Intertwined episode 22

🤝INTERTWINED🤝

💑EP TWENTY TWO💑

 

When I woke up the next day, my head was restingcomfortably on Travis’s shoulder. We had our arms aroundeach other, as if it was a natural thing for us to sleep in thesame bed.

“Good morning,” I greeted him.

He smiled lazily. “Good morning.” He leaned down andk-ssed my forehead gently.

I stretched in bed lazily, and then I stood up anddisappeared into the bathroom.

We had our breakfast in one of the restaurants of thehotel. We chose a s₱0t overlooking the ocean. It was abeautiful view, and I was almost sorry I hadn’t brought asketchbook with me.

After breakfast, Travis and I decided to swim on thebeach. We went kayaking, and then we sunbathed on theshore. There were some couples there, but it wasn’tcrowded and was easy enough to mind our own business.We walked on the shoreline just before sunset, our

fingers intertwined.

“It’s beautiful here,” I said.

“Yes. I’m glad you like it,” he said. “I wanted to give youthe honeymoon you deserve, Brianne. This is your firstmarriage, after all.”

“Whatever happened to that guy who told me he’d justbe a mere groom who would meet me at the altar?” Iteased.

He sighed. “You also told me to put my mask down.” Hestopped walking and pulled me gently so I would face him.

“I guess this is me. Do you like what you see?”

I stared back at him, and I saw a picture of a boy with abroken soul, a man who had let go of the control he hadheld on to for decades of his life. He was torn, he wasbroken…but he was sensitive, he was sweet…he was everybit as loveable as I thought he would be.

I took a deep breath and struggled to find my voice. “Idon’t like it. I love it,” I whispered, and I threw myself in hisarms and gave him a big hug. “If you could only stay likethis with me forever, Travis…”

He took a deep breath and hugged me back. “Thatwould mean weakness, vulnerability…I can’t always allowthat, Brianne.”

“Not even with me?”

“Don’t you already love me the way I am?”

“Yes…but now, I know you have two different sides,” Ireplied. “And this is the guy I want to be with.”

He sighed. “You’re lucky I love you,” he said. “The favorsyou ask of me are far too weird…too difficult.”

“At least I didn’t require you to give up half of yourfortune!” I laughed.

He raised a brow. “You did, actually.”

I blinked back. “When?”

“When you married me,” he replied. “You own half ofwhat I own now.”

“But this is not…”

“What? This marriage is real, Brianne,” he said. “You’remy wife now. That’s not a fake, make-believe thing. Wedidn’t even have a prenup.”

“But you know why we got married, right?”

He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment and then hesaid, “Why did we get married, Brianne?”

I stared back at Travis. Looking at his handsome faceand his intense, piercing eyes, I forgot the real reason whyI’d called in the favor I’d asked fourteen years earlier. It waslike…nothing else was important now. At that moment,there was nowhere else I would rather have been…no oneelse I would rather have been with…not even Christian.

“Because…” I started. Because I really couldn’t think ofthe reason why I’d married him, I thought about the reasonwhy he’d married me. “Because I asked you this favorfourteen years ago. And you were one guy who could keepyour promises.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah. I guess you could saythat.” He pulled away from me and we started walkingagain.

I stared up at him. “You sound like you’re tired of doingme all these weird favors!” I teased.

“It can be exhausting,” he grinned back at me.

I glared at him and pretended I found that offensive.

“Okay, fine! Don’t do me any favors ever again!” And Iwalked out on him.

I felt him pull me, but I struggled to get away from himand I started running away.

He made one wrong pull. But he was also quick to realizeit. Quickly he was beside me, pulling me to him and huggingme.

I realized then what had happened. I was wearing abikini top, and in my efforts to get away from Travis, he hadaccidentally pulled the strings that tied my top to my body.

He enclosed me in his arms before anybody around us couldnotice what happened.

I was aware that I was half-unclad and touching skin-to-skin with him. I buried my face in his shoulder inembarrassment.

When I stared up at him, his eyes were dancing.

“Dammit, Travis!”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “It was a slight miscalculationon my part.”

I pinched him on the side as hærd as I could.

“Ouuuch!!!” he mo-ned. “Do you want me to let go ofyou now?”

I panicked. I shook my head. “No. Please don’t,” Ibegged.

Travis chuckled. He fixed my top in place and then hetied the strings on my back in a secure knot.

“Next time, tie your tops more securely,” he said, staringdown at me, his eyes laughing.

“Next time, pull somewhere or something else,” I saidevenly.

He laughed. “Yes. Next time.” And he leaned down togive me a k-ss at the base of my neck that sent shiversdown my spine and almost turned my knees to jelly. How isTravis doing this to me? I thought, getting more and morefrustrated with myself.I breathed in the scent of him and hugged him to me.

I wondered what would happen when we got back toManhattan, when we truly started making our life together.When Travis started becoming the reserved, unemotional,cold, ruthless man he wanted to be again. When I startedholding back all my feelings for him to prevent myself fromfalling in love with the one guy I couldn’t afford to lose in mylife. When I started forgetting how wonderful and blissful

this honeymoon had been. And how it was everything I hadever dreamt of and more.

We played like little kids on the beach. We builtsandcastles, we chased each other on the shore. Every timehe caught me, he would sweep me off my feet, carry me inhis arms, and take me to the water. Travis laughed morethat day than I had ever heard him in my entire life. Hiseyes had a certain glitter in them. He looked more boyish,

and more than that, I thought he looked happy. And itwarmed me to know that I made him happy! After all thethings that Travis had done for me, I wanted to dosomething for him this time.

We watched the sunset together. I was cradled in hisarms while we sat on our deck. The scene before me was farmore beautiful than I could ever have imagined. And it was more special because I was in the arms of a man whom Itrusted with my life, a man I knew would go to hell and backto protect me, save me, and keep me happy.

“Are you happy, Travis?”

He took a deep breath. Then I felt him k-ss my templeand inhale through my hair. “For many reasons, Brianne…Ithink I am.”

That made me smile. He gave me a squeeze and I staredup at him. His beautiful eyes were unreadable. They werestaring down at me, speaking to my soul, as if there weresomething he wanted to say to me that he couldn’t, as if hewere pleading for something, asking for forgiveness, orlooking for answers.

Panic swept through me. A while ago, I had been happyto hear him say he was happy. Now I felt really sad becauseI knew that something was up. It was as if Travis was reallyin pain, but he was trying his best to look happy…to makeme happy.

“Is…something wrong, Travis?” I asked.

He took a deep breath and then he shook his head.Instead of answering, he bent down and k-ssed me on thel¡ps. He k-ssed me thoroughly, passionately. There were athousand words hidden in that k-ss, and I wanted to crybecause I wanted to understand them…I wanted to knowwhat he wanted to say. I wanted to know everything abouthim…every hidden layer of his soul. But I knew it was too

much to ask of him to tell me everything. At least for now.

The sun went down and Travis and I were still k-ssing.When I pulled away, I almost felt embarrassed. I was feelingmore than one emotion, more than one spark. I was readyto ignite, and I was so close to breaking all the rules just tobe with him.

I went in,side the bungalow to take a bath as I was stilldressed in my two-piece suit, with sand particles coveringmy body. Travis followed me in,side.

I didn’t speak. I was trying to calm down because I was

ready to invite Travis to join me in the bath or in bed. Damn!

He wasn’t the only one struggling to control his desire.

At the door of the bathroom, I made the mistake of

looking back at him. I didn’t shield my eyes. All my

emotions…hunger and yearning…were readable on my face

as I looked at the one man who could read me like a book!

When I looked at him, it seemed we had the same thing on

our minds.

Things happened quickly. Before I knew it, his l-ips wereon me again. He pulled me to him, a little rougher thanusual. His tongue invaded my mouth in k-sses that weremeant to devour and conquer.

My own hands weren’t helping me. I was pulling him,k-ssing him back with as much hunger and eagerness.When he freed my l-ips, he nuzzled my neck. I let out aloud mo-n as I pulled his neck as if I could get him clos**than he already was. I realized we were in the shower

already. I was leaning against the bathroom wall helplessly. Iallowed him to k-ss me the way he did in my vivid dreams ofhim.

I remembered what it felt like…his skin against mine, hisl¡ps devouring me…taking me on an intense ride of passion.

But I knew I wasn’t dreaming this time…the feel of hisskin against mine was as real as it would ever be.

“Damn it, Brianne!” he cursed softly against my skin.

“Stop me!”

“Travis…” I whispered his name. He nuzzled my neckand somehow, I couldn’t think about stopping him. It waslike my mind was a complete blank.

“Tell me to stop, love,” he begged. But he himself didn’tmake any move to end the madness that was taking overboth of us at the moment. His arms around my wa-ist were getting tighter each second, in sync with the urgency of hishot k-sses against my l-ips and my skin.

I took a deep breath. In all honesty, I wanted this—justas badly as Travis did. I wanted this to happen. I wantedTravis to take me…right then and there. I was losing allsense of control, all sense of reason. I realized that I wantedTravis more than I had ever wanted any man in my life! Iwanted the very first man I had been with…I want to feel

him again. Moreover, I wanted to freely touch him and lookat him as he made love to me.

“Travis…”

His l-ips found mine again. He k-ssed me, softly bruisingmy l-ips, sending me closer and closer to my breaking point.

“Brianne…you have to stop me!” he said in a hoarsevoice wrapped with lust.

“Why?” I murmured the only syllable that could escapemy mouth at the moment.

“Because…I’m a few seconds away from taking youagain!” he said, his voice filled with warning. “And that…willchange everything between us!”

Something about what he said made me blink back toreality. When I opened my eyes, I found that Travis hadstopped k-ssing me. His eyes were teary, his expressiondark and intense. He was staring at me deeply, begging meto comprehend what he was trying to say.

He took a deep breath. “The next time I take you,Brianne…I will not allow you to forget anymore. And I willnot disappear like I did before. The next time I take you…Iwill ask you to put all your bets on the table, and riskeverything.” He took a deep breath, controlling his

emotions. “I’m a few seconds from unleashing the beastin,side me. The beast I was protecting you from for so manyyears. And once it’s out, Brianne…I won’t have the strengthto lock it up anymore.” He stared at me for a long while,allowing me to absorb every word he said. “So if you wantme to remain the same safe guy you’ve always had…please…stop me now.”

I felt like Travis had taken me to a crossroads. He wasmaking me choose between two paths. One path led to thesame comfortable refuge that I have always had…with thesame Travis who would protect me from every beast,including himself, who had asked me to forget what hadhappened between us many years ago…because he felt soguilty about taking me. And another path led to something

uncertain…something more exciting, something moreterrifying. Something that would allow both of us to explorethe passion we felt for each other…but could come at theexpense of the bonds of friendsh¡p we had cultivated foryears.

And somehow…I realized that I was not ready to riskTravis for anything. Not yet. Even though I knew I wantedhim with so much passion and intensity, I also knew that Iloved him with every bit of my soul and that I would die if Iever lost him in any way. And there was a huge chance thatI might…because I would expect him to commit to me. Iwould not allow him to touch any other woman, even if that

made him happiest. And I knew that would be too much toask. And Travis had already given me so much in the past.He’d already given me his life. It would be too much to askhim for his heart.

No, Travis Cross was not something I could afford togamble with.

“I’m not going to lose you, Travis,” I whispered. Then Itook a deep breath and said, “So…please stop.” My voicewas broken. I know I didn’t sound convincing. I wasn’t evenable to convince myself.

Travis smiled at me ruefully. I couldn’t read his€×pression. I wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved.He reached for the knob behind me and turned on theshower. I shivered at the cold water running against myskin.

Travis took a deep breath and stared at me for a while.Then he said, “I guess we both need a cold shower.”

I don’t know how long we stood there. He was standingat arms’ length away from me. Both his hands were oneither side of my face, caging me in as he leaned againstthe wall to support his weight. His face was turned towardthe floor and his eyes were closed as he let the water rundown his body. He didn’t touch me or look at me. I leanedagainst the bathroom wall, feeling the cold water run over

my skin, trying to calm my pounding heart and my ragingnerves.

I remembered Travis’s face in my dream many nightsago. He gently and passionately took me. It was everything Iwanted it to be…it was every bit as wonderful as I thoughtlovemaking should be. In my dreams, I came to my peaktwice…he never abandoned me, he gave me pleasure, andhe car-ssed me in ways I wanted to be car-ssed. Hescre-med my name over and over when he reached his

peak, and then he held me as tightly as he could when itwas over. It was everything I could ever dream of, maybeeven more. And in my dreams, he didn’t ask me to close myeyes. He didn’t ask me not to say his name. He said myname as if it was the sweetest word that could come off hisl¡ps.

I realized I wanted it to be real. That dream I had a fewnights ago made me reach the edges of my passion even inmy sleep. I wanted to feel it. To see if it was every bit thesame in reality.

But it would take a lot for me to know. My relationsh¡pwith Travis was far more important than any dream andfantasy that I might have. Travis was real. And I was notgoing to give him up just to know whether or not he couldmake my dreams come true.

When he raised his face to me again, he seemed to havecalmed down. He looked apologetic and frustrated at thesame time, but he managed a rueful smile.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. His voice was so gentle itmade me want to cry. “I shouldn’t have put you through that.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t stop you earlier.”

He leaned forward and gave me a gentle k-ss on thenose. “This marriage is going to be h-rder than I thought itwould be.”

“Because it isn’t real?”

“The marriage is real, Brianne. It’s just waiting to beconsummated,” he replied. “And the moment I touch you,there will be no going back for either of us.”

I sighed and leaned forward to hug him. I could feel himstill hærd against my abdomen. He hesitated to touch me.He managed a few deep breaths and then I felt an armencircle my unclad wa-ist.

“Why does it have to be this complicated?” I asked him.

“I thought it was going to be easy.”

He sighed. “It would have been very easy…if I didn’twant you so damn much!”

I smiled. In a way, I felt flattered by his confession. Theusual, guarded Travis wouldn’t say that too easily. I felthappy to know that he wanted me that way. Because I knewI wanted him as much. But then again, I had to rememberthat Travis was a player to begin with. It was natural for himto want me this way. He told me once that he was apredator. If I gave in, I didn’t think I would allow him to playwith other prey, too. I would want him to stop with me…Iwould want to be the only one. And that complicated oursituation even more.

I pulled away from Travis, but he stared down at me. Hesmiled and then he k-ssed me gently on the l-ips again.

“I’ll go to the other bathroom…before we start thisrollercoaster ride again,” he said. I smiled at himapologetically and he grinned at me. “It’s not your faultyou’re too damn beautiful!” He k-ssed me one last time, andthen shut off the water and grabbed the towel on the towel bar.

I waited for him to exit the bathroom before I turned onthe shower again. I sat on the floor and allowed the water torun over my skin until I calmed the blood in my systemdown.