“Nothing,” Travis answered in a rush. “Don’t say anything. You already said yes.” No backing out now. She’d already agreed to marry him. There was nothing more to say. “Just kiss me,” he suggested hopefully, hoping she wasn’t going to cry again. “I don’t want to see you sad anymore,” he admitted in a ragged voice.
Ally stroked his cheek, and then put her hand behind his neck to give him the sweetest kiss he’d ever had. He savored it, savored an embrace that was full of tenderness and love, a connection that was so much more than passion. She pulled away slowly and whispered huskily, “I’m not sad. I’m overwhelmed.”
“I know. Your house—”
“Not the house,” she interrupted, giving him a small smile. “I’m overwhelmed by you, by us. I’ve never been this happy and it’s almost scary.”
“Then get used to being terrified, because I plan to keep you happy ever damn day,” he answered with a devilish grin, knowing exactly how she felt. For a man who had lived in isolation and darkness for so long, being this damn happy was f**king terrifying, but he’d risk it. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”
Ally gave him a watery smile, swiping her hands across her cheeks. “I need to clean up. I know I’m a mess. And I’m curious to see who ended up with Tate for the evening.”
Travis wasn’t curious, but he smirked as he hoped the other man had ended up with the most annoying woman at the charity event. It would serve the bastard right for the way Tate had tortured him about Ally.
He put his arm around her and walked her to the ladies’ room, waiting outside after he ducked into the men’s room to clean himself up, propping a shoulder against the wall as he watched the crowd. The ball was in full swing, the auction apparently over. His eyes searched the dance floor, looking for Tate, but he didn’t see him anywhere.
“I think I look as good as I’m going to get without more makeup,” Ally said in a low, anxious voice behind him.
Travis turned and looked at her. “You’re stunning.” And she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Ally rolled her eyes at him. “I look like a woman who has been crying all night. My eyes are puffy, my makeup is gone, and my nose is red. I’m not an attractive sight.”
Travis thought she was wrong. He looked down at the ring on her finger and back up at her face, thinking she looked incredible. “You look like you’re mine,” he told her simply, thinking that that made her more than attractive. She looked like a goddamn miracle to him. “Dance with me,” he demanded, reaching his hand out for hers.
She slipped her hand into his with a smile, moving closer to him to whisper, “Don’t forget that my butt is bare. Some barbarian ripped off my panties and I doubt they’re wearable.”
They weren’t. Travis had pretty much shredded them. He checked her skirt, making certain she was covered. “For Christ’s sake, don’t bend over,” he rasped harshly, pulling her into a more secluded area of the dance floor, torn between the desire to hold her in his arms and his territorial need to make sure he didn’t expose her. As he pulled her into his arms, he solved the problem by putting one of his hands on her ass instead of her back, making damn sure her skirt didn’t ride up.
“People are staring,” Ally told him in an amused voice as she followed his lead perfectly.
“I don’t give a shit,” he responded, surprising himself that he really didn’t care. It was a formal occasion, and maybe it wasn’t appropriate to hold her this way, but it felt good. “If they don’t like it, they don’t have to look.”
“Travis Harrison, are you actually willing to do something a little bit scandalous?” Ally teased.
He looked into her deep green eyes, his expression intense. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do when it comes to you,” he told her in a hoarse rasp, knowing he meant every single word. “Tell me you love me again,” he said insistently, knowing he sounded pathetic, but he didn’t care about that either.
“I love you,” she responded immediately.
Travis felt his c**k growing hard just from the tender, sultry tone of her words. Unable to stop himself, he stopped dancing and he kissed her, not holding back anything as he tried to tell her without words how much he treasured that love. Ally loved him exactly as he was, ass**le and all. She didn’t care about his wealth, his freaky precognitive dreams, or his less than tactful behavior sometimes. She just cared about…him.
Cameras flashed, and Travis knew he’d see a picture of himself in the society pages tomorrow, ravishing his new fiancée on the dance floor of a charity ball. And he’d actually relish it. He’d waited for Ally for years, and he wanted every man in the world to know she now belonged to him. In fact, he’d happily look for the photo tomorrow because he was pretty damn sure he’d frame it.
Chapter 18
One week later, Ally watched Travis’s face as he painfully explained to his family the truth about his precognitive dreams, knowing how difficult it was for him. Her heart ached as she sat on the arm of his chair in his living room, his family all listening intently, as though they could sense how difficult this was for him, too.
Max and Mia were seated on the loveseat, Kade and Asha on the couch, all of them completely silent for a few moments after Travis stopped speaking.
“I knew,” Kade finally said, his voice low and uncharacteristically sad. “I didn’t know you were having dreams, and I couldn’t really figure everything out, but I knew everything that happened was more than coincidence. You were there almost every damn time we needed you. Why the hell didn’t you tell me the whole truth? That’s a hell of a burden to have to bear alone, Trav.”
“I couldn’t tell you,” Travis answered in a tortured voice, scrubbing his face with his hands. “You and Mia were all I had, and our father was insane. I didn’t want anyone to think I was as crazy as he was. I just wanted us all to be normal again.” He paused for a minute before adding, “I didn’t dream about your accident, Kade. I’m sorry.”
Kade rose, his face set in a grim expression. He walked to Travis’s chair and said adamantly, “Get up.”
Ally cringed, hoping she wasn’t going to regret talking Travis into telling his family everything. This was her doing, her idea completely. She loved Travis so much, and she wanted him to bridge the distance with his siblings. Ally knew they loved him just as much as he loved them, although he’d never expressed himself well because of his isolation, and right now Travis needed assurances. She just wanted him to be happy, to realize how special he was, and she was counting on his siblings to help.