“What the fuck?” Instead of walking her pretty little ass back to the gallery, it looked like Billie had bought herself a drink, or someone had bought one for her, and was happily chatting about fuck-knows-what with one of the Quarter’s known dealers. He quickly located Ajax and Blue, informed them of the undesirable loitering in their domain, and then went over to remove Billie before things got ugly.
She yelped in protest the moment he clamped his hand around her arm. “Stop manhandling me. Where the hell do you think you’re taking me?”
Travis didn’t reply until they were out back in The Priory’s private courtyard. “If I was manhandling you, you’d know it.”
Billie glared at him, her breasts heaving up and down—either she was annoyed or out of breath. Maybe both. Either way, he wanted nothing more than to shove his hands up her provocative skirt and cover her mouth with his. Somehow, he summoned all the willpower he possessed and landed his hands on either side of the wall so she couldn’t escape while he read her the riot act.
“Then what the hell are you doing?” she demanded.
“What the hell am I doing?” She was priceless. Totally naïve. “I’m rescuing you from getting raped. Or worse.”
She blinked. “Isn’t that my business? And anyway, what makes you any better than that dude?”
“Are you doing this to make me jealous?” His fists curled and he forced a couple of deep breaths, then dropped his hands to his sides and took a step back.
“Is it working?” She licked her lips and it almost pushed him over the edge.
“Go home.” He nodded in the direction of the gallery. “Go back to where you belong and forget about me. You don’t fit in a place like this, no matter what you’re wearing.” Although The Priory was no longer officially associated with bikers, it was one of the rougher bars on Bourbon Street. The tourists that ventured inside these walls were out for a good time, whatever the cost. “Here women are toys unless they’re property. We’re animals, and right now we’re in the middle of a war.”
“Are you trying to scare me?” She lifted her chin high and met his gaze head on.
Hell yes, that was exactly what he was trying to do. For his sake as much as for hers. Fucking her had been stupid enough once, but sleeping with her again would be crazy as well as dangerous. Because what if one more night wasn’t enough? Quite aside from the fact that he was a lone wolf, she was too good for the likes of him.
He sighed, deciding to use a different tack. “You’d be stupid if you weren’t scared. I’m trying to give you an out; I’m trying to fucking protect you. From me and whatever bad comes with me. You and me, sweetheart, we’re from different worlds. You’re here to bring happiness to tourists, to give them a bright and shiny memory of New Orleans. I’m here to enact justice for an old friend, nothing more. As soon as I’ve done my job I’m out of here. And I’m not gonna pretty things up for you. Blood will likely be spilled, and I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire of any of that shit.”
“It’s not working.” She smiled. “The fact that you care about what happens to me only makes me want you more.”
And then, before he could anticipate what she was about to do, before he could tell her he didn’t care, she pressed up on her toes, clamped her hands around his head and yanked him against her. Their lips met and she shoved her tongue inside his mouth with a ferocity he hadn’t thought her capable of. She took control, sliding her hands down his back and into his jeans, cupping his buttocks in a vise-like grip. It was sexy as hell. And no matter the sirens sounding in his head, he wasn’t man enough to resist.
The switch he’d been barely keeping control of since she’d come into the office wearing fuck-me shoes and not much else flicked. He’d done his best. He’d tried damn hard to warn her, but she was a stupid little girl who couldn’t take no for an answer. Maybe it was his duty to teach her a lesson.
He stepped up even closer, pushing her back against the cool, hard wall of The Priory, his cock already hard and threatening to break out of his jeans. As he took control of the kiss, biting her lip and then tasting her right down to her cleavage, he unbuckled his belt and freed himself. Billie squeaked like a frightened mouse, but within seconds she reached out and wrapped her hand around him. The feeling was intense. Stronger than anything he’d ever felt. Her simple touch—she’d barely even moved her hand—sent a jolt of pleasure right to his core. But no, this was about showing her what kind of man he was. He yanked her hand off of him, shoved her skirt up around her waist as he’d been fantasizing and then tore at the scrap of lace that covered her sex. Ripping it hadn’t been his intention, but her panties came off in his hands and he scrunched them up and stashed them in his pocket.
Then he brushed his fingers across her mound, slipping into the silky folds between her legs, and found her hot and wet. She moaned at his touch and then looked at him with wide-open, desperate eyes when he removed his hand.
“Travis?” Her voice sounded panicky.
In reply, he put his hands on her hips, lifted her up and pinned her against the wall. Her legs looped around his waist and he drove into her, fast, furious, taking everything he wanted, everything he needed. He thought she was at his mercy, but the way she clung to his back, her nails digging through his thin T-shirt into his skin, turned him on like nothing else. Tomorrow he would have her mark on his skin. Not to mention the fact that they were doing it in an almost public place, something he hadn’t done in years. He didn’t know who he was at the moment, whether it was fucking Billie that was making him crazy or he was fucking her because he’d already gone insane.
But he couldn’t get enough of this. Of her. In that moment nothing else mattered—not Priest’s murder, not his mother, not getting back to Tallahassee. Only Billie. He thrust harder, her core muscles tightened around his cock and they both flew over the edge at the same time.
Afterward, his heart pounding, he held her against him—his hands on her ass, his cock still inside her and her head resting on his shoulder. And he didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to talk or think about their differences, think about anything really. He simply wanted to scoop her up into his arms and take her back to her bedroom and do this over and over again.
Then it hit him. Holy fuck. “We didn’t use a condom.”
As he slid out of her and deposited her gently back on the ground, she shrugged and straightened her skirt. “I’m on the pill. And no matter who you say you are, I know you’re not stupid.”
Meaning she knew he didn’t have unsafe sex with just anyone. This truth unsettled him even more. While he’d been fucking her against the wall, he’d never once thought of protecting either of them. What the hell was that about? Maybe he’d underestimated Billie. Maybe she was more of a vixen than he’d given her credit for, because she didn’t seem at all worried about doing it in the open air. In fact, her face almost glowed and her eyes were wild, as if she was ready to go at it again.
Why did he feel like he was the one who’d been taught a lesson?
Chapter 11
“You know I’m not staying,” Travis told Billie. It was hours after they’d left The Priory and they were lying in her bed, legs entwined and his arms wrapped around her in a post-sex haze. They’d made love, then dozed, then made love some more. Just when she’d thought she could never move again, let alone have sex, he’d done something else with his fingers or tongue that had proved her wrong and had her squirming for him again.
“I know,” she whispered back, not meeting his gaze, hoping he didn’t hear the quiver in her voice. However crazy the notion, she felt like she was halfway in love with him and didn’t want to dwell on the moment when he’d inevitably walk out of her life. It was ridiculous to think he’d ever stick around and too much to hope that someone as independent and damaged as he was would ever ask her to go with him back to Tallahassee. And what would she do in such a place anyway? Her gallery, her new life in which she put her own happiness before the convenience of others, was right here in New Orleans and she loved it. “Let’s just make the most of the time you are here.”