19. Dax
DAX
I slid my hand down Travis’s stomach and pushed his briefs out of the way so I could grip his rapidly hardening cock. His eyes went wide, but he didn’t say anything to protest because Ambrose would surely hear that.
I worked him slowly up and down, brushing my thumb over his slit. He crammed his fist into his mouth to quiet his moans. I loved how turned on he was, how quickly he lost control. I let go of him, scooting slightly away.
He looked at me questioningly.
“More?” I asked barely giving the word voice.
He looked so damn conflicted. I considered sliding under the covers and sucking him off, but I didn’t think he could keep quiet for that, and I didn’t really want Ambrose listening in. Travis’s cries were only for me.
“Yes,” he finally said like I’d pulled the word from him.
The monster in me needed to push him. “Ask nicely.”
His eyes widened at the demand, and I waited, holding his gaze and trying my best not to let him see that I was about to lose it, pounce on him, and fuck him hard enough that the whole bayou would hear.
“Please,” he whispered.
Jesus, could anyone be sexier? I pushed my underwear down, freeing my own cock, then I gripped his hips, roughly pulling them back to me.
I rubbed my cock against his, and his teeth sank into his lower lip.
I wondered if he’d really be able to hold in the sounds he wanted to make.
I loved how fucking loud he’d been the night before.
I slid my hand under his head and pulled him close so I could whisper against his ear.
“I intended to take my time with you tonight, to play with you, to please you, to take care of you. I didn’t mean for us to be stuck here on this pathetic excuse for a bed, but no way in hell am I letting you go to sleep unsatisfied.
We’ll save everything else for tomorrow. ”
“Please,” he said again, sounding far more desperate this time. I smiled against his ear, then sucked the lobe into my mouth as I wrapped my hand around both our cocks and started stroking us.
Travis worked his hips, making his cock slide along mine. I wished I had some lube. I was sure Ambrose had something we could use, but I didn’t want to leave Travis to look for it, so I spat on my hand and made do.
Travis didn’t seem to care. He clung to me working his hips faster and faster.
When I knew he was close and keeping quiet was going to be more than he could handle, I kissed him roughly, taking his gasps and cries into my mouth as his cum shot over my hand.
His release triggered my own, and I kept up the kiss until we were both completely out of breath.
We held each other, both desperate for air but trying not to be too loud.
A few moments later, Travis brushed my sweaty hair off my forehead.
I loved his sex-dazed expression and his huge smile.
That was exactly what I wanted, for him to remember life could be good, so good.
I wanted to give him that feeling every single day.
I slipped from the bed and moved silently across the room.
I used muscle memory to find the panel that opened the cabinet, pulled out a hand towel, and wet it from the jug of water on Ambrose’s tiny counter.
I wished I could warm it up, but since he didn’t have air conditioning and the fan did next to nothing to cool the room, it wasn’t like the water was all that cold.
Still, Travis sucked in his breath when the towel touched his stomach.
I wiped him down and gently cleaned his spent cock, then I took care of myself, reluctantly pulled my underwear back on, and got into bed with him.
We were both hot and sticky, but I couldn’t stand the thought of not touching him, so I laid my arm gently over his waist, and he twined his fingers with mine.
When I woke hours later to the sound of a car engine, we’d kicked the sheet off in our sleep.
Ambrose appeared, fully dressed, rifle in hand. “Stay there,” he ordered. He must’ve heard the car coming from much farther away. I wondered what time it was. My instincts told me it was still the middle of the night. I pulled out the gun I’d placed under my pillow.
Travis stirred, turning over and blinking sleepily at me. He jumped at the sound of gunfire.
“It’s okay. That was probably a warning shot.”
“Someone’s out there?”
“Yes, but we don’t know who. We heard a car.”
We heard shouting, then Beau burst through the door followed closely by Ambrose. If he’d been anybody else, he would’ve been dead or seriously in need of a doctor, but Ambrose would never hurt Beau. Next to me, Beau was the person he was closest to.
I stood by the side of the bed, wearing nothing but boxer briefs, gun pointed in Beau’s direction.
I’d jumped up, ready to defend Travis the second the door began to open.
I hadn’t lowered my gun because Beau looked ready to kill.
Travis was still sitting on the bed looking back and forth between the two of us.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Beau yelled.
“We came to talk to Ambrose about getting rid of LePlatt.” I did my best to keep my voice neutral.
“Talking to Ambrose doesn’t require you sleeping with my brother.”
“It was dark by the time we finished talking, so it was safer for us to stay.”
“To stay like that? With him in your bed?”
Travis started to protest, but I cut him off. I’d promised Travis protection, and if I needed to protect him from his brother, then so be it. There was absolutely no reason he needed to defend what we were doing.
“He could either sleep with Ambrose or sleep with me. You’ve been here. There aren’t any other beds.”
“You could sleep on the fucking floor.”
“How do you know I wasn’t?”
Beau looked pointedly at the bare floor. I shrugged. “I’ve slept on worse. Who needs blankets in this heat?”
“You’re telling me you haven’t touched him?”
“Enough.” Travis stepped in front of me. I laid a hand on his back, wanting him to know I was there. “You both need to stop talking about me like I’m not here. I’m twenty-three years old, and I can sleep with whoever the fuck I want.”
Beau shook his head. “You might be an adult, but you’re recovering from hell.”
“I’ve been recovering for years. I’ve managed on my own all that time, and I can keep going.”
“You were barely keeping yourself alive before I found you.”
“Alive is alive. I didn’t need you then, and I don’t need you telling me what to do now.”
Beau turned back to me. “I won’t have you taking advantage of my brother.”
“I’m not taking advantage of him. I’m taking care of him, and like he said, he’s a grown man and can make his own decisions.”
“He’s still my little brother, and his decisions in the past have fucking sucked.”
“Are you comparing me to Rob and the other pieces of shit who tried to manipulate him.”
Beau relaxed his stance a little. “No, but you’re rarely with any man twice. You don’t believe in anything permanent, and if you’ve been making him promises, he doesn’t need that. He’s been through enough.”
“Yeah, some of which you could’ve saved him from.”
Beau took a step back. He looked like he’d been hit, and I knew I had gone too far. I started to speak, but Travis clasped his hand tightly around my wrist and shook his head.
“Beau didn’t realize how bad it was.”
“All I saw then was that my friend betrayed me, and my little brother took up with him,” Beau said. “I wish to hell I’d known Travis wasn’t staying with him willingly.” The anger seemed to drain out of Beau completely.
“I would never set your brother up for a broken heart,” I said.
“I tried to fucking tell you that,” Ambrose said. “Are we done now? Because my house is not a fucking therapy center. I was actually sleeping. Do you know how rare it is for me to fall asleep at night and stay asleep?”
I looked at Beau, then at Travis. They seemed as stunned as I was by Ambrose’s outburst. “Are you kicking us out?”
“If it weren’t for Travis, I sure as hell would. You two”—he gestured at Beau and me—“can get eaten out there for all I care, but he deserves to be protected.”
“I’m not helpless,” Travis insisted.
“You can’t fight a gator,” Ambrose said.
“But you can?”
Ambrose looked at Travis like he’d lost his mind. “Of course.”
“Don’t you remember in high school when one came for a sandwich and?—”
Travis gaped at him, then turned to his brother. “All you told me was that you got away. You didn’t tell me?—”
“We got away because this fucker took the gator on and won.”
“Fuck.”
Beau looked back and forth between me and Travis. “You’re telling me this thing between you is real.”
I nodded. “Real as fuck.”
“Travis, you agree? He’s not taking advantage of the fact that you always liked him.”
Travis gaped at him. “Did everybody know?”
I smiled. “Yeah, pretty much.”
He huffed. “Beau, I reminded you yesterday that I was seventeen when Rob started toying with me. I’ve learned a lot since then.
I bought all the shit Rob told me, and I shouldn’t have.
I was with some other assholes after him, but I saw through them quickly.
What I have with Dax is completely different.
This is like what you and Corbin have. Don’t act like I can’t tell the difference. ”
“I love Travis, and I will do everything in my power to make him as happy as he can possibly be.” Travis’s eyes widened. Had he really doubted I felt that way?
Beau sighed. “Corbin’s going to spend the next week telling me how right he was.”
“What did he think about you charging out here?”
“That I was a fucking idiot and that he wouldn’t have any sympathy if I got the shit beaten out of me.”
“It’s going to be fun getting back into his good graces,” Ambrose said.
I held up a hand. “Don’t you dare tell us how you’re going to do it.”
“It’s Corbin who doesn’t care about oversharing, not me.”
I looked at my brother then. “We’ll get out of here and let you try to sleep some more.”
“I can lead them out,” Beau said.
I snorted. “I’ll lead you out.”
Travis groaned. “I think I might be better off with the alligators.”
“No way, baby. I’ve got this.”
Beau growled, and I rolled my eyes.
Ambrose pointed toward the door. “Get out.”
Travis and I dressed quickly. I let Beau take the lead, but there was one time when I honked at him because he’d gone the wrong way.
He pulled over, and we argued about the route.
It turned out he was right after all. I would have been pissed as hell if I hadn’t been busy thinking about how much I wanted to get Travis alone as soon as we reached the shop.