Free ''I Do''...Take Two! by Merline Lovelace

carved a vague circle in the air. “It’s everything. This trip. Ellis. His job offer. Your prince. Us. I feel as though I’ve jumped on a speeding train and don’t have a clue where it’s heading.”
    â€œAnd that’s bad?”
    â€œUnsettling.”
    Good, Travis thought fiercely. Unsettled was good. He’d take uncertainty any day over her previous insistence they’d grown too far apart to find their way back. And just to inject a little more doubt...
    He crossed the room and brushed a knuckle down her cheek. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t flinch, didn’t draw back.
    â€œMaybe our approach to life was too deliberate the first time around, Katydid. Looking back, we laid it out like a playbook. You would finish your undergraduate degree. I would go through flight school. We’d get engaged, get married, work our way up the chain, take on more challenges, more responsibilities. Start a family only when we were ready.”
    â€œThat was the plan,” she agreed, sighing as he made another light pass over her cheek. “What we didn’t take into account was how those challenges and responsibilities would force us into such separate worlds. You gone so much, me turning more and more to work to fill the void.”
    She hesitated but had to tackle the subject that had become increasingly painful for them both. “It wouldn’t have been smart or right or fair to bring a baby into that void and expect him or her to fill it.”
    â€œSo we throw that plan out the window,” Travis said with rigidly subdued violence. “Start new. Here. Now. That’s why I wanted you to meet Ellis. Why I’m ready to hand in my papers as soon as I return to the base and complete this project.” He tipped her chin up, drew his thumb along her lower lip. “I know you need more time. I won’t push you. But while you’re weighing the pros and cons, don’t forget to include this in your calculations.”
    He lowered his head, giving her time to draw back, feeling the jolt when she didn’t. At the first brush of his mouth on hers, hunger too long held in check kicked like an afterburner at full thrust. The heat, the fury burned like a blowtorch.
    His palm slid to her nape. His mouth went from gentle to coaxing. From giving to taking. He circled her waist, drew her into him. They were hip to hip, thigh to thigh, her breasts pressed against his chest, her palms easing over his shoulders.
    This was what he needed. What he’d ached for. The feel of her. The taste of her. The pleasure was sharp, knifing and so welcome he had to tap his last reserve of willpower before he could raise his head.
    When her lids lifted, the smoky desire in her eyes almost snapped his last thread of restraint. He was a breath away from scooping her up and depositing her on that shimmering blue bedspread when she huffed out a husky laugh.
    â€œWell, looks like there’s one aspect of our relationship we won’t have to restart.”
    â€œYou sure?” He waggled his brows. “That was a pretty small sample. Maybe we should run another test.”
    Her laugh was more natural this time, although she didn’t quite meet his eyes as she eased out of his arms.
    â€œNo time for another test if we’re going to make an early dinner. As much as I enjoy swanking around in a Ferrari convertible, I need to soak the road and wind out of my pores. It may take a while,” she warned. “Do you want the shower first?”
    â€œYou go ahead.” He paused for a beat. “Give a shout if you need me to scrub your back. I’m pretty good at it, if you recall.”
    He was, Kate admitted as she dug out her cosmetic case and clean underwear. Very good! Really excellent, in fact, at scrubbing her back, her front and everywhere in between. They must have slopped an ocean of soapy water onto the tiles in the bathroom of their first apartment.
    The