Page 20 of It's Always Been You

His lips quirked up. “Well then, let’s get you fed, sunshine girl.”

Caitlin’s heart skipped a beat hearing the fondness in his tone. He was happy and content. She allowed herself to absorb the moment. She learned her lesson last night. He was determined to break down her resistance, and he was employing every weapon in his arsenal, including his body. And what a delicious-looking body it was.

Travis was bent over in front of the fridge, grabbing the egg carton and a package of sausage. When he straightened and turned around to put the food on the table, his eyes flickered briefly to hers. Caitlin’s eyes landed on his lips. A shiver passed through her as she remembered the kiss again.

Travis hissed, a ruddy color creeping up his neck. “Caitlin.” His voice was measured, low. “Babe, I’m trying tobe a good guy here and give you the space you need. But if you keep looking at me like that, I’m not responsible for the consequences.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her voice came out squeaky.

His grin was cocky. “Don’t think I don’t feel this sexual tension between us. You’re wondering what it’s like to be underneath me; me fucking you.”

Her jaw dropped open. She snapped it shut and was about to say something else when Travis cut her off.

“Shit. Sorry, Caitlin.” He leaned forward and gripped the edges of the countertop, looking down his front. “Can’t help it around you. You make me so hard.”

“Travis!”

“What? I’m not going to fucking deny you turn me on. Jesus, Sarah, it’s been three years,” Travis snapped. His knuckles turned white on the countertop, and if it wasn’t granite, Caitlin was afraid he would have splintered it.

Caitlin tittered. “A man like you? Not have sex for three years? Puh—lease.”

“A man like me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Travis narrowed his eyes at her.

She flipped an arm out in a careless wave. “You don’t seem the type to fish for compliments, Travis. You know exactly what I mean. I’d be surprised if women didn’t throw themselves at you.”

Travis was quiet. He released his death grip on the countertop and unhooked a pan from the pot rack hanging over the center island. “Nine months after you died, I left the SEALs. I drifted aimlessly, went to bars, and had a couple of one-night stands. Without the SEALs and a mission, I went into a downward spiral.”

She didn’t know why his revelation pinched her heart, because he had every right to move on, but it did.

“Three months. I thought I could fuck the pain out of my heart with faceless women.” Travis didn’t look at her but concentrated on cracking the eggs into a bowl to scramble. “It didn’t work. I stopped when I accidentally called a woman by your name.” He put the bowl down, and when he looked up, his face was ravaged with anguish. “I wasn’t even close to moving on.”

“Travis—”

“Also around that time, a friend of mine—Ben Porter—I’ll explain who he is later— approached me about a security gig to protect a senator,” Travis said. “I can’t share with you the specifics of what transpired, but it gave me hope that you were alive.”

“Travis—”

“In my heart, I felt you were alive, Caitlin,” Travis said. “I refused to let go.”

She walked toward him because seeing him in pain like this was slowly tearing her apart as well, but he held up his hand.

“Babe, don’t. Don’t come near me right now.” His voice was guttural and rife with warning. “If you don’t want to get fucked over this kitchen counter, keep your distance.”

That made her stop dead in her tracks.

“My control is at its end, sunshine.” Travis tried to force a smile through his tense features. “Three years of longing, having you so close to me now, I just want to haul you under me and sink myself so deep inside you, feel your warmth around me gripping me, making sure that you’re really here, and it’s not a fucking dream.”

All right, was she supposed to feel turned on? Because she freaking was!

“Uh . . .” Yes, that was all she could say.

Travis shifted his gaze away from her and started the stove. “Go change, babe. Seeing you in my shirt and nothing else . . . only so much a man can take.”

That galvanized her into moving, and she scampered away like a mouse being chased by a hawk.

After a quick shower,pulling on a pair of jeans, and covering up with one of her own shirts, Caitlin made her way back to the kitchen. Eggs and sausages were already on the table, and Travis was slicing through a crusty boule, but he was on speaker with someone else. He glanced up briefly at her.

“Gotta go, Em. Just bring the files here. We’ll sort it out.”

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