Give Me Strength (24 page)

“Oh,” I murmured, remembering the prickly
feeling of someone watching me. That had definitely not felt
right.

Mac came out carrying notebooks and pens. “Have
I missed anything?”

“We’re at the trust your gut part,” I replied,
watching as she set the stationery on the table and motioned for me
to take a seat. Travis was standing, hands on his hips, waiting for
Mac to settle. When she began to tap impatiently with her pen, I
looked to him with confusion. “I don’t get to throw you
around?”

Mac snorted. “Not even Mitch or Jared can throw
Travis around. I’ve only ever seen him felled once before.”

My eyes gave his muscular physique a ruthless
once over and remembered the scar on his hip from being shot. I
turned to Mac with a frown. “So you’re saying self-defence begins
with arming yourself?”

“Mac,” Travis snapped. “Do you need to be
here?”

Her pen carefully scratched out
Self-Defence
and followed underneath with
#1 – trust your
gut
before looking at Travis with an expectant, wide-eyed
expression. “You’d prefer me to shoot first?”

I picked up my pen and quickly copied Mac’s
neat, handwritten notes.

“Be aware of your surroundings,” Travis began
again, and we dutifully copied it down. “Don’t walk alone late at
night. If you find yourself in that situation, walk fast, don’t
dawdle or focus on your phone. If you’re nervous, or someone is
making you feel that way, head for a busy street.” Travis began
pacing as he spoke, pausing now and then to wait as we copied it
all down. “Weapons.”

Mac grinned with a nod of her head. “Uh
huh.”

“Keys are a weapon.” He pulled his keys out of
his pocket and showed us how to hold them in a fist. Then he made
me do it, and when Mac giggled at my efforts, I aimed a mock punch
at her and she flinched away from the table.

“My turn,” she said.

“Mac. You already know all this.”

She waved her hand. “Consider it a
refresher.”

He sighed and we both waited patiently while Mac
did the “keys in the fist” drill. She aimed a mock slash at me in
retaliation, and I chuckled as my torso twisted sideways.

“Enough!” Travis growled. Mac sat back down with
a brief smooth of her hair and picked up her pen. “Anything else
you might have on you. Heels, deodorant to spray in their eyes, be
resourceful.”

I saw Mac write
#4 – Resourceful
and
underline it three times before turning back to Travis. “What about
pepper spray?”

“Illegal.”

“Well how come Evie gets a can and we
don’t?”

Travis narrowed his eyes. “Evie has pepper
spray?”

Mac folded her arms and arched a brow in
reply.

He sighed and scratched at the golden stubble on
his jaw. “You get caught with that, or using it, you could end up
in a world of trouble.”

“More than the world of trouble you could end up
in getting caught without it?” I said.

“I’ll think about it,” he conceded.

“Like Jared thought about it?” I heard Mac
mutter under her breath.

“Don’t yell for help,” Travis continued.

I wrote it down then read it back to myself.
“What?”

“Yell ‘fire’ instead. You’ll get a better
response.”

I nodded as Travis continued talking, soaking it
up like a dried out sponge. What he was telling me today was going
to come in handy soon going by what bad guy number one and Beth had
so helpfully informed me. If I couldn’t somehow get away before
that deadline was up, a world of pain wasn’t just coming for me, it
was coming for all of us.

Jared appeared on the back deck just as it
appeared Travis was winding up the practical proceedings of
self-defence.

I waved briefly in greeting, but Mac ignored
him, asking Travis, “When do we get to the physical stuff?”

The words tuned out as Travis spoke, saying
something that had Mac rolling her eyes and him chuckling. The sun
was setting behind him, making his hair lighter, his skin darker,
and I realised that he knew everything there was to know about me
and he was still here. My chest constricted. How was I supposed to
leave him?

“Quinn?”

“Huh?” I looked at Jared.

He looked nervous, cracking his knuckles. “Can I
speak to you for a minute?” He eyed Travis and Mac. “In
private?”

I stood, glancing at Travis briefly with a frown
before I followed Jared inside and into the office. He shut the
door behind the both of us and cleared his throat. “Quinn, I need
your help.”

My mouth fell open. “You do?”

“Yeah I do.” He paused to gauge my reaction and
softened. “Is that okay?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

Jared resumed pacing and ran fingers through his
hair. It was getting long. Not quite as long as Travis kept his,
but it suited him. Sighing softly, I waited, watching Jared
gathering his thoughts together.

“You might find it odd, me asking you this, but
well, Mum can be very controlling, and Mac is…well, worse. Mitch
and Travis I’m sure have less of an idea about this stuff than I
do, but you…” he trailed off and stopped his pacing, his head
cocked as he looked at me.

“But me?”

“Well, you’re just sweet, Quinn. I never hear
you talk crap about anyone, and you don’t have a big mouth like
everyone else I know.”

My cheeks flushed with pleasure. I picked up the
stapler off the desk, pretending to check if it needed a refill.
“Well I’m all curious now.”

His words came out in a rushed exhale.
“IwannaaskEvietomarryme.”

“Sorry, what?”

Jared sat down and peered up at me from beneath
his lashes. “I want to ask Evie to marry me.”

“Oh!” I murmured. My hand reached out
involuntarily and took hold of his. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” he said with a grin.
“You’re the only one that knows. I need help asking her.”

I gave his hand a squeeze and let go. “Why on
earth would you think I could help you with that?”

“It’s her birthday in a month. I wanted to do it
then. I was hoping you could help plan the party with me.”

A month.

My heart sank.

Why was everyone making leaving so hard?

I drew in a deep breath. Tonight. I had to leave
tonight or I didn’t think I’d ever be able to.

“Can I let you know tomorrow? I have a lot of
work.” I waved my hand at the desk, but it looked rather neat and
tidy—no evidence at all of someone in the throes of a work
crisis.

“Sure,” he replied, the brief smile not quick
enough to cover his disappointment. “Give me a call.”

Jared left and not sure I could go back outside,
I climbed the stairs only to find Travis lying on my bed. His hands
were behind his head, his eyes focused on the ceiling. Pink lace
sheets surrounded him, only emphasising the hard masculinity of his
body. Heat punched through me as I leaned up against the door jamb
watching him.

“I told Mac how I felt about you,” Travis said,
his words startling me because I’d had no idea he knew I was in the
room.

Don’t ask!
my inner voice screamed at me.
Hearing it aloud would make what was between us that much more
real.

Travis tracked me carefully as I shut the door
behind me and moved towards the bed. I climbed over his body until
I straddled him.

His eyes fluttered closed when I leaned down to
kiss him. It was the first time I’d initiated contact with him, but
if tonight was all I had, I wanted to kiss and taste every inch of
him. His arms came around me, anchoring me, as he opened his mouth
beneath the pressure, and I tasted him with my tongue.

Breaking the kiss, I sat back to draw my shirt
up and over my head, leaving Travis in no doubt of my intentions.
His hands, hard and calloused, held on to my hips.

“Don’t you want to know what I told her?”

Yes.

But I ignored his question. Instead, I cupped
his cheeks. “I love when your eyes lose their hard edge. The green
in them looks so clear and beautiful.”

Travis pulled my hands from his face and grasped
them tightly. “Between the two of us, you’re the one that holds the
beauty. Quinn, baby…” His voice fractured and he looked away, his
eyes finding the window. “I’m keeping you, you know that, right?”
His eyes turned back to me, gleaming possessively.

I smiled through tears.

“Hey,” he murmured. “What’s this?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “You don’t care about
my…past?”

His fingers tickled their way up my belly, and I
giggled.

“That’s better,” he murmured. “And no, Quinn,
what you did, that was before. Me on the other hand…” his eyes fell
to my mouth “… I was an innocent virgin until you corrupted me with
those lips of yours.”

Another laugh bubbled out of me, dying off
quickly when Travis trailed his hands up my back and unclipped my
bra. I sat up, sliding it down my arms, baring myself to his
gaze.

The teasing glint left his eyes, leaving heat in
their wake. “Get up and take the rest off,” he demanded. “I want to
see you.”

Shivering at the way he took over, I stood and
peeled off my bright yellow shorts. His eyes fell on the hot pink
scrap of lace underneath, and my hands went to my hips, ready to
slide those off too.

“Wait,” he croaked. He sat up and shifted to the
edge of the bed. “Come here.”

I moved towards the bed, standing between his
thighs.

Travis pressed a kiss to my naked belly,
swirling his tongue in my belly button, and I sighed softly. He
looked up at me from beneath his lashes, and my breath caught at
their heat.

He slid a finger under the waistband of my
panties and trailed his finger along my skin.

“Turn around.”

Travis ran his hands over my hips as I turned
around, giving him my back. His hands slid down the bare, smooth
skin until he reached the lacy pink edge of my panties.

“
Now
take these off.”

I baulked.

“Off, Quinn,” he rasped. “Slowly.”

With a flush heating my entire body, I stuck my
thumbs in the waistband and bent over as I peeled them slowly down
my legs.

Travis caught his breath and the rough skin of
his hands brushed over my bare skin. Then his mouth was between my
thighs, his tongue thrusting inside my body. His hand splayed over
my back, holding me down.

“Spread your legs.”

“Oh God,” I murmured, doing as he told, putting
my hands on my knees before they gave out. “Travis,” I moaned.

“So sweet,” he muttered.

Only moments later, the unrelenting torture of
his tongue had wild tingles of heat roaring through me. “Stop,” I
gasped.

“No,” he muttered against my skin. “Want to feel
you come against my tongue.”

He didn’t stop and I did just that. Shuddering,
I cried out his name, his arms holding me up when my legs gave out.
He pulled me back into his lap, his hard length digging into my
spine. “Feel how much I need you?”

“Travis,” I moaned.

I heard his pants unzip and the rustle of a foil
packet. “Mmm?”

Grasping my hips, he lifted me up and when I
sank back, it was with him inside me.

“Quinn,” he groaned, sucking in a loud
breath.

My head tilted back into his shoulder, and his
mouth fell on my neck, biting and sucking. My back bowed from the
pleasure.

“Move for me,” he muttered in my ear.

Leaning forward, I did as he asked, slowly,
until he eventually grabbed my hips and took over. He ground his
hips into me and stilled, and when he moaned my name, I felt it
deep in his chest, and I’d never heard anything more beautiful on
his lips.

Waking to darkness, a hand pressed into the
small of my back, rubbing soothingly. My eyes opened to Travis
sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I’ve got called out to work,” he whispered.
“I’ll be a few hours, but I’ll come back.”

I nodded, leaning into the kiss he pressed on my
lips, opening my mouth to the thrust of his tongue with a moan. He
pulled back reluctantly.

“Travis…”

“Shh.” He tapped a finger to my nose gently and
his lips curved up. “Don’t get dressed. I like the thought of you
naked in bed.”

The door clicked shut behind him, and I knew
that if I didn’t leave now, right this very moment, I never
would.

I shifted reluctantly from the bed that was
still warm from his body and covered with his scent. I picked up
the pillow he’d briefly slept on and placed it at the end of the
bed so I wouldn’t forget it.

The duplex was silent as I slid on my underwear
and walked inside my wardrobe. I yanked my suitcase from the top
shelf. Forgetting I’d loaded it with text books from my uni days,
it fell down on top of me, and I shrieked with pain. I grabbed at
the hanging clothes, but they came off their hangers and landed
with me on the floor. I pushed the suitcase off with a huff, and as
a final insult, the wheel caught my toe. Hissing, I grabbed at the
clothes strangling me and threw them towards the suitcase.