, wouldn’t you react the way I did?”

Nate’s eyes suddenly cooled. “Leave her out of this.”

“She’s the only woman who’d probably—”

“This conversation is over,” Nate interrupted. “Now, we can do this the easy or the hard way. Caitlin is mine to protect. You can’t stand me showing my face around here, I’ll take her to a safe house. You decide.”

Travis glared at Nate for his choice of words, but his friend’s face had drained of all emotions. Travis felt a twinge of guilt for bringing up Sylvie. Somehow he knew Nate was not over her, and his frequent change of girlfriends was an attempt to find what he’d lost.

“I’ll drop it,” Travis conceded.

Caitlin sankdown and ground her core against his shaft and ruptured in a million pulsing sensations. She vaguely heard Travis growl. He clenched her hips and pumped her up anddown on his cock. And then she was flipped on her back as he always finished on top, but instead of plowing into her at a frantic pace like he usually did, he was gentler. Taking his time to move inside her, he rained tender kisses on her face before sensually engaging her lips and suckling her tongue. Finally, he raised his head slightly, a deep-throated groan rumbled in his chest as he buried his face in the curve of her neck. After a series of shallow thrusts, he plunged deep, stilled, and emptied inside her.

As his breathing slowed, he rolled to his side. They were facing each other. He hugged her close, an arm cocked, crease of the elbow under her chin, the other arm under her head looping back to the front, and his chin resting on top of her head. It was almost like a chokehold embrace and yet amazingly sweet. “Never let you go,” he whispered.

“Um, Travis,” Caitlin murmured. “I can’t sleep this way, you might strangle me in your sleep.”

Her man huffed, as if offended that she would think so. He shifted on his back and nestled her in the crook of his arms. “Better?”

“Uh-hum.” However, after fifteen minutes of trying to sleep, Caitlin decided to take care of the stickiness between her legs. Usually, Travis did this for her or carried her to the bathroom to wash up. Tonight, it appeared he had no intention of doing this.

Guess it was too much to expect all the time. Caitlin shrugged inwardly. No big deal. She started untangling herself from their entwined limbs when Travis’s grip tightened.

“Where’re you going?”

“I need to wash up.”

“No. You’re not washing me off you tonight.”

Caitlin laughed softly, thinking Travis was kidding, but when he didn’t loosen his hold, she asked, “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack,” Travis murmured. “Go to sleep, babe.”

---