Secret Revenge: An Enemies-to-Lovers Billionaire Romance

23. Travis

My legs felt like rubber as I backed into Emily’s bedroom with her still wrapped around me. I set Emily gently on the bed and pulled slowly out of her.

As I pulled away, she let out a soft cry. I leaned down, kissing her forehead gently.again. I kissed her lips and cheeks, then moved down to her chest before turning her around on the bed. I took a moment to enjoy the view from behind as she arched back toward me, eager for me to enter her again.

Very slowly, I eased back into her and felt a wave of intense emotion as I slid into her again.

Sex had never felt like this before. It meant so much more to me because this was Emily arching under me, and not anyone else.

The sounds she made as our bodies smacked together threatened to drive me crazy.

“Faster… Travis,” she managed to say between thrusts.

I decided to tease her and kept my rhythm slow and methodical. I maintained my pace and when she tried to shove her hip backwards into me, I pinned her in place and continued with the slow, intimate thrusts.

Emily writhed and moaned beneath me, and I basked in her ecstasy. She reached for the headboard to stay upright as I finally increased my tempo, and her moans turned into screams. She cursed and said all sorts of things that I had never heard her say before and I felt pride swelling that I could push her to this point.

I loved the way Emily felt. Every touch electrified me, touching parts of me I had forgotten existed. It felt like more than just sex, and the more I tried to place a finger on what exactly it felt like, the further away from me it got.

It was love. There was no getting around it.

I moved my palms up to her ribcage and slid them down her back. Her beautiful skin shone with sweat as I traced her curves with my hands. She was beautiful, inside and out. Here was the one woman I had never thought I could impress, the one I thought I’d never be good enough for.

Emily buried her face in her pillow as her shouts became louder and I slowed my pace a little, then pulled out of her completely. Before she could protest, I thrust my face into her sweet center, finishing her with my mouth. Emily groaned and pressed back into me.

It was my fingers that brought Emily to yet another mind blowing orgasm. She vibrated and tried to get away from my grasp as the sensations grew more intense, but I held her firmly in place. A few moments later, she screamed and collapsed onto the bed, gasping.

I climbed up the bed beside her and scooped her into my arms. Her eyes looked unfocused, and I knew it would take her several long minutes to recover. I didn’t mind the intermission from our escapades. I had exhausted myself, but I knew that if she asked, I’d do even more.

I wiped her forehead with the back of my hand, watching her fondly as her chest heaved.

She loves me.I still struggled to believe it, but her ecstasy was a testament to what she’d said.

Blackwell.The thought of the man she’d worked for intruded, unwanted, like a spear through my thoughts. In this brief lull the rest of the world came flooding back to me.

The data theft. The attempts to sabotage my name. I almost didn’t care about my reputation, what I’d built. But hundreds of thousands of people depended on Ross Industries for their livelihood.

She’d said she didn’t give Blackwell anything. Nothing he could use against me.

But I knew Blackwell wouldn”t give up, especially if he thought Emily had something against me

Emily stirred beside me and I pulled her closer into me, trying to banish the unpleasant thoughts of the outside world. She put her arm around me, drawing close to me until our sweaty bodies touched. I kissed all over her face, and she smiled weakly. I kissed her lips and it felt just as good as the first time I’d kissed her.

Emily watched me quietly with sad eyes, and I wondered if she was also remembering how Blackwell had deceived her.

“Hey… what’s wrong?” I asked, concerned.

She held me tightly and I saw her eyes shimmer. “I feel terrible for stealing from you and betraying you the way I did. The more I think about it, the more horrible I feel for signing up for it in the first place. You tried to show me who you were that very first night, and I didn’t believe you.”

I tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “Some people can be good liars,” I said. “It was only rational of you to doubt me until you saw the truth for yourself.”

”But I worked for your enemy. I should have seen through Jonathan.”

“Blackwell hides his tracks well,” I soothed her. “It would have taken a lot of research to learn that Jonathan’s company was funded by Blackwell. You had no reason to suspect them of being anything other than what they claimed to be.”

But as I said it, a seed of doubt crept into the back of my mind. Emily is so thorough. What if, what if she knew…?

“I still can’t believe Jonathan would lie to me about something so tragic,” she breathed. “Maybe he was kept in the dark, too”

“Listen to me, Emily,” I said as I cupped her face in my hand. “He did lie to you. He’s been one of Blackwell’s men for a long time. He only recently acquired the printing press and has been using it to print baseless accusations against me ever since. But given what my father did to you,” I sucked in a deep breath, “it’s not surprising that you’d believe them.”

Emily looked ashamed, and then I was ashamed to feel relief at seeing that look on her face.

She didn’t know. She wasn’t playing me for a fool.

“I’m so sorry,” Emily muttered quietly. “If I had known, I would never have gotten involved…”

“Hey, stop apologizing,” I cut in. “You had no reason to doubt what looked like a legitimate news operation.” I kissed her forehead gently, then kissed her lips. “And…I hesitated, “There’s something about me you should know.”

She looked at me for a long moment with wide eyes and I sighed.

“I-I have always been terrified of love. I found my dad beating up my mom many years ago, and when I stepped in to defend her, my father told me how I would do the same someday. How I would feel so strongly, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I never let myself get too close to a woman for that reason.”

Emily listened attentively as I spoke of breaking off my engagement with Barbara. I told her how I had avoided any serious relationship, terrified that my feelings would someday harm the one I loved.

The silence stretched a little when I finally finished speaking, and Emily watched me silently. It was an unnerving sight, and I suppressed the urge to ask her what she was thinking. To ask her not to leave me.

“You broke up with Barbara a long time ago,” Emily murmured. “And we’ve seen…that you’re nothing like your father. You’ve done the exact opposite of what he did in every way. Have you ever harmed anybody on purpose?”

“No,” I admitted. “I’ve been too terrified of becoming him.”

“Exactly, Travis,” she said with a small smile. “You’re nothing like your father. And I wanted to believe that you were for the longest time. That I could get revenge on him for you. When I say that you’re his opposite, you can be certain that it’s true.”

As I looked into Emily’s eyes, for the first time, I believed it. Believed that I was not my father, that I would not turn into him. For the first time, I believed that all my efforts to right his wrongs might actually have been successful. I felt tears of relief spring to my eyes.

She was right. She was the only one who could have convinced me of that.

It felt good to do so, felt good to put down the weight of my father’s crimes. My whole life I had carried the burden of his evil hand on my shoulder. For everything I accomplished, I wondered whether I had done enough, or whether I was doomed to repeat his legacy.

Emily showed me I had passed with honors.

“Where’s your mom right now?” Emily asked suddenly, breaking me out of my reverie.

“She lives in a retirement home now,” I murmured, wondering why she asked. “She prefers being there, with friends her own age. After my father died, she said she felt freer than she had been for years. Now she just wants to enjoy having her own social life, and stay out of the public eye. Every time she steps into the spotlight, people start asking her about him.”

I turned to look at her. “What about you? How’s your own mother?”

Emily looked away. “One of the reasons I agreed to work for Jonathan was so that I could support my mom and stepdad. Mom’s been struggling since he’s been in and out of the hospital. Isn’t it ironic? I thought I would be getting paid to right a wrong, but instead I agreed to steal from you.” She chuckled bitterly.

“You had every reason to believe I was like my father,” I murmured. Listening to her speak, all I could think of was how much I wanted to help her. She and her whole family were entitled to reparations. And more than that: I wanted to see what she would accomplish with her life if she never had to worry about money again.

That, at least, I can help with. I smiled.