Epilogue
BLAIRE
Three Months Later
C olt’s silhouette carved itself against the Tennessee sky.
The fading light of the sun washed over his skin, catching the proud line of his jaw where a day’s worth of stubble darkened, and casting long shadows below the brim of his cowboy hat.
My breath caught as I watched his shoulders flex and roll with each movement of the horse.
His shirt clung to the ridge of his spine as he shifted his weight in the saddle.
He looked so wild and untamed as he rode, like he belonged to nothing and no one but the open sky above us.
But he belonged to me, and he belonged to this land.
Every muscle in his arm and thigh moved with that steady, easy confidence of a man who knew this soil the way he knew his own hands.
I’d been chasing after their dust for three miles now, my heart racing faster than my horse’s hooves, the same way I’d chased that man for half my life.
Every few minutes, he’d turn back in the saddle, and when our eyes met, his smile would unfurl slowly and knowingly. Each time, that smile sent a flush of heat cascading through me like wildflowers blooming across this hillside after rain.
We’d dropped Ruby off at the main house half an hour ago. Lou had met us on the porch with a Tupperware of fresh cookies still warm from the oven. Ruby barely waved goodbye before she was sprinting inside, words tumbling out of her mouth faster than she could form them properly.
I’d felt the first pang of separation watching Ruby go, then that immediate, guilty relief that made my cheeks warm.
It was followed by the unmistakable want that bloomed low in my belly when Colt’s calloused fingertips found the small of my back.
He’d pressed there, his thumb grazing the strip of bare skin where my shirt had ridden up.
That single touch burned through my clothes like a brand.
It was hard to argue with a man like Colt when he wanted something. It was even harder when I wanted it, too.
We rode in silence toward home, our home now , since that night two months ago when we stood in my freshly repaired bedroom at June’s. Colt had shifted his weight from one boot to the other, eyes darting around the small space.
“Ruby’s gotten used to having you down the hall,” he’d said, voice gruff. His eyes met mine, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. “This room’s too small for all your things anyway.”
“What?” I’d laughed and wrapped my arms around his waist as I looked up at him.
“Just stay with us, Blaire,” he huffed, and he was so damn cute, I couldn’t deny him.
At the far end of the property, the house came into view, and just beyond it, the lake stretched and shimmered with the dying sunlight.
Our horses slowed to a walk as we approached the house, and Colt glanced over, eyes dancing with something that made my stomach flutter. When we stopped, our legs nearly touched as we slid from our saddles. His fingers grazed mine as he reached for my reins.
“I’ve got them,” he said, voice low and rough.
With quick, practiced movements, he secured both horses to the hitching post, then dragged his forearm across his forehead. I couldn’t help but notice the way his muscles moved beneath tan skin, or the way a flush of color still rode high on his cheekbones from our ride.
I was halfway up the porch steps when his fingers caught my wrist. Heat bloomed beneath his fingers, and I stopped, looking over my shoulder to find him standing a foot below, his face half in shadow, half in sunlight.
His grip shifted, fingers sliding between mine, his calloused thumb finding the sensitive hollow of my palm.
I felt my breath hitch as his gaze traveled down my body, lingering at my throat, my chest, the curve of my hips where my jeans clung from the heat of our ride.
“What?” I asked, the word so quiet I wasn’t sure he heard it.
My skin prickled with awareness as his eyes made their slow journey back up, leaving a trail of heat behind.
When his gaze finally locked with mine, the unmistakable hunger I saw there made something low in my belly tighten and unfurl.
He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from his body, smell the sun on his skin, but not close enough to touch.
“Swim with me,” he murmured, his fingers tightening around mine as he tugged me toward him until I collided with the solid wall of his chest.
I laughed, but it came out breathless as his free hand found the small of my back. “Are you not going to let me change into my swimsuit?”
He simply shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in that half-smile that promised trouble. “Don’t need one,” he whispered, close enough now that his lips brushed my ear.
I barely had time to catch my breath before he was tugging me down the porch steps and toward the lake. He stepped in tight behind me, chest pressed to my back, and his mustache tickled my neck as he bent his head, lips grazing the shell of my ear.
“I want you like this,” he murmured. “Hot from the ride. Still wild.”
I shivered, and he caught the motion with a low laugh, his hand sliding up to gently grip my throat. I twisted to face him, reckless with need, and hungry for the way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the world worth wanting.
I nodded, rising on my toes to press my mouth to his.
He caught my face in his hand, fingers digging rough into my jaw, and kissed me like he’d die without it.
His tongue swept against mine, stubble rough against my cheek.
I whimpered into his mouth, already wild for him, but he broke away too soon, his breath burning across my face.
“Come on,” he rasped and tugged me after him.
We barely made it to the side of the house before he stopped and snatched up a battered old cooler I hadn’t even noticed. I blinked, breathless, and smacked his arm. “Colt Calloway, did you plan this?”
He just grinned, all cocky and devastating, and pulled me closer. “Maybe.”
He tugged me so close our hips touched, and I could barely keep my balance, dizzy on the sudden shift in gravity. All I wanted was to reach up and haul him down to my mouth, but he’d already moved ahead, pulling me behind him with a greedy, unhurried certainty.
The last gold light slanted low over the mountains as we descended toward the lake. The water flared with reflections of the sky, blue and bruised and shot through with streaks of fire.
His fingers remained locked with mine as we half-ran, half-slid down the slope.
When his boot caught on a slick rock, he stumbled forward but never let go, pulling me into his momentum until we both nearly toppled.
My laughter bubbled up wild and unchecked, my lungs burning as I tried to match his long strides.
He glanced down at our twined hands, then up at me, and all the bravado and cockiness melted into something softer and wilder at the same time.
In one sudden motion, he swung me up, arms banded beneath my thighs, and I let out a yelp that was half laughter, half unguarded joy.
He just grinned and stalked the length of the old wooden gangway with me locked to his chest.
The dock creaked under his boots, the sound echoing across the water, and all I could focus on was the flex of his arms around me and the racing tangle of my own pulse.
At the end of the dock, Colt set me down with a gentleness that was so at odds with the fire in his touch, steadying me even after my boots were firmly planted on the wood. The cooler thunked onto the dock next to us, but he didn’t let me go.
Instead, his thumbs hooked into the hem of my shirt, and in one smooth motion, he drew it up and over my head, the fabric snagging for the briefest second at my elbows before I left my arms to help him.
He tossed my shirt onto the dock boards, and his hands found my bare stomach.
His mouth followed, lips soft at first as they traced the hollow of my throat, then rough and hungry as he bit gently at my collarbone.
I felt my knees wobble and braced both hands on his shoulders, steadying myself on the familiar slope of muscle under cotton.
He was already working the button of my jeans, and I laughed as I tried to catch his hands, but he just shook his head, that wolfish smile widening.
“Didn’t say you could stop me,” he murmured against my skin, his voice a low rumble that vibrated straight through to my bones.
“I thought we were going for a swim,” I managed, but my body was already arching into his, greedy for the heat of him. He had my jeans undone and halfway down my thighs before I could protest, and then he was kneeling to tug off my boots and pull them the rest of the way off.
He looked up at me from where he crouched, and the expression on his face was worshipful, hungry, so full of love it made my chest ache. It made me want to drop to my knees and thank the universe for delivering this man to me, even if it had taken the long, hard way around.
He stood, dropping his hat to the dock before shedding his own shirt in a single impatient yank.
I took in every muscle and scar and freckle that told the story of a body built from years of hard work.
He leaned in and kissed me, his hands skating up my ribs, and I felt myself go weightless again, floating even though my feet were on solid wood.
Colt’s mouth was still on mine when he nudged us both backward, step by step, until the ladder pressed against my calves.
He broke the kiss, and for a second, neither of us spoke.
The only sounds were the lap of water against the dock, the distant whinny of one of our horses, and the wild hammering of my heart.
He grinned at me, all mischief and challenge. “Ladies first,” he said, but his eyes said I could do whatever the hell I wanted, and he’d still follow me anywhere.