Forever Together Page 11

  Gracefully, Karen lifted her arms, allowing him to pull her shirt off her. Tossing it aside, Travis smoothed his thumbs along the silky skin of her ribs as he reached around to unhook her bra and expose her breasts to the cool night air. With an appreciative groan, Travis knelt down in front of her, wrapping his hands around her ass and drawing her to him so that he could trail warm kisses up her flat stomach. Smiling, Karen let her head hang as she curled her fingers in his short hair. Then he drew one of her small, pert breasts into his mouth and began to suck, and Karen shivered with pleasure, moaning as his tongue teased her sensitive nipple.

  Reaching down, Karen pulled up Travis’s shirt, letting it fall into the grass next to hers. As he played with her breasts, she ran her hands down the hard planes of his back, admiring how his muscles shifted in the dim light. Taking a step back, she leaned against the thick trunk of a rhododendron as he unzipped her shorts and pulled them and her underwear off. He looked up at her questioningly and she grinned back at him, answering his silent question.

  Then she squealed as he grabbed her by the thighs, effortlessly lifting her onto his shoulders so that her clit was at just the right height. Gripping her ass firmly in both hands, Travis brought her closer, taking the small pink bud into his mouth and sucking long and luxuriously.

  Karen gasped, arching her pelvis toward him, the bark of the rhododendrons scraping her shoulders as she pressed her pussy into his warm mouth. Smiling around her, Travis brought one hand up to massage the delicate flesh of her breasts as he sucked her. He could feel his erection twitching every time she moaned.

  Then, without a word, Travis bent down, gently laying Karen back onto the soft grass. One hand on her wrists, he held her arms above her head, admiring her tiny, delicate body as she strained toward him, her eyes dark with unbridled desire. Travis grinned and lowered his head to kiss her passionately. His free hand trailed along her body, stroking her breasts and stomach before reaching down between her legs and caressing the silken skin of her pussy. Karen whimpered, taking his lower lip gently between her teeth as she arched toward his hand, hoping for penetration. Smiling at her eager response, Travis knelt down between her thighs, letting go of her wrists and taking hold of her hips instead.

  Working his way inward, Travis traced the folds of Karen’s slick pussy with one finger, gently stroking her from clit to taint and back again. “Oh my God, Travis,” Karen moaned, her fingers digging into his hair. “Please,” she gasped, writhing him.

  “Please what?” Travis asked, still focusing on her wet pussy as he gently drew his thumb across her swollen clit.

  “Fuck me,” she whimpered.

  Travis smiled. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, as he spread open the folds of Karen’s glistening pussy and sank one long, large finger deep into her, curving it upward so that he could stroke her g-spot.

  Karen groaned.

  As he stroked her, Travis sucked each of Karen’s swollen folds, playing with them until Karen was mewling in ecstasy. Leisurely working his way back up to her clit, he gently licked the sensitive bud and brought it back into his mouth.

  Karen’s response was instantaneous. “Oh shit, fuck!” she moaned loudly as her hips bucked. Travis held her down with a hand on her stomach so that he could keep working. His lips still playing with her clit, Travis straightened his finger and thrust it deep into Karen. Karen writhed on the grass, tearing clumps of it out as she moaned. Travis could feel her pussy tightening around his finger as she teetered on the brink of orgasm and, with a wicked smile, he sat up.

  “What the—no!” Karen propped herself up in the grass, her eyes wide with shock. “Travis, get back here!”

  But Travis just smiled and kissed her inner thigh as he stood. Drawing a condom out of his back pocket, he quickly shed his pants and underwear and rolled the condom onto his quivering dick. Karen bit her lip, watching him manhandle his enormous erection.

  Kneeling down again, Travis took hold of Karen’s thighs and, his eyes locked with hers, slowly drew her down onto his cock. “Oh, fuck,” Karen groaned as she stretched to fit him. She’d worried he’d be too big for her, but it turned out that he filled her perfectly. It felt amazing.

  Sitting straight up on his haunches, Travis drew Karen down onto him hard and fast, going deeper with each stroke. Her pussy was tight around him and he could feel her walls squeezing his sensitive head. It was driving him wild. Below him, Karen arched her body so that his cock caressed her g-spot with every thrust, making her gasp every time he drove into her. The sight of her moaning his name as he fucked her only added to Travis’s pleasure and he picked up speed, the muscles in his arms straining as he brought her slamming down onto him at a frantic pace.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Karen screamed, her hips working in tandem with his, drawing him in deeper with each thrust. She could feel an orgasm beginning to build again and wanted to enjoy it this time. “Please,” she gasped, her eyes shut, “please let me come this time.”

  With a smile, Travis shook his head. To Karen’s utter horror, he drew out again, this time flipping her onto her knees. Before she could do more than gasp, he had grabbed her hips and driven himself deep into her eager, dripping pussy. Karen screamed into the grass as Travis sheathed himself to the hilt.

  Goaded on by her reaction, Travis fondled the soft skin of Karen’s ass as he thrust deep and slow, her tight walls driving him crazy. Without warning, Karen straightened, bracing herself against the trunk of another rhododendron. Looking back at Travis, she smiled seductively, her eyes half closed. “Hard,” was all she said.

  Travis moaned. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. Wrapping one hand in her long black hair, he arched her back so that his thrusts hit every inch of her hyper-sensitive pussy. Karen groaned loud enough for him to hear her over the fireworks. Licking his lips, Travis let go of her hair and grabbed her hips again, slamming his rock hard cock into her as hard and as fast as he could.

  Sweat dripped down their skin as they bucked against each other, the sound of her bare ass slapping his muscled stomach echoing in the underbrush. Travis’s impressive body strained with the exertion of his furious pace, the muscles in his ass clenching with every frantic thrust. Overhead, the fireworks were reaching their crescendo, the explosions of light drowning out his gasps and her wild screams as her pussy tightened around him.

  Travis could feel his own orgasm coming and he slapped her ass, wanting to be sure she came first. Moaning long and loud, Karen pumped his dick frantically as her climax finally broke. Feeling Karen coming around his cock tipped Travis over the edge and he bent over, grabbing Karen’s breasts hard as he furiously thrust into her one last time before his orgasm exploded through him.

  Down below, the crowd was cheering and clapping as the last of the fireworks faded from the sky.

  “Jesus Christ,” Karen gasped as they collapsed onto the grass.

  “Yeah,” said Travis, easing himself out of her.

  For a moment, they just smiled at each other goofily. Then Karen sighed. “We should probably get back before someone misses us,” she said.

  With a reluctant nod, Travis agreed and they hurriedly tugged on their clothes and headed back to the festivities.

  But this time they walked hand in hand.

  As they wound their way through the throng, a man caught Travis’s eye. He was tall and heavy set and walked with a slight stoop. A thick, curly red ponytail hung down his back. He was walking with a shorter man, their eyes darting through the crowd as if they were looking for something. And then Travis realized that they really were. They were looking for him. The redhead was the same man who had led the charge into his apartment all those months before. They’d finally found him.

  Travis swore, yanking Karen in the opposite direction. “Hey!” she said, puzzled, “What are you doing?”

  When they were safely out of sight behind a food cart, Travis looked down at Karen, his eyes mournful. Karen felt a shiver run down
her spine. She knew that something was terribly wrong. Taking her face tenderly in his hands, Travis brushed his thumbs across her cheeks. “I have to go,” he said. “You were right. I have been holding something back. Dangerous men want me dead and they’ve finally found me. I’m sorry that I brought them here. I thought they’d never find me.”

  Karen gasped. “What? Travis—”

  “It’s true, Karen. I’m a spy. I wish I had time to explain everything, but I don’t. They’re here in the crowd. I saw them. I have to go. And you have to run as fast as you can in the other direction. I wish I could stay with you. You’re….you’re very special to me,” Travis whispered. A sudden shout made him look up, every nerve in his body tingling. He had to get going or he was a dead man.

  “Travis, you can’t be—”

  But Travis interrupted her, kissing her deeply. “Please,” he said, drawing her close, “forget about me.” And then he let her go and ran off into the night.

  Karen stood for a moment, tears welling in her eyes. She’d been so happy only a moment ago and now it was all shattered. Her lower lip trembling, she sank back against the food truck and slid down onto the sidewalk.

  As she sat there, her knees drawn to her chest, two men broke away from the crowd. “You sure you saw him come this way?” the taller one asked.

  “Pretty sure. He was running off in that direction,” said the shorter one, pointing toward where Travis had disappeared.

  “Okay, let the others know,” the tall one instructed gruffly. As the shorter one pulled out his phone, both men began jogging after Travis. They hadn’t seen Karen, who was crouched in the dark, but she had seen the guns stuffed down the back of their pants.

  Wiping away her tears, Karen stood up. She had to do something. She couldn’t just let Travis get shot down in the street like a dog.

  Meanwhile, Travis was darting through the streets, trying to get back to the florist shop to grab his escape bag. Over the sound of his heart thumping in his chest, Travis thought he heard the sound of footsteps following him through the deserted streets, but whenever he stopped to listen the sound vanished. It must be your imagination, he told himself.

  In an attempt to get home faster, Travis decided to risk cutting across the school soccer field. It was faster but it left him exposed while he crossed. He made it halfway across without mishap and he was just starting to relax when he finally heard what he’d been dreading ever since he’d arrived in Chilloot Bay.

  “Stop right there, Mr. Smith.”

  “Fuck,” Travis swore. Slowly turning around, he came face to face with the four men who had broken into his home. He hadn’t been imagining those footsteps after all.

  “Hello, Mr. Smith,” said the leader, the redhead with the stoop. “We meet again.”

  Travis eyed his opponents, each of whom was sporting nasty-looking semi-automatics. “I don’t know that you breaking into my apartment counts as our having met,” he replied as casually as he could. He was unarmed and everyone there knew it.

  “If only circumstances had allowed us to get to know each other better,” the redhead agreed sarcastically. “A pity.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Travis, trying to keep them talking as he thought. “I’ve never met an assassin who willingly bought a round of drinks. You’re stingy bastards every one of you. I think I’m better off not knowing you, but thanks all the same.”

  “You Americans do love to have the last word,” said the redhead, bringing his gun up, pointing it straight at Travis’s heart. “Never can just go quietly.” He flicked off the safety catch. “Unfortunately, it’s time for you shut up for good. Goodbye, Mr. Smith.”

  “Hold it right there!” The grassy field lit up as the floodlights came on.

  The four assassins turned, their guns still pointing at Travis, blinking in the sudden light. Just as shocked as them, Travis gaped at the sight in front of him.

  Fifty or so of his neighbors were standing behind the assassins, wielding a motley assortment of rifles, handguns, and a few hockey sticks. They were led by Miranda, who was wielding a wicked-looking hunting rifle, and Karen, who was also packing a no-nonsense revolver.

  “What the fuck?” said one of the assassins.

  “Put down your weapons,” said Miranda as she cocked her rifle threateningly. The effect was slightly lessened by the large daisies she had pinned into her gray hair.

  But her intentions were no less obvious.

  Slowly, recognizing that there was no escape, the assassins lowered their guns to the ground. With a cheer, the townspeople surged forward, helping the over-excited town sheriff to handcuff the four men. Once they were safely incapacitated, the crowd turned to Travis.

  “You rescued me,” he said. He was speaking to everyone, but he was looking at Karen.

  “International man of mystery or not, you can’t do everything by yourself,” said Karen. “Everyone needs a little help once in a while.”

  “However,” said Miranda, coming to stand next to Karen and giving Travis a very stern look that reminded him strongly of his first-grade teacher, “I believe you owe us an explanation, young man. If you want to keep living in this town, you will have to tell us who you are and what you’re doing here. And don’t try to feed us some nonsense. We’ve known there was something unusual about you since the very first time I dropped by with tea and you opened the door with a gun in your hand.”

  Travis winced. “You saw that?”

  “Of course,” said Miranda. “I may be old, but I’m not blind, Travis. If that’s even your real name.”

  Travis swallowed, nodding. “It is. My name is Travis Smith. I work – or, at least, I used to work – for an international spy ring that helps bring down cartels and dictators all around the world. A few months ago our organization was compromised and someone had nearly all our agents murdered in one night. I only barely managed to escape with my life. My boss sent me here to lie low until he could work out who was behind the attacks. These are the men that attacked me in my apartment,” he said, gesturing to the handcuffed assassins. “I’m sorry I had to lie to you, but I couldn’t risk my identity becoming known. I had hoped that these men would never come here. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Especially not you guys, who’ve been so good to me over the last few months.”

  The townspeople nodded, accepting his apology. “Just don’t do it again,” said Ted, who was standing near the front, holding two World War II era revolvers.

  “I won’t,” Travis said. “I promise. I’ve been happier here than I ever thought possible. I don’t want to endanger that.” He smiled at Karen, almost sighing with relief when she smiled back.

  “Right, well then,” said Miranda. “I think it’s time for a good strong cup of tea to calm our nerves.”

  The crowd groaned. “Coffee, Miranda. We live in America, not Britain. When are you going to learn to drink coffee like a normal person?” Ted asked.

  “Actually,” Travis admitted, “I would love a cup of tea right now.”

  Miranda beamed. “Did you hear that, you heathens?”

  As the crowd began to argue good-naturedly, Karen came up next to Travis, slipping her arm around his waist.

  “Thank you,” he whispered as she laid her head on his chest. “You saved my life.”

  Karen smiled, looking up at him with those beautiful eyes he thought he’d never see again. “I told you. We take care of our own in this town.”

  Travis felt the warmth spreading through him. He’d finally found a home to call his own.

  Chapter 4

  The assassins had been sentenced to life imprisonment, although they refused to admit whose orders they’d been following when they tried to kill Travis. The weeks went by and Karen began to spend so much time in Travis’s apartment over the shop that, somewhere between Labour Day and Hallowe’en, they decided she should just move in with him and save her lugging the endless piles of homework that she had to mark from apa
rtment to apartment. Travis was amazed by how much work it took to be a teacher. Being a spy seemed way easier.

  The weeks turned to months and Travis still hadn’t heard anything from Bruce. But he wasn’t too worried. He was having too much fun to be. He’d thrown himself into the flower shop whole-heartedly and was enjoying himself more than he thought possible. Having his enthusiastic neighbors ooh and ahh over his latest bouquets didn’t hurt either. But Travis enjoyed the work and was happy that he was finally mastering his craft.

  Now, Christmas was approaching and one Sunday Travis woke up to see snow falling outside his window. It wasn’t the heavy snowfall they used to get in Chicago, just a few fluffy flakes that melted when they touched the ground. But they were enough to muffle the sounds of traffic and make the world seem quiet and bright. Travis smiled sleepily and stretched, reaching out toward Karen.