Chapter 5
FIVE
His lips were a sin, and she was bound for hell.
Mia moaned as his large hands invaded her body, moving from her hips to her backside with finesse. The man talked a good game, but he wasn’t all talk. This supreme flirt had the kissing skills to match, and each drag of his lips against her own unleashed a tidal wave of passion within her.
With her back wedged against the wall, she trailed her hands up his muscular arms, relishing the feel of his strong form. An animalistic noise filled her ears when she dug her fingernails into the fabric of his hoodie, and he thrust his hips forward in a beautifully brazen manner. Heat bolted through her like a devastating lightning strike, the grinding of his rigid length against her belly further fanning the flames. Her senses went into overdrive, and she inhaled his scent—a faint hint of cedarwood mixed with his natural male musk.
Travis, Travis, Travis, Travis echoed in her mind. An erotic hymn. But once air became essential, she broke away from the kiss and heaved a deep breath. He showered her neck with frantic pecks before nipping at the flesh with his teeth. The sharp sting pulled a gasp from her chest, the touch of pain sending another flood of arousal to her aching pussy.
“Bad,” she chastised playfully.
“Yeah.” He moved away from her neck to find her eyes. “And you like it.”
No point denying the truth. After a quick nod, she grasped his jaw and pulled him in for another red-hot kiss. Deft strokes of his tongue splintered her self-control, and the quivering in her core became too much to bear. She widened her stance and hooked one leg around him, indifferent to how her skirt hitched up, then rubbed her needy center against his jean-clad, muscled thigh.
“Fuck.” The expletive hissed against her neck, and he pulled back to watch her pelvis move against him. “That’s it. Show me how much you fucking need it, baby.”
Her arousal soared to another height as she gyrated against his sturdy limb, amplified by how he watched her movements with the perfect combination of passion and reverence—as if imagining her straddling him and moving in the same manner. But her shameless dry hump didn’t last long, because footsteps snapped them out of the carnal haze. The reality of their location reared its ugly head, and she quickly placed her leg down.
“Someone’s coming,” she whispered.
A mischievous grin stretched across his face, and he pulled her into one of the nearby restrooms. Stumbling through the door, she caught herself on the side of the single stall. As she got her bearings, Travis closed the door behind them, the heavy snick of the deadbolt promising debauchery.
“Someone’s coming, you say?” he teased.
A soft laugh sprang from her. “This is crazy.”
“ You make me crazy.”
His large hands trembled as they seized her hips, his wicked mouth finding hers once again. With their tongues dueling for dominance, his grip traveled beneath her skirt, and a fervid groan echoed the second he grasped her bare thigh.
“Lift it,” he ordered.
Mia would’ve balked at such a command on any other day with any other man. But not this time. Without hesitation, she gathered her skirt and pulled it above her waist. Since she hadn’t planned for a torrid tryst, she wore a simple cotton thong, but judging from the heat in his gaze, she could’ve been clad in the most titillating lingerie for all he cared.
“Are you wet?” Travis asked in a low voice.
The question was a no-brainer, but she tilted her pelvis toward him in invitation. “See for yourself.”
His hand shot forward and cupped her mound, a deep growl rumbling as he caressed the damp fabric. A gasp caught in her throat, the sound building to a cry when two fingers pointedly pushed against her clit.
“Shh.” Softening the chastisement, he leaned in for a quick kiss. “We can’t have anyone interrupting us, can we?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be quiet.”
But when his fingers breached the fabric and trailed through the curls above her core to make contact with her pussy, that promise became arduous. Especially since he kept running his mouth, pushing her buttons with each filthy word.
“Ah, fuck. You’re drenched. Listen to that.” He skimmed his fingers through her folds, the sopping sound of her arousal unmistakable. “I can literally fucking hear it.”
“Travis, please,” she panted.
“Hmm?”
“ Please. ”
“Please, what?” he prompted.
Infuriating man. I’ll make him pay for this.
Until then, she had no choice but to beg. “My clit. Harder. Please.”
“Why the rush, baby?”
She gritted her teeth and seethed, “Because we’re in a goddamn public restroom, and I haven’t had sex in months, that’s why.”
Finally, his fingers found the bundle of nerves and applied pressure. She bit her bottom lip to suppress a moan, her head falling to rest on his shoulder as he rubbed firm circles against her clit.
He clucked his tongue in disapproval. “Months, huh? Poor thing.”
“Don’t start.”
A husky laugh answered her before he suddenly switched their positions. Her skirt dropped when he whirled her around, plastering the front of his body against her back. They locked eyes in the mirror over the sink, and the reason for this adjustment somehow registered in her lust-addled brain.
A seductive command tickled her ear. “Watch us.”
Like at the bar, the looking glass offered a deeper level of connection. It was a tool to pull back their layers. To create cracks in their facades. To strip them both bare.
Not to mention it was hot as hell, and she shivered at the prospect of watching him work her over.
“Mind that skirt,” he whispered.
She devised a quick solution, tucking the bottom of the skirt into her waistband to keep her hands free.
He raised an impressed eyebrow. “How resourceful.”
Instead of burrowing his hand beneath her panties again, he guided the fabric down her trembling legs. Grateful for his steady form behind her, she stepped out of them and then gasped when he hooked his elbow behind her right knee and placed her foot on the lid of the wastebasket, fully exposing her pussy in the mirror.
It was obscene.
She loved it.
His index finger teased her slickness, brushing over her clit before lightly tapping it. The visual in the mirror, coupled with the soft pats against her sensitive bud, drove her wild. Then two fingers plunged deep, stretching her tightness, and she thrashed with abandon.
“Oh fuck,” she cried out, her heart knocking against her ribs. “Oh fuck, Travis.”
“Quiet, baby,” he murmured.
“Cover my mouth.”
His brows knit together as his eyes found hers in the mirror. “You sure?”
“Unless you want this entire bar to hear me scream,” she warned him through clenched teeth. “ Cover my mouth. ”
He obliged, placing his free hand atop her kiss-swollen lips, and she moaned ruthlessly against his skin. Muffled keens increased as she watched his broad fingers thrust in and out of her, his thumb working her clit with finesse.
“Fuck, you’re creaming my hand like crazy.” His husky laugh brushed her ear, and then he took the lobe between his teeth and tugged. “You fucking sexy girl.”
Desperate for more of him, she slanted her pelvis and rubbed her ass against his straining erection. A guttural sound vibrated from his torso.
“Yeah, I know, baby,” he grunted. “We’ll get there. But first, you’re gonna come for me. Then I’m taking you back to that cottage and fucking you so hard you won’t be able to think straight.”
As if she could think straight now. But that filthy promise took her over the edge, her climax slicing through her body. It cleaved her in two—before Travis and after Travis—and her core convulsed with powerful pulses while she sobbed with pleasure against his hand.
Slowly, she came back down to earth, and Travis gently released his grip. Cold porcelain cooled her skin as she clutched the side of the sink, her heavy pants filling the air as they focused on each other in the mirror. He held her stare as he brought his hand—the one that had brought her to heaven and back—to his mouth, his wicked tongue licking the fingers clean.
His lips twisted into the sexiest smile she’d ever seen, and a simple question fell from them.
“Ready to go?”
The drive back was painful.
For one thing, she wasn’t wearing panties. Travis had stuffed them into his back pocket, and she couldn’t muster any energy to comment on his trophy. Instead, she set herself to rights, and they separately exited the bathroom in the hopes of keeping a low profile.
She’d kept her eyes on her feet and rushed through the exit, knowing she could never show her face at the DT again.
Worth it.
And so she drove back to the cottage, panty-less and punch-drunk with lust. Headlights cut through the sheath of night as she traveled toward the coast, her inner muscles still fluttering with mild pulses. Almost as if they were calling to Travis. And he was right on her heels, his truck trailing at an absurdly close distance.
The roads were clear, so she pulled into the driveway in record time. A sliver of light from the waxing crescent moon shone down on her as she exited the car and ascended the porch steps. The slam of a car door caught her attention, and Travis’s formidable form cut through the darkness like a man on a mission.
“Nice tailgating,” she quipped to lighten the mood.
His gaze dipped to her ass as he scaled the steps. “You better get that door open.”
A piercing statement. A warning that he’d be more than willing to fuck her out on the porch in the moonlight if he had to wait one more minute. Certainly a thrilling scenario, but she unlocked the back door nevertheless.
Entering the kitchen, she tossed her purse onto the counter and toed off her shoes. “Get your shirt off.”
“Bossy,” he joked, closing the door with a wry glance.
But he heeded her command and unzipped the Robinson & Sons Roofing hoodie, then dragged the T-shirt up over his head. Her eyes raked over his beautiful upper body of strong muscles and sturdy sinew, and the space between her thighs hummed at the dusting of dark-bronze hair covering his pectorals. The masculine tufts trailed down his sculpted abdominals and disappeared into his jeans, and her hands itched with the need to strip him completely nude.
He raised an eyebrow. “You gonna join me? Because if you knew how often I’ve thought about that body of yours, you wouldn’t keep me waiting.”
But before she could undress, something caught her eye—the tattoo on his left bicep. In the darkness of the room, she squinted to study the design, focusing on the word inked into his skin.
Flynn.
With an outstretched hand, she rubbed her fingers against the vibrant colors of the tattoo. Along with his surname, there was a blue pendant that contained a silver medieval helmet and a proud wolf, the entire design flanked by swirls of gold.
“Is this your family crest?” she asked in a whisper.
He cleared his throat in an attempt to sound indifferent. “Coat of arms, technically.”
Despite the nonchalant answer, the correction was proof that he cared. Even with the grievances he’d shared earlier, Mia knew this man loved his family something fierce and craved their acceptance more than anything in the world.
Leaning down, she placed a soft kiss against the ink. “I like it.”
A strangled sound shuddered from his chest, and he stood still as stone for a handful of seconds. Evidently, tender shows of affection were uncommon for him, and her heart warmed at his stunned expression. But the pitter-patter of her pulse increased when he gripped her hips and pulled her closer, wedging her back against the counter.
“Oh yeah?” he rumbled. “What else you like?”
With a throaty laugh, she fused their lips together and savored how his lean body perfectly pressed against her soft curves. Her nipples were painfully hard, and she rubbed the buds against his firm chest. In tune with her needs, he tore his mouth away to pull her sweater above her head, tossing it aside. Electricity sparked in her core when he grasped her breasts, kneading the flesh and tweaking the taut peaks through her cotton bra, and the clank of his belt buckle unfastening made her pussy further clench in anticipation.
He pushed his snug jeans down and then did an awkward dance to unlace and remove his boots. Clad in only gray boxer briefs, he suddenly bent down, giving himself enough leverage to throw her over his shoulder. She thrashed against him in confusion as he moved out of the kitchen.
“What are you—” A firm smack on her backside shocked her silent for a second. Until she yelped, “Did you just slap my ass?”
“Sure did. Stop squirming.”
“You’re insane.”
“Keep insulting me, baby. You know it gets me riled up.”
She huffed out an indignant breath—although her lips curled into a smile—and let him transport her through the cottage like a sack of potatoes. Several seconds later, he swung her back down, her bare feet sinking into the parlor’s plush area rug. The room she’d avoided for days now felt like the most natural place in the world.
And although the Steinway still couldn’t move or speak or do anything other than sit there like the inanimate object it was, Mia could’ve sworn she heard a faint message of approval.
Way to go, maestro.
His deft hands unhooked her bra and then found the zipper at the back of her skirt, both garments falling to her feet. Fully nude, she pushed his boxer briefs down a sturdy set of legs, and his impressive erection jutted out from a thatch of tawny hair. She sank to her knees, satisfaction surging when his chest hitched. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she gently kissed the tip of his cock, and his hips bucked like a randy schoolboy.
Oh, he wanted this bad. And after he’d orchestrated her undoing at the DT, there was nothing she wanted more than to level the playing field. To watch him fall apart.
Two can play that game, Boss Man.
With agonizing restraint, she puckered her lips and placed soft kisses along the length of his shaft. And then she stuck out her tongue and licked the underside of his cock, coating the rigid skin with wetness. Back and forth, back and forth.
Travis groaned helplessly. “Oh God, please just suck it. Don’t torture me.”
“But it’s so much fun,” she whispered with a saucy smile. “Torturing you, that is.”
Cupping his balls in her hand, she reveled in how his guttural sounds grew deeper. “Mia, please, for the love of God.”
“That’s what you get for slapping my ass.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t love it.”
“And for making me scream into your hand in a public restroom.”
A cheeky grin accompanied his reply. “Wasn’t that your idea?”
No way he was getting the last word. She took his cock as far down her throat as she could manage, clasping her lips around the hard column of flesh in a fervent suck.
“ Fuck ,” he bellowed, fists clenching.
Pulling back, she released his erection with a loud pop. “You were saying?” she prompted.
He shook his head hastily. “I wasn’t saying anything.”
“Good.”
That settled, she returned to the task at hand and bobbed her head with enthusiasm, working her hand in tandem with the movement of her mouth. His breath labored as she got messy with it, her saliva coating his cock. Unable to string a proper sentence together, he bestowed her with some of the most colorful epithets she’d ever heard. Especially once her free hand crept between her legs to rub her aching clit. The sight of her pleasuring herself while sucking him off became too much for him to bear, as he soon motioned for her to stand.
“Hold on. One second. I—fuck, Mia. That’s good. I’m gonna come if you keep this up.”
“That’s kind of the point,” she quipped, licking the sexy grooves of his hipbones.
“I’m not some young stud.” He pulled her to her feet with an abashed grin. “It’ll take me a while to get hard again if I blow now.”
“We have all the time in the world,” she reminded him, throwing her arms over his muscular shoulders. “All night and tomorrow and?—”
The elephant stampeded into the room, and she stopped abruptly. Sure, they had time. Several weeks of it. But they didn’t have all the time in the world. Still, they’d already wordlessly addressed this at the DT. They were both adults, and they knew exactly what this was—a nice, torrid fling. A way to take the edge off for a few weeks.
So why did the thought of leaving him make her chest feel like it was a roof collapsing under the force of a terrible tempest?
The shift in her mood didn’t go unnoticed. “Still with me?” he murmured.
Her voice cracked only slightly. “Yeah. Sorry. Just thinking.”
“Oh, we can’t have that.”
Laughing despite herself, she pinched his abdomen. “Shut up.”
He faux gasped, and they pretended to tussle for a few moments. But then a thought occurred to him, and his head fell back with frustration.
“Ah, hell,” he bemoaned. “Give me a second.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, brows narrowing as he went to exit.
“My pants are in the kitchen. With my wallet. And the lone condom that’s been in there for ages. And it better not be fucking expired. Otherwise, I’m gonna shit a brick.”
Mia snorted with laughter as he charged out of the room bare-ass naked. Then she said a silent prayer that the condom was safe to use, since the last thing she’d expected when packing for this trip was a steamy dalliance, and she had no protection other than her birth control pills.
Returning in record time, with his impressive erection leading the way, he waved the foil packet in triumph. “All good.”
A relieved gust of air left her lungs. But Travis wasn’t ready to move to the main event yet, as he perched her on the arm of the couch. It went without saying that the man wasn’t one to shy away from a healthy bit of manhandling, and she certainly had no objections when he opened her legs and folded one back, planting her foot atop the sofa.
Sinking to his haunches, he purred, “My turn.”
He planted his face between her thighs, his tongue immediately lapping at her wet folds. Whimpers pealed from her as she ran her fingers through his hair, gripping the tresses for leverage as she rocked against his mouth. He licked her pussy and suckled her clit with gusto, and her arousal surged, but each time she teetered on the edge of an orgasm, he pulled back.
She couldn’t take it anymore, her head jerking around with frustration. “Travis, stop fucking around and make me come.”
A rakish laugh echoed from him as he stood, pulling her from the sofa and draping her body against his to hold her close. His stiff cock poked against her belly as he mercilessly squeezed her ass cheeks.
“Listen to me,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ve wanted to fuck you since the moment I saw you on the porch, looking down on me like I didn’t belong.”
Shame ballooned within her. “Travis?—”
“Ah, ah, ah.” His scolding was accompanied by a smack on her bottom. “Let me finish.”
Her head fell to his shoulder, and she nodded helplessly.
The tone of his voice was gravel and grit as he continued. “But this is my town. And the next time you come, it’s going to be thanks to my cock. Got it?”
There was no pride left in her. No fight remained. All she wanted was him, so she said, “Yes. I understand.”
The foil packet in his hand was ripped open, and he sheathed his cock with the condom. Then he strode to the piano bench and took a seat, facing away from the keys.
“Hop on,” he drawled, dipping his head for emphasis.
Such a sexual directive, and one she was helpless to resist. She straddled him, the bench thankfully long enough to accommodate her knees, and he caught one nipple between his lips as she notched his cock against her entrance. Her inner muscles rioted as she sank down, his thickness invading. An onslaught of stimulation rocketed through her when she reached the hilt and rose to establish a cadence. His large hands clung to her ass, aiding her rhythm as she rode him like her life depended on it.
Her nails dug into his shoulders, and he hissed with pleasure, his eyes constantly darting from her face to her bouncing breasts. He thrust into her as she bared down on his cock, desperate to get deeper with each movement. Their earlier heated banter ceased completely, both at a loss for words as they rocked together.
Her orgasm was a ticking time bomb destined to explode, and every inch of him brought her closer and closer to climax. Desperate for release, she slid her hand between her legs. One, two, three strokes of her clit, and she exploded like a firecracker. Overpowering contractions careened through her, and she sagged against him with a broken sob of pleasure.
Once somewhat coherent, she lifted her head and her eyes fluttered open. A searing blue gaze found hers, his jaw slack with astonishment. Sweat covered his brow, his dark-blond strands of hair were mussed and wild, and his rugged beauty stole her breath.
“You good?” he asked, the question so soft she almost didn’t hear it.
She nodded faintly, overcome with emotion at the sincere check-in.
He kneaded her breasts together and pinched the stiff nipples. “Can you take more?”
“You know it,” she replied with a saucy grin.
Seductive laughter vibrated from him, and he kept her body close to help her stand. True to form, he positioned her to his liking, encouraging her to bend over the bench and arch her back as he situated himself behind her.
“Oh fuck,” she cried out when he entered her swiftly. Not an ounce of mercy was shown, his hips pulling back and returning with another deep thrust, and she reached forward in search of something steady.
Her hands slammed onto the piano keys, a racket of indeterminate noise echoing through the room as he pounded her from behind. As his hands gripped her shoulders for leverage, she adjusted to his relentless rhythm and drove her hips back to meet his movements.
“Fuck yeah, move back onto me,” he growled, one hand capturing her heap of curls. He tugged her head back to rumble in her ear, “I’m gonna nut if you keep that up.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Oh fuck .”
Their bodies slapped together, and her whimpers increased while his feral grunts grew more extreme, culminating in a beautifully brutal symphony. Soon enough, the crescendo arrived as he climaxed with a ragged roar. His athletic frame jerked as he emptied himself into the condom, both panting like a pair of wild animals.
Once he reoriented, he withdrew from her and quickly disposed of the rubber in a nearby wastebasket. Her legs were jelly, and she slumped onto the piano bench, bringing her hand to her chest in an attempt to ease her racing heart.
A throw blanket sat atop the love seat, and Travis unfurled it with a flourish, placing it onto the floor. He sank down unceremoniously, and she followed suit, both beyond spent. She stretched out alongside him, the fuzzy blanket tickling her skin. Her heart rate had mostly returned to normal, but as he pulled her close and pressed a kiss against her temple, it stirred again.
“Holy fuck,” he breathed out in a daze.
For some reason, she found his reaction hilarious. Giggles bubbled up and tumbled from her mouth.
He nudged her and asked, “What’s so funny?”
“You sound stunned.”
“Well, it’s been a while. Sue me.”
She raised her head to find his gaze. “How long?”
“Like a year or two.”
“Wait a minute,” she said, sitting straight up. “Are you serious? You? Mr. Seduction over here hadn’t had sex in years ?”
He flopped his arms out like a sacrifice. “Why do you think I laid it on so thick?”
Her giggles reemerged and altered into full-blown guffaws as she laid back down, easily fitting against the shape of his body. He wrapped one arm around her and squeezed.
“Besides, you were…” Trailing off, he sighed, his soft breath tickling her right cheek as he attempted to find the words. “Well, you were you.”
Time passed, and the easy silence was as comfortable as the cozy blanket beneath them. Until a thought danced its way into her head.
She turned to lock eyes with him. “What were you going to ask me?”
“Huh?”
“Our wager. If you’d won the pool game. What would you have asked me?”
His stare softened, as did his voice. “I was going to ask if you’d play the piano for me.”
Emotion lodged in her throat, rendering her mute for several seconds. The earnest confession touched something deep within her, and she nuzzled against his steady chest for comfort. Thankfully, he didn’t push her. His fingers simply skimmed the curve of her spine as she inhaled a few fortifying breaths.
Her mouth opened, but nothing emerged, and she thought of the quote from composer Jean Sibelius.
“Music begins where the possibilities of language end.”
She might not have the words, but she had her talent, and in her heart of hearts, she knew the time was now. Full of resolve, she rose and stepped to the bench. Naked as the day she was born, she sat and placed her hands on the keys.
Her lack of clothes was nothing compared to how her soul was stripped bare as she began to play one of her early compositions. Something separate from her ex-husband. Something she hadn’t played in years. Nevertheless, she revisited the stirring sonata while nude, in a small coastal town she had no true connection to, and in the company of a complicated man who was destined to disappear from her life. And, somehow, it was exactly what she needed.
When she played the final note, there was no thunderous applause. No rapturous calls for an encore. But she felt more content and accomplished than she’d felt in years. Because she had never needed the applause. Never wanted the fame and adulation. All that had ever mattered was the music and how it made her feel blessedly alive.
A gentle kiss graced the small of her back, the touch featherlight. Her throat tightened at the gentle gesture, and she blinked rapidly to dispel the stinging tears threatening to escape.
“That was…” Travis paused, unable to find the words. “Wow.”
Swallowing down a whirlwind of emotion, she took a moment so her voice wouldn’t shake. “Thank you.”
“Can you teach me?”
The quiet question was a surprise, and when she glanced over her shoulder to find him kneeling on the ground like a willing supplicant, her heart almost burst from her chest and into his calloused hands.
“I’d like that,” she said with a tiny nod.
She scooted to one side of the bench to provide enough room for him to sit beside her. Both of them naked in more ways than one, she coached him through a simple tune: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
Their hands glided together over the keys, her movements assured and confident, his clumsy and unsure. But she was patient, and he listened, and soon, he got the hang of it. When he finished the chords of the nursery rhyme without her assistance, he looked at her with a proud smile.
“Not bad for a roofer, huh?” he joked.
She rested her chin against his shoulder and said, “Not bad at all.”
And as the stars shimmered outside and the waves lapped against the rocks, music adorned the cottage into the late hours of the night.