Chapter Seven
Friday Afternoon
“You need anything else, Travis?”
Travis surveyed the small farm stand, then glanced back to the older woman behind the cash register. He didn’t patronize the place much, even though it was on the corner opposite his garage. Since the raspberry jam episode at Bella’s, though, he couldn’t seem to get his mind off wanting more. In different flavors. “Yeah.” He grabbed a bottle of locally harvested honey. “This too.”
Local wildflower honey on a local wild girl.
“Oh that’s a wonderful choice. You should try some drizzled over pepper-crusted goat cheese.”
Goat cheese? That didn’t sound appetizing at all. “Thanks, Mrs. Norman. I’ll have to remember that.” Not. He didn’t even know where to get goat cheese.
Travis was at the edge of the property when he heard his name. He turned to find Mr. Norman headed his way.
“How’s my Jeep?” the older man asked, holding his hand out. Travis met it with his own and they shook. He’d known the Normans since he was a kid, grew up with their son.
Travis’ family had bought all their vegetables from the Normans same as every other family in the county.
“I’ll have her finished by the end of the day. You should be able to come by in the morning. She’ll run like a dream.”
“I’ll do that. Wife wants to get on the road early Sunday morning.”
Travis nodded. “Where’s your first stop?”
“Graceland.”
“Not too far.”
“Nope.” Mr. Norman rocked back on his heels. “Wife’s never been. Lived in Tennessee all her life and never been. Always liked Elvis though.”
“I’ve never been either. Heard it’s pretty touristy.”
“Yeah. Not looking forward to it myself. We’ll head South after. New Orleans, San Antonio.”
“That’ll be nice.” Hotter than fuck, too, but Travis kept that to himself. “You headed out West?”
“All the way to the coast. That’s why I needed you to make sure the ol’ girl is in tiptop shape.”
“She will be, sir. I’m going back to finish up right now.”
“Good, good. Haven’t seen you over here in a while.”
Travis held up the two items he’d bought. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I uh, needed jam for sandwiches. Grew up on this raspberry jam.”
“Wife makes it.”
“The best I’ve ever had. My favorite.”
“Say, I saw Arabella’s car over at your garage.”
So, there it was. A confrontation about Bella from someone other than Miles. Travis braced himself. Mr. Norman’s statement hadn’t held any hint of threat or warning, but Travis kept his guard up all the same. “Yeah,” he answered. “She’s had some transmission issues.”
“Nasty business,” Mr. Norman commented.
“It is, but hasn’t taken away from my work on yours,” Travis rushed to reassure the man.
“Oh I’m not worried about that. You’re good at your job, Travis. Wife likes her, you know. Bella,” he added as though Travis needed clarification. “That mess her brother created was nasty business.”
“Yes, sir.” Travis wasn’t sure what to make—or how to get out—of this conversation. He felt a little uncomfortable discussing her with people. He liked her. Was getting to know her, in and out of bed. She was kind and smart and those smiles that were all for him? Yeah, he could get used to those.
“Treat her right, son. And fair. She’s been through enough. I know your family lost some money, same as most everyone else in town. Wasn’t her fault.”
“I’m sure she’d like to know you and Mrs. Norman aren’t put out with her.”
“Oh she knows. She bought some of that jam earlier this week. We talked a little. She tried to apologize for things she didn’t do. Poor thing. Could use a couple more friends.”
Travis agreed and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear Mr. Norman was trying to give him some sort of blessing for either befriending Bella … or something. He wasn’t sure. He nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Well, you go on back to work and I’ll be seein’ you in the morning.”
“How long will you and Mrs. Norman be gone?” Travis asked.
“No time limit. Gregory will be working the stand.” Gregory was the Normans’ son. He worked the main farm, located several miles outside town.
“Great. I haven’t seen him in a few weeks.” Travis waved and hurried back to the garage, still trying to puzzle out the conversation.
“You get anything good?” Miles asked when Travis entered the bay.
“Jam and I think, permission to date Bella.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, it was weird.” Confusing was more like it. “I’m glad to be back over here.”
“Is that something you want, Travis?”
Travis sighed, mentally kicking himself. “Don’t start, Miles. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Naw, man, I’m serious. No bullshit, no fighting. Do you want to do more than, you know …?”
Did he? When he was with her, he’d sell his left nut to stay with her every day forever. When they were apart, he still had that feeling, but he had doubts as well. Not about her, specifically, but doubts about wanting to deal with the shit they’d have to put up with from Miles, customers. Hell, he didn't know how his parents would feel once they found out. For all he knew, they already had.
“Well?” Miles prompted.
“I’m not sure. Part yes, part I’m not sure.”
“But there’s not a no in there, is there? You like her, more than for the sex, don’t you? Wow, man. She want you for more?”
“I have no idea on that one. We haven’t talked about it.” He’d said their affair duration was negotiable and they’d decided on today for her car. He didn’t know exactly what that left for them to do.
“I saw her today. When I went to grab lunch, she was coming out of Mr. Landers’ office.”
“What the hell was she doing there?”
“Dunno. She was with Mrs. Cleary. They were both smiling so I guess nothing bad happened. Could be it had something to do with her brother.”
“Could be,” Travis agreed. He was curious. Same as he’d been curious about her absentmindedness yesterday when she’d started for home instead of waiting for him. Did that have something to do with being in the town lawyer’s office? He didn’t want to speculate. She could’ve walked there with Mrs. Cleary on some of her business.
“I don’t know how I’d feel about you dating her. I know, I know,” Miles said, holding up his hands in front of him when Travis shot him a warning look. “I know it’s none of my business, but I don’t trust her yet. Not sure I’ll ever trust anyone from that family again.”
“Good to know.”
“Just trying to be honest, man. I won’t dog her, but I can’t say I’ll ever like her.”
Travis grinned. “I don’t know that she’d care either way what you thought, except for how it affected you and me.”
Miles grinned back. “She probably wouldn’t.”
* * * * *
“Do you ever talk to your brother?”
Bella blinked up at the stars. For the second night in a row, Travis had asked a question that caught her off guard. Their arrangement was all about sex, but they’d had some great conversations outside it. She was going to be sorry to see it all come to an end. “I try to visit him at least once a month.”
Travis turned his head to look at her, but she kept her gaze on the sky. It looked different from out in the middle of the lake than it had on her deck last night. It was one of the great things about summer and living at the water’s edge. Everything seemed different, more peaceful, and in a strange way, more hopeful.
There’d been a small creek that ran across the back of her family’s property when she was growing up. She used to wade through it when things were bothering her. The water calmed her, soothed her.
She wouldn’t see the lake in quite the same way after skinny-dipping with Travis tonight.
“You do?”
“Yes. Why does that surprise you?”
“I'm not really sure.”
The breeze in the air kept the water lapping against the edges of the floating dock. It was lulling, the slight movement, and Bella’s hand grazed Travis’ arm. The touch wasn’t intentional but when he laced his fingers through hers … She was at once thrilled and dismayed at the emotions playing inside her.
She wanted Travis. A lot. She wanted him tonight, tomorrow night, and as many nights after as she could get. She didn’t want their affair to be over as soon as the sun rose.
From the first time he’d touched her on her porch, she’d known she was a goner. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks had turned into the man who belonged in her bed. No one had ever made her feel as fulfilled, as sexually powerful, as sexy as he did. No one had ever talked to her as casual and with such openness as he did either. She was comfortable with him. In and out of bed. She’d be willing to wager her next month’s rent that he was just as comfortable with her.
She didn’t feel shame when talking about her brother. She’d apologized to so many people for what he’d done until she was blue in the face, but with Travis, like this? She didn’t feel the need. “Wouldn’t you visit Miles?”
“Once he started talking to me again,” he said with a laugh. “I’d have to beat the shit out of him if he ever pulled that kind of crap.”
“Talking to me or not, Artie is my brother.”
“I get that. There’s a sibling between Miles and me, but he and I have always been close. He’s treated you unfair. I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s not only him, but I can’t blame people for feeling that way.” The situation made her stronger and had definitely opened her eyes to the fact that she’d been blind for a long time. “I should have asked more questions. I should have learned about the family business.” Bella mentally shook herself. She couldn’t go back and change the past and she didn’t want to. Every bit of it had changed her and brought her here, to this place, to this moment, with this man. She wasn’t about to regret that. “I wish he hadn’t taken so many hopes and dreams from so many people.”
Travis let go of her hand and shifted to his side, propping himself on his elbow much as he had the night before. She glanced at him without moving anything more than her head.
He was gorgeous, and Bella knew she could look at him every day for the rest of her life and not ever tire of it. Even in the darkness his eyes shone crystal clear. His tattoos were shadows across his body and the metal through his nipples and the tip of his cock caught the moonlight.
“I happen to think you’re very good at giving hopes and dreams to some people,” Travis said, drifting his free hand across her stomach. He gripped her waist and tugged her closer. He radiated warmth and while she wasn’t cold, she welcomed his heat. “Is it wrong to say I don’t remember your brother at all?”
“No. He and Miles are the same age or close.”
“I mean, I remember a vague image of him, but not when I look at you. I don’t see him or what he did.”
“Do I want to know what you do see?”
“You do. You know you do.” He gave her a peck on the tip of her nose, then brushed her lips. “I see a very sexy, very capable woman.”
She started to scoff at his statement, but he must have known she wasn’t in agreement because he pinched her side. “Hush now,” he instructed with no heat. “You are capable. You’ve been able to pick yourself up and move on. You’re confident enough to take what you want, especially when it’s offered to you on a silver platter. Money is different now than what you grew up thinking it was, but that’ll only make you stronger. It'll only make you more determined that nothing else will be taken away or be lost."
Travis pulled and Bella rolled until she was on top of him, straddling his thighs. His cock was hard, as it seemed to always be when they were together, and she slid easily along the length.
“Mmm. Nice pep talk.” And she was once again confronted by her conscience about the changes to her bank account balance, and the fact that she hadn’t told Travis yet. “But you don’t need to say all that to have sex with me.” She didn’t know why she was holding back. She liked that they were on more equal ground. She didn’t want to mess that up and was afraid if he knew about the money, it would. Then again, with their sexfest over tomorrow, did it matter?
God, she was so confused.
Travis smiled then stole a kiss. “You didn’t let me get to the sexy part.”
Bella lifted, dragged her pussy up his cock again. She moaned when he flexed his thighs under her bottom. “By all means …”
Slow and precise, she moved down, then up. Over and over, riding the ridge of his cock, catching the ring with her clit, teasing them both. Would she take him inside? Or not? How long could he take it? How long could she?
He grabbed her hips in his hands and stilled her movement. “If you keep that up …”
Not long. “I don’t have to keep it up. You do, and let me tell you, you do a very good job.”
“Dirty girl.”
She giggled. He knew her so well. “And?”
“And that’s the sexy part. The. Very. Sexy. Part. Your sexual confidence is hot. You take what you want and don’t look for excuses after. You love sex and you’re fuckin’ not afraid to show it.”
At that, she ducked her head, only slightly shy at the praise. He really did know her. When she locked gazes with him again, she grinned. “I do very much love sex. I have since my very first orgasm in the tenth grade.”
“Oh God,” he groaned.
“What? I wasn’t a goody two-shoes and I didn’t want to be. I wanted to experience everything and the first playful slap on my ass took me down a road I hadn’t expected. You found out firsthand that I love a little pain with my sex, that the rumors were right. I haven’t had a lover in a couple of years though. None of my friends in Nashville stuck around after Artie’s mess. Then you came along and gave me a chance to fuck you. I took it. It wasn’t offered in an innocent way and after the initial shock, I didn’t care how or why you did it. So, it’s sex in exchange for getting my car fixed at a lower cost. I’m not upset by it. I’m not angry about it. I’m hot for you, Travis, and I was willing to take you any way I could get you.”
He smacked a kiss to her lips. “I love how damn frank you are when we’re together like this.”
“If I’m going to perform the acts, I can’t flirt and blush like an innocent.”
He flexed beneath her, but she didn’t know if it was a voluntary move or not. It didn’t matter. It shot a thrill through her pussy to be able to affect him so much.
“Fuck,” he ground out, teeth clenched, jaw rigid.
“I can be myself with you. I didn’t know if I could be, but figured if this was my only chance to be with you, I’d lay it all out and not hold back.”
“Shit, woman. You can’t tell a man that kind of thing and expect him to not want to fuck you from here to the moon.”
She leaned down and licked his neck. “Could be that’s what I’m looking for. Especially from you. Did you bring a condom out here?”
“Didn’t think we’d be staying out here long enough to need one.”
“Dumbass.”
“I’m starting to get that now.” He palmed her ass and walked the fingers of both hands to her crack. He found her hole and worked one finger from each hand inside the rim.
“Ooohh.” She lifted, wanting more. Her clit rode his cockhead as she bounced, helping him enter her ass deeper, stretch her opening wider. With slow precision, Travis wedged another two fingers in and she ground herself on him.
Their moans and whimpers and curses, joined in with crickets, birds and water lapping. Travis fingering her ass was lewd in the beautiful space of the lake and Bella couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this free and alive with anyone.
And she wanted more. It could be the sex talking, the fact that for three nights she’d been plundered and pillaged, but so what? She’d also spent time talking to him, laughing with him, sharing her struggles. She wanted more of that, more of him. More of life, with him, outside this little haven of pleasure.
Only, she didn’t know if he wanted it too. Her car still hung in the balance between them and she needed to get that out of the way before she could pursue him.
With his fingers clutched inside her, they worked together, sliding her pussy along his cock. “I love that you like your ass played with.”
“Mmm. I love you playing with my ass. It feels good. And your fingers this way …” She lowered her head and licked at his lips. “Bet you’re wishing for a condom right about now, huh?”
“No more than you are.”
“You got that right. Want to stop? Swim back to the house?”
“No. I want you coming. I want your ass squeezing my fingers, trying to close on them. I can hold off fucking you until we get back.”
“You can?” Bella ground on his cock harder, scraping her clit against his piercing, forcing a long, low groan from his throat. “You’re that controlled?”
“Trying to test me, darlin’?”
Bella shook her head. “Trying to break you.”
“Good luck with that,” he said, pumping his fingers in her ass, making her shudder. “If any breaking of will is done around here tonight, it’ll be yours.”
Bella had to agree with him. The pressure on her backside combined with the delicious feeling of his erection between her legs was potentially devastating to her making good on her challenge.
Then, as she was contemplating her next move to drive him crazy, he thrust against her, sliding through her wetness. She grunted and he grinned up at her.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered. He repeated the move and she gave up on resisting, melted into him, letting him rock her to climax.
“Travis … Travis … Travis …” She said his name over and over again. Her ass tried to clench, the muscles tensing. He let go with one hand and his remaining fingers filled her. He finger-fucked her bottom, prolonging her orgasm.
When she quieted and went limp, he eased his fingers from her body and that’s when she felt it—the warmth from his cock as he came beneath her.
Bella kissed him through the duration of his orgasm. “Could control it until we got back to the deck, huh?” she remarked after she lifted her head.
“I lied.”
“I’m glad.”
“But I would like to get back to the house.”
“Or back in the water.”
“That too.”
Bella slid off Travis’ body and lowered herself over the edge of the floating dock into the cool water. Travis followed and playfully dunked her head under. When she came up, he was halfway to shore. “Cheater,” she muttered.