Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
C olton forced his hands to unclench and his voice to remain calm. “Are you all right, Mel?”
She coughed, her eyes too wide in her too pale face. “Yes.”
Frustration swept through him, and he fought to keep calm. The sight of her frightened face would keep him up for nights. She shouldn’t be managing a ranch all by herself—accidents always happened.
He strode through the storm, grasped her arm, and began leading her back to the house. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, once he stepped onto the covered front porch.
“Me?” she laughed, the sound slightly off-kilter. “You’re bleeding.”
He wiped blood off his forehead. “Just a scratch.” Clearing his throat, he tried to stomp mud off his boots while tugging a clean bandana from his inside coat pocket to wipe his hands clean. “I, ah, need a shower.”
She stepped toward him, and he lifted an eyebrow. After what seemed like a small mental debate, she grabbed his destroyed shirt and tugged. Stretching up on her toes, her mouth slid against his.
Fire lashed through him so quickly he swayed. A million thoughts exploded at once, and he shut them down. Completely.
Groaning, he hauled her close and took over. The fear, the storm, the fury all comingled into raw need inside him. There were no more thoughts, no more uncertainties.
There was only this woman and this moment.
So he took both as deep as he could. He angled his mouth, and she drew a sharp breath, holding it.
Her lips softened beneath his as he explored her, learning her taste. Wild huckleberries and brandy? The most delicious combination in existence. She moaned deep in her throat, the sound sparking down his torso to his balls.
Her grip on him felt strong and sure. He bent her, his hands full of woman. Brushing a hand across her firm ass, he shuddered. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you?” Punctuating his words, he cupped a handful. Firm and tight, her flesh was better than he’d dreamed.
He shouldn’t have said that. But the connection between his mouth and brain had disappeared.
She sighed against him, pressing closer. “Hurry.”
“Not a chance.” He reached behind them to shove open the front door, backing her inside. Heat blasted them. His hold tightened, and he lifted her to sit on the rugged entryway table, legs spread, shirt now muddy and wet. The door clicked shut behind him.
The storm raged outside, rain clashing down past the covered porch. He kicked shut the door. Even so, the wildness inside him overtook any sense of caution. Of reality. Letting go of any doubts, he fisted her hair and twisted, putting her right where he wanted her. She returned his kiss, gyrating against him, the calm Melanie turning into a wildcat.
Her nails bit into his coat. She unclenched her hold and released him in a primitive display of trust.
He wouldn’t let her fall. This was Melanie. He gentled his touch, leaning back. Slowly, he ran his knuckles across her smooth cheekbone. “You’re beautiful,” he breathed. The woman mattered, and he’d take care of her.
She blinked, freezing for a second. Then her eyes darkened, and she yanked on the hem of his coat and shirt, pulling both up. He ducked his head and allowed her to tear them off. The cold slapped his skin right before her warm palms slid across his pecs.
She breathed out and pinched his nipple.
He stilled. Heat spiraled through him, and he allowed himself one small breath. Control. He needed control. Glancing down at her upturned face through heavy lids, he felt the first snapping of it spinning away.
Her melted chocolate eyes glazed with need. He’d bruised her lips, and they pouted pink and gorgeous. But he needed to slow down and show her how much she meant to him.
Much more than he’d be willing to admit to either one of them.
This was crazy, and he should stop them both, but it was too late. Keeping her gaze, he slid a hand over her undulating abdomen and down into her yoga pants, not stopping until his fingers touched a very thin cotton barrier. Swallowing, he moved the material aside and found her.
Hot and wet, her soft skin almost dropped him to his knees. Tapping his fingers in place, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and lifted her. She slid both arms around his neck and pressed closer, her thighs hugging his hips, her core tilting against his hand. A soft moan of need escaped her, and his cock zipped to full attention.
Holding tight, he headed straight for the sofa to sit her on the back. A quick twist, and he yanked her shirt over her head.
She was perfect.
Small, white, and sweet, her breasts tempted him. Teased him. He dropped and licked one pink nipple, circling the bud until it was hard as glass. The intimacy of the moment caught his breath.
She dug her hands into his wet hair, holding him close. His Mel wasn’t shy.
He tried to restrain his strength, but she pulled on his hair, and gentleness became a dream. She keened when he scraped his teeth across her nipple.
So he turned to her other breast and gave it the same attention before standing upright and grabbing the waist of her pants. Her hands drifted down his body to his belt. “Lift,” he whispered.
Releasing him, she balanced on the back of the sofa with both hands and lifted. A cloud, a tinge of uncertainty crossed her girl-next-door face as he removed her pants and thong.
That wouldn’t do.
He dropped the clothes to the ground and kissed her, hard and complete. She moaned against him, and he pressed against her sex, sliding one finger inside a warmth too hot to be real.
Her breath caught even during the kiss, and she pushed against him.
He released her and waited until her eyes focused before speaking. She was amazing. “Hold yourself up, Mel. If you fall, I stop.”
Confusion clouded her features until he dropped to his knees and his mouth found her.
Her entire body went rigid, and for a moment, he thought she’d fall onto the sofa cushions on the other side. But her thigh muscles tightened, and she remained in place.
He grinned against her, his finger working her G-spot, his tongue lashing her clit. She tasted like a sweet treat, wild and free. Those spectacular thighs trembled, and her internal walls gripped his finger.
The minx was fighting it.
Amusement and determination filtered through him at the same time. Only Mel would try to control when and how she orgasmed. She was about to learn that any control in the bedroom belonged to him.
He sucked her clit into his mouth, and at the same time, he slipped another finger inside her to twist.
She cried out, her back arching, as she came. Her abdomen trembled while she rode out the waves. He lashed her clit, prolonging her orgasm as long as he could.
Finally, with a murmured sigh, she came down.
And fell over the back of the couch.
Melanie landed on the cushions. Gasping, she sprang to her knees and shoved wild curls away from her face as she gaped at Colton on the other side of the sofa. That had been the most amazing orgasm of her life. By the pleased look on his face, he knew it. She had no words.
Mud coated his pants, and his cheek had swollen with a purple bruise. Even so, she wanted him inside her. Now.
As if in total agreement, he unbuckled his belt and drew it through the loops. The hills and valleys of his rigid abs compared to those of the mountains around them. Powerful and dangerous. Then his jeans and boxers hit the floor. He held a condom in his right hand.
She swallowed, not sure where to look. Now that she’d orgasmed, reality threatened to return. She dared a peek.
Holy crap. The rumors whispered by lucky cheerleaders in high school were true. Beyond over the top, true.
Colt was built. Gifted. Freakin’ huge.
She swallowed. “Um?—”
He reached for her waist and lifted back her over the sofa and toward his hard body. “Stop thinking.”
“Man, you’re strong,” she muttered, that fluttering setting up in her abdomen again. He’d lifted her like she was one of those delicate, fan-waving women in the city.
“Strong enough.” He spun her around to face the couch. Seconds later, he pressed her against the leather.
Panic and desire swooshed through her. “Colt?—”
“Shh.” He nipped her ear, his body enclosing her, his heated breath warming her skin. “Open for me, Mel.” A smart slap echoed before her ass radiated an erotic pain.
She opened her mouth to protest—probably—and he caressed his hand around her hip to cup her sex, his index finger tapping her clit. Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. She tried to push up, to do anything, and was stopped by his free hand flattening across her upper back.
“I want you like this,” he whispered into her ear, sending tendrils of lust through her skin from behind her. “Just like this.”
A crackling filled the air as he must’ve slipped on the condom. Grasping her hips, he plunged inside her with one strong stroke.
She cried out and levered up on her toes, taking all of him. He was too big—too wide?—
He reached around and tugged on her clit, and she dropped down. The fiery need lashing through forced her to push against him, to gyrate, to do anything to ease the pressure.
“Relax.” He slid his hands over her bottom, caressing where he’d smacked her. “I’ve dreamed of my palm print right here.” Then those dangerous fingers slid around and up to her breasts to play.
His chest against her back, he tugged and caressed her nipples, sending sparks of electricity to where they remained joined.
Emotion swamped her. “Colt,” she ground out. Colton Freeze was inside her. Completely. Her heart jittered, and she tried to control herself. “Move or I’ll kill you.”
“Hmmm.” He licked along the shell of her ear. “Like this?” Slipping his hands down, he grasped her hips and slowly slid out of her to smoothly slide back in.
“M-maybe a bit faster,” she panted, her vision going gray. “So I don’t have to murder you later.”
“Ahhh.” He nipped. “Okay.” Dark amusement lowered his voice. Digging his fingers in, taking control, he slid out and then back in with force. Increasing his speed as well as his strength, he began to pound.
Hard, angled, and in perfect timing, he thrust into her. They moved in tune with each other, instinct and history whispering something neither would accept right now.
She arched and tried to take him deeper. So deep he’d never find his way out.
He chuckled and planted his hand against her upper back. She tried to push harder, to get him to quicken his thrusts, stilling only when a hard slap across her buttocks shocked her.
Wetness spilled from her, coating her thighs.
“I don’t like that,” she hissed against the cushions.
“Liar,” he whispered, his grip strong and sure.
With his hand holding her in place, and his body thrusting, she could do nothing but take what he was giving. Helpless, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t even see him behind her. Damn if that didn’t turn her on more.
The moment held a powerful truth. He controlled more than her body.
With a low growl, he pounded harder, his dick swelling inside her.
She sighed, arching, trying to reach the pinnacle. “Colton.”
He slowed, and her eyes flipped open.
Then he paused.
She shook her head. No stopping! Digging her nails into leather, she shoved back against him.
He chuckled at her ear and slowly withdrew to turn her around so she could face him. “I want to see your face,” he murmured.
The tenderness and fire lighting his amazing eyes stole her breath. The shift from wildness to Colt’s natural sweet disposition threw her, and she swallowed.
He threaded both hands through her hair and leaned in. The kiss started soft and instantly spiraled to lava. She rubbed against him, the ache inside her almost unbearable. He lifted her to walk them both around the sofa. The second her butt hit cushions, he covered her, laying them both down. she manacled his hips with her legs, securing her ankles.
One strong thrust, and he embedded himself inside her.
She opened her mouth on a strong exhale. “I’ve always wondered,” she whispered.
A gentle smile curved his lips. “Me too.”
One more soft kiss to her mouth, and he reached down to grab her hip. Slowly, he started to move.
Electricity ripped through her. “More.”
His eyes darkened with an emotion she couldn’t read. His pace increased along with the force of his thrusts.
She curled her fingers around his rib cage, digging in. Her thighs clenched. But she couldn’t look away. A part of her wanted to look away, to sever the intimacy binding them tight, but he held her gaze captive.
All or nothing.
That was Colt.
A spiraling whipped through her, slamming hard in her cervix, and she cried out, her back arching. Waves of intense electricity rippled through her, and she held on, riding them out. His name was the only sound on her lips.
Finally, with almost a sob, she went limp.
Colton ground against her as he came. Enfolding her, he kissed her cheek. “Melanie.”