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The Tessarae Inn |
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Dreams In Amber Refrains
CHAPTER 7 “This is the same room you stayed in when you were here?” Blair nodded and glanced around the bedroom. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Relaxing. Tranquil.” “Whatever.” “I don’t know what I expected. Maybe something wild and chaotic. Something more rock star-ish. Travis is not easy to peg though. He keeps surprising me.” “Whatever.” Blair shifted her gaze to Todd and looked him in the eye. “Don’t make things harder than they have to be, okay? There is not now, nor has there ever been, or will there ever be anything between me and Travis.” “Are you saying he didn’t come in here and try to get in your pants?” Blair bit her lip and looked away quickly. Todd studied her for a minute then gritted his teeth. He walked to the door, slammed it, locked it and then turned around to face her. “Come here.” Her eyes widened but she walked close to him. He pulled her the rest of the way so that her body pressed his then kissed her as he rapidly traced the contours of her back then cupped her behind. He wanted her bad. He wanted her hard. He lifted her slightly then swung her around and pressed her against the door. She was breathing heavy and trembling. Thank goodness she had worn a sundress and little else. His need for her reached an explosive pitch almost instantly but he was going to make her wait for that. He reached under her dress and yanked on her panties with such force they gave way in his hand. He probed her with his fingers and tracked her breathing as she whimpered and moaned with an escalating rhythm. “What’s my name?” he whispered with his lips close to her ear. “Say it.” She made stuttering breathless sounds as she raised her leg to give him freer access to her. He could feel her excitement. He crushed her mouth again He drew back an inch. “Say it.” She managed to mouth his name but that wasn’t good enough. Not nearly good enough. As he worked his fingers, he felt her reach a fever pitch. Her body rippled in waves and spasms. She threw her head back and she called his name over and over so loudly they could probably hear her back in Creedyville. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He carried her to the bed and threw her down on it then took off his shirt and lowered the zipper on his pants. He was going to make her sing his damn name this time.
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Blair studied her image in the mirror. Her lips looked a little redder than usual but the main souvenir of her frenzied lovemaking with Todd was the hickey on her neck. She knew what he was doing. He was branding her and she knew she should be insulted but all she felt was sexually aroused. He wanted her that much and she understood. She should have thought of branding his ass like that before he went on his “date” with Rebecca. Todd walked out of the bathroom and stared at her for a second. He was smiling although he was trying to hide it. “You look…” She turned toward him. “I look like what?” “Like you belong to me.” She glanced in the mirror again then brushed her hair forward so that it covered her neck. Thank goodness it was longer now. She turned and faced him again as he walked close to her. She could feel the heat radiating from his body. God she wanted him to take her again. What was happening to them? When was enough enough? It’s not like they were really newlyweds. He moved in to kiss her but she stepped back. It was already 12:05. Travis was waiting for them. He cocked his head and shrugged. “After lunch and a few minutes in the presence of THE rock star, I’ll have my second wind and added motivation. Your choice. Now or later.” She touched his chest lightly just to see his body tremble and his eyes half close with desire then smiled at him. He really did need to pay for that Rebecca shit. This time it was going to be his ass screaming her name. “I’ll take later but you need to go easy on the wine at lunch because I have plans for you and you don’t want to see me frustrated.” He grinned at her and hooked his arm around her waist. “I love you, you know.” “I know.”
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“I’m sorry that she’s late but she is not exactly a woman who follows the rules.” “Who is she?” Blair noticed that Todd, who had been ignoring Travis, keeping an eye on her and slurping his soup nosily, snapped to attention. She had tried to keep her voice neutral but Todd’s reaction signaled to her that she had not been successful. The fact of the matter was that it irritated her that Travis never mentioned this woman he was dating. “Her name is Heather Shuttlesworth. Do you know the name?” “Should I?” “No real reason but we’ve been seeing each other for a couple of months. Her ….” Travis stopped suddenly and stared at her. What was wrong? She met his gaze and watched his expression shift to a frown then back to something approximating a neutral expression. She looked away as she realized that her hair was no longer covering her neck and her hickey was now clearly visible. She sighed and glanced at Todd who smirked then quickly went back to focusing on his soup with a smile on his face. Finally, she cleared her throat and looked at Travis. “She what?” Travis narrowed his eyes so slightly that she might have missed the expression if she hadn’t been watching him so intently. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Not important. It’s more important that we come to some decision about this Grammy offer.” “I thought we agreed earlier before we started lunch,” said Blair. “I can’t…” Todd slammed his spoon down so that it hit the side of the bowl and made a sharp clanking sound. He ran his tongue over his teeth then pulled at his ear. “We already reached a decision. There is no way Blair is going to perform with you at the Grammys. Now lets get this lunch over. I have plans with MY wife.” Blair looked at Todd for a few seconds. She could see the veins in his forehead pulsating. She switched her gaze to Travis quickly. “We had a deal, Travis,” she said. “I don’t want my identity to be made public. I don’t need the publicity or the hassle.” Travis unfolded his arms and pressed his hands on the table as he leaned forward. “Don’t either of you get it?” “I guess not, Travis,” said Todd slowly in a low growl. Travis bared his teeth slightly but then bit his upper lip for a second and exhaled loudly. “Look, after all the years I’ve spent in the spotlight I forget that until you live it you can’t imagine how relentless these people can be once they get a bone or smell blood. They are not going to give up on this.” “She already told you no.” “A song featuring a famous rock star and an unidentified female singer has been nominated for a Grammy. The buzz is that the woman will be revealed on the show and perform for the first time but now it seems that deal has fallen through. Given your newspaper’s penchant for sleaze, you tell me what you think is going to happen. Would you just drop the story?” Todd’s body tensed but instead of getting up he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. Blair watched him. She could tell that he was actually thinking about what Travis said but didn’t want to admit that he might have a point. “We can control this thing if we do it right. I’ll announce her identity. We’ll introduce her to the press in a very well controlled press conference. She can answer a few questions—No, I don’t sing professionally. No, I have no plans to change that. Yes, I’m happily married …She’ll sing on the show then that will be it. End of story.” “So you say.” “Think about how it’ll play out if we don’t manage it. They’ll track her down and assume she has something to hide. They’ll dig and I suspect they’ll find stuff you’d rather not have splashed across the newspaper headlines. They will make a big deal about why she hid her identity and how the songs were recorded. Every damn body in Creedyville knows Blair’s story. That place may like to pretend to be Mayberry, but people are people and there’s always a bad apple or two. If enough money is waved, someone will share their story about Caitlin…Blair.” Todd threw his napkin on the table. “I’ve heard your version of events, now I’ll tell you what is going to happen. I’m going to get my children and take them and my wife home. I’ll protect them if I have to from the muckraking fourth estate. Somebody messes with me or mine, they will regret it until the last sign of life on this planet is obliterated.” “Damn.” Everyone turned toward the doorway to the dining room and caught sight of a woman standing there, who had just spoken in a smoky-hoarse voice. “There’s something to be said for a man who isn’t afraid to state his position all full throttle and hard.” Blair studied the woman, who was dressed in a gray pantsuit that had a jacket, which pinched at the waist and revealed liberal glimpses of her healthy cleavage and slacks that were generously cut and cuffed so they broke perfectly over her four-inch stilettos. She had chestnut brown hair that shined as if buffed and eyelashes at least a mile long that fringed hazel eyes. Her nails were long and lacquered red and matched the color of the lipstick splashed on pout-y lips. This woman was not just attractive; she was polished to perfection as if she actually lived on the pages of a fashion magazine. When the woman glanced at her, Blair felt an immediate chill that made her heart race as if she was being lined up in the sites of a predatory reptile. It wasn’t fair but every instinct she honed over the years told her to hate this woman and not wait for a reason. “Heather.” “Travis,” she said. She walked next to Travis and touched his shoulder lightly then moved around him next to Todd. “And you are?” “Busy.” Todd stood up, walked around the table to Blair and pulled her chair out as she stood up. “We have an understanding then, Travis,” he said. “It ain’t gonna happen.” Travis looked at her and shook his head. He had not move but she felt as if he was touching her. She took another step closer to Todd. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but Todd is right. I’ll take my chances on not being found out.” Todd wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer to him. “Thanks for the lunch. We’ll be out of the room in an hour…maybe two.” Travis narrowed his eyes and seemed to lock them on Todd but all he said was, “Stay as long as you want. Take some time and think about things.” “Planning on doing just that. Can’t wait to get up to that room and give everything you said its rightful consideration.” “Good. I think you’ll see my side soon enough. This is Heather by the way.” “Nice to meet you,” said Blair in what she hoped was a tone that sounded remotely sincere. “Yeah, whatever,” said Todd. Blair noticed that Heather seemed to bristle as if she had been slapped. She was obviously not used to being judged as anything less than the most important thing in any given room. But Blair didn’t want to trust her judgment about Heather right now, because Todd was pulling her along with only one thing on his mind and her body was already tingling in anticipation and her mind was already filled with thoughts of what she had planned for him. If they were lucky neither one of them would have to ever see Heather again.
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“Who are those people?” “Why were you late?” “I had things to do. Now, who are they?” “He’s Todd Manning. Newspaper publisher. I guess that’s all you’re really interested in.” Fuck you. But he was right about that. She glanced at Travis. For a bad boy rocker, he was one of the nicest men she had ever met. She didn’t do nice well. Nice made the hair arch up along her back and her claws extend. Whenever she was with Travis she always needed ten minutes at the beginning just to get her claws to retract one at a time. But that one…that Manning had her licking her paws in anticipation of the game to come. She’d already stayed with Travis longer than she intended and she only did that to rub Robyn’s nose in it. Now she had a reason to move on to other things. “She’s his wife?” “Yep.” Heather narrowed her eyes and watched him for a few seconds. There was something about his tone that she didn’t like. Did Travis have the hots for that bitch? Oh, that was so not going to happen. He obviously needed to be reminded of why. She walked over to him and ran her hand under his T-shirt and lifted it up. She leaned in and focused on this right nipple. She licked it then bit it, hard. She stepped back in time to see his eyes roll back in his head. She wet her lips. “I’m going upstairs to my room. Don’t make me wait. I don’t like it.” She walked away without looking back. She didn’t even bother swaying her hips or flipping her hair a bit. She knew he was already drooling. He might not want to pant after her like a dog in heat but men are weak and shallow with few exceptions and no man could resist her when she put her mind to it. No man. Upstairs, Heather searched for their room then stood outside and listened. She could hear the vibrations of sex, hard, wild sex, and the sounds of movement, grunting and moaning then she heard him: Oh babe. Don’t stop. Oh babe Oh baby-y-y-y…. She heard that bitch laugh and then say clearly: What’s my name? Say it. Heather felt blood rush to her head as she imagined his face contorted in sheer pleasure. What right did that bitch have to do that to him? It needed to stop. Now. She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. Damn. The door was locked. She stared at it for a few minutes and considered knocking—anything to break the rhythm of what they were doing. Just as she raised her hand she heard Travis galloping up the stairs and then call out for her. She moved down the hall toward her room quickly. Time to feed the dog. But there would be time enough later for other things. And the first thing on her list was: Get rid of that bitch. Chapter 8 Dreams In Amber Refrains FAN FICTION |