“Still don’t want to be your brother,” Travis answered belligerently. “I want to fuck you too much.” He got up and went to the kitchen counter, shaking her out some ibuprofen and handing it to her. “Take these. We’ll need to change those bandages.”
Ally took the pills from his hand and swallowed them with a sip of coffee. “They’re really just scratches, Travis.”
He scowled at her as he answered, “You don’t need to get them infected.” He winced as he sat back down.
“You’re hurting,” Ally commented suspiciously. “Did you injure yourself? I thought you were covered.”
“Just bruises from hitting the concrete,” Travis answered, blowing off her concern. “Not a big deal.”
“You’re in pain. Let me see,” she told him in a no-nonsense voice.
Travis obediently turned in his chair and lifted his shirt. Ally gasped as she saw a contusion the size of her hand on his lower back. She reached her hand out and touched it lightly with a fingertip. “Oh my God, Travis. I’m so sorry.”
“I landed on a parking block when I hit the ground. It will heal,” he replied gruffly.
“You might need x-rays. What if you broke something?”
“I didn’t. I’ve had enough injuries to know.”
“Are there more? Where do they stop?” Ally was appalled and sick over the fact that she hadn’t known that Travis had been injured.
Travis turned his head slowly and shot her the wickedest grin she’d ever seen. “Sweetheart, to show you all of them I’d have to drop my pants. But I’d be more than happy to show you if you’ll touch them all.”
Ally gulped, torn between wanting to see the bruises and knowing she really shouldn’t watch her billionaire boss drop his pants. “Are they bad?” she croaked.
“The one on my back is probably the worst. It’s where I hit the parking block. But I’ll be happy to show you.” He started to get up.
“No, no,” she said hastily. “I’ll take your word for it. But if the pain gets bad, we’re taking you for x-rays. I can’t believe you’re worried about a few little scrapes on me when you’re all bruised up. Are you hurting anywhere else?”
Travis slowly sat back down. “My cock is hurting. Do you want to touch it?” he asked coarsely, but the look in his eyes was teasing and devilish.
Ally’s whole face turned red, Travis’s blunt words leaving her speechless for a moment. “You have a dirty mind,” she chastised him lightly. “And I’m truly worried about you hurting.”
“I am hurting. And that’s the worse ache I have,” Travis told her bluntly as he eyed her hungrily.
His predatory gaze made her even redder. Hell, she hadn’t blushed like this since she was in high school. Travis had shown her another side of himself, and she liked it, liked him right now. But his feral gaze unnerved her in ways that had her almost panting to touch him. “You’re bruised up and you can still think about that?”
“Alison, I’d have to be dead to not want you to touch me,” Travis answered gravely.
Ally shivered, her core flooding with heat, her nipples going as hard as pebbles from the intensity of his stare. Problem was, she felt exactly the same way. She looked away from him, unable to bear the heat in his eyes. One second longer, and she’d be begging him to let her touch him. “No touching,” she told him much more adamantly than she felt right at that moment. “You need to heal.” Ally got up and put her empty mug in the sink, cradling her precious gift from Travis in her hand.
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Travis answered unhappily, rising to put his own cup in the sink.
“Thank you for this,” Ally whispered, gesturing toward the necklace. “It’s the most incredible gift I’ve ever received. It means a lot to me.” It wasn’t the monetary value, but the significance of the actual symbol, a sign of Travis’s belief in her writing.
Ally wandered toward the entry to the kitchen, heading off to the shower.
“Ally?” Travis’s voice sounded hesitantly from where she’d left him by the sink.
“Yeah?” She turned her head.
“Thanks for not betraying me,” he said hoarsely.
“You don’t need to thank me for that, Travis. You’ve always had my loyalty.” And he had. He might infuriate her, but there was never a time she had doubted Travis’s integrity or his love for his family.
He nodded abruptly and turned away, leaving Ally wondering what had just happened between them. Their relationship had shifted, leaving her wondering if it were actually possible for her and Travis to become…friends.