Six is fine. And if you get here early, I’ll be your appetizer. But I will feed you. You’ll need the energy.
She held her breath, hoping he’d come back with a playful response. The last thing she ever wanted to do was crush Travis’s playfulness because he had taken her comment seriously. He was already too solemn, too serious, and his lighter side was something she wanted to see more of.
He replied:
If I didn’t have a meeting, I’d be in my car right f**king now.
Ally let out a relieved laugh and typed:
No need. I have to cook. But it’s warm today. I think I might have to cook naked. Think about that in your meeting. Hope it goes well.
Her reply came almost instantly:
You’ll pay for that, woman!
Smiling, she returned:
I’m counting on it, handsome. See you later.
Ally put her phone back in her purse and opened the door of her vehicle. She drove to the grocery store to pick up what she needed to make Travis a nice dinner, her heart lighter than it had been for as long as she could remember.
She’s mine!
Travis clenched his phone tightly, staring at the words Ally had texted.
She misses me.
He thought he’d majorly f**ked up by making her think he just wanted to f**k her. Well…he did want to f**k her. Every damn minute of the day. But Travis knew his physical desire was just a product of how much he wanted her to belong to him. He felt like a caveman, the desire to drag her off to his isolated cave where no one would ever take her from him almost unbearable.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, images of the time he’d spent with Ally during the last week floating through his mind. He’d now been the object of several of her sweet, warm smiles, and every one of them had hit him like a boulder to the gut. Oh, it wasn’t like they still didn’t argue—like the argument they’d had over the wardrobe he’d provided for her. He’d settled it by taking all the clothing upstairs and putting it away, ignoring her while she systematically listed reasons why she couldn’t accept them. He’d won when he kissed her breathless and told her he’d probably tear them all off her eventually anyway. Damn, but his woman was stubborn. Travis wanted to give her the world, but she wouldn’t let him.
If she knew everything about me, would she still want to be with me?
Chances were, she’d run like hell, and he really wouldn’t blame her. He’d shared a lot of things with Ally that he’d never shared with another soul. But there were a few things he just couldn’t seem to tell her, too afraid she’d look at him in horror and run away. And Travis knew that would destroy him.
I need to just enjoy the time I have with her. Not think about the future right now.
Problem was, he wasn’t the type of guy who just lived in the moment, and he needed Ally too badly to even contemplate her leaving him.
He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. Ally made him ecstatically happy, but more fiercely territorial than he’d thought he could ever possibly be. Luckily, she didn’t seem to mind the fact that he always took her hard, fast and rough. In fact, she seemed to relish it. But he wanted even more. He wanted her complete submission to him, needed to know she was completely his, and he couldn’t get his frenzied cravings for that under control. Did she know she had him completely by the balls every minute of every day and never let go?
I might have to cook naked.
Oh yeah, she definitely knew, and she did everything she could to make him crazy. He loved it and he hated it. It was almost like she wanted to see him break, go completely caveman on her.
“Sweetheart, you have no idea exactly how demanding I could really be with you,” he whispered huskily, wanting to make her just as damn desperate as he was for her.
It wasn’t that Travis didn’t know that Ally was satisfied every time they were intimate. He made damn certain that she was. But he wanted her to let go completely, surrender herself totally to him and the white-hot passion that nearly consumed them both every time they were together. She was so f**king responsive, and she got so beautifully aroused. But he still felt like she was holding a part of herself back. And he was greedy. He wanted everything she had.
Glancing up at the clock, Travis cursed as he realized it was almost time for his meeting.
“Great,” he whispered harshly. “I’ll sit through the whole damn meeting wondering if Ally’s really cooking naked, my dick so hard I won’t be able to concentrate.”
He got up from the chair and straightened his tie. He’d warned Ally that he’d make her pay for teasing him. Problem was, every damn time she touched him, he damn near lost it. Walking out of the office and toward his meeting, he smiled, thinking of a solution that could remedy that problem.
Chapter 12
Ally entered her bedroom, still damp and completely nude after her shower, squealing as the door of the bedroom closed loudly behind her. Relief flooded her body as she saw Travis standing in front of the closed door, still dressed in his office attire.
Needing to take a couple of deep breaths because of the scare he gave her by appearing out of nowhere, she flushed as his eyes roamed over her, his expression feral and hungry.
“You’re early,” she gasped, still not completely comfortable standing in front of Travis bare-assed naked. It was barely five o’clock, and she hadn’t expected him this early. She’d given him a key to the house, but he usually didn’t let himself in.
“I got extremely hungry for my appetizer,” he replied huskily. “And I couldn’t wait. Catching you at this moment is extremely convenient.”
Ally shivered as she looked into his eyes. He seemed different tonight, almost dangerous. Not that she was afraid of him, her body reacting to his fierceness, his proprietary stare. “It is?” she answered innocently. It seemed like the more desperately Travis wanted her, the hotter she became.
“Very,” he answered casually as he stripped off the jacket of his suit. “Do you know what it’s like sitting through a meeting while visualizing you naked the entire time? I wasn’t exactly productive. And I did warn you that you’d pay for your teasing.”
He had. And there was nothing Ally wanted more than for him to take his revenge. “I’m sorry,” she answered insincerely, because she really wasn’t very sorry at all.
“Don’t move,” Travis commanded in a low and demanding voice. “That meeting was very uncomfortable, Ally. And I know what I’d usually do is f**k you senseless, but I’m not going to do that right now.”