Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
After a quick breakfast at a truck-stop diner along the interstate, they were back on the road. Windows down, the wind whipped through the vehicle, the sun bright in the rich blue of the sky. Music blasted through the speakers, and they sang along as the miles disappeared behind them.
Travis’s left hand was kept firmly on the wheel, but his right hand never strayed far from her.
Either holding her hand in his, or clasping her bare knee, or strumming his fingers along the sensitive skin on the insides of her thighs.
He touched her constantly, turned to look at her through the darkly tinted Aviator sunglasses back on his face, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight as they drove.
Kansas disappeared behind them, then a short jaunt through the northwestern corner of Missouri, and up into Iowa. They had just crossed into Wisconsin, and they were trying to make it as far as Madison before stopping for the night, but Roxy would have been fine if they’d taken their time, too.
“Want to find us a hotel and somewhere to stop for dinner?” Travis asked, squeezing her knee lightly.
He had to know what every single touch did to her, sending lightning zapping through her, straight to her core.
She’d been painfully turned on all day, with every touch of his fingers against her skin.
“Already on it,” she said, scrolling through her phone. “There’s a Best Western that’s not too expensive.”
“Find us somewhere that will have the fluffy white hotel robes.”
“Travis, I can’t afford one of those fancy hotels,” Roxy muttered dryly, rolling her eyes at him as he drove, that left hand of his draped loosely over the wheel. Peeking at him through her lashes, she did very much like the idea of seeing him lounging in nothing but a big fluffy hotel robe.
“Find one, Red,” he murmured darkly, slicing his gaze over to her. He had tossed the sunglasses onto the dashboard, now that the sun had descended just beyond the horizon. “I’m not asking.”
Huffing out a heavy, beleaguered sigh, she tried to keep the corners of her mouth from tipping up in a smile as she mumbled, “Fine.”
Routing them to one of the city’s five-star hotels, Travis pulled up to the valet parking and hopped out, stretching, before pulling first his duffel and then her suitcase out of the back.
With his duffel slung over his left shoulder, and her suitcase held in his left hand, he clasped her hand with his right.
Together, they walked into the fancy atrium and up to the long granite faced concierge desk.
“Checking in for Hayes.”
It didn’t take long to get them checked in, and then they were in the elevator.
As the doors slid shut soundlessly, Travis backed her up against the polished mirrored wall of the elevator, spanning his hand across her throat and tilting her face up to his.
He merely hovered his lips over hers, brushing his mouth back and forth, teasing her while keeping her trapped against the wall of the elevator.
“I can’t decide if I want to order up room service, take a shower, or fuck you first.”
“Umm. Yes?”
He chuckled, low and dark, and the sound sent fissures of pleasure down her spine, his breath ghosting over her lips.
She shivered. The elevator dinged as it arrived on their floor, whooshing open almost silently.
He backed up, removing his hand from her throat.
Clasping her hand in his once more, they walked down the hallway to their room.
Her entire body was on fire, lit up from the inside out. Little fireworks continued to go off in her belly, sending butterflies flitting around crazily. Damn this man was driving her insane with want.
Pushing the door open, he let her enter ahead of him, flipping on the lights. The room was lavish and opulent. Roxy crossed the lush, carpeted floor to wide windows, peering through the gossamer curtains and across a lake that sat directly in the center of the city.
Travis deposited their bags by the door and then did his usual check of the room, though Roxy thought it was totally unnecessary in a hotel as nice as this.
She meandered into the spacious bathroom.
There was a double shower wide enough for two people to comfortably stand in with a floor to ceiling glass door, but Roxy was damn near gleeful over the oversized jacuzzi tub that sat in the corner.
Two fluffy, starched white hotel robes sat folded on the tubs edge.
They would definitely be utilizing that tonight, if only to soothe her aching muscles. Her body was still sore from Neal’s attack, and sitting in the car for the last two days hadn’t helped much to alleviate the aches.
Travis walked in behind her and she whirled, throwing her arms around his shoulders. His hands settled heavily on the curves of her waist, holding her against him, at the same time lowering his head to take her mouth with a fervent, fevered kiss.
“I want to take a bath,” she murmured against his mouth when he pulled away enough for her to breathe. “Will you join me?”
“Why don’t you start the water and I’ll order up some room service,” he suggested, pecking another kiss to her lips. “What sounds good?”
“Breakfast,” she laughed, leaning back against his arms that held her around the waist.
“That does seem to be our thing,” he chuckled, smiling down at her.
She loved it when he smiled. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and those honey gold depths seem to shine in a way that she hadn’t noticed before, all those months ago.
She was angry at herself for not taking a leap of faith earlier, to capitalize on the time that they could have had…
time that now seemed so painfully short. “Pancakes? Waffles? French Toast?”
“Hmmm,” Roxy hummed, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes in thought. “Waffles. Strawberries. Lots of whipped cream.”
Travis grinned down at her. “I like the way you think, woman.”
“I’ve been known to have good ideas on occasion,” she laughed, rocking side to side.
He slapped a hand to her ass once, a sharp, stinging slap that made her gasp and her inner muscles clench up tightly in response. “Turn on the water. Get naked. Get in. I’ll get food ordered and then I’ll join you.”
Fifteen minutes later, the jacuzzi tub was filled to the brim with warm water.
She turned the jets on, which sent the water to frothing bubbly.
Setting the lights overhead to dim, it lent an intimacy to the room.
Stripping, she let her clothes fall where they lay, then stepped gingerly into the warm water, sinking up to her neck and leaning against one of the sloped sides.
The jets massaged her aching muscles, and she closed her eyes, leaning her head back.
Travis stepped back into the bathroom, eyes finding her where she was reclined in the tub.
She watched him as he stripped, first his shirt up over his head, revealing the wall of tattooed muscle that was his chest and abdomen.
And then his jeans, shoving them down his thighs and off his feet.
His boxer briefs came next, and then he stood, fully naked, half hard before her.
He stepped forward, then said gruffly, “Food will be here in half an hour. Lean forward, baby girl.”
She did as he asked, sitting up and moving forward so he could slide in behind her, and then his arms closed around her, pulling her back flush against his chest in the warm water. The jets whooshed around them, keeping the water’s surface a roiling, frothy bank.
His tattooed knees poked out of the water on either side of her, and she traced the black and gray shaded markings along his skin. “Did they hurt?”
“On my knees? Like a bitch,” he laughed, and she loved the honesty she heard in his voice. He was always honest with her. “The backs of my knees were rough, too. That skin is so sensitive. I think the worst to cover was the scar tissue, though.”
Leaning her head back against his chest, she looked up and back at him. “Scar tissue?”
He nodded, though she sensed him tense behind her. He swirled the frothy bubbles along the surface of the water around with his hands. “I was stabbed sixteen times. A very long time ago. I had them covered so I wouldn’t have to see them. At least, not as easily as before.”
Sitting up, she spun in the water slowly so that she faced him, her eyes wide and mouth dropped open in horror. “You were stabbed sixteen times?” When he nodded, she let out a soft, sad exhale. “Travis.”
“It was a very long time ago,” he murmured quietly, taking her hands in his and bringing them to his mouth.
He pressed a kiss to her knuckles, but his eyes were wary over the tops of them.
“I was never the same after that night. And for a long time I was a bitter, angry shell of a man. It took me years to find my way out of that darkness.”
Licking her lips, she inched forward until she knelt between his thighs. “Can I see them?”
Without answering, he lowered her hand to his chest, guiding her fingers over his skin, until she gasped, tears stinging her nose and eyes when she felt the first one.
Raised and smooth, it was nearly invisible to the eye beneath the ink; but she could feel it.
He silently guided her hand along the left side of his body, allowing her to touch all of them.
Some were wide and short, others long and thin.
Along his ribs, his chest, his arm, even his thigh.
She blinked as the tears spilled over her lids. His eyes were gentle as he sat forward, bracing his wet, warm hands on either side of her face, drawing her to him. He kissed her, light, chaste brushes of his lips against hers. Sweet and gentle.
“The—the man you killed. Did he do these?” she asked on a whisper, her lips barely moving against his. He nodded slowly. “Then he deserved whatever you did, Travis.”
“I didn’t do what I did for me, Roxy. I was blind with rage, with grief when I killed him.
I’m no better than he is.” His tortured whisper nearly broke her.
“I still have nightmares of that night. Not because of what happened to me. Not because of what I did… I’d do it again.
Without a moment’s hesitation, without remorse, without regard to what would happen to me all over again…
I’d do it all again if it meant I wasn’t too late. ”
Sliding into his lap, legs braced on either side of his hips, she curled her arms around his neck.
He’d pulled his long hair up into a bun on the back of his head before getting into the jacuzzi with her.
His arms banded around her waist, holding her as close as she could get, his head resting against her chest as she stroked his hair gently.
And it was then that she knew without a doubt that she had fallen in love with him. With every beautiful, gentle, broken part of him. Because she recognized herself in all those pieces of him.