Chapter Twenty-Six
He was a total pushover for her. Oh, he might have the upper hand right this second, with her pinned under him, her legs wrapped about his hips while he made her come apart around him, but in an hour or so, he’d be at the depot, doing exactly what he’d swore he wouldn’t — be dragged into spending an evening with his cousin who despised him.
At the moment, he didn’t have to think about that yet — he could lose himself in the hot, wet clasp of her body, her quiet moan next to his ear, the scrape of her nails on his nape, zinging sensation down his spine to his balls.
Yeah, with all that, he wasn’t going to last.
Digging his elbow into the mattress, he levered up enough to slide his other arm between them, dancing a fingertip over her clit while holding his rhythm. Her gasp made him smile, and he tangled his hand in her hair, meeting blue eyes dark and slumbrous with pleasure and arousal.
She arched into him. “Oh, that’s good.”
“Very good.” His voice emerged raspy, his lungs and belly tight with exertion and desire.
Propped above her, he could see the way her breasts moved with each thrust, pink nipples furled and hard.
Rubbing with a pair of fingers, finding the pressure she liked best, he hunched enough to dip his head and drag his teeth over a pink, stiff peak.
“Colton.” She bowed again, fingers scraping his neck. Man, the breathless way she said his name . . .
She came apart in his arms, legs tightening about his, belly rubbing into him as she clenched on him in a sharp orgasm. And that moan while she came around him in waves . . . have mercy.
His own climax raced up his spine, tightening his balls before he lunged deep, spilling with a rough groan, the sound torn from his throat while his ability to breathe, think, see disappeared under a wash of knockout pleasure.
Lungs heaving, he rested his forehead on her shoulder, watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the tremble of her belly. Her laugh built under his torso, vibrating into him, and she tangled her hand in his hair, pulling his head up so she could kiss him.
Holding the condom in place with one hand, he molded his mouth to hers, drinking in her breathless laughter, her sighed “I love you.”
Mischief had him rubbing his nose and sweaty brow against her neck, and she wriggled, trying to evade him despite his weight pinning her lower body.
“Colt.” A giggle belied the stern command in her voice. “Stop.”
He kissed her clavicle, sucking a little at the rise of bone that was a perfect fit for his lips. “Weren’t saying that a few seconds ago.”
She smacked his ass, hard enough to sting.
“Hey.” Making a grab for the offending hand, he pinned her wrist to the bed above her head and dipped his head for a hard kiss, taking her mouth until she sighed and softened into him. With a regretful growl, he bumped his nose next to hers. “I’ve got to get in the shower.”
“Mmmm.” She rolled to her belly, cheek pressed to her folded arms as he crawled off the bed, still holding the condom in place. “Tick’s new habit of being late makes sense now.”
The slug of that name hitting his belly shoved some of the lingering pleasure aside. “Huh.”
In the bathroom, he tugged off the condom and discarded it before reaching in the shower to start the water heating. Eying himself in the mirror, he rubbed a hand over his shadowed jaw. Yeah, a shave was a necessity.
Light footsteps preceded her appearance behind him, and she wrapped her arms about his waist, pressing a kiss to his shoulder blade.
He folded a hand over hers, trapping her fingers against his abs.
Her cheek brushed his spine, and he met his own gaze in the mirror, even and steady, none of the slight dread showing.
That was good. He didn’t want her worrying.
Even though her shower had turned into a sort of erotic playground for them over the past month, he managed to keep his hands to himself and not start anything else, soaping off and shaving while she lathered and rinsed and washed her hair.
Listening to her cosmetics rattle and the hairdryer buzz, he kept his mental focus on getting ready – antiperspirant, a splash of aftershave, shrugging into his white shirt he loved on her as much as he loved stripping it from her body.
Dark jeans, his belt and watch, socks, boots.
With nothing but his blazer to go, he straightened up the bed while she donned her party attire – a sparkly red sequined skirt that clung to her hips and thighs, a black sweater with wispy feathers waving about her wrists while she threaded rhinestone drops through her ears.
He paused in the middle of fluffing a pillow. Man, the way she shone. He loved that. “You look great.”
Leaning down to fasten the ankle strap on a pair of black heels – she’d be clinging to him all night, not that that was a bad thing at all – she flicked a glance up at him, a bright smile lighting her face. “Thank you.”
That smile was his reason for doing this tonight.
Not seeing his cousin, not giving in to the old hope that had done nothing but break his heart over and over.
Tick could be mad and resentful as he wanted to be, punish Colt forever by freezing him out because that thank you was bullshit, meant nothing, as long as Holly was happy.
Now, if Lamar upset her? All bets were off.
He didn’t need Tick, had let go for real, but let Holly get hurt because of Lamar’s stubbornness.
Colt would have his ass.
She was in a good mood as they set out, sparkling and chattering in the truck, and as always, that cheerful glow found its way into all the dark little crannies of his soul, smoothing him out.
As predicted, she wrapped a hand around his biceps, clutching herself close and using him for stability as they crossed the parking lot behind Debbie’s where he’d managed to find a parking spot.
One corner of his mouth quirked. Had to admit he liked being her stability.
Standing with David near the long ramp that ran up to the Chamber entrance, Lorraine spotted them, fire-engine-red lips rounding in exaggerated awe before she smiled. “Girl, that skirt is fire.”
“You look beautiful.” Holly released him to hug her friend, the two of them like a fireworks show, Holly’s red sequins against Lorraine’s purple dress.
David had their traditional purple covered, too, neatly starched shirt paired with a silvery gray tie and a black suit.
Colt reached to shake his hand, and Lorraine graced him with a smiling nod, while she and Holly stood, arms about one another’s waists.
“Still liking the new job?” David flicked a nearly nonexistent piece of lint off his sleeve.
“I’m getting used to it.” This part was still awkward, small talk with Holly’s friends, Tick’s friends, who had once upon a time been his friends, too. He just walked through it, and sooner or later it was over. “How was your week?”
“Busy. People get crazy this time of year.”
Lorraine turned her head, murmuring in Holly’s ear. Holly jerked back, shock and horror tightening her face. Colt frowned, losing the thread of David’s story about his last shift.
What was that look all about?
Whatever it was, the emotion shifted in a heartbeat, joy overriding everything else, her gaze trained on the sidewalk at the Broad Street entrance to the lot.
Colt didn’t even have to look.
“Tick! You’re here!”
“Hey, Hols.” He dropped his hand from Caitlin’s spine to catch Holly as she threw a hard, enthusiastic hug around him. His easy laugh, his face relaxing into a grin, punched hard in the middle of Colt’s chest. Colt glanced away. He wasn’t doing this shit to himself anymore.
Holly turned Tick loose so she could wrap a hug around Caitlin’s neck. She stiffened a moment before visibly forcing herself to relax. Colt frowned. She was something for sure, a riddle like a Hardy or Yeats poem, not that he’d ever have to worry about figuring her out.
And Holly didn’t seem to mind her subtle standoffishness.
“Cait, you look amazing. This blouse is always great on you.” Holly tweaked the hem of Caitlin’s red blouse, half-tucked into a pair of slim black pants. “Where did you find it? Penney’s or Kohl’s?”
Colt quirked a brow. No way his cousin’s wife shopped at a chain store. No freaking way. And Holly would know that. Something had made her nervous as hell tonight. He tightened up, from his gut all the way to his throat.
Tick choked, and Caitlin shot him a quelling look. “I’m not sure where Jane found it.”
“She’s your friend, the personal shopper, right?
” Red sequined skirt glittering with each movement, Holly tucked herself into Colt’s side, winding her arm about his waist. She grinned up at him, eyes sparkling as brightly as that skirt, unwinding some of the tension holding him hostage.
“I could do that, spending all day in Tallahassee at the mall, spending other people’s money. ”
As much as she loved the vet work, she’d be in heaven with that job. He tucked her in a little closer, squeezing her waist. “You’d be great at that.”
Tick cleared his throat and extended a hand. “Colt.”
Colt stilled, lungs freezing, then he nodded and reached to take Tick’s hand. “Lamar.”
He couldn’t freaking breathe, not with Tick’s fingers closed about his in a firm, warm grip.
“David and Lorraine are here.” Her voice breathless, a slight shimmer of dampness in her blue eyes, Holly waved a hand toward the other couple.
“Lamar.” Pleasure suffused Lorraine’s voice, and the hint of lingering tension drained from Tick’s stance as he took his friend into his arms. Snuggled close, Lorraine patted his ass, and behind them, Caitlin rolled her eyes heavenward.
As Lamar stepped away, David pulled him into a backslapping embrace, and Lorraine turned a hug on Caitlin, rubbing her spine.