Chapter 35 Easton
EASTON
I’m pacing around the hotel like a madman.
My mind is going haywire.
It’s as if the moment I saw Collie again, my entire brain chemistry shifted. Not in a way I’d call unexpected, but with more clarity.
I want her. And not just for a short weekend in Wyoming or Timber Heights. I want all of her tomorrows.
But I’m struggling with how to take steps in that direction without scaring her away. She’s not acting like herself, and I know it’s because we’re undefined.
Not to mention the fact that her sister, the single most important person in her life, is getting married tomorrow.
That’s partially why I battled my fight for possession over her all damn day.
I don’t want to worry her without having the time to really talk things through. I also don’t want her to feel obligated to do one thing or another.
I’ve got options.
For her, the only option is to run her fitness studio, be the hottest new instructor in town, and decide for herself if I’m worth keeping around in the process.
I intend to be wherever she needs me.
That’s the beauty of my job. I can work anywhere in the country at the drop of a hat. One phone call to my union steward and I’m set.
For once, it’s as simple as that. I’ve done my research.
Lucky for me, South Carolina is one of the best power companies in the United States. Not to mention being at the higher end of the wage scale.
I can do what I love and make an affordable living, all while watching my lost girl live out her dreams. It’s a win-win.
The only thing stopping me from packing up my shit and hightailing it out of Salt Hollow is her.
I’m procrastinating the conversation until after the wedding. But I have a gut feeling Collie is going to do something oddly…true to her nature.
Something unpredictable and likely to stir a fire inside of me.
I’m ready for her to be mine in every way that counts.
But more than anything, I want to do right by her. Nothing about what we are is typical for couples our age, but fuck. I don’t care. I’ve spent too many years of my life falling at the feet of other people’s expectations of me, and I refuse to be that man any longer.
I know without a shadow of a doubt, Ben would want that, too.
My current issue at hand is how I can’t stop checking my phone for a rescue call from Collie. Not like I expected one. The woman would rather walk her ass ten miles before asking for help.
But I never claimed to fully overcome my hero complex, after all.
I check my phone.
It’s almost midnight. You good?
I sent that an hour ago, and I’ve been worried sick ever since.
I’m overreacting, and I don’t care.
The only thing giving me a glimpse of ease right now is the handle of whiskey I purchased from the liquor store down the street. I needed to walk out my thoughts and stumbled upon the store just outside of the hotel.
I’m about to polish off my glass when a knock on my hotel door catches my attention. The hair on my neck begins to rise, and I realize I don’t know anyone in this town other than Collie.
Therefore, no one else knows I’m staying here except for her.
Abandoning my glass, I hustle to the door, letting it swing wide as I come face-to-face with an exhausted pair of blue eyes.
Still sparkling and no less blue. But tired, and fuck does she look like she needs a hug. Someone to breathe for her.
I have hopes and dreams to be that guy.
“Baby.” I can’t control my response when it comes to her.
“Invite me in, Ranger.” Collie’s arms rattle at her chest, and I take in the long coat I hope has kept her warm all night.
Since it’s January, there’s a sharp chill in the air.
I stepped aside, insisting she enter. Her cotton candy scent I’ve craved these past two months, quite literally has my heart on the verge of failing.
How interesting is it that a woman with such sass and spice would lather herself in the sweetest of decadence?
Collie walks less than three feet through the threshold and stops, the silence of the empty hotel room quieter than our thoughts. “How was the rehearsal dinner?”
It started at seven, so it must have been fun given she stayed all night.
I don’t give a fuck about any of that. What I care about is knowing she’s safe when I’m mere miles from her. There’s not much I can do across the country. But here—now—I don’t even need an alibi for what I’d do to protect her.
“It was just a dinner, Easton. You can lower your sword,” she tells me, laughter laced in her voice.
I inch my way closer to her stagnant frame and wrap her with my body heat. I don’t touch her. Just take pride in the invisible bond between us, loving what my closeness does to her.
It’s just us here.
“I worry. You know this,” I whisper against the strands of her hair.
“I purposely didn’t text you back.”
I chuckle, wanting so goddamn badly to hold her. “Don’t I know it.”
“The party was fun. Capri looked so happy.” Her sultry voice lowers an octave, lacking her usual zest for life. But there’s an edge to it I can’t quite identify.
“I’m glad.”
“I saw two good friends of mine. Romeo and Luca. It was nice to see them.”
Never heard those names before but I’ll ignore the urge to growl for now.
“They live in Italy.”
“Good for them.” Now, that came out like a growl.
I don’t know what’s going on here.
“I ate steak. And rice. Drank some wine. Talked with family I’ve never met before. It was eventful.”
Swear to God, you could cut the tension between us with a knife.
“Sounds like it. Not enough to keep you away from my hotel room though, right?”
I conveniently made sure she knew my room number after she dropped me off for check-in. I’m anything if not thorough.
Silence stretches between us. The drop of her handbag on the ground resounds like a gunshot in the night.
“Easton.” My name on her lips is my favorite sound.
“I’ve spent most of my adult life running.
Chasing a dream that never even existed.
” God must truly be fucking with my self-control right now, because Collie slides the tan colored trench coat off her shoulders, and all I see is lace.
Ferrari red lace against the creamy pigment of her soft skin.
My breath catches at the back of my throat as her coat hits the floor, revealing the prize of a century. Thick lace, bows, and tight ribbons, all accentuating Collie’s toned curves. Not to mention the sexiest garter strap outlining the plumpness of her cheeks—ripe for the fucking taking.
A short tilt of my head also reveals a hot pink dildo twirling at the ends of her fingertips. Not sure how I almost missed that.
“My girl come to play?” I groan with anticipation.
It’s a miracle I’m not on my knees submitting to her mere presence right now.
But I know a better outcome will come with my patience.
And I’ve perfected that at this point in my life.
“Always,” she whispers. “You make me question everything, Easton. Every little thing.”
“I know the feeling,” I mumble hoarsely, gripping the seams of my pants to keep from reaching out. My gaze lingers on the arch of her midnight-black heels, showcasing her muscular thighs to perfection.
I follow the length of her legs that lead to the center of her back. Just when I’m about to reroute elsewhere on her body, I stop short at something new. Something I know wasn’t there two months ago.
Just above the center of Collie’s tailbone, permanently inked, is a lightning bolt. Shaded in greyscale. Simple and gloriously intentional.
I’m down bad.
I step closer, if that’s even possible. I’m less than a fingertip length away, just barely coasting her back, yet I refrain. I need her to initiate this.
She must feel my self-control breaking.
“Is that a tramp stamp I see, lost girl?” Without touching her skin, I crook my hand into the thickness of her hair and gather it to the side. The heat of my breath causes a flush of tingles to spread across the column of her neck.
“It is,” she exhales, refusing to move.
“Why?” I have to know. I need to hear her admit what I’ve been feeling since the moment we said goodbye two months ago.
Collie shifts her head to the side, just slightly enough to see me in her peripheral. Good. I want her to see the way her voice alone consumes me. “Because I felt nothing until you.”
And all the people said amen.
I hum against the shell of her ear, waiting for her to continue. I’m in for the fight of my life right now. “Keep going.”
“If what we had in Yellowstone was truly over, I needed to remember it. I had to. It meant too much to me to forget.”
“But why a lightning bolt?”
She takes no time to think it through. “Because it represents you. You may restore power to hundreds and thousands of people in this world, Ranger, but it’ll never equal the restoration you gave me. My heart. My mind. My body. My fucking soul.”
“Baby,” I groan, my fingertips grasping the seam on her garter and tapping the dildo in my pursuit. I can’t help myself. I need her to tell me I can touch her. Ravish her. Let me finally surrender to the makings of her hands.
“We can talk later,” her breathy voice whimpers. “Just touch me, Easton. Please.”
“Thank fuck.” As if on autopilot, I spin her to face me, and my hands are in her hair, holding her with everything I have to keep her close to me. Collie wraps her legs around my waist and abandons the dildo altogether as I slam us into the nearest wall.
“Collie. My Godddd, you beautiful woman.” My words come out as a strangled cry as my lips travel the length of her neck, leading to her chest at a wickedly fast pace.
“I’ve missed you. Missed this,” Collie cries out, her hands tangled into my long strands. I lower her feet to the floor, my knees meeting the hard surface in unison. I don’t want to waste another second not having all of her.
Yanking the fabric of her lace bodice to the side, her full tits spill free as I draw a nipple into my mouth.
“Goddamn. These tits,” I growl, my other hand grasping her left breast. “The way your moans have echoed in my dreams, Collie. You have no idea the dark craving you’ve inked inside of me. The beast I want to set fucking free.”
“Do it. Do it, Easton. Take me for good. I’m yours.”
My tongue circles her pebbled nipple, and the moan that seeps from her lips causes a surge of pride to simmer through me.
Pride because it’s my touch that does this to her.
And just like her words before, I’m the man worthy enough to be her glue.
But she’s severely mistaken if she thinks I deserve all the credit.
She restored herself—the most breathtaking human that was never truly broken.
Collie just needed time to believe it. To recognize the greatness already living inside of her. The greatness I saw from the moment she agreed to take an adventure with me.
Making my way down the center of her body, I kiss every square inch of her, doing my best to tease her but knowing good fucking well we won’t last. Not after being apart for so long.
The moment my lips meet the top of her mound, my forehead falls against her stomach as I breathe in the sweet scent of her arousal. “Mmm.” I inhale, just the smell of her cum evoking memories I never thought I’d get the chance to relive again.
“You know the drill. Taste me, Ranger. Shove your tongue inside me and make me feel good.”
“Fuck. I love your confidence,” I bellow, using her firm instruction as my green light to slip the lace of her lingerie to the side and spear my tongue into the center of her pussy.
“Just…just like that,” Collie moans breathlessly.
I thrust my tongue in and out before nibbling on her clit and doing it all over again. Her back arches and her legs shake, telling me she’s already close to coming. “Give it to me, baby. Scream for me.”
My lips latch onto her swollen clit as I shove two fingers inside. She’s soaked. Enough that preparing her is hardly necessary. My cock throbs against the seam of my jeans, begging to be touched. But I need her to have this moment.
Call it a reward for being vulnerable.
Or call it me being a selfish dick who quite literally wants nothing more than her taste in my mouth for days to come.
“Don’t stop. I’m right there. Right…there…”
“Listen to you. So fucking needy to come. I’m enjoying this too much.” My fingers work at her core, entering and exiting, only to ghost the cusp of her lips to bring on an extra edge.
That has Collie reeling. “You fucking tease,” she whimpers, and my laughter against her pussy causes her to quiver.
“You want my cock inside you, Collie?”
“You know I do.” I lift my eyes to meet hers, satisfaction filling me at the sight of pure and unadulterated lust blurring her vision. Her pink lips are swollen from biting, and red marks line her neck from my sucking.
All I can think is: mine.
“Then come for me, lost girl. Let me hear your cries of mercy before I fuck you.”
Her legs bow, hips bucking against my face as my teeth pull her clit into my mouth and my fingers curl against the spot I know she needs me most. Her orgasm rips through her; the scream that cuts through the hotel walls is a battle cry of surrender.
“That’s it, baby. Let the whole fucking town hear who you belong to. That it’s my mouth lapping up this pretty little cunt.”
“Holy fuck. Yessss.” I savor every last drop of her before standing and bringing her lips to mine.
With our lips locked, her breathing fights to settle as I whisper, “Now, get on the bed. Ass up. Face down. I want your cheeks spread wide for me, Collie. I intend to fuck any hesitation you have about us right out of you.”
No hesitation. No argument. Just obedience. “As you wish.”
“And Collie?” I call, causing her to stop. “Don’t forget the toy. You’ll be needing that.”