by K. Bromberg
We eat the simple meal I’ve concocted in a comfortable exchange. He tells me about his endless meetings in Nashville and what he’d hoped to accomplish during them. I tell him about the progress on the project at the office as well as little tidbits about the boys’ week. I find it endearing that he actually listens when I talk about the boys and that he asks questions letting me know that he has a genuine interest in them. It’s important to me that he understands what a big part of my life they are.
“So why’d your trip get cut short?” I ask him while we finish up our meal.
He wipes his mouth with a napkin. “We started reviewing meetings we’d already had. It started to get redundant...” he shrugs “...and I hate redundancy.”
That’s not what Teagan says, flickers through my head thinking how she told me that Colton likes to dabble with past flings while in between current ones. I chastise myself for trying to sabotage a perfectly good time.
“Besides,” he says, looking up from his plate to me, “I missed you.”
And now I feel like crap for my little mental barb. “You missed me?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes, I missed you,” he says, smiling shyly, his foot nudging mine beneath the table to emphasize his words.
How is it four simple words from his mouth could mean so much to me? The emotionally unavailable bad boy I tried so hard to keep at arms’ length, I now never want to let go.
“I could tell by the beautiful poetry you wrote me,” I tease.
He flashes me a heart-warming grin that makes me want to pinch myself to know this is real and that smile is meant for me. “Those were clean compared to some of the nasty ones we wrote.” He raises his eyebrows and his eyes alight with humor.
“Oh really?”
“Yep. I think I’d rather show you though.”
“Is that so?” I smirk as I bite into my last strawberry.
“Yep, and we brainstormed the meaning of Ace as well.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear these…” I raise my eyebrows at him and laugh.
“Always creating ecstasy.”
“Nope.” I laugh. “You do know that you’ve made such a big deal about this that you’re going to be so disappointed at the real answer right?”
He just smirks at me as I get up and start clearing the dishes, rejecting his offer of assistance. We chat about the sponsorship some until the ringing of his phone interrupts us.
“One sec,” he says as he answers the phone. He holds a short conversation about something work related and then says, “Thanks, Tawny. Have a good night.”
I automatically roll my eyes at the name and he catches me. “You really dislike her, don’t you?” he asks, a bemused look on his face.
I sigh deeply, wondering if I want to tackle this right here and right now. She is an ex-girlfriend, friend of the family that his parents obviously love, and an important member of his CDE team. Do I really want to fight a losing battle here? If I’m going to be with Colton, I have to face the fact that she is going to be a part of his life, whether I like it or not. I twist my lips as I contemplate the right words to use. “Let’s just say that she and I have had a couple of exchanges that lead me to believe she’s not as innocent as she seems…and I’ll leave it at that,” I tell him.
He stares at me for a long time and a lopsided smile forms on his lips. “You’re jealous of her, aren’t you?” he asks as if he’s just had an Oprah ah-hah moment.
I return the same measuring stare at him before averting my eyes and rising to wipe off the counter that I’ve already cleaned. “Jealous no…but c’mon, Colton.” I laugh with disbelief. “Look at her and look at me. It’s pretty easy to see why I’d feel that way.”
“What are you talking about?” Colton asks as I hear the chair scoot out from underneath him.
“Seriously? She’s a walking wet dream. Perfect in every way whereas I’m just…I’m just me.” I shrug in acceptance.
Colton rests his hips on the counter beside me as I fiddle with the dishtowel, and I can feel the weight of his stare on me. “You’re something else, you know that?” he says, exasperation in his voice.
“Why’s that?” I ask, suddenly feeling embarrassed about revealing my insecurities when it comes to Tawny. Why did I even say anything? Me and my big mouth.
Colton pulls on my hand, but I don’t budge. Someone as attractive as Colton has no clue what it’s like to be insecure. “C’mon,” he says, pulling my hand again without taking no for an answer. “I want to show you something.”
I follow him reluctantly down the hallway to my bedroom, curious as to what he’s being so adamant about. We enter my bedroom and Colton leads me to my en suite bathroom. He ushers me in so that my back is to his front. His eyes blaze into mine as his hands run up the sides of my torso and back down. On their second pass, his fingers veer over and start undoing the buttons on my sweater. Although I feel and see what he’s doing in the mirror, my eyes instinctually look down.
“Uh-uh, Rylee,” he murmurs, his voice a seductive whisper against my neck. “Don’t take your eyes off of mine.” My eyes flicker back up to his, and we stare at each other like this for a few moments, neither of us speaking. Colton’s fingers finish undoing my sweater, and he steps back as he pulls it off of my shoulders. His fingers rasp across the bare skin of my lower back, and then I feel the zipper on my skirt being lowered. Colton’s hands run over my waist and then slide inside the loosened waistline of my skirt. He pushes my skirt down until it clears my hips and falls to the floor.
I chance a glance down to where his hands remain in the front of my pelvis, their olive color a stark contrast to my pale skin. The look of ownership they have over my body—big strong hands lying over silk and lace and flesh—cause my breath to hitch between my parted lips.
“Eyes right here, Rylee,” Colton commands as he steps up against me once more, placing his head to the right of mine. I keep my eyes fastened to his as they give a leisurely appraisal of my body and the bra, garter, and stockings I have on, sans the panties he took care of earlier. When his eyes finish their sweep, and they connect with mine again in our mirrored reflection, I see so many things swimming in their depths.
“Rylee, you are breathtaking. Can’t you see that?” he questions, his hands running up my rib cage and stopping at by bra. “You are so much more than any one man could handle in a lifetime.” He sweeps a finger inside the cup of one side of my bra and pushes it down so that my breast rests above the collapsed cup, my nipple already pebbled and aching for more. He moves to the other side and repeats the same process, but this time I can’t help the soft moan that escapes my lips at his touch. I lay my head back on his shoulder and close my eyes at the sensation.
“Open, Rylee,” he orders, and I snap them back open to his. “I want you to see what I see. I want you to see how sexy and desirable and fucking hot you are,” he whispers against the bare skin of my shoulder. “I want you to see what you do to me. How you—in this body that is beautiful inside and out—cause me to come undone. Can unravel me.” His hands travel down to my hips before one slowly travels back up, rubbing back up between my breasts and then holding onto the side of my neck while the other travels lower to slide softly over the mound of my sex. “Can reduce me to nothing and build me up all at the same time.” His words seduce me. The eroticism of the moment entices me. He completely mesmerizes me.
It takes everything I have to not close my eyes, tilt my head back, and give into the thunderstorm of sensation that he is evoking with his touch, but I am unable to due to his firm grip on my neck. His sweet seduction of words leaves me wet and wanting while the intimate connection between our gazes fills me emotionally.
“I want you to watch me while I take you, Rylee. I want you to watch each of us as we crash over that edge. I want you to see why this is enough for me. Why I choose you.”
His words course through me, opening locks on places deep within that I’ve been trying to keep guarded. My soul ignites. My
heart swells. My body anticipates. I inhale in a shuddered breath, his foreplay of words successful in their pursuit of arousal. His eyes smolder with a mixture of need and desire.
“Hands on the counter, Rylee,” Colton orders as he pushes me forward on the back with one hand while the other hand grips onto my hip. I can feel him hard and ready against my backside through his pants and push back into him. “Head up!” he commands, and I comply as his hand snakes south and slowly parts me.
“Colton.” I gasp, fighting the natural inclination to close my eyes at the overwhelming sensations rocking through my body when he eases a finger in me and then out to spread my moisture around. I keep my eyes on his and smirk when I notice that he’s having trouble with his own composure as well. The rigid tension in his jaw and fire leaping in his eyes incites me. His fingers slide up and tease my bundle of nerves while I feel him fumbling at my backside with his button and zipper. “Now,” I plead, my insides unfurling into an oblivion of need. “Quickly.”
I can see the wicked grin that blankets Colton’s face in the crinkles around his eyes as he positions his rigid head at my opening. “Do you want something, Rylee?” he asks as he just barely pulses into me.
“Colton.” I gasp, lowering my head in the painfully exquisite agony of needing more.
“Eyes!” He growls against my shoulder as he denies us both the pleasure we so desperately want. “Say it, Rylee.”
“Colt—”
“Say it!” he orders, his face the picture of a man on the verge of losing control.
“Please, Colton...” I gasp “...please.” And he plunges inside of me completely in one slick thrust. The unexpected movement steals my breath and catapults me with an explosion of white-hot heat.
“Oh God, Rylee.” He groans wildly, his eyes turning to slits, his eyelids weighted with desire. He wraps his arms around me, his fingertips pressing into my flesh, and his cheek pressed against the back of my neck as my body adjusts to his invasion.
He places a row of open mouth kisses on the line of my shoulder and up to my ear before he straightens up and starts to move. Really move. Giving me exactly what I need because right now I don’t care about slow and steady. I want hard and fast, and he doesn’t disappoint when he sets a punishing rhythm that drags out inexplicable sensations from my depths with every thrust out and drive back in.
I lose myself in his steady tempo, our eyes still locked on each other. The look on Colton’s face takes my breath away as his eyes darken and face pulls tight with pleasure. He reaches a hand forward to my breast and rolls my nipple between his fingers. An incoherent moan slips from my lips, the fire inside me almost too much to bear. With his one hand still gripped on my hip, he moves his other from my breast to my shoulder and pulls us against each other, my back to his front, slowing his relentless pace to grind his hips in a circle inside of me.
“Look at yourself, Rylee,” he murmurs in my ear between movements. “Look how goddamn sexy you are right now. Why would I want anyone else?”
I break from his reflective gaze and look at my own reflection. Skin red from his hands. Nipples pert and pink from pleasure. The folds of my sex swollen with desire. My lips are parted. My cheeks are flushed. My eyes are wide and expressive. And alive. My body reacts instinctively to Colton’s movements—driven by such unexpected need, fueled by such a relentless desire, and crashing into unimaginable possibilities. I look at this mysterious woman in the mirror, and a slow, sensuous smile ghosts my lips as I look back to Colton. Our eyes lock again and I acknowledge for once that I see what he sees. That I accept it.
Colton pushes my back forward so that my hands can brace on the sink as he slowly eases in and out of me several times. One of his hands maps my hip and over the front to tease my clit, and my body squeezes at the sensation, my velvet walls milking his cock.
“Fuuucckk!” He groans, throwing his head back, forgetting his own rule about eye contact momentarily. He is absolutely stunning at this moment. Magnificent like an Adonis. Head back, lips parted in pleasure, neck strained with impending release, and my name a pant on his lips. He starts moving again, picking up the pace, dragging me to the edge of ecstasy with each relentless drive. He tilts his head back up and locks his eyes on mine.
The wave pushes me higher and higher, the intensity building, my legs weakening as pleasure tightens everywhere. And just before I crash into oblivion, I can see in his face that he’s past the point of no return as well.
We crash over the cusp together: eyes clouded, lips parted, souls united, hearts spellbound, and bodies drowning in spirals of sensation.
My knees buckle beneath me as my muscles reverberate with my climax. Colton’s rough hands hold me in place as he empties himself into me. His hands remain tight on my hips for a moment longer, as if the single action is enough to keep us from both sliding to the floor. Eventually I straighten up and lean back against him, angling my head back onto his shoulder where I finally close my eyes, allowing myself a moment to absorb what I’ve just experienced.
I am overwhelmed and emotionally shaken. I know I loved Max with everything I had, but it pales in comparison to what Colton and I just shared. Together we are so intense, so volatile, so powerful, so intimate that I don’t think I’ve ever felt closer to another human being as I do with Colton right now. My body trembles with the acceptance of it as he withdraws slowly from me and turns me to face him.
I try to bury my head in his shoulder, to avoid eye contact with him because I feel completely stripped bare, naked, and vulnerable—more so than any other time in my life. Colton puts a finger to my chin and lifts my face up to his. His eyes search mine in silence, and for a moment I think I see how I feel reflected in his, but I don’t know if that’s possible. How was it a few weeks ago this man before me was a complete stranger and now when I look at him, I see my whole world?
I know Colton senses something different in me, but he doesn’t ask, just accepts, and for that I’m grateful. He leans down and brushes a tender kiss on my lips that brings tears to my eyes before wrapping his arms around me. I revel in the feeling of his silent strength, and before I can even think properly, my mouth is opening. “Colton?”
“Hmmm?” he murmurs against the top of my head.
I love you. It takes everything to stifle the words on my lips. I want to scream it out loud. “I...I…that was wow,” I recover, silently saying the other three words I want to say.
“Wow is right.” He chuckles against my temple.
I awake to Colton’s warm body pressed up against the back of mine. His hand cups my bare breast, and his finger draws lazy circles around its shape, over and over until my nipple tightens from his touch. I smile softly to myself and sink back into him, absorbing the moment and the emotions I’m feeling.
“Good morning.” His voice rumbles against the back of my neck, and he places a soft kiss there as his hand slowly traces lower down the curve of my body.
“Hmm,” is all I can muster as the feeling of him hard and ready against me already has me willing and wanting.
“That good, huh?” He laughs.
“Mmm-hmm,” I respond again because there is nowhere else I’d rather be right now than waking up in this man’s arms.
“What time does your shift start today?” he asks as his erection grows harder and presses into the cleft of my backside.
“Eleven.” I’m on a twenty-four hour shift at The House today. I’d much rather stay in bed with him all day instead. “Why? Did you have something in mind?” I ask coyly as I wiggle my hips back against him.
“Most definitely,” he whispers as he nudges his knee between my thighs from behind so I’m opened up for his hand that is slowly tickling my tender folds. “What time do you have to be at work...aahh—” I’m distracted as his fingers find their target.
“Later.” He laughs against my skin. “Much later.”
“Then we better make the most of the time we have.” I sigh as he shifts us so I sit astride him.
“Your pleasure is my number one priority, sweetheart,” he says, flashing his megawatt grin.
He reaches up and cups the back of my neck, pulling me down to him. I moan as his mouth finds mine and I become lost in the haze of lust.
“You sure you don’t mind me using your razor?” Colton asks me, his eyes meeting my reflection in the mirror.
“Nope.” I shake my head as I watch him from the doorway to my bedroom. A towel is fastened around his waist sitting just below that sexy V, drops of water still cling to his broad shoulders and muscular back, and his hair is in wet disarray. My mouth isn’t the only thing that moistens when I look at him. The sight of him, so gorgeous and fresh from the shower, makes me want to drag him back to my bed and dirty him up all over again.
I’m not sure if it’s because he’s in my bathroom making himself at home with my things after a long night and early morning of incredible sex, but I know I’ve never thought him sexier.
I bite my lip as I walk behind him thinking how normal this feels. How domestic and comforting it is. I put my arms through my bra straps as I move, feeling Colton’s eyes on me as I clasp it and adjust myself. I look up at him in the mirror and notice that he has paused, the pink handle of my razor halfway up to his face, a soft smile on his lips.
“What?” I ask, suddenly shy under the intensity of those gorgeous green eyes.
“You own more bras than any woman I’ve ever known,” he says as his eyes home in on the one that I’ve just put on. It’s light pink, edged in black, and does a perfect job creating just the right amount of cleavage.
His eyes flash up to meet mine, and I purse my lips at him. “I can take that several ways,” I tease him. “I can be quite offended that you’re comparing me to all of the other women you’ve been with, or I can be pleased that you appreciate my vast array of lingerie.”