Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
M elanie breathed in the chilly night air as she left Jake’s house, wondering how she’d been so easily outmaneuvered. “Now wait a minute.” She paused by the door of her truck to face Colton. “Why do you need a ride home?”
“I rode in with Quinn and Juliet.” Colton yanked the passenger door open and slid inside.
“Why couldn’t they give you a ride home?” Melanie grumbled as she climbed into her truck.
“They’re all kissy-kissy.” Colton shut the door. “You look tired. Want me to drive?”
Melanie ignited the engine and decided to enjoy the ride. “Sorry, control freak. Enjoy the passenger side.”
“I am not a control freak. I just like to drive,” Colton objected.
“Huh.” The guy didn’t like the wheel in anybody else’s hands. Melanie hit a pothole at the end of Jake’s drive.
“You did that on purpose,” Colton muttered.
Yeah, she’d nailed that one. “Prove it,” she said.
“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked.
“Yes.” She felt right at home with the Lodge-Freeze family and had truly enjoyed playing with both Nathan and Leila. God, she wanted kids. So badly. “How did the board meeting go?”
“Fine. They didn’t call for my head—yet anyway,” he said.
“They are a patient group.” For some reason, needling Colton had become a good goal since he’d been so serious all night. “There’s plenty of time. It’s not like you use your head much.”
He chuckled. “Any reason you’re tempting me to toss your ass over my knee again?”
Heat zinged through her body to land between her legs. “Threaten me again, and you’ll walk home, Freeze.” Her voice remained level, and triumph filled her.
They came upon the ridge overlooking Mineral Lake, and Colton pointed to the overhang, which stood to the side and could see over most of the nearest valley. “Pull over for a sec. I can see the Angus from here.”
Melanie pulled over.
Colton grinned before twisting the ignition and taking the keys.
“Hey.” Silence surrounded them, and Melanie turned toward him. “Give me the keys.”
“You ever park here?” Colt asked, his voice soft, his eyes glowing in the moonlight.
The sexy tone licked over her skin. “No. Give me the keys.” This time, her voice wavered.
“Come and get them.” He slipped them into his front pocket.
Images of what lay just behind that pocket filled her mind and heated her body. “You’re a little too old for that game,” she breathed.
“Ah, baby. You’re never too old for that game.” He reached down and unbuckled her belt. “You’ve been pushing me all night. Why don’t you just get it out of your system?”
“Meaning, what?” she asked.
“You’re mad at my reaction to your calling Dawn, and I get that. But I apologized, so let’s get past it,” he said evenly.
She drew in a deep breath. “You think you’re so charming that an apology can get you past anything, don’t you?” He had a right to think that, considering his charm had always worked. Plus, he usually meant his words, so his apologies were sincere.
“If words aren’t enough, what do you want?” He caressed down her arm to her thigh, and her muscle bunched beneath his firm grasp.
She swallowed. “Nothing. Words are fine.”
He leaned closer, his hand sliding to her knee, his breath heating her ear. “I don’t think so. What else could I possibly do to make you forgive me?”
Her entire body shuddered as she tried to retain control and not rip his clothes off. “Seduction is a waste of time.” She hoped the words emerged logically.
He chuckled, and the sound vibrated straight to her clit. “We both know you just meant to challenge me.”
She had no clue what she’d meant to do, since her mind had pretty much shut down. Her body trembled with a need so great it astounded her. The man had barely touched her. “No challenge intended.”
He caressed up her thigh to press against the apex of her legs. “Open for me, baby.”
She grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, the stars blurring high in the sky. “We’re in the truck.”
“I know.” He nipped her ear, and she stopped breathing.
Then she slid her knees farther apart.
“Good girl,” he breathed, quickly unzipping her jeans and slipping one finger beneath her panties. “So, about our game.”
She blinked again, biting her lip to keep from gyrating against his hand. “G-game?”
“Yeah.” He licked along the shell of her ear. “The game is called two minutes—over and under.”
She shut her eyes and tried to concentrate while the world narrowed to his talented fingers. “I don’t know that game.” Her words came out in a breathless rush, and she couldn’t help rolling her hips.
“It’s easy. When I say go , I either make you come within two minutes, or I don’t. Feel free to fight it.” He tugged on her clit for emphasis. “If I win, I choose where we stay the night, and you forgive me. If you win, you can continue being irritated and spend the night by yourself.”
Two minutes? She could make it a measly two minutes. “And…I get Feisty’s next colt.” Feisty was Colt’s favored thoroughbred champion, and she should be foaling within the next year.
Colton chuckled. “Fair enough, but if the stakes are that high, you have to keep your hands on the steering wheel and your legs open. You change either of those, and you lose.”
“Fine.” Drawing on all of the dignity and pride she could find, she settled her mind to think about taxes next year.
“Are you ready?” He licked down her neck.
Her skin tingled where he roamed. “Give it your best shot, Freeze.” Taxes. Numbers. Shoes. Bunions. What the heck was a bunion, anyway?
“ Go ,” he whispered. Then he released her and leaned back.
Her eyelids shot open. “What?—”
“Keep your hands on the wheel.” He pushed a button on his watch and then expertly slipped open her blouse buttons. “You. Can’t. Move.”
Desire ran with heated claws through her abdomen. She could do this. Two minutes. Only two minutes.
He flicked open the front clasp of her bra.
Crap. She should’ve worn a different bra. A sports bra, even. Wetness coated her thighs, and she fought to keep from rubbing her legs together.
His rough hand palmed one breast, and she bit back a harsh moan.
He reached across her and pulled a lever, sliding the seat back about ten inches.
“No, you?—”
He smiled and leaned in to enclose one nipple. “Be quiet, Mel, and hold on to the wheel.”
Her knuckles ached as she tightened her hold.
He bit down enough to have her crying out. Electrical shocks cascaded from her nipple to her sex. “Colton.” Her head fell back on the headrest.
Wet and rough, his tongue bathed her smarting flesh. “I love how you respond,” he murmured. “Have you ever been tied up?”
A spiraling started deep in her sex, and she fought to concentrate, to hold back the impending orgasm. “No, and it’s not going to happen,” she panted.
The heel of his palm pressed down on her clit at the same time as he inched two fingers inside her. “I think it will happen,” he said, crisscrossing his fingers and zeroing in on her G-spot.
A rushing sound filled her ears, and her body began to gyrate against her will.
He levered up and kissed her, hard and deep. She lost herself in his mouth, in his determination, in the very maleness that was Colton.
She could do this. Kiss him and not come. Except he had two hands.
Without warning, his tongue swept her mouth just as he pushed down on her clit, his free hand tweaking her nipple.
Hard.
She exploded from the inside out, white flashes zipping behind her eyelids. Waves of intense pleasure ripped through her, breasts to toes, undulating her abdomen, making her cry out into his mouth.
His magical fingers prolonged her orgasm, forcing her to ride the waves until her entire body went lax. She flopped back against the leather as he removed his hands and refastened her bra and shirt.
Finally, panting, she opened one eye. “Time?”
Arrogance, amusement, and an alarming gentleness curved his smile as he glanced at his watch. “Eighty-two seconds. I guess you’re mine for the entire night.”
Her stomach clenched, and her breasts, already at attention, yipped a yahoo . How in the world would she survive an entire night with Colton Freeze?
Colton nudged his cabin door open, wondering idly if he should carry Melanie inside. Were his brothers right? Was this actually love? The idea started to seem plausible and not so alarming.
Melanie stepped inside. “Colton Freeze, folks. The most organized, well-planned financial genius in town…and complete slob.”
He shut the door. “I’m not a slob.” Then he glanced around at his boots by the door, shirts on the couch, and dry groceries he’d failed to put away still sitting on the table. “Maybe?”
She laughed and began folding clean shirts. “You’re not dirty, just messy.”
“Oh baby, I can be dirty.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a way guaranteed to make her laugh harder.
She wiped her eyes. “I love the sound of the stream out back.”
“Me too.” He liked living to the west of everyone. The one bedroom cabin had one bathroom and a main living space that consisted of a living room, eating nook, and kitchen. A massive stone fireplace took up one wall and windows another. The stream outside was a constant flow.
Wind rattled pine needles against the window.
He took the shirts from her and tossed them on a chair. “Have you noticed we haven’t made love in a bed yet?”
Pink slid across her face, and he watched, fascinated.
His phone buzzed, and only the need to find out about Hawk could pull Colt’s attention from Melanie. “Freeze,” he answered.
“Colt? It’s Dad. Hawk slipped into a coma.”