CHAPTER 2
Rae rushed through the crowd, her chest rising and falling quickly, desperate to get air into her lungs. The conference center’s doors were in her sights, and she made a beeline for them. She nearly made it, the handle almost within her reach, when a body sideswiped her. She gasped, latching on to a pair of flailing arms, and soon found herself staring into the fuming eyes of an old classmate, Leah.
Dressed in all black, Leah looked much more badass than Rae remembered from chemistry class.
“Leah, shit, I’m so sorry,” Rae wheezed, quickly finding her footing.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m not mad at you,” was all Leah said before she yanked the door open and vanished from sight, practically blazing a trail of fire behind her.
Rae didn’t know what had set Leah off, nor did she plan to go after her to find out, because Rae burned with an unnatural heat herself.
Not a single man had ever made her feel the way Travis did with just a few simple words or the drag of his nose down her neck. Sure, she’d had other lovers since him. Three of them, in fact, but no one compared to this new, sexy, sensual, confident version of Travis Walker.
Damn it all to hell, tonight’s reunion wasn’t going as planned at all, and she was reeling, trying to get her head on straight. She’d expected bald men and miserable, divorced women trying to be something they weren’t. Not the love of her life propositioning her within a minute of arriving at the damn reunion. She hadn’t even considered that he’d be there. Rich and beyond famous now, Travis had outgrown Catfish Creek a long time ago.
Time and space. That’s what she needed, and maybe a damn cold shower.
When she finally made it outside, she took in the fresh air, tipping her head back and inhaling deeply. The heat outside, while stifling, was nothing compared to the firestorm he set off in her body. As laughter drew her attention to her left, she found a handful of people smoking. It didn’t smell like cigarettes. She looked right, and there was someone puking in the bushes. God, what the community of Catfish Creek would think of this reunion. Especially considering there were two Christian colleges nearby. Though their behavior didn’t surprise Rae much. Most kids she knew in high school were so restricted during their youths—as she’d been by her very Christian parents, who still lived in the same house Rae grew up in—they often fought to break free of the constraints often.
She exhaled again and again, slowly trying to control the beat of her heart, rubbing away the goose bumps on her arms. She needed quiet. She needed to think and pull herself together. Travis threw her world into a tailspin. She simply had to realign it.
Determined to do exactly that, she spotted the school ahead of her and made quick work of entering the light brown brick building. The loud doors clanged shut behind her. Lockers lined the hallway, and as Rae strode past, she saw the one that’d been hers: 178. Shockingly enough, it still had the dent in the bottom that had been there ten years before. Even now, she could picture how the inside of the door had been covered with pictures of her squad: Travis and her, her best friends, Kate and Tessa, as well as Jake, Catfish Creek’s quarterback and Travis’s closest friend.
Her high heels clicked against the shiny floor, echoing in the hallway as she turned and entered through the single door on the left. Immediately, the wonderful scent of dust, paper, and a little bit of mold made everything better. Row after row of bookshelves filled the long, rectangular library, broken up only by the tables scattered throughout.
Rae felt her muscles go lax. Some people needed a smoke, or a shot of alcohol, or maybe even a bath to relax. She needed books. They were her escape. She’d spent as much time with books as she did with Travis throughout high school. And even at twenty-eight years old, books were still a big part of her life. She moved to one of the bookshelves and trailed her fingers along the spines. The knowledge within the covers, the stories, the lives lived fully and completely…she relished it all.
“Still predictable, I see.”
She whirled around, finding Travis leaning against the doorframe, a big smile on his oval face. Even with the black masquerade mask, and the stylish suit with the skinny black tie, Rae would recognize him anywhere. She recalled in vivid detail how those fingers of his felt when they stroked across her bare skin. How those long legs supporting his thick, six-foot-two frame used to wrap around her after a heavy make-out session. Even how the scruff on his chiseled jaw felt brushing against her inner thighs. Heat flooded her as she swore she could catch hints of his spicy-smelling cologne even from this distance.
She was frozen—unable to move, unable to breathe. She could only stand there as he stared at her, stripping her bare with his warm, gray eyes. That single potent look took her right back to when they were high school sweethearts. When it didn’t matter that she had dreams of becoming a veterinarian, and he had dreams of a music career. When life was simpler, and they still had each other.
It was like ten years hadn’t passed in the blink of an eye.
But it had.
Hearts were broken.
Lives were changed forever.
She held her breath as he entered the library, and she realized she hadn’t answered him. And maybe that was because she didn’t want to admit it to herself. If she did, that meant she hadn’t changed at all in the last ten years. The old her wouldn’t have cared, but now her stomach roiled. “Maybe I am predictable,” she said, forcing the words from her throat. “But this is my place, after all.”
“It always was your place,” he said, nearly reaching her.
Something about his expression changed then as he watched her, becoming a little more intense, a bit more appraising. A swell of heat surged over her just that easily. By the way he watched her, intently, like he was stripping her dress off with a single look, and by the power he exuded, she realized he’d changed a lot in the last ten years, becoming a sensual lover she’d never been introduced to before.
Butterflies danced in her belly as she turned back to the bookcase, trying to avoid him, instead staring at the books she ran her fingers over. “Remember all the times we came in here back in the day?” she asked, recalling some very happy memories.
“Yeah, I do.” His soft voice came from behind her, closer now. “We had our first kiss right there at that desk.”
She turned and saw Travis gesturing to the table near the outside wall, and she smiled. “We did, didn’t we?” Then she pointed to the desk by the window and waggled her eyebrows. “And remember what happened there?”
He glanced at the private workstation near the back of the space and then turned back and grinned at her. “How could I forget? I had a hard-on for the rest of the day.”
She laughed and moved all the way to the last bookshelf where the history books were and leaned against the shelf, watching him close in on her. Sweet Jesus, he was gorgeous in a very mysterious and sensual way. All emotion. All passion. That’s why she’d fallen in love with him. That’s why her heart never forgot him.
“Rae,” he said softly in response to whatever look had crossed her face before closing the distance between them.
He cupped her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. “I’m not sure…I’m not sure what you’re doing, Travis.”
His eyes warmed with emotion as they followed the path of his thumbs, dragging across her parted lips. “I need to feel what it’s like to be near you again.”
“Why?” she asked, her hands waving at the space around her. “You have everything. You’re rich. You’re famous. You’ve got the life you always wanted, and you could have any woman you want.”
“You’re right, I could.” With smoldering eyes, he continued to watch his thumb slide sensually across her bottom lip. “But I don’t want any other woman, Rae. I want you. We have this one night until reality returns and life carries on. Why not relive the past?”
Her mind swam a little. What about her did he miss so much? Surely, he’d had far better lovers over the last ten years than her eighteen-year-old self. And why did he feel the need to remember what they had so badly?
She stared into the depths of his eyes, reading the heat in his gaze, feeling like no time had passed at all. Travis had always thought she was the practical one. She had been to make sure they didn’t give up their dreams, but there was heartbreak and tears after he left. She was broken for a very long time before she threw herself into her career, forgetting everything else…including her heart.
But now, her heart reminded her of the danger. “I can’t have sex with you, Travis.”
A smile teased his mouth. “You don’t have to have sex with me. That’s not why I’m here.”
“Then what do you want?” she whispered.
One brow lifted. “I already told you, I want a taste of the past.”
Her heart raced at this new Travis. His bold words, the sensual promise in his eyes. The Rae of the past would have never taken such a risk, but maybe she was tired of being so practical and always doing the right thing. It was only one night…what was the harm?
She grabbed his tie, pulled him closer. “Then take the taste you want,” she heard herself whisper.
He gave a sexy smile, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to hers. At first, his kiss was teasing, slowly reminding her of the guy he was. But then he took over and took charge, changing the osculation into something hotter, something raw and addictive.
She moaned against his strong mouth as his hand slid across her cheek until his fingers threaded into her hair. With a tug, he pressed his lips harder against hers and deepened the kiss. Heat rushed from her head down to her toes just that easily. Goose bumps instantly rose, while he took her into an embrace that reminded her of the passion between them yet hinted at something more. His bold kiss spoke of experience and tasted of longing.
“Tonight’s all about you.” He backed away and slid his finger across her lips, then down her chin until he reached the top of her sweetheart neckline. “Every goddamn fucking inch of you.”
Her heart raced a mile a minute, and she pressed her hands against the spines of the books as Travis gave her a sexy smile and lowered to one knee. He tilted his head back, watching her intently as he gathered up her dress so he could slide his hand up her thigh. She bit her lip, observing him, as his fingers gingerly climbed up her calf.
“So soft and perfect,” he murmured. When he reached her inner thigh, she shivered, and his smile grew heated. “Still so sensitive, baby?”
“Yes…God…yes.” Her eyes fluttered closed at the new confidence he exuded, a soft moan spilling free as his fingers slid across her sex to move to the other thigh. He played a little, teasing her in ways he never had before. By the time she opened her eyes again, she was trembling in her high heels.
“Do you want me, Rae?” he asked, eyes locked onto hers.
“Yes, so badly.”
Never looking away, he slowly inched his hands up. Her chest rose and fell with her heavy breaths. When he finally had her dress up to her hips, revealing her black lace panties, his grin turned wicked.
“Wearing such pretty things. Perhaps you hoped you’d see me tonight.”
She couldn’t respond. Not now, at the way he looked upon her, and definitely not when those smoldering eyes lifted to hers, and she saw the hunger in his gaze. He licked his lips and kept looking at her while he slid her panties off to the side.
Then he turned his attention to her sex, and she could only watch as he did what he wanted. Boldly, and unabashedly, he stared at her sex. “Fuck, Rae, you’re so damn beautiful.” She gasped as he flicked his tongue out, gently stroking her lower lips. “Spread your legs for me, baby.”
She inched her feet wider, opening herself so he could take her however he wanted. She’d never been this bold, this needy before. But when his tongue expertly flicked along her hot and wet slit, she dug her fingernails into the wood of the bookcase and tilted her head back, enjoying the ride. She remembered how he used to taste her. He’d been a teenage boy then, his skills still raw. Now, he was a man, and she floated in pleasure.
There was nothing hurried about the way he devoured her. He savored every inch of her, and with each slow lick and swirl of his tongue, he drew out her moans. When he tickled her opening with the tip of his finger, she glanced down, seeing his dark head of hair between her legs and his tongue flicking out over her flesh. She threaded her fingers into his hair, holding him to her, and his guttural moan vibrated against her. Then he leaned away and looked up at her, his eyebrows drawn in focus. He bit his sculpted lip as he slid one finger inside her and then another until both were working in a perfect rhythm.
“Don’t stop looking at me, Rae,” he said softly. “I need to see those eyes.”
Doing as told, she watched him, which was no easy feat. His fingers began pumping, the heel of his hand banging against her oversensitive clit. When he swirled his palm over that bundle of nerves, it was all it took to send her crashing over the edge. She shivered and moaned… God, how she moaned when she came, but it wasn’t until those noises turned to whimpers that she realized she probably shouldn’t have been so loud.
Slowly, she recovered and released her tight grip on the bookshelf, yet he sent her wiggling against his mouth as he licked her slit from back to front, gathering up all that she had to offer. Only then did he right her panties and rise, lowering her dress and pressing the strength of his body against hers.
“Taste what I did to you,” was all he said.
She flushed against the brave order. But this game was fun, and she played the seductress, cupping his face and kissing him like she meant it. His tongue swirled with hers, and she tasted herself, scented herself, and it brought on a ravenous hunger to devour him.
When she lowered her hands and reached for his belt, his hand came down on hers. “No,” he said, sounding tormented as he pressed his forehead against hers.
“Why won’t you let me touch you?” she asked.
He hesitated. “I needed this moment, Rae. Please don’t ask why, just give me this.”
She heard the desperation in his voice before she saw it in his eyes when he looked at her. Her heart squeezed as she cupped his face, seeing something in him that she’d never seen before. Something dark and troubled. “Travis, what’s wrong?”
His brows drew together. “You breathe life back into me, Rae.”
Her lips parted to respond when a loud, harsh voice cut in, “You shouldn’t be in here.”
Rae gasped, dropping her hands by her sides, as Travis glanced sideways. That’s when Ballston, aka Ballbuster, the football coach from back in the day, glared at Rae.
“I…I…” She glanced at Travis, looking for help, mirroring the time the coach had caught them making out behind the bleachers before a football game.
Travis gave a bright grin, and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks as he said to Ballston, “I was just enjoying a taste of the past. Is that a problem?”
Ballston frowned and gestured. “Take the party back to the conference center.”
Travis grabbed Rae’s hand, and in no time, they were out in the hallway again. He looked at her. She looked back. Then, in that free and easy way they had back in high school, they burst out laughing.