"Travis," Mark said. Then he stopped and looked to Arden. "I assume this is Travis?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, daddy."
Mark looked back to Travis. "Mr. Lanier, I hope you don't think I'm being rude, but I'm going to have to ask you to get yourself dressed and leave my house. We have some things to discuss with our daughter."
Travis bobbed his head once. "Of course." He grabbed Arden's shoulder from behind, leaned down to her ear and said, "I told you." Then he disappeared out of the kitchen and upstairs.
Arden faced her parents. "You're totally out of line, here," she said. "Nick stayed over plenty of times."
"You and Nick were in a serious relationship," Laura said.
"Yes, and now I'm in a serious relationship with Travis."
"Three days after you break up with your fiancé you're sleeping with another man?" Laura said. "I don't call that serious. I call it reckless."
"Regardless...this is my life and you've no right to barge in and send him away." Arden stood taller, keeping her dignity as best she could in a t-shirt that barely covered her ass.
Mark held up his hands. "Go on and get yourself dressed, Arden. We'll talk about this once we've all settled down."
Arden huffed, stamped her foot, and then stormed out. An echo of her childhood self whenever she was told she couldn't have something she wanted.
Travis already had his clothes on and was shoving into his boots when Arden came in. "Look at you," he said. "Holding that head up, trying to act like your hair isn't a mess and you're not half-naked."
She just lifted her chin and raised one brow. "I don't want you to leave. You just stay right here and I'll work things out with my parents." She reached in her dresser drawer for a pair of pajama pants and slipped them on. Then she came over to Travis, who was sitting on the edge of her bed, and sat on his knee.
He just wanted to hug her and thank her for acknowledging his existence, let alone having him in her bed. He couldn't recall a time in his life when he'd felt this ridiculously happy. He delighted in the fact that he could touch her anytime he wanted. Talk to her about anything. Rest his head between her breasts and fall asleep. It all seemed too good to be true.
She kissed him and he swung her back down to the bed, feeling her up one more time and tickling her so he could hear her laugh again. He'd heard her laugh while they were snowed in together, but not the way she had tonight. Tonight she'd been relaxed. She'd let go of her need to control her emotions and just let things happen the way they needed to. Now, lying beneath him, she was warm and pliant. He dipped his tongue into her mouth and felt her respond to him. He touched her breast and then felt his way down her side and the curve of her waist and hip.
He couldn't have her right now, though. It would be wrong. But she was touching him, now. Her hands slid down his abdomen. She reached into his jeans and took hold of him.
"Christ, Arden," he murmured. "I have to go."
"No," she pleaded. And he knew she was doing it on purpose, putting that pleading into her tone. "Don't go, Travis. I want you so much!"
He moved further onto the bed. His mind screamed for him to stop but his body just wouldn't listen. Their mouths were occupied with kissing, but he tried to protest. "I can't...your folks...We have to stop."
"No, Travis! Don't stop. Please!" This time the pleading was genuine. She wanted him. The thought kicked his hormones the rest of the way into gear and he forgot all about her parents.
She wanted him. She was begging for him. This beautiful creature he'd pined for now couldn't keep her hands off of him. He sat back and yanked her pajama pants and panties off. Then he unzipped his jeans and shoved them down, just enough. Then he plunged inside her and smiled as she gasped. "Hurry!" she cried.
"No problem," he said.
He shoved his hand beneath her hips and tilted her up to meet him. She arched her back and cried out his name. She grabbed his free hand and held it to her breast. Her throat was long and bare and he kissed it and felt her pulse throbbing faster and harder and faster and harder until her legs suddenly tightened around him and she gasped sharply. Her body went rigid a few seconds and the excitement overwhelmed him so that he pulsed inside of her one final time, giving himself up to insanity and groaning with relief afterwards.
They lay there a few seconds, breathing and coming back to themselves. He pushed off her, pulled his pants back up and fastened them. He looked toward the open door of her bedroom and then back to where she lay. She had curled up and pulled a blanket over her.
"I feel terrible," he said.