Chapter Forty-Four
Melissa
The small cabin on the Powell Ranch was just what I needed to escape. It was quiet. Serene. A place where I could think and figure out what I would do with my life, now that I had given up everything.
It was pretty rustic, mostly one large room with two small bedrooms and a bathroom off the back. But it had electricity and heat. It was cozy. With its worn leather sofa and blankets to curl up with by the fireplace. Which I was thankful I wouldn’t be required to light to stay warm.
Grayson explained these cabins used to house employees and their families, but the only employees living on the ranch now were single guys who preferred to sleep in the bunkhouse. They wanted to be close to the house, and the cabins were a touch more remote.
Cell service was spotty out here, so Grayson had left me a radio and an ATV to get back to my car. He assured me he wouldn’t tell anyone I was here and I could stay as long as I needed.
He talked Jessie into having dinner with him. I wanted to feel bad about putting her in that position, but something about the way she spoke to him and her body language when he was close told me she needed the push to allow herself to do something she really wanted. But for some reason, felt like she couldn’t.
So, I kept my mouth shut.
Sitting out on the porch, I looked over the flat land in front of me. I could see for miles out here. No buildings, other than a few more cabins, no oversized structures of any kind to impede my view, and I had to admit.
It was beautiful.
The sound of an engine caught my attention, and I wondered who would be out here. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I watched as the rider came nearer. Two steps down from the porch had me moving closer to the uninvited guest.
“Travis?”
“What the fuck, Princess?”
He swung his leg over the seat of the four-wheeler and stomped over to me. Grabbing me in his arms, his lips crashed onto mine, and in an instant, everything was gone.
The turmoil with Danny and Dante, the thought of losing Danika, and the notes from the person following me. Gunner, Zach, the club. All of it evaporated like a puddle left after the rain, forgotten once it disappeared from the heat of the sun.
Pulling back, I asked him, “What are you doing here?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Travis.” Pulling myself out of his arms, I walked up the steps. “How did you even know where I was? Grayson said he wouldn’t tell anyone,” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Dante told me.”
“How did—”
“Nav hacked the cameras in town, and we saw you leave the diner with Jessie. Dante called her, and she told us where you were headed.”
“Dammit, Zach.” He needed to butt out of my life. “Go back to the clubhouse, Travis.”
“Fuck the clubhouse. I thought I made it clear to you that this was it. You were mine. I wasn’t letting you run away from me again.”
Turning, I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.
“Did I fuck it up? Did you not understand what I said? You’re fucking smart, Princess, but I can say it again if you need clarification.”
“Things were said in the heat of the moment.” Shaking my head, I tried to gather my thoughts. Find the right words to let him off the hook. “They meant nothing.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” he asked, stomping up on the porch. “I held you in my arms and told you I meant what I said. Was that not clear enough?”
I didn’t have words. He sounded so angry, and I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t holding him to what he said. I was letting him off the hook.
Letting him off the hook? Or you?
“I fucking love you, Melissa!”
“What?” I whispered.
“I love you. You’re it, Princess. My queen. My future. My fucking happy ever after.”
Shaking my head, I pulled away. “No, you can’t.” I was confused. He was saying the words, but he didn’t mean them. He couldn’t.
“I left the club.”
My head snapped up and I turned to glare at him. “What?”
“Gave King my cut.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Woman, are you not listening to me? I goddamn love you. You don’t want to be with a biker. Well, I’m not a damn biker anymore.”
I didn’t know what to say. How to respond. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you love me. Tell me you want me as much as I want you.”
Travis stepped in front of me. My eyes roamed over his face, looking into his eyes. Searching for any micro inflection that would tell me he was lying. He was a master at hiding his thoughts. Keeping his face blank so you couldn’t tell what he was thinking, what he was planning.
But right now, as I stared at him, it was like reading a book. The words were there in black and white. No metaphors, no hyperbole. Just truth.
“You left the club?” I asked, still unable to believe his words. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re more important than the club, Princess. I want you in my life and if I can’t have both, I will choose you every fucking time. The club was there for me when I needed them. I love my brothers as if we were connected by blood. But you’re my life. My heart.”
Taking my hands in his, he brought them up and kissed my knuckles.
“The night we met, you crawled your snarky little ass under my skin and for months, there was an itch that I couldn’t scratch. A sensation so debilitating that nothing I did brought me relief. Until a few days ago, when I walked out of church and saw you standing in the clubhouse. Suddenly, everything in my life was set right. I can’t let you go. I can’t live this life without you. I won’t.”
Tears slipped from my eyes. A feeling came over me, something unfamiliar. I should be happy. I should be jumping for joy that someone would give up everything for me, rather than give up on me.
“Go back,” I told him, shaking my head. “You can’t just walk away.”
“Jesus Christ, woman. Just tell me you love me!”
Inhaling a shaky breath, my hands went to his face, holding him in place while I looked into his eyes. “I love you, Travis.”
“Thank fuck,” he cried before lifting me off the floor and walking into my cabin. His lips were on mine as he walked down the short hall looking, I presumed, for a bedroom.
“On the left,” I directed against his lips, not wanting to pull my lips from his.
Travis set me back on the floor and our hands were frantic as we pulled at each other’s clothes. Hastily, I worked on his belt. Tugging at the leather, trying to free it from the buckle and loops that kept me from my destination.
Dropping to my knees, I pulled his jeans down. His cock bounced against his abdomen once it was free. Looking up at him from where I sat at his feet, I smiled. Wrapping my hand around his firm member, I leaned in to lick the head.
His hiss could have been mistaken for pain, except I knew he loved this. Squeezing the base as I wrapped my lips around him, he groaned and his hand landed on the back of my head.
“Such a pretty little whore,” he muttered, and the words turned the heat in my belly into an inferno. I wiggled below him, clenching my thighs together. Travis had managed to get my shirt off, but my jeans were still solidly in place, preventing me from reaching down and giving myself any relief.
“Play with your tits, Princess. Pinch your nipples while I fuck your throat.”
Travis took my head in his hands, leaving my hands free to obey his command. He held my head while he pumped his dick in and out of my mouth. I played with my breasts for a moment, but I needed more. Undoing my pants, I slid one hand inside, letting my fingers caress my clit.
My hum of satisfaction vibrated around him and he looked down at me.
“Fuck no, Princess.” He pulled away from me, grabbing my hand and tearing it away from my core.
“Travis,” I whined.
“Whose pussy is this?” he asked, cupping me. When I didn’t answer, he ground the heel of his hand against my denim clad clit and asked again, “Whose fucking pussy is this?”
“Yours,” I rasped, unable to fully speak.
“That’s fucking right. Mine!”
He removed his hand, only to replace it with his knee as he pulled me forward, smashing his lips with mine. His tongue swirled inside my mouth in a demanding claim on my soul, while his knee pressed between my legs, pushing me higher and higher.
Abruptly, Travis backed off, leaving me desperate and wanting.
“Get undressed and on the bed. I want you on all fours with your fucking ass in the air.”
He stepped back, his thumb caressing his bottom lip as he watched me, reminding me how he watched me the night we met. How he prowled around the dance floor.
The situation should be ridiculous, but as my eyes roamed over his body while I undressed, I didn’t see the T-shirt he still wore, or the boots on his feet that still held his jeans around his ankles.
All I saw was the man I loved. The toned muscles of his body rippled as he held himself back. His hand stroked his hard dick as he waited for me to concede.
I fumbled in my haste to remove my clothes. I scurried on to the bed quickly, turning my back to him and getting on my knees. Wiggling my ass in front of him, hoping to push him over the edge so he lost control like he did that first night.
His hand came down hard on my cheek, and the moan that rolled between my teeth was low and guttural, a sound I had never heard myself make before.
Burying my face in the blankets, I pushed back against his hand as he rubbed the spot he just set on fire.
“Please, Travis.”
“God, I love it when you beg for my cock.”
He rubbed his cockhead against my wet entrance and I whimpered desperately.
“What do you need, Princess?”
“You,” I cried. “I need you inside me. Fuck me, Travis, please.”
“My greedy little princess,” he growled before impaling me.
The feel of him deep inside me was like home. It was comfort; it was safety. It was love. His hands gripped my hips and the power of his thrust did more than build up the release that was promised. It told me he wanted me. That I was what he needed to feel that release we both craved. That peak of pleasure he couldn’t get just anywhere.
Only Travis could make me feel this way. Only Travis could bring me to the edge so quickly and push me over so deeply. My back arched as he pushed my neck further into the bed.
“Fuck, Princess, you feel so good wrapped around my dick. I want to live in this pussy. It’s so warm and fucking tight. Made just for me.”
His words pushed me further, and I knew I wouldn’t last. Using my internal muscles, I contracted around him, squeezing him tighter so he lost control.
“FUCK!” he yelled, his movements becoming faster and erratic. “Come on my cock, Princess. Choke my dick with your pussy.”
A few more pumps and my body exploded. The contrast between the tightening of my muscles and the feeling of floating was euphoric. My mind went blank, and I wondered for a moment if I’d blacked out.
Travis fucked me through my release until he finally had his own. He didn’t pull back. Staying seated fully inside me, he pushed against me as he came. I could feel him pulsing as he painted my womb with his seed. And for a brief moment, I wished I wasn’t on the pill.