CHAPTER FOUR

brOOKE

"This man is cloaked in rugged dominance… "

The blank white screen mocks me. I've been staring at it for the past hour with no luck, the cursor blinking incessantly as words refuse to write themselves.

"Come on, Brooke," I mutter to myself, lightly tapping my nails along the keys, searching for inspiration.

Okay, so that's not entirely true. I have inspiration. My dreams for the past week have been chock full of inspiration. The hot and sweaty kind. With Travis Gibson starring in all of them.

Maybe that's my problem.

I'm too focused on what might have been with the commanding club owner. After an amazing orgasm, I'd fully intended to return to his office for more sexy times, but Adeline hadn't been feeling well. And at almost six months pregnant, Samantha and I weren't going to let her stay in the lounge when she needed to rest.

Especially with the protective warnings from Samantha's brother/Adeline's husband, Heath, echoing in our heads. Addie's pregnancy had been one of the major reasons he'd been hesitant to let her travel.

So, rather than a memorable night with a silver fox, I spent the evening fetching Addie saltines and water. My New York affair cut short.

Same with my creativity.

Because all of my thoughts were consumed with Travis and possibilities rather than plotting and writing my first romance novel.

Slamming the laptop closed, I get up and wander to the front windows overlooking Serenity Ranch. Mountains rise above the clouds in the distance while trees dot the landscape. A couple of horses graze in a large paddock, and the quiet calm should be relaxing.

But restlessness itches under my skin.

Directionless energy that I have no clue what to do with.

Writing isn't happening at the moment, but there are still a couple of boxes to unpack in the guest room of the cabin I'm staying in. Or I could go on a walk around the property and visit the main house to see if Addie or Samantha want to join me.

But none of that feels right.

Movement in my peripheral catches my eye as a huge chestnut horse trots up the long drive. A cowboy hat obscures its rider's face while a thick shearling coat broadens the man's already wide shoulders.

He looks dressed for winter, even though it's April, but that's Montana weather for you.

The stranger stops at the main house, and I turn away, uninterested in whatever rancher business he has with Heath, the ranch's manager and co-owner with Addie. But it's not even five minutes later when there's a knock at my door.

Maybe Addie or Samantha left the house to give Heath and the stranger privacy?

"Hey, what's—" The greeting stalls in my throat because it's not Samantha or Addie at my door.

No, it's Derek and Travis freaking Gibson . Except he doesn't look like the suave man I met at The Charleston Cellar. That man wore tailored suits and bespoke watches. Exuded sharp authority with a snap of his fingers.

But this man.

This man is cloaked in rugged dominance—the rougher, wilder counterpart to Travis's appearance in New York. His beard is a little thicker. His eyes are a little harder.

Surely, this isn't who I saw riding up the drive.

"Sorry to bother you, Brooke, but this man says he knows you. I asked him to wait at the main house while I talked with you first, but he wouldn't listen." Derek glares at Travis. The men are comparable in size and Derek's a military veteran, yet there's an edge to Travis that makes me wonder if he couldn't defeat Derek's Army training.

"It's alright. He's a… friend from New York." I wasn't about to announce the truth that this was my almost one-night stand . No way would Derek leave then.

I don't know the man too well yet, but from what I've gleaned after numerous meals together, he's protective of those he considers his own and he's not afraid to put himself between a problem and those he cares for.

Like Samantha and her ex-boyfriend.

When she'd relayed the story about how she and Derek got together, I didn't blame her for falling for the gruff veteran. His scars—sustained from the same plane crash that killed our parents—had held him in chains for most of his life. Kept him guarded.

Until his arrival at Guardian Valley and meeting Samantha.

"Are you sure?" Derek asks, placing himself between me and Travis and staring down at me with kind eyes.

"Yes, it's fine. Just ask Samantha. She knows Travis, too."

He hesitates another minute before sighing. "Okay, but I'll be at the paddock if you need anything."

Once he's gone, I invite Travis inside, a maelstrom of emotions whipping through me. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Those were my most pressing questions because I'm struggling to understand what's happening right now.

I met Travis, a sophisticated businessman, in New York City.

And now, Travis the unpolished cowboy is here in Guardian Valley, Montana?

"It wasn't too difficult," he says, shrugging out of his coat and tossing it aside. "Guardian Valley is a small town, so new arrivals are a big deal. Especially when they're part of a unique inheritance situation."

"You've been asking about me?" Gossip around here is no joke if townspeople already know who I am. I haven't even been here for a month.

"Of course…" His long fingers roll up the sleeves of his twill button-down, and the reveal of strong, tan forearms draws my attention. The way the muscles tense and flex.

God, I'm getting turned on by his freaking forearms!

"You broke your promise, Brooke." He stalked forward.

"I—I did?"

"You promised to return to me, but you didn't." His finger drifts down my cheek. "What do you think your punishment should be?"

Oh, damn.

"Whatever you deem appropriate," I choke out behind the desire clogging my throat. Desire and nerves. I've never been punished by a man before. It's a foreign concept, but what I've read in books has been hot.

And my body agrees, if the immediate tingling response between my thighs is anything to go by.

"Wise decision." His hands fall to my hips and slowly turn me to face the back of my couch. "Put your hands here and hold on. Don't," his teeth nip at my ear, "let go. Understand?"

"Yes." My nails dig into the buttery leather as I wait for his next move. Five minutes ago, I was stumped with how to spend the day, and then Travis magically appeared.

After a week of unfulfilling sex dreams, I'm ready for the real thing. I don't care how quickly it's happening. I just need Travis.

"I seem to recall having you in a similar position before. Unfortunately for you, only good girls get fucked with my tongue first. And you've proven to be very, very bad by disappearing on me." Travis's warm palm wraps around the front of my throat to tilt my chin up. "Which means, instead of my tongue, you get my cock."

Doesn't seem like too bad of a trade.

Definitely not a punishment.

I hear the rustling of his belt and zipper before his hands find the waistband of my leggings and tug them down with my panties. Cool air brushes my ass followed by a firm slap of Travis's palm on my left butt cheek.

Holy hell! There's the punishment.

He repeats the action on the right side before slipping his fingers lower, two of them thrusting in and out of my already-soaked pussy until his thick cock replaces them a moment later.

"Travis!" I yelp at the sudden intrusion. It's not painful, just unexpected, despite his warning.

"That's right. Scream my name, baby," he grunts in my ear. His hand drops to my breast and squeezes, the flesh overflowing his large palm. "I can't get enough of your pussy. And this ass."

His fingers lightly pinch my backside. "Watching it jiggle and bounce while I fuck you makes me hard as hell."

It occurs to me that Travis really is an ass man because we were in this exact position at his club, too. His broad, muscular body caging mine against the windows, and now the couch.

Tap, tap, tap.

Like an annoying insect, the sound continues as Travis obliterates every fantasy I had this week. The reality of his dominant lovemaking is so much better than what I dreamed up based on books and movies rather than firsthand experience.

Tap, tap, tap.

A sense of déjà vu pops my euphoric bubble because once again someone is interrupting us with a knock on my front door.

"Do. Not. Fucking. Answer." Travis slams his hips forward, and I desperately grab onto the couch cushions in front of me for purchase.

His pace strengthens—driving harder, deeper—until one more stroke of his cock sends me over the edge. I muffle a shout of pleasure, but Travis has no such compunction. He announces his climax with a roar of my name before collapsing against my back.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Goddammit! What is with people screwing up our time together?"

A giggle burst out of me. It is kind of sucky timing.

"You're a hot commodity. I guarantee whoever is on the other side of that door is here because of you, just like last time," I say, then call out, "Just a minute!"

Swiftly, I clean up with a couple of tissues and grab my leggings, hopping on one foot then the other before rushing to the door. Travis is as cool as ever, calmly straightening his shirt, and I realize he fucked me fully clothed.

One of these days we need to make it to a bed…

Samantha stands red-faced on the small cabin stoop when I swing the door open.

"Hey…" she waves awkwardly. "Derek said Travis was here, but we had to see it to believe it. Until we heard how here he actually was," Samantha whispers with a grin. "Addie went scrambling back to the main house after that."

Oh, god… I can only imagine poor Addie's reaction to what she heard.

"Welcome to Montana, Travis!" Samantha peers around me and smiles even wider. "I came to get you guys for dinner. We're having spaghetti and meatballs tonight."

A group dinner sounds like a terrible idea considering Travis and I still need to talk alone, but my stomach growls right as I prepare to say something.

A frown tugs at Travis's mouth—a mouth that had just been promising sexual punishments—and he nods. "Sounds good. Brooke needs to eat."

Said no one ever.

I'm a big girl. I don't look like I miss meals.

But it's nice to hear Travis encourage me to eat. Clearly, my size doesn't deter him in the least.

What was your first clue? Him eating you out at his club that first night? Or bending you over the couch and fucking you from behind just now?