She’d been staying with him since they’d returned from Colorado, and although his house was enormous and had incredible security, it wasn’t ostentatious. Of course, she should have known it wouldn’t be, because that wasn’t Travis’s style.
He’d gone to her destroyed house with her, but almost nothing was recoverable. Strangely, she wasn’t really sad. There were a few personal items that she would have liked to have, but it was almost like she hadn’t even really started living until she’d fallen in love with Travis. And it felt like everything that had happened before in her life was all leading to this…to him. Travis made her feel loved, complete, and perfect. She doubted they’d ever stop fighting sometimes, but it was almost like…foreplay. Besides, Travis wasn’t the type of man who needed a wife who didn’t challenge him. And she adored his loving alpha male, protective personality. It made her feel safe, and there was never a day that she didn’t feel loved, even if he was pissed off at her for something.
“So when is the wedding?” Asha asked inquisitively, looking excitedly at Ally.
“Soon,” Travis said irritably.
“Next year,” Ally answered at the same time.
They looked at each other and frowned.
Travis wrapped a steely arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. “I’m not waiting until next year,” he informed her stubbornly, his voice holding a warning note.
“We haven’t set a date yet,” she told Asha with a wink.
“But it sure as hell won’t be next year,” Travis replied obstinately.
Kade looked at Max. “Should we start placing bets on who will win this argument?”
“Nope,” Max replied with a grin. “It wouldn’t work. We’d both be betting on Travis.”
Asha, Kade, Max, and Mia all laughed as they got up to leave.
“I think we’ll let you two work this one out,” Kade said, slapping Travis on the back as he walked past him.
Ally scrambled to get off Travis’s lap to see everyone out, but he held her tightly for a minute longer, whispering huskily into her ear, “We aren’t waiting that long, even if I have to get out my naughty tie.”
Ally shivered at the thought, knowing that when Travis wanted something, he always got it. When Travis really wanted to be wicked, he knew exactly how to get to her. “We’ll discuss it,” she told him firmly as she got up.
“Not for long,” Travis said ominously, a happy grin on his face now.
Ally smiled back, more than ready to bicker with him because it always ended in the most delicious make-up sex.
Finally, Travis closed the door behind his family and faced her, a look of relief on his face.
“Was it so hard?” Ally asked him tenderly, knowing it had been, and wondering if he wanted to talk about it.
“You were right. I needed to do it,” he answered in a voice husky with emotion. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her and burying his face in her hair. “Thank you for giving me back my family, Ally.” His voice was coarse and raw with emotion.
Ally tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat as Travis held her tightly, his body quaking. She stroked his hair, wrapping her other arm around his neck, knowing how much all this meant to him. He’d been alone for so very long, having a family but yet never quite being connected to them since the death of his parents. Ally was so grateful that everyone in Travis’s family had tried to convince him that his parents’ deaths weren’t his fault. “I love you,” she told him gently, continuing to stroke his hair to comfort him.
“I love you so much I think it might kill me,” Travis said in a muffled voice, still not loosening his grip on her. “You need to marry me soon,” he added in a more demanding but poignant voice.
“We’ll talk about it,” Ally said, knowing she’d relent. She felt the same way as Travis did, and she didn’t want to wait.
Travis pulled back and met her gaze, his expression intense. “Like hell we will,” Travis grunted.
And then he kissed her, and Ally knew exactly who was going to win this argument as she was swept away by the same volatile passion he was feeling, the two of them completely lost in each other.
Epilogue
Two Months Later
Ally knew Travis was on his way, and she whispered her usual countdown.
“Five…
“Four…
“Three…
“Two…
“One…”
She sighed as she watched her handsome husband walk through the door of his office, dressed in one of her favorite dark suits, and shooting her the wickedly gorgeous grin that always made her heart start doing cartwheels inside her chest.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said gruffly, his eyes roaming over her possessively.
“Good morning, Mr. Harrison,” she responded mischievously. “Let me get you some coffee.” Ally was always willing to go get his coffee when he greeted her like that, which he hadn’t failed to do on any day since they’d returned from Colorado.
Most days, they rode to work together, but Travis had had an early morning meeting, so Ally had driven herself in her new vehicle. Travis had gotten her a Ferrari F12 as a wedding gift, a surprise that she hadn’t quite recovered from yet, although they’d been married a month ago in a small ceremony at his home. Even though the wedding had been small, it had been the most beautiful event of her life, the day she was joined with the man she knew she’d love forever and beyond. Asha, Mia, Maddie, and Kara had all pitched in to get it planned quickly, and they’d had all their family and closest friends at the ceremony and reception, which was everything Ally had ever wanted or dreamed of for a wedding. Of course, Travis had needed to have the best of everything for the wedding, and had shocked her later with a new F12.
Ally was pretty sure he was still anxious about her driving a fast car, and he’d texted her twice to make sure she’d made it safely to work, reminding her to watch her speed. If she was honest, she hadn’t been able to resist using a little of the enormous power of the vehicle, but only reasonably so, because she was still a little nervous about driving a car that damn expensive.
Travis had taken her out to his racetrack, but Ally hadn’t yet seen him use the superb racing skills that she knew he was capable of exhibiting when she was in the car. She teased him about driving like a little old man in some of his fastest cars, but he just grumbled that he wasn’t risking her life by doing suicidal speeds when she was with him. But she loved the exhilarating feeling of speed when Travis was doing his track runs, even if she knew he drove a hell of a lot faster on them when she wasn’t around.