Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
“Travis?” he gasps, cheeks red, mocking me.
“Yes, well, thank you,” I laugh. “But I actually did think you were Trav.”
Travis steps in, looping his arms around my waist and squeezing me close. He’s still chuckling. “Come on, Mischief,” he says, ruffling my hair. “Before you give another poor fellow a heart attack.”
I huff, unable to wipe the smile from my face. “I thought he was you!”
Still grinning, he murmurs, “If you’d actually taken your clothes off like I’m quite certain you planned, Bill might have needed a defibrillator.”
Bill howls again, clutching his ribs, and Chief ushers us out, shaking his head in mock disappointment. Everyone goes off into their own room, and Travis takes me to the correct room he chose for the night. Next time, I guess I will have to actually check which room he’s in.
Travis is still chuckling when he closes the door behind us. The mattress dips as he gathers me in his arms and we sink into the rumpled sheets. The moonlight falls in lazy silver patterns on the comforter, and somewhere in the back of my mind I can almost believe this night couldn’t get any stranger, or any more perfect.
Travis rolls toward me, kissing my eyelids, then my nose, then my lips. “Everyone survived,” he murmurs. “Better luck next time with the surprise. At least you know Bill will go to bed happy tonight.”
I snort, and then nestle against his chest, tracing the lines of his collarbone with a fingertip. The rapid thump of my heart is finally slowing, syncing with the steady rise and fall of his breathing.
“Hey,” I say softly, breathing him in. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
He pulls me closer, if that’s even possible. “Anything, Mischief.”
“I had a chat with Chief tonight; it was really good. It is the first time I feel like we have connected in a while. I think he is going to step back and let us make our choices, but...”
“But what, baby?”
I take a steadying breath, my pulse fluttering again. I slide my hand into his and hold it tight. “He does express concern, and I know that things have changed now, but he is right. So, I need to know, if you were ever in trouble again... if there’s anything at all going on that I should know about, would you tell me? Promise me you won’t hide anything from me moving forward. I don’t think I can hurt like that again...”
He stills for a heartbeat, then tilts his face toward mine. He cups my cheek with his free hand, thumb brushing my jaw. “I promise,” he says, voice low and certain. “Always.”
Relief floods me. I let him guide me to lie on my side, my back pressed against his chest, his arm wrapping around me. His warm breath drifts over my neck, lulling me into calm. “Goodnight, baby,” he murmurs in that sexy, sleepy man voice that does wicked things to me.
I close my eyes, all my thoughts dissolving into the silence of the house. Everything is perfect. Every creak of the floor, every laugh we shared, every heartbeat in the dark—it feels safer than it ever has.
Hours later, my eyes flutter open to a hush so complete the world outside our room might as well not exist. My mind is foggy, my body heavy with sleep, but I’m suddenly alert to the sound of Travis’s voice, low, brittle, and trembling with words I can’t quite make out. It must have woken me up. I slip out of his arms, careful not to wake him, and sit up, rubbing my eyes as I try to work out what is happening.
He is murmuring something, a pain in his voice that seems... deep. It’s like it’s hurting him, even in his sleep. I reach out to put my hand on him, when a name slips from his lips. “Amber,” he murmurs. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Amber?” I croak into the darkness.
My throat goes dry. I sit up, heart hammering. Who is Amber? My breath catches, and I feel the promise I thought I had echo hollowly in my ears. I slip out of the bed, every step feeling like betrayal, every breath burning in my lungs. I hurry into the hallway, tears stinging my eyes before I even realize they’re there. By the time I reach the top of the stairs, my legs are wobbling, and I’m forced to sit down.
I do just that.
I take a deep, steady breath. Maybe it’s just a dream, maybe he has watched a movie or heard a song, and it is coming out wrong.
People dream weird; maybe this is just a dream that sounds wrong.
My mind spins.
Something about the way he said it, the pain in his voice... it feels so real.
Mostly, it’s the nagging feeling deep inside my chest that I have had since the moment he got back.