More than a Mistress(31)

She laughed as she padded across the carpet. "Anything that makes me  look human again will be just..." Her words trailed away as she looked  at the clothing on the bed. A pair of her jeans. One of her silk  blouses. Panties that were hers, and a bra. She looked up. Travis was at  the closet, his back to her. "Oh, Travis," she said, and smiled. "That  was sweet of you."

He didn't turn around. "What was?"

"Going to my house and picking up some stuff for me to wear. That was really-" .

He swung toward her. "I picked up everything," he said gruffly.

Alex cocked her head. "I don't understand."

"Well, maybe not everything, but most of what was in your closet and in  your dresser drawers. Your housekeeper collected the things she thought  you'd want and I brought them here, but we'll go back, if I forgot  anything, and-"

He looked at her puzzled face, fell silent and stepped aside. Alex  stared past him, into the closet, where her clothing hung side by side  with his.

"Travis?" Her gaze flew to his. "What is this?"

"You're moving in with me."

"Moving...?" Alex laughed. "No, I'm not. I have a house. A life. And we agreed-"

"Nothing's changed." His voice was rough and so was the way he reached  for her and enclosed her in his arms. "It's crazy, not living together."

"But we agreed-"                       
       
           



       

"I know all about that. But while we're together-"

"While it lasts, you mean."

He nodded, his green eyes on hers. "Yeah. While it does, I want you with me."

Alex bristled. "Did it ever occur to you to ask what I might want, Cowboy?"

His hands covered hers. Gently, persistently, he drew the towel from her  fingers and let it fall to the floor so she stood within his embrace,  naked.

"All right. I'm asking, Princess: Do you want to be with me, or don't you?"

She looked up at him, knowing what her answer should be, knowing she  should demand her independence, that there was no way she ought to let  him take control of her life-or of her heart.

He bent his head, kissed her. "I'm waiting," he whispered.

Alex's arm curled around Travis's neck. "This is crazy."

It was all the answer he needed.

He stepped out of his jeans and drew her down to the bed, into his arms.  He rained kisses on her temples, on her throat. He licked her nipples,  bit them gently, stroked her thighs and buried his face between them.

It had been so long. Days, an eternity...

"My turn," she said softly, and knelt over him, kissing her way down his  hard-muscled body, taking him into her mouth, loving him with teeth and  tongue until he groaned and rolled her beneath him. He entered her on  one hard, possessive stroke and she burst instantly into a million  shards of light.

"My beautiful Princess," Travis whispered, as he settled her in his arms.

Alex nestled against him, closed her eyes and told herself it just wasn't true...

But it was.

She'd fallen in love with Travis.





CHAPTER TWELVE




TRAVIS had never been so happy.

And it amazed him.

Even at the beginning of his marriage to Cathy, before things had  started to go bad between them, there'd been mornings it had seemed a  chore to smile and be cheerful. He'd had something about work on his  mind, or sometimes just Cathy's early-morning chatter had made his teeth  grind together.

Alex was different.

She woke him with kisses, or he woke her. It didn't much matter. Either  way, by the time he left the bed, he was always smiling. He'd never much  cared for breakfast and he still didn't, but having coffee across from  his Princess's lovely face seemed the perfect way to begin the day.  Ending it by knowing she'd be at the door to greet him was even more  perfect. It was amazing, how fast he came to expect to see her there,  waiting for him. And she always was, despite her growing involvement in  the empire her father had left her.

Oh, yeah. He was happy. And everybody knew it. Some, like Pete Haskell, teased him unmercifully.

"What's with you, Baron?" Pete kept asking. "That grin stuck on your face, or what?"

And Travis would chuckle and say, yeah, it probably was.

He knew Alex was happy, too, though there were some moments that  happiness was put to the test. Like the time the phone rang, early one  morning, and she reached across him to pick it up when he didn't hear  it.

He woke up just as she said "hello" in a sleepy voice.

"Who is it?" he asked, but he knew it was trouble as he watched the expression on her face.

"Yes," she said coldly, "this is 555-0937." And then she thrust the phone at him, sat back against the pillows and glared.

Travis sat up. "Yeah?" he growled. "Oh. Right. Uh-huh. Sure. That's  great, Emma. Thanks for calling." He put the phone back on the  nightstand and reached for Alex, but she had slipped from the bed. "That  was Emma," he said.

"Indeed," Alex said pleasantly. She put on her robe and went into the  bathroom. When she returned, Travis was lying back against the pillows.

"She's my secretary."

"Did I ask?"

"You didn't have to."

"It's a free country, Travis. You don't have to-"

"But I do." He sat up. She looked at that expanse of tanned chest and  muscle, swallowed dryly and looked away. "Dammit, Alex, do you really  think I'd cheat on you?"

"No.

"Then, what was that all about?"

Alex picked up her brush and stroked it through her hair. "We have an  agreement," she said calmly. "No sleeping with anybody else while we're  together. Isn't that right?"

She looked at his reflection in the mirror, saw his mouth thin. "Is that  why you think I wouldn't cheat on you?" he said gruffly. "Because we  made some agreement?"

"I just wondered," she said, deciding to ignore the question, "whether your secretary knows who I am."

Travis could feel a headache starting just behind his eyes. "I don't know."

"She didn't seem to. I mean, she sounded surprised to hear my voice."

"I guess she was." He sat up, tossed the blanket aside, got to his feet,  and walked to the bathroom. "I'm not in the habit of discussing my  private life with my secretary."                       
       
           



       

"Who do you discuss it with, then?"

He came out of the bathroom, still naked, and stood just behind her.  "Listen," he said carefully, "I'm not very good at games, first thing in  the morning. If you want to tell me something, just say it, okay?"

Alex hesitated. She wasn't very good at games, anytime of day. What was  wrong with her this morning? She'd answered the telephone, Travis's  secretary had seemed startled to hear her voice. On the face of it,  there was nothing to be upset about. On the contrary. It was nice to  know that the women who danced in and out of his life either didn't  spend the night with him very often or didn't feel secure enough to  answer the phone.

Except, that didn't change the fact that she was just another one of  those faceless women. Oh, she might last a little longer. He might even  feel a twinge of regret when their affair ended but end it would. She'd  gone into this, knowing that. Knowing, too, that Travis wouldn't really  make her part of his life. He'd never introduce her to his family, or to  the people he worked with. Not even his secretary would know she  existed.

"Princess?"

Alex swallowed, lifted her gaze to the mirror and managed a smile.

"Sorry. I-I just ...I woke up with a headache this morning, that's all."

Travis smiled, put his arms around her and drew her back against him. "Me, too," he said softly. "And I know just the cure."

"No." Her voice was sharp, and she puffed out a breath and tried again.  "No, really, Travis. What I need are a couple of aspirin." Their eyes  met in the mirror, his narrowed, hers shadowed. "Okay?"

He went on looking at her for what seemed a long time. Then he shrugged and his arms dropped to his sides.

"Sure. I have to get going, anyway. Emma called to tell me a client  wants to see me pronto." He moved toward the bathroom again, then paused  in the doorway. "Alex?"

"Yes?"

He hesitated, and then he cleared his throat. "How about meeting me in town for dinner?"

She nodded. She'd done that before, driving in-she had a red Miata  convertible, now-parking in the garage near his office and waiting for  him in the lobby.

"What time shall I be there?"

"How about a little before five?" He cleared his throat again. "Come up to my office, and I'll introduce you around."