Page 18 of Just A Little Joy

Anyone who wasn’t Travis.

He slowly raised my hand closer to his mouth. Travis gave me plenty of time to draw away or say no or protest. Instead, I held my breath and waited to see what he’d do next. With leather-brown eyes trained on me, he raised my hand to his mouth and kissed the palm. His lips were soft against my more weathered hands, but where his fingers gripped me, I feltthe calluses forever embedded by a lifetime of gripping hockey sticks.

“Why’d you do that?” I whispered.

“Because that was the part of you I could reach.” His answer was low and deep. Shivers coursed through me at the promise behind his words.

Those words rested under my skin, warm and frightening in equal measure.

“Is there a different one you’d prefer?”

“Yeah, this one.”

Quick as lightning and just as electric, Travis pulled me toward him and fit his lips against mine. There was no need to play coy. I parted my lips, and his tongue plunged inside my mouth. Travis swept inside me, mapping my mouth and claiming ownership of it. Excitement pooled in the pit of my stomach and my cock, primed all night, stiffened behind the zipper of my jeans. He possessed me, and something deep inside settled.

Each thrust of his tongue reminded me that in a perfect world, it wouldn’t only be his tongue thrusting inside me. But when he wrenched his mouth away, hope moved to that tiny, secret place behind my heart. I almost melted into the heated seat. What I’d thought were shivers were a weak imitation of the tremors that shook me now. Every nerve ending was at attention, waiting to be explored, and with mercy, satisfied.

“Damn, you taste good,” Travis murmured when he slid his lips down my neck and sucked at the pulse point throbbing at its base.

With my head thrown back and chest heaving, I’m sure I looked like one of those desperate heroines on the covers of my mom’s old romance novels. At least, I sure as hell hoped I did. God knows I felt like one.

I wanted to fold into him, let him take over every thought in my head, and that scared me more than I’d ever admit.

“Gereakhm.” What my answer lacked in coherence, it made up for in enthusiasm. I hoped.

“Is that a keep going or a get away from me?”

I pulled a little away from him so he’d see my expression before I gave my answer. “Why would I want you to stop?”

I didn’t bother to hide the incredulity in my voice. I needed this man’s hands on me as much as I needed oxygen in my lungs and food in my belly.

“Because I’m your boss.”

Reality always found a way to slam on the brakes just when things felt too good to be real.

Well, shit.

FIVE

TRAVIS

Gabe

You’re coming, right?

Travis

I looked at the schedule again, and I might actually need to cover a shift that night.

I said it lightly, but the truth was that I kept glancing at Casey’s name in my messages like some part of me was already choosing him over everything else.

Barrett

One of my favorite excuses to get out of *anything*

Reed

All of you are full of shit. The only one who can use the shift excuse is me.