Chapter Thirty-Six
MOLLIE
Eleven years later, following the events of Straight To Me, and during the final events in Come Back To Me
T he buzzer sounds, making me take a breath. This is it. I nervously stand, looking around my empty apartment, my phone held to my ear. “How long will you be?”
“We’ll have him home by four, darling.”
Looking to his picture on the side, I smile. My greatest achievement. “Thanks, Dad.”
“No problem. What?” I hear my mum ask him something in the background, forcing my dad to listen to her. He lets out an exhausted breath. “Your mother wants to know if we can make it six?” I can hear how tired he is. No doubt he’s been made to run around a football pitch all weekend. He must be exhausted. I know I always am.
When I hear my mum and Riley ganging up on him, I laugh, admittedly feeling it relieve some of my tension. “Sure, why not.” God knows I need a break. “He has football tomorrow morning though, so no double desserts.” I don’t think I can face him throwing up on the pitch again.
“I’ll make sure your mother doesn’t spoil him.”
“We both know that’s a lie.” The buzzer sounds again, and I’m forced to say my goodbyes. “Got to go. I’ll see you later. Oh and, Dad?”
“Yeah.”
I smile. “I love you.”
He breathes out. “I know, darling. Good luck.”
I’m going to need it .
Hanging up, I tread carefully toward the door. Taking another breath, I press and hold the intercom button.
“Hi,” he says tenderly. It’s the softness I remember him being capable of.
“Come on up.” I hold the buzzer long enough for him to open the door downstairs. Unsure whether I should wait here or go further in, I look around nervously, checking everything’s in place.
He won’t care. Relax.
I can hear Henry talking to me. Losing him has been so difficult.
Heavy steps sound outside the door, and I take a glance at the picture of our family. Riley was only five. It was around the time we found out Henry was sick. He gave up everything for us, cared for us when he didn’t have to…
You’re stalling.
“I’m scared,” I whisper to myself, my heart rate quickening.
This is the best thing for all of you.
Tears fill my eyes. “Thank you.”
I can picture Henry’s face, a wide smile stretching across his handsome features. You don’t have to thank me. Now go. He’s waiting for you.
“I’ll never forget you.”
I know.
The door knocks, and I wipe under my eyes, quickly checking my reflection in the mirror. Turning to the door, I brace myself before opening it, all air getting caught in my lungs when I see him.
Travis smiles, albeit small. He’s unsure. Scared, just like me. I’m not sure how long we get trapped simply looking at each other, but when he lifts a hand to scratch the back of his neck, I blink myself out of his trance.
“You going to let me in?” he asks uncertainly.
Shit. “Sorry.” I shake my head, stepping back, moving to let him past.
He steps inside, looking around the place before he turns to face me. We get caught again. Fuck, is it going to be like this every time we look at each other? “You, uh, kept your key.”
My eyes flick down. I kept my… “Oh, right, yeah,” I stammer, my hands going in my back pockets, “I guess I did.” Of course I did. My half our whole. I’m too scared to ask if he has his. “Do you want to come through?” I hold a shaky hand out, gesturing toward the kitchen.
He nods, and I walk, letting him follow me. I can feel his eyes burning into the back of me. “Nice place you’ve got here. ”
I laugh under my breath, making it to the kitchen, turning to face him. “You mean my, what was it you said?” I lift my finger to my lips, tapping them a few times. “Sheltered, fancy high rise, I think you called it.”
Travis hangs his head, an embarrassed smile pulling his lips wide. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”
My head mirrors his, my playfulness dwindling. “It’s okay.” This place has been my shelter ever since we bought it.
He looks up. “It’s good to see you, Mollie. Properly, I mean.”
I lift the kettle, and he nods at me. “You too.” This is the longest we’ve gone talking without one of us starting a fight. Filling it with water, I click on the kettle and turn to face him. “How’s Dean?”
Travis points at one of the chairs. “May I?”
“Of course.”
He pulls out his phone and his keys, placing them on the table before he sits.
I note his half of the keyring, and he raises a small smile watching me see it as I step closer on the other side of the breakfast island, closing the seemingly vast space between us.
My heart swells. He kept it.
“He’s not out of the woods yet. Mads is still refusing to leave his side.”
“That’s understandable.” Mads messaged me when she found there’d been trouble. I wanted desperately to go to her—to all of them. Knowing it wouldn’t have been the right time for Travis, kept me away.
He exhales. “Wish I could make it better somehow, you know?”
I press my lips together. When he called and told me what happened with the club, I knew life was about to change for everyone involved. Including me. “I know.” The kettle finishes boiling and I start my task of making tea. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Helping Dean the way you did, it’s more than enough.”
I turn, catching him shaking his head, remembering everything they’ve been through. “I didn’t really end up doing anything. It was Jack who got him out.”
“Still. You being here is enough.” We exchange a look and get caught in each other’s webs. He’s telling me everything he wants to with his eyes. They dazzle, the years not fading the spirit of the man I remember. Sure, he’s rougher around the edges, but it only makes him more beautiful to me. He’s mature. More distinguished. More biker man , than biker boy.
My face hardens when my eyes then trace the subtle lines across his face, showing how long we’ve been apart. “Is it? Enough, I mean.” Because I know how I feel inside. I know that seeing him made everything feel raw. It hurt so much when I came back and saw him. Our chaos. Our fight. The way we left things… it hurt so God damn much.
But I could feel again, and that pain only reminded me of why and how we worked. Our connection—what we have, it’s the most powerful thing in the world.
Love.
With a sigh, Travis stands and walks over to me.
I pause, my hands gripping the counter behind me. This isn’t the closest we’ve been in recent weeks, but it’s the first time we haven’t wanted to kill each other.
I know what he’s doing. I know this is his way. Talking without words. Showing me what he wants to say. He stops in front of me. “My heart never stopped beating for you, Mollie. Only you.” He steps further into my space.
“Don’t,” I say panicking. Truth is, I want his hands all over me, but the years, the time… “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
He growls, sending a shiver down my spine. “I don’t lie when it comes to you, baby.”
Baby.
My heart delivers a killer blow behind my ribs. A beat I haven’t felt as strongly since the beat he first made it miss. It’s like I’m falling all over again, plummeting to the bottom of the cliff. Unlike when he left and told me he never wanted to see me again, there’s no hitting rock bottom this time. No thud. No crack of my breaking bones.
His hand lifts to my face, and I curl my cheek into it, keeping my eyes on his.
He’s catching me. Arms wide, he’s making sure this time I don’t break.
And I’m saved. After eleven years, he’s here.
For reasons unknown to me, my head begins telling me I don’t deserve this. Not only does the guilt I feel for Henry ache like a tearing sensation in my heart, but Travis and I were so cruel to one another, said things we both didn’t mean. Made each other believe things that simply were not true.
I know how fortunate I was to know love after Travis. My love for Henry was pure and sweet. It was peace, love and always joy.
It just wasn’t, this .
The way he strokes my cheek, taking me in, I can’t help wondering if another woman held a piece of his heart in my absence. I have to know if he was happy. I have to know he lived his life. “Did you find love, Travis?”
His eyes drop to my lips. “I found it, baby. The day I met you.”
My heart swoops as my head lifts to him. “You didn’t let another woman love you?” I lift a hand to his chest. “You never let another woman in?” The years we’ve been apart, he can’t have spent them alone. I never truly believed he didn’t want to see me again, but to not have enjoyed his life? A great wave of sorrow sweeps over me like a cold breeze.
Taking my hand in his, he places it over his heart. “There wasn’t any room.”
My lips part on a lost breath, a sob catching in my throat.
“Did Henry love you like you needed, baby?”
My eyes close. I can feel the wetness beginning to gather in my eyes. “More than that.” When I open them, the look in his greys is desolate. His face is etched with sadness. “He made me happy,” I answer truthfully. “He was a great dad to Riley.”
He takes a breath. “Sounds like he took care of everything where I couldn’t.”
I swallow, hearing the slither of bitterness, struggling not to cry. “Where you wouldn’t ,” I correct him.
Another scowl and his hand is sliding into the back of my hair before his warm lips are pressing against mine.
I jolt, a moan passing my lips as he presses harder like a man on a mission. His anger towards Henry being there for his son, contradicts how he’s trying to say sorry. He knows he did wrong. I know I did too. That’s why I allow both of us to overcome our conflict by standing on my toes and pressing myself into him, stealing his breath as my hands travel up the length of his arms.
He groans, and I ache all over as his hands pull me into him, heat radiating from his body. Beating stronger with every roll of our tongues, my heart collapses when his strong arm loops around my waist and tugs me into him like he needs me closer. His kiss. The touch of his fingers as they curl into the back of my hair again, all of it makes me dissolve .
He is mine. I am his.
As if thinking the same as me, his hand slides down my spine, settling at the waistband of my jeans.
“I didn’t come back because he died.” My timing might be poor, but he needs to hear it.
“Then why did you?”
“Because Henry told me to.”
“Henry?” He looks so confused.
I tell my body to step back, but Travis only holds me tighter. My eyes dance with his, mine brimming with tears. “When he found out he was sick, he suggested we move back here.” Travis regards me, his face turning softer. “He knew,” I sob. “He knew he wouldn’t have long.” I blink and a tear falls. I try to compose myself as best I can, knowing that I owe Henry so much more than I ever could have given him. I don’t hear him speak, and I’m grateful, but I know he’s telling me to get on with it. “He knew if he moved us back here, I could find my way back to you,” I look up, “and you could find your son.”
My lip wobbles, and he slides his thumb over it. “Please, Mollie, don’t cry.” Then he’s kissing me again, and this time he’s slow. So slow. Patient. Loving. “I need you to put your faith back in me.” His words make me sob around our kiss, the streaks hitting my lips and my chin. “Can you do that, baby?”
I nod as my head tilts, and Travis dips, hitching my legs around his waist. He turns, walking me out of the kitchen, keeping his kisses slow, the motion delicate and tender. “I don’t know where I’m going,” he says, making me smile.
“I don’t know where you’re taking me.” I teasingly roll my tongue over his lips, pressing my body into his.
He groans. “I’d like to love you in your bedroom.” As soon as he says it he freezes. “Shit. Unless that’s wildly inappropriate.”
I dot a kiss on his lips, one hand cupping his cheek as I look down at him. “I swapped all the rooms around after Henry… after he died,” I manage to say. It was never about this potential moment, just the loss that I felt for me and for Riley. I couldn’t sleep alone in there anymore.
Travis slowly pulls my mouth onto his. “Are you sure?”
My tongue glides past his lips. “Yes,” I breathe. “It’s the last room on the left. ”
We pass Riley’s room, which, I know he doesn’t know is there, but I made sure to close the door before Travis arrived.
Nudging it with his foot, my bedroom door swings open, and he walks me back to the bed. He lays me down, crawling his large frame over me, settling himself between my legs.
His breath hits mine, and everything I need is staring back at me. “Hi,” I say smiling, realising how nervous I sound. I reach up, taking his face in my hands.
He smiles this time. “Do you still like what you see?”
I laugh. “It’s been hard not to do this every time I’ve seen you.” I pull his face to mine, delving us into another deep, steady, meaningful kiss.
I groan when he pulls back, his eyes roving over my face. “How did you resist?”
I smile, relishing the feel of him between my legs. “It was easy when you wanted to kill me.”
His face falls a fraction, the reminder that the past four months haven’t been easy for us. “I’m sorry, for all of it.” He shakes his head mildly.
“Me too.” I draw a line down the bridge of his nose, slowly trailing it over each of his lips. My eyes fall to them, and he gives them a delicate lick, watching my delight at just looking at him. Marvelling at him.
“You look how I remember you, baby,” he muses. “Like my own personal slice of heaven.”
“You look the same too.” Handsome. Tough. Fierce. “Minus the hair,” I add, earning me a nudge. I hook my fingers under his chin, pulling his beard toward me. “Biker boy.”
His arms encase my head, one hand stroking my cheek as our heads roll at a perfect rhythm. We go on, mouths twisting, lips crashing, our need for more escalating with every second that passes us by.
Travis’ hand drifts down over my waist, slipping inside my jeans. He presses his hand to my pussy, and I melt into his touch, my lips parting, the feel of his hands on me there, so overwhelmingly right.
He sees my pleasure, feels it between my legs. He sits on his haunches in a rush, stripping me of my jeans and knickers as I remove my jumper and bra, then kneel in front of him.
I’m completely naked. My heart and my body bared. “Do you see me, Travis?” I bite my lip anxiously, apparently eliciting the same reaction from him that it caused all those years ago.
He hums, his eyes brightening, his chest taking an extra rise as he fills his lungs with the air he needs. “I see you, Mollie.”
And I’m on him, arms all over him, working to release him. My hand finds his arousal once I push down his jeans, and I stroke, gently sliding the satiny skin in my palm until he’s fully hard. I climb his body, wrapping my legs around his waist, and sink myself down onto him.
He grunts, and my head curls to my chest, lips parting at how full I feel. “Travis,” I say on a lost whoosh of air.
“Fuck,” he moans, his hands gripping my waist tight.
I rise, then slowly lower myself back down, and his mouth presses to my chest. He nips and sucks my skin, licking and kissing as though he’s never tasted me before.
“I’ve missed you,” I tell him, my hands holding onto his shoulders, my nails curling into his muscles.
His hands still me after I roll my hips into him, the sensation of my awakening orgasm making my skin tingle.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, checking his gaze.
He blows out air, lifting to his knees, taking me with him. I’m laid flat with him still inside me. “Nothing, baby.” His cheeks puff out. “It feels like I’ve waited a lifetime for this moment, and now that it’s here, I fear I’m going ruin it by blowing my load too soon. I need a minute.”
I let out a tummy rumbling laugh. Relieved. “Time will do that to you.”
He thrusts his hips, making me groan. “It has nothing to do with age, Baby Doll.” I look back to him, seeing a light bead of sweat shimmer on his brow. “And everything to do with the woman who gave me purpose.” Another thrust, and he sends my eyes into the back of my head.
My arms fly to the pillow and he grunts, withdrawing before gently pushing back inside me. Each time he rolls his hips, a deep heat swells in my stomach. Hitching one leg, he enters me deeper, and he takes my hands in his, lifting them to around his neck. “I need you to hold me, baby.”
And I do. Wrapping my arms and legs around him, I hold and I squeeze his body to mine as he begins to pump, a lustful gaze sweeping over his features. He hasn’t had this. He hasn’t had this connection in all this time?
My emotions begin to catch, and I make sure I can see his face. “I’m with you,” I pant, his body slowing only marginally, “in the chaos. I’m with you. ”
“Together?”
I nod, burying my head in his shoulder, my breathing running wild with every drive of his hips. I’m on the cusp of ecstasy, holding on until he tells me he’s with me too.
“Now!” Travis roars, and I choke on a cry of his name, sweating, my hands feeling every part of him I can grab onto.
His hips buck as he unravels, filling me so completely, each thrust intensifying with his release.
It’s euphoric. Life shatteringly beautiful.
Looking down to me, he cups my jaw, tilting my face to his. He’s still coming; his hips still twitching. “I’m never letting you go again.”
“I won’t let you,” I half choke, half sob into his mouth as his lips tangle with mine.
Even though we lost ourselves in the middle, I close my eyes, knowing I no longer have to live with the memory of loving him again.
Now, I get to live it.