Page 66 of It's Always Been You

Her hair was a mess. There were some locks caked in mud. This would take some serious shampooing. At least shedidn’t acquire any new bruises. After the dirt was washed off, she stayed under the shower spray a few minutes longer.

Finally, she turned off the water and stepped out, inspecting her skin. There were superficial scratches that didn’t even need antiseptic. She shuddered at the close call. Five assailants. She was lucky she was married to a badass. Caitlin couldn’t possibly have gotten out of there alive on her own. She didn’t know what she became when she blacked out, but she didn’t think that would have mattered, not against an assault rifle and not when the enemies were bent on her death and nothing else. She tied the sash on her robe, walked out of the bedroom, and gasped. Travis was standing at the entrance. He must have showered as well for he had a towel hanging loosely around his hips.

“You took too long.” His tone was gruff and low; his eyes blazed raw and hungry.

Blood lust had morphed into real lust.

“I was on my way back,” Caitlin said no more. Travis closed the distance between them; his hand shot out as he yanked her against him. One hand dug into her hair painfully.

“I need you,” he said hoarsely. “I. Fucking. Need. You.”

“You have me . . . Oh!” Caitlin yelped as her back was slammed against the wall. Frantic fingers pulled at the sash of her robe and it was quickly discarded from her body. Her body was a quivering mass of damp flesh before the eyes of a predator.

Travis leaned in. “I can’t be gentle.” It was almost a snarl.

Caitlin wrapped her arms around him and said, “It’s okay.”

The words barely left her mouth when both his hands seized her ass, lifting her. The towel fell away from him and he was there filling her, stretching her with every inch of him. She gasped at the burn inside her for she wasn’t ready, but Travis was out of control. His eyes held hers as he slid out and rammed back inside her; the force of it left no doubtthat this was a claiming. The friction lessened as her own moisture started to coat his girth, but his strokes were powerful as he pounded inside her over and over. For long moments, the room echoed with his animalistic grunts and the pounding on the wall as he plowed into her without mercy.

He suddenly spun them around as he walked toward the bed and Caitlin found herself belly and face first against the mattress; fingers yanked her hips up and he slammed back inside her. Guttural sounds came from behind her as he increased his pace, fucking the shit out of her. Caitlin sobbed as an exquisite sensation built between her legs, her fingers gripping the bed sheets as Travis’s forceful thrusting threatened to send her over the edge of the mattress. She was climbing, climbing until she was flipped around, and dragged back to the center of the bed. Her legs were shoved apart and his tongue was on her.

It only took the brush of his tongue against her clit to spark her orgasm. She exploded and she cried out her release. And yet, he continued to eat her as if he’d never be sated. “Travis . . . please . . .” He growled as he fastened his lips on her pussy, sending another pulsating ache down her belly. Her fingers dragged restlessly into his hair.

He gave her core one final lash of his tongue. He crawled up her body, hooking her legs under his arms, and stared down at her. “No one’s taking you from me.”

“Oh, Travis, no one will.”

“This body is mine.”

Caitlin wasn’t sure what to answer to that.

Feeling her hesitation, his eyes turned stormy as he plunged inside her once more. “No answer?”

“Travis—”

“You’re fucking mine, Caitlin. Say it.”

He withdrew once and thrust. He pushed her thighs way up so he could also manacle her wrists. There was no escape;she was at her most vulnerable. Her body was open to him for the taking.

“Say it!” he thundered.

“Are you mine?” Caitlin whispered.

Travis bent down to capture her lips. This kiss was the only part that was tender in this feral union. Pulling away, he whispered back, “Always.”

There were no more words as he drove into her in a hard pounding rhythm. The slapping of flesh against flesh increased along with her moans and his grunts until finally, they both unhinged. Travis roared his climax, as Caitlin cried out hers. He let go of her wrists as he buried his face in the curve of her shoulder. He shuddered spasmodically against her, his body sweaty from the ferocity of their mating. He turned his face toward her. His warm Scotch-scented breath mingling with her own serrated inhalations.

“That was amazing,” she finally whispered, her throat felt raw. How loud did she scream? She could feel his lips curve into a smile by the skin on her jaw.

“I was too rough,” Travis said. It was a statement with no regret.

“We both needed rough, I think.”

Travis rolled them over so she was lying on top of him. He brushed her hair out of her face, tucking her locks behind her ears. “I love you, Caitlin.”

His eyes were searching. She pressed a light kiss on his lips and said, “I’m getting there, Travis.”

“I’ll wait forever, sunshine. I loved you then. I love you now. I’ll always love you.”

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