Nicole Edwards - Travis

“How do you know Travis anyway? It’s obvious the two of you are friends. Or were anyway,” she said, forcing the angry tears to stay locked up behind her eyes. She could not afford for this man to see her cry. He wouldn’t understand that they weren’t sad tears.

“We’re not friends,” Gage answered quickly.

“Not friends. So what? Family?”

“No,” Gage said sadly, thrusting his hands through his hair as he turned away from her. “I’ve known him most of my life.”

“But you’re not friends? Jeezus, Gage, could you just answer the damn question?” Kylie was hovering on the edge of murderous rage, the thoughts from that day flooding back as Gage seemingly tried to explain in as few words as possible how this had all come about.

“His brother is one of my friends,” Gage answered, turning back toward her and locking her in place with his dark brown eyes. “What about you, Kylie? What happened between you and Travis?” he asked, resuming his place in front of her so that she was once again trapped between his towering frame and the screen door. His nearness caused Kylie to lose her train of thought.

“ What? ” He was not the one who should be asking questions here. As far as she was concerned, Gage Matthews should be groveling at her feet after what he did.

“What happened? The two of you are still married. Why is that?”

“It’s none of your damn business,” she argued, seriously tempted to launch what was left of the iced tea right in his face. Twisting out from between him and the door, Kylie managed to escape inside. She didn’t have time to shut the door before Gage was right behind her.

“Damn it, Kylie. Talk to me.” Gage’s tone was sharp, and it only pissed her off more.

Kylie snapped.

Turning to face him, she gave in to the urge and threw the rest of the tea right in his too handsome face, small chips of ice and amber liquid raining down on him while her body vibrated with the strength of her rage. If she had expected satisfaction from such a juvenile act, well, she got it. The stunned look on Gage’s face made her heart flutter wildly, but she wasn’t even close to being able to smile.

She felt her face heat further, knew she was about to scream. “Fuck you, Gage. I don’t owe you a damn thing. If you want the story, why don’t you talk to Travis? You obviously know him much better than I do. And I have nothing left to say to either one of you.”

Doing her best not to throw the glass at him as well, Kylie turned abruptly, heading to the kitchen before slamming her glass and the bottle of nail polish on the granite countertop before taking a deep breath. She was lucky neither shattered beneath the jarring impact. Her hands were shaking, her breaths were ragged and uneven and those damn tears she had fought to hold in had spilled free, running down her face.

The next thing Kylie knew, she was being pulled around, her body coming up flush against Gage’s hard chest seconds before he crushed his mouth to hers. Her brain told her to fight him off, to push him away because she didn’t want this, but her traitorous body ached in violent need of what he was offering.

Wet shirt met wet shirt, hot skin melded together as the desperation won out, both of them eagerly seeking what the other was suddenly giving. Kylie thrust her fingers in Gage’s soft hair, knocking his Stetson off in the process as she held him close, their tongues licking and tasting.

So good. Jeezus, the man could kiss. Hot, sensual. There was a thesaurus full of adjectives that came to mind describing how incredible Gage’s mouth felt against hers, but she pushed all thought from her brain. For nearly three weeks she’d been ruled by emotion and right now, Kylie was going to be led by sensation.

Nothing more, nothing less.

When all was said and done, she was still kicking him to the curb.

♂♀

It was a damn good thing Gage had waited until the massive hangover from three days earlier had subsided. He wasn’t sure he could’ve faced this angry side of Kylie without firing on all cylinders.

And right now, with her molded against his body, Gage couldn’t have let her go if she insisted. The way Kylie’s mouth fused to his, her small fingers latching into his hair, sending sparks of pleasure/pain trickling along his spine, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to let her go.

The soft, rounded curves of her breasts were crushed to his chest, and he had the sudden urge to lick them, to taste her sweet skin. When her fingers released his hair, Gage continued to palm the back of her head, holding her close. He damn near sighed in relief when she yanked his shirt up and over his abs, forcing him to release her mouth so she could rid him of the clammy cotton. Once he was shirtless, Gage didn’t hesitate before pulling her against him once again, one hand cupping her ass, the other her head as he bent his legs, aligning them perfectly so he could grind his erection against that sweet spot between her thighs.

Later, much, much later, Gage would replay what had happened to try and understand how they got to this point, but for now, he wasn’t going to over think it. He needed this woman more than he needed to breathe. Air was suddenly an extraneous element that meant little without this woman’s taste flooding his tongue.

Kylie managed to remove her shirt, barely breaking their kiss in the process and Gage growled, a feral sound that reverberated up from his chest, when his bare skin met hers. Hard against soft.

Attempting to keep them both upright, Gage maneuvered them against the kitchen wall, his much bigger body crowding her until she couldn’t do anything more than wrap her arms around him.

When she bit his lip then licked the sting as she clawed his shoulders with her sharp little nails, Gage damn near forgot what he was doing. There wasn’t an ounce of gentle in her movements, and he wasn’t sure he’d survive if this headed that direction anyway. He wanted to devour her. Right here in her kitchen.

“Touch me,” Kylie insisted, her lips brushing against his mouth as she spoke.

Gage was so damned surprised, he couldn’t even question her. He wanted her to keep talking, to tell him exactly what she needed but he couldn’t get words to form. He unclipped her bra, roughly dragging the silky white lace down her arms until it fluttered to the floor. Gripping her beautiful tits with both hands, Gage pressed his mouth back to hers, wanting to taste her desire, to inhale the need he could sense building.

Kylie broke the kiss, tossing her head back as she moaned. “Mouth. On me. Now.”

Cupping one breast in his hand, Gage hefted the glorious weight in his palm as he leaned in and sucked the pebbled tip deep into his mouth, firmly stroking her nipple with his tongue while squeezing the other between his finger and thumb, the heavenly taste of her skin making him light headed.

Lord! He wasn’t sure he was going to make it through this in one piece. This woman was a firecracker, the fuse lit and ready to go off at any second. Her assertion was erotic as hell, something he wouldn’t have ever expected from her.

Kylie gripped his forearm, dragging his hand down between her legs, letting him know without words exactly what she expected.

“Fuck, baby,” Gage groaned. “You’ve got too many clothes on.”

“Take them off,” Kylie moaned, quickly unbuttoning her shorts while he continued to lave her nipple, biting it firmly as she cried out.

Gage had to pull away and drop to his knees in order to get the rest of her clothes off of her, but once he was there, he knew heaven awaited him. Lifting her leg, he propped it on his shoulder before burying his tongue between her slick folds. Kylie’s sudden shudder, followed by a lascivious scream told him he’d hit the spot. Her fingers once again gripped his hair even harder than before as she held his mouth right where she seemed to need him. Right where he wanted to be.