Travis (18 page)

♂♀

“Get
in the truck,” Gage told Kylie when Travis’ four wheel drive Chevy disappeared
from sight and another bolt of lightning crackled and lit up the now blackened
sky. The clouds were rolling in fiercely, turning under themselves as the storm
blew in stronger. “Now!”

The
rain was coming down harder, but what scared him most was the electrical storm
that was intensifying all around them. They were surrounded by trees and water
and the wind had picked up considerably within the last few minutes, leaving them
sitting ducks in the middle of a vicious early summer storm. Being June in
Texas, the weather could get ugly fast, and he wasn’t willing to risk her life
or his at this point. It should’ve been enough that the water was now coming
down in buckets, and they were both soaked to the skin, but Kylie seemed to be
riveted to where she stood, staring after Travis’ truck even after it
disappeared.

When
she didn’t move, Gage took matters into his own hands, grabbing her arm and
leading her to the driver’s side, which was closest. “Move over,” he instructed
after opening the door and pushing her closer.

If
they didn’t hurry, they were going to be trapped by the raging river guaranteed
to wash out the low water crossing that would take them back to Coyote Ridge. As
a teenager, there’d been many times Gage and Kaleb had waited out a storm and
then some just to get across.

Once
they were both inside the cab of the truck, he started the engine and then
turned off the air conditioner. Although it was relatively warm outside, cool
air blasting at them was only going to make their damp clothes that much more uncomfortable.
They were both drenched through and through, but Kylie was shaking. Gage had no
idea whether she was cold or if the conversation had set her on edge.
Considering she had been willing to walk back to town, which was a good six
miles, he would guess the latter.

“If
you’ll take me into town, I’ll call a cab,” Kylie finally spoke as she fastened
her seatbelt. She went on to explain, “Travis picked me up this morning, so I
don’t have my truck.”

“Not
sure we’ll get that lucky,” Gage muttered as he spun his tires in the mud,
trying to gain purchase so he could back out onto the road. The condensed grove
of trees had done remarkably little to keep the soil from taking the brunt of the
rain, and the truck was currently battling the elements.

“What
does
that
mean?” Kylie asked, glaring at him as she wrapped her arms
around her body, shaking like a leaf.

“There’s
a good chance the road is under water.”

“Already?”

“It
doesn’t take much down here,” he explained as he managed to get enough dry land
under his tires to jerk the truck out of the mud. Turning in his seat, he
watched out the back window as he floored it through the open space that led to
the main road. Once he hit pavement, he threw the truck in Drive and turned the
truck toward their exit.

“What
will we do if the road is under water?” she asked, sounding somewhat panicked.

“Let’s
hope it doesn’t come to that,” he told her, not wanting to spook her even more.
The problem was…

“I
don’t have a signal on my phone,” she said, sounding nearly desperate.

Yep,
that was the problem. They were in a veritable dead zone this far out. Not a
cell tower for a good ways. They wouldn’t even be able to call the fire
department to come and fish them out if necessary.

Kylie
was quiet for a few minutes while Gage continued to battle the blinding rain as
he drove as fast as he was willing to go in hopes they could beat the rush of
water that would likely already have washed out their exit.

The
road was lined on both sides by towering ash and elm trees that had reached out
their long, skinny arms, joining forces overhead which, coupled with the
clouds, only made it darker. Pitch black was more like it.

As
they rushed through the darkened tunnel of greenery, Gage was getting his hopes
up, thinking they might just have a chance of beating the deluge that would submerge
the road. And that’s when he saw taillights in the darkness ahead. And the
vehicle they were attached to wasn’t moving forward. Pulling his foot from the
gas pedal, Gage allowed the truck to slow until they were coasting closer.

“Oh
my God!” Kylie screamed, and that’s when Gage realized – which he had already
suspected – the taillights ahead were those of a familiar truck. Unfortunately,
said truck was sticking ass up out of a ditch on the side of the road.

“Travis!”

“Don’t
move,” he ordered, noticing she was getting more and more hysterical as the
seconds passed, her hand already reaching for the door handle.

“Screw
you,” she yelled, throwing open the door and dropping to the muddy earth
beneath her. When she glared over at him as she prepared to run toward Travis’
truck, he saw the fear and anger swirling in the now dark blue of her eyes.
“You’re not going to do anything?”

“Of
course I’m going to do something,” he ground out. “But you aren’t. Get your
pretty little ass back in the truck and don’t move. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Gage’s temper had long since surpassed the pissed off point and Kylie’s quick assumption
that he wasn’t going to help Travis nearly sent him over the edge.

As
it was, Gage was relying on his training to keep him from getting upset. No
matter what they were going through, no matter how many times they butted
heads, Gage had already accepted that he was beginning to care about Travis
more than he already had. Not only because he was Kaleb’s brother and Gage had
spent more time with their family than his own for years, but also because
there was an undeniable attraction between them.

Well,
if he’d had any hope that Kylie would obey, which he really hadn’t, he learned
his lesson right-fast. The passenger door slammed shut, and Kylie took off down
the road, running flat out as she closed the distance between where Gage had
stopped and where Travis’ disabled truck sat.

Gage
sighed. This was not going to be fun. He felt it in his bones.

Battling
the deluge of rain and the gale force winds, he managed to get the truck door
open, dropping his cowboy hat in the seat before he climbed out. He was down
the road and standing beside Kylie in seconds, both of them staring down the
shallow embankment they’d have to descend in order to get to him.

Glancing
over at her, he bit his tongue to keep from telling her to stay put. She wasn’t
going to listen, and if he didn’t kick it into high gear, she was about to
leave him behind.

“Stay
behind me,” he told her as he started down the hill, his boots slipping in the
mud and muck. When he felt Kylie’s fingers latch on to his belt loop, he felt
marginally better. He’d be able to get to Travis faster if she had stayed in
the damn truck, but he was learning just how tenacious the woman truly was.

Much
to his relief, Travis was sitting up, staring out the front windshield when
they approached a minute or two later.

“Travis!”
Kylie yelled, trying to be heard over the rain and thunder.

Travis’
head snapped toward them at the sound of her voice. He didn’t move to get out
though, which concerned him. Gage rapped his knuckles on the glass, but as no
surprise, Travis lowered the window rather than opened the door.

“I
don’t need help,” Travis growled. “And she shouldn’t be out here.”

Of
course he didn’t need help. The man could take care of himself, he’d proven
that. And as for Kylie, well, there was no telling that woman what to do, but
Gage figured if Travis knew her as well as he suspected, he didn’t need to be
reminded of how hard headed she was.

“Get
your ass out of the truck,” Gage yelled over the wind that swallowed his words
and carried them off as soon as they were out of his mouth.

Travis
didn’t say a word, but those stormy blue eyes met his, and for a second, Gage
didn’t think Travis was going to respond. Something transpired between the two
of them in that moment, and it had the same impact as a hurricane battling
against his resolve. This man was going to be Gage’s biggest test, and for some
reason, he felt as though he had set himself up for failure long ago.

“Goddammit,
Travis. Get your fucking ass out of the truck!” Gage wasn’t playing games
anymore, and he wasn’t interested in being a target for the next electrical
current that fell from the sky.

With
a little hesitation, Travis rolled the window back up, but then opened the door
and slid to the ground in front of him. Thankfully, he didn’t have a scratch on
him from what Gage could see, but that didn’t stop Kylie from searching him
over, her fingers poking and prodding even as the rain continued to pour down
on them.

“We’re
not going to get over the bridge,” Travis said, staring back at him.

“No
shit, Sherlock.” Gage turned and then waited for Kylie to get in front of him.
He’d have a better chance of catching her if she fell that way. Once she was
satisfied with looking Travis over and certainly not before then, did she start
heading back up the embankment.

They
walked up the muddy hill, boots slipping and sliding in the muck as they went
along, hands landing in the mud as they tried to brace themselves. Gage didn’t
look to see whether Travis was following them or not, his focus was more on
getting Kylie safely back on solid ground. Travis was a smart man after all, he
would realize they didn’t have much of a choice at the moment.

By
the time they reached the truck, the water was beginning to creep farther up on
the road, and if Gage didn’t get his truck out soon, they’d be floating down
the river in no time. He didn’t have the luxury of four wheel drive, so he
didn’t have as many options as Travis. Not that the four-wheel drive mattered
much at this point.

All
three of them were crammed in the front seats, although there was more than
enough room in the back seats for one, if not two, of them to sit. Gage hadn’t
figured Travis would’ve climbed in the back, but the way Kylie was squirming
between them, obviously attempting not to touch either one of them, he expected
her to fly over the seat at any moment.

“Are
you really ok?” Kylie asked Travis when she settled.

“Fine,”
he mumbled, staring out the side window. Gage was pretty sure Travis was more
than fine physically. As for his ego, well, he suspected there was some significant
bruising.

“What
are we supposed to do now?” This time Kylie directed her question to no one in
particular as she fidgeted with her hands, staring down into her lap.

“Wait.”
Gage and Travis both answered at the same time, neither of them looking at her.

Taking
a deep breath, Gage tried to calm his rioting nerves. He wasn’t about to let
Travis know that his heart practically skipped a beat the moment he realized he
was headlong in a ditch. It had scared the living hell out of him.

And
as though the stars had aligned in their favor, Gage found himself enclosed in
a small space with Kylie and Travis.

Nothing
to do but wait. And more than a little sexual tension thickening the already
humid air.

♂♀♂

Ok,
so maybe he had never walked the straight and narrow, but Travis wasn’t sure
what he’d done to deserve this version of his own personal hell. Granted, the
situation could be looked at one of two ways. One, Travis was confined in a
small space with two people he was more than anxious to strip naked and ravish
until they couldn’t take any more. Or two, Travis was confined in a small space
with two people who would rather throw flaming arrows at him than have him come
anywhere near them.

Only
fifteen minutes had passed since they made their way back to Gage’s truck, but
it felt like an eternity. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be
able to sit still. He was beginning to feel anxious and irritated, and that was
due to the emotions these two evoked within him. Bottom line… they were too
damn tempting for his own good.

Even
over the musty scent of rain and the mud that caked his boots, the lavender and
vanilla scent that emanated from Kylie filled his senses and made him want her
more than he already had. Kissing her in his truck earlier, making her come by
grinding his iron hard cock against her clit hadn’t done a damn thing to help
quell the urge to pick up where they left off.

Fuck,
who was he kidding? It’d been ten fucking years and he still wanted her just as
much today as the day he walked away from her. Maybe more.

He
got the feeling she was nervous, but he couldn’t necessarily blame her. Here
she was, sandwiched between him and Gage and they didn’t have much of a choice
but to sit and wait out the storm. Even then, they’d be waiting a couple of
hours, if not more, for the water to recede in the swollen creek.

What
he didn’t understand was why she didn’t hightail it into the back seat rather
than risk being as close as she was to them. She hadn’t had much of a choice
when he forced her in through the front passenger door, but she’d had more than
enough time to move if she wanted to. Not that he was going to suggest it
because Travis liked having her right where she was. Yes, maybe he’d done it on
purpose. He wanted to be close to her, and he’d let her be the one to make the
decision on whether she was going to get away from him.

“Is
there not another way out of here?” Kylie asked as she thumbed her phone repeatedly,
squeezing her legs together as though she feared relaxing would cause her to touch
either one of them.

He
fought the urge to smile. Nervous was an understatement.

“Nope.
And no matter how much you finger that phone, it isn’t gonna work,” Gage said.

Travis’
dick jumped to attention at Gage’s choice of words. A very explicit image
bounced around in his head, and it involved a very naked Kylie and an equally naked
Gage and the strategic placement of Travis’ fingers between Kylie’s smooth,
toned legs.

Holy
fuck!
It was getting too damn hot in the truck.

“Turn
the air conditioner on, would ya?” he told Gage.

Surprisingly,
Kylie reached forward and turned the dial that would at least alleviate some of
the steam beginning to fog up the interior of the windows.

After
they’d sat for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the hum of the a/c
motor, Kylie started to squirm.

“You
ok?” he asked, shifting in his seat to face her as he leaned against the door.

“Fine.”

She
damn sure didn’t look fine. “What’s the problem then?”

“I’m
wet and cold and need to take my boots off because they’re full of water.”

“Well,
don’t mind us, feel free to strip naked if you wish.” Travis knew she wouldn’t,
but he still held out hope.

“Strip
naked?” Doubt had Kylie pinning him with a glare, and he suddenly wondered if
he’d be the one squirming in his seat next. She had a point, his clothes were
uncomfortable, his dick not at all happy being confined behind the wet denim.

To
his surprise, Kylie pulled off one boot, being careful not to get mud on the seat
which was a feat within itself. After removing her wet sock and dropping it inside,
she went to the other.

Travis’
cock was eagerly waiting for direction because watching Kylie undress was pure
fucking torture. He held his breath, wishing like hell she’d decide her bra was
too wet too. Unfortunately, he didn’t get that lucky. Once she had both feet
bared, she shifted her feet up and placed them on the seat in front of her,
burying her head in her knees.

“Does
this remind you of anything?” she asked, her voice muffled from how she was
sitting.

Kylie’s
question had both him and Gage turning to look at her, but neither of them said
anything. Who was she talking to?

She
must’ve realized they were waiting because she lifted her head, looking from
one to the other as a rosy blush crept up the sexy column of her neck. Not that
his cock could handle much more blood flow, but it was then that his body
decided it’d go without if it meant his dick might get attention anytime in the
near future.

Yep,
he was getting light headed, and it had nothing to do with the way he’d slammed
his head against the steering wheel when he’d gone nose first into that ditch.

“What?”
Gage finally spoke, obviously curious as to where she was going with her
question.

Travis
had a pretty good idea which moment she was referring to.

They
hadn’t known each other long when they found themselves in a similar situation,
only at that time, there was no washed out road keeping them from getting
somewhere. No, at that time, it had only been the two of them and their
unrelenting desire that kept them cooped up in the cab of his truck, making out
like teenagers.

Why
would she even think about that?

“Refresh
my memory.” Travis wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. Not with this woman.
But he was more than happy to get her talking and if she was thinking about
something that was making her blush like that, he damn sure wanted to know what
it was.

“Nothing.
Never mind,” she sighed, leaning her head back on the seat and staring up at
the ceiling.

“No,
see. I’m not thinking that’s fair. You brought it up. Enlighten us, please,”
Travis urged.

Gage
needed to have his Freon level checked because the air conditioner in his truck
didn’t work for shit.

“I’m
betting money it wasn’t quite like this,” Gage added, his attention on Kylie as
well.

“Not
quite, no,” Travis said, watching to see whether she was going to contribute to
the conversation she started.

“You’re
right. Nothing like this.” Kylie’s frustrated words raised the hair on the back
of his neck.

“She’d
never have been able to handle a situation like this.” Travis didn’t hold back
his irritation with both himself and the situation as he turned and faced the
front window once more. It all came down to: he wanted something he wasn’t
going to get.

“Like
what?” she asked, sitting up straight and turning to look at him, her knee
coming to rest on his thigh. “You don’t think I could’ve handled being the
cream center in your little fantasy?”

Once
again mere words brought about an erotic vision that had his dick throbbing to
life, the zipper of his jeans now painfully intimate with his cock. Glancing down
at where their legs touched, Travis was stunned silent by the mere touch of her
body against his. Was she doing it on purpose? There was no way this woman
could know just how far he could be pushed.

It
wasn’t far.

When
he regained some of his mental faculties, he faced her, leaning close. Very,
very close. Their noses almost touched. “I’m not sure you could have,” he told
her. “However, I’d be more than willing to let you try if you think you’ve got
what it takes.”

He
was being a bastard on purpose. His own anger was getting the best of him, and
in close quarters with these two, he was rapidly losing his patience.

“Well,
you don’t know much about me then, do you?” she retorted, her eyes trained on
his. His breath caught in his throat when her hand joined her knee on his leg,
slowly easing up his thigh until the slightest brush of her fingernail against
the denim over his dick nearly set him off.

“Push
me, baby. See how far I bend before I break,” he warned, his words but a whisper
between them. “I’m warning you now, it’s not very far.”

Kylie’s
eyes widened and her breath hitched, but he had to give her credit for not
flinching like he expected her to. She was the one instigating this, he was
leaving the ball in her court.

“Is
that what you want?” Her words were laced with venom. “You want me to fuck you
and Gage at the same time?”

Travis
growled.

“Yeah?
Or how about I just sit on the sidelines and watch while the two of you go at
it. Would that turn you on?”

Leaning
in close to her, Travis put his finger on the edge of her chin and forced her
to face him more fully. Using his thumb, he brushed over her bottom lip,
listening to the way her breaths became choppy and erratic.

“What
if I said yes?”

“I’d
say…”

“Will
you two fucking stop? I can’t handle this shit right now,” Gage barked,
throwing his arms up on the steering wheel and leaning closer to the
windshield.

“From
what I hear, you’re more than experienced in threesomes, Matthews. Don’t tell
me you’d have a problem with it.” Sitting back in the seat, Travis dropped his
hand, but he didn’t both moving away from Kylie. Her knee was still resting on
his thigh, and if he glanced down the long, sleek muscle, he’d… see right up
her damn shorts.

Mother
fucking shit. Goddamn.

“Fuck.”
Gage exhaled the word, but didn’t turn to face them.

“Is
this what you want too?” Kylie’s tone held a degree of skepticism as she
addressed Gage. “You can’t be happy with one woman? I wasn’t enough to satisfy
you when you took me to my bed? You need a man to fulfill you too?” Kylie asked
the questions, and although there was some bite left in her tone, Travis had to
assume she didn’t realize what she just revealed.

“You
slept with him?” Travis’ voice wasn’t his own, the words mixed with the anger,
sounding like a feral growl.

Both
Kylie and Gage turned to face him, shocked.

As
though she were working up the courage to answer him, Kylie’s back went ramrod
straight and she swallowed hard. “I did.”

Travis
wasn’t even sure what to say. Was he pissed that they’d slept together? You’re
damn right he was. She was his wife, it didn’t fucking matter whether they were
together or not. Gage should’ve kept his fucking hands to himself.

If
they weren’t inside the truck with Kylie between them, he would’ve unleashed
his temper and taken the bastard to the ground.

“Jealous
much?” Gage taunted him.

That’s
when Travis lost it. Elbowing Kylie back in the seat, making sure he didn’t
hurt her, Travis reached over and gripped Gage’s shirt, pulling him hard until
they were face to face, nose to nose directly over Kylie.

“Stop
it! Both of you.” Kylie inserted her arms between them, pushing as she tried to
separate them. It wasn’t until Travis let go that she managed to get any leverage.

“The
past is the past, damn it. I was with you. I was with him. Shit, at this rate,
it’s like I’ve been with both of you at the same damn time.”

Travis
stared at her, his mouth falling open. “Baby, I can promise you, when you have
us both at the same time, you won’t compare it to anything from your past.”

Kylie
opened her mouth. Closed it. Then she dropped her head back on the seat and
stared up at the ceiling again. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going
through her mind. The tinge of pink in her cheeks told him it wasn’t anything innocent.

The
silence started to choke him by the time Kylie lifted her head back up and
asked Gage again, “Is this what you want too?”

Apparently
Travis had derailed the conversation with his jealous reaction the first time
she asked that, but now he wanted to hear the man’s response just as much as
Kylie did.

“What?”

“This.”
Signifying the three of them with the motion of her hand.

“What’s
this, Kylie? You’re gonna need to be a little more specific.”

“Stop
being an asshole,” she bit out. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Gage
simply stared at her, not speaking as Travis watched the interaction.

“Travis
already admitted he wants both of us.” Kylie kept her voice low, even. “Do you
want both me and him as well?”

Gage
didn’t flinch at her question, but Travis was holding his breath as he waited
to see where this was going.

“Yes,”
Gage admitted. “I want both of you.”

“Have
you and Travis…”

“Have
we what?”

“Why
are you making me spell this out?” Kylie’s voice rose, her irritation accounted
for in her clipped words. After a huff, she continued, “Have you been
together?”