Chapter Seven
C olt stood at the big wall of glass that overlooked the lake. Pines soared into the air, framing the view that Aspen seemed to love as much as he did.
“I bought this place to heal.”
He felt her shift closer, the warmth of her body heating his side.
“I got out of the military and I was so fucked in the head, I knew I couldn’t go home and dump that on my family. The way we grew up wasn’t easy, and they’ll always be there for me, but I didn’t want to ask that of them.”
“Your family loves you. I could see that much at the wedding.”
He nodded but kept his stare locked on the end of the dock. How many nights had he sat there alone, watching the moonlight ripple on the surface of the water and trying to master his emotions?
“I went to a cabin in the mountains that wasn’t much better than the first cabin you and I went to.”
“Oh god. That’s how you knew.”
He nodded.
“I wanted some time before I was around people again.” When he began speaking, he thought it was to make Aspen more comfortable, less exposed after what she shared with him.
Now he realized he was ready to open up to someone, and she was the perfect listener.
She set a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to her. She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest, over his heart. He held her close, breathing in her sweet smell.
“You shared your scars, so I’ll share mine. I have violent dreams.”
She met his gaze.
“I don’t want to scare you or shock you, so it’s best if we don’t share a bed during our time here.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t have any last night, did you?”
“No, but that is unusual.”
“I see.”
“I thought I’d never have a relationship because of it. I knew my siblings would find partners, but I figured I’d be the eccentric uncle who never had a real relationship.
“Oaks and I are close, but the only reason he asked me to be his best man was to make sure I showed up. If he hadn’t asked me, I would have taken off before the wedding day.”
“Your family cares about you a lot. I see things like that.”
He shook his head, trying to cast off the deep emotions seizing him. “I’m the middle brother. The forgotten brother. And I got really good at hiding to avoid my father’s wrath.”
“You would have just faded away…but your family wouldn’t let you.”
“Seems that way.” He smoothed his hands down her spine, learning the way she felt in his hold and loving it more with each heartbeat that passed.
“You hid from your father, from your thoughts and feelings…from everything.”
He nodded at her assessment. “My father was not an easy man. Guess I learned from him.”
“What did you learn?”
“That men don’t have emotions. It’s why I ended up here, keeping to myself. Till my baby sister came to check on me. I couldn’t get rid of her.” He issued a low laugh. “She stayed, decorated and helped me heal enough to want to return to the Black Heart. Not enough to live in the main house with everyone, but enough I did go home.”
He thought about his time with Willow. How she kept up the cheerful chatter, not seeming to mind that he didn’t have much to add to the conversation. He turned his head and fixed his gaze on the dock once more.
He and Willow had sat there together plenty of nights. Several times, he tried to talk to her about his time in the military—about the things he’d seen and done. In the end, he couldn’t utter a single word.
But Willow knew. They just sat and stared at the same scene that Aspen was sharing with him now.
At the same time he turned back to her, she tilted her beautiful face up.
Cupping her cheek, he closed the distance between them, his movements deliberate. Each inch became a promise of what he was about to do. Her eyes gleamed with excitement as his lips finally claimed hers.
At the first soft brush, he closed his eyes. She let out a small moan, and he tugged her flush against him. In all his years, he never confided to another human being. Horses, he talked to regularly. Even the occasional barn cat. None of those talks provided such a buoyant feeling in his soul the way talking to Aspen did.
As he drew her deeper into the kiss, she rubbed against him. Desire gripped his gut.
Stretching his fingers through her cloud of curls, he swept his tongue out to taste her. She returned the caress with a stroke of her own honey-sweet tongue. She angled her head, drawing him deeper until his cock throbbed and she was practically climbing him like a tree.
Breaking the kiss, she clung to his shoulders as if her knees were too weak to stand. “There’s a bed three steps away from us.”
He arched a brow. “You want to have sex in a bed? I thought a travel concierge would have a more exciting plan.”
“You’re right—how boring. I can’t believe I had such a lame idea.” She gave her head a small shake, causing her loose curls to float around her shoulders.
God, she was adorable and fascinating. And he wanted her.
With a deep chuckle, he lifted her and spun for the bed. She made one of those irresistible sounds that had his cock surging with lust.
Bed.
Naked.
Claim.
His body fired off monosyllables, but his brain pushed to slow things down.
With unhurried movements, he cradled Aspen like precious and fragile cargo. Gently, he eased her down, his hands supporting her until she sank into the pillowy top.
He let his touch linger like heat on her skin after the sun set, and he hovered over her, gazing deep into her eyes.
Her eyes blazed up at him like green fire. She wrapped her arms around him, urging him down on top of her.
“You’re warm. Are you sure you’re not part furnace?”
“Well, I did singlehandedly keep you alive back in that first cabin.”
“It was freezing, but I remember there being a woodstove heating the place.” Her words came out as a rasp of desire even as she teased him.
“And I remember you using all the wood to heat bath water.” He dipped his head to sample the skin on her throat.
Arching, she let out a shivery sigh.
“Just so we’re clear, premium snuggling like this doesn’t come cheap,” he murmured against her pulse point.
“Mmm. How much is it going to cost me?”
He sucked a bit of her sensitive flesh between his lips, and she moaned, rolling her body against his. “I might be willing to bargain.”
She drew back to meet his gaze. A playful light twinkled in the depths of her eyes. “Let’s strike a deal. I take off my clothes…and you take off your clothes.”
He ducked his head in a nod. “Sounds fair to me.” A wolfish grin stretched over his face.
He pushed onto his knees. Aspen scrambled onto hers. Facing each other, they began to take off their clothes. First, he whipped off his shirt and cast it to the floor. She worked those dainty, fussy buttons on her black blouse and then slipped it over her arms.
When he reached for the waist of his jeans, she lifted her hands to the front clasp of her bra. A remote expression washed over her face, and she hesitated.
“You can leave it on if it makes you more comfortable.”
“It doesn’t bother you that they’re not real?”
He focused solely on her. “Princess, most men don’t care about what’s real and what’s not. They just like boobs. I fought with plenty of men who lost limbs, some of whom have prosthetics. What I see in you is a survivor.”
A soft puff of air passed her plump lips. A rosy flush settled in her cheeks. Holding his stare, she slowly undid the bra clasp. Her rounded breasts bounced lightly as they were freed from the silk.
Slowly, he reached out and touched her. Cradling her smooth, rounded breast in one hand, he leaned in and captured her lips. She stretched her fingers along his scalp, raking through his short hair as he nuzzled the part of her body she had hangups over but allowed him to share.
An honor that touched him deeply.
Moved, he dragged her off her knees and laid her on the bed. Gliding his mouth down the point of her chin to her throat, he teased her for long moments before he kissed a path down between her breasts to her navel.
As he worked open the button of her jeans, his balls clenched with need. Their first sexual encounter had been fast and furious, and neither had totally removed their clothes. This time, he would take his time with her and show her every pleasure he could.
With extreme slowness, he inched her jeans down her body and off her small bare feet. Next, he traced the slim string of elastic riding along her hip before he hooked his finger beneath it and drew her panties down.
Goose bumps pebbled over her skin. Passion clamped around his heart, and he couldn’t resist kissing her lower belly and nuzzling the short curls of her mound.
When he stretched out with his face between her thighs, she parted for him, inviting him in.
The folds of her pussy glistened with desire. He slowly rubbed his bristly jaw over her inner thigh and snaked his tongue out to taste her.
The first touch of his tongue pulled a harsh cry from her. She raked her fingers over his scalp and bucked her pussy into each swipe of his tongue. Over and over again, he lapped through her folds, flicking in and out of her sweet heat before dragging his tongue back up to her clit.
Suctioning it between his lips, he stared up the length of her body, watching pleasure ripple across her beautiful face.
Christ, she was lovely. So strong and smart. He never took the time to get to know any woman he slept with in the past, but with Aspen, he wished they had more time to spend together.
He’d take what he could get. Right now, that was her throaty moans.
With soft pulls of his lips, he continued to tease and torment her. Licking and spearing his tongue inside her before suckling gently on her hard clit until she threw her head back on a wild cry.
Her lips parted in an O of bliss. Her pussy quivered and pulsated under his questing tongue.
A tremor ran through her thighs. In a hard pulse, she came.
“Colt!” Her breathy moan shot him to a new level of need. Good thing he’d left his jeans on because the pressure of his zipped fly was the only thing keeping him from exploding.
A final shiver coursed through her…and she melted into the mattress.
* * * * *
Aspen ran her fingers over the warm velvet of Colt’s chest in sweeps. The swells enticed her. The ridges of his abs made her burn. And the hard length of his erection, stiff between their bodies, had her insides clutching.
She shot him a heated look. “I’m going to taste you.”
He waited, watching her with an intensity that stole her breath for a moment and rendered her frozen.
Slowly, she curled her fingers around his thick shaft. It jerked against her palm as he let out a rumble of pleasure that enhanced the moment. It had been a long time since she felt this bold. It made her head swim.
She gave him a slow stroke, letting his length slide through her hand. His abs hardened before her eyes, and his jaw firmed.
Driven on by the surge of lust in him, she slowly parted her lips around his mushroomed head. The instant she enveloped him in her mouth, his rough groan rumbled through his body.
He curled his fingers in her hair. “Christ, princess. Oh god, baby.”
Inch by inch, she swallowed his cock. He was big—too big to take all of him, so she curled her fist around the base and jacked him slowly as she sucked him in.
“Jesus! Your mouth is fucking heaven.”
Drunk on his bliss, she moved up and down on his length, sucking him deeper on every pass.
His body bowed, but in contrast, the tender brush of his fingers over her scalp raised a different kind of shiver inside her. This battle-hardened man could also display such softness that it stunned her speechless.
She applied more pressure with her lips, taking the spongy flared head along her tongue until he let out a low growl.
“Christ, Aspen! Stop.” He wrapped his hands around her upper arms and drew her up his body. His eyes flashed dark with need as he settled her over his hips, straddling him.
Leaning in, she kissed him long and deep. Three heartbeats didn’t pass before he took complete control of her mouth.
Her insides blazed. This new need pulsing inside her drove her on as he rubbed his stiff cock against her slippery wet folds.
“We need a condom,” she murmured against his lips.
He stilled and let out a groan. “Dammit.” He stretched out a long arm and yanked open the nightstand drawer.
She shouldn’t be surprised that he kept condoms on hand. After all, how a gorgeous man like Colt didn’t have a different woman in his bed every night of the week astounded her.
He closed his fingers on a small box of condoms, but when he tried to pull the cardboard free, the corner got stuck. He shook the box to free it but only managed to make the nightstand legs scrape on the wood floor.
He barked out a low cuss that had her giggling. Swinging her leg over his strong hips, she crawled across the bed to get the condom herself. She was a strong, independent woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. And right now, she was getting Colt inside her.
When she had a foil packet in hand, she threw him a coy smile.
He lunged for her, tore the condom out of her hand and ripped it open. She giggled and gladly gave up the task to him. But when he hovered over her, his erection poised at the entrance of her pussy, she stilled.
Their gazes locked.
“Give me your mouth.” His rough command ignited her insides.
Surging upward, she tipped her face up to his while hooking her ankles behind his back.
In one stroke, he joined them.
Her muffled cry was echoed by his low groan as they began to move in tandem. He grasped her ass and yanked her off the mattress to meet every plunge while blowing her mind with his talented, endless kisses.
Their soft sounds mingled, growing more intense by the heartbeat. The thick feel of his cock coupled with the hard steel of his body moving overtop hers stole coherent thought. She couldn’t wrap her head around how she’d gone to Wyoming to deliver a honeymoon portfolio but ended up in bed with the groom’s brother in his amazing Lake Tahoe cabin.
More confusing was the amount of intensity in his gray eyes as he thrust deep and ground his cock against her G-spot.
“Come for me, princess. Come on my cock.”
She panted. “Yes! Yesss.” She threw her head back. Electricity zapped along every nerve ending. Her heart tripped.
“Fuck! I can’t hold out with you. You drive me…fucking crazy.” He bit off the words in gritty rasps. His muscles hardened.
She locked her body around him and angled her hips to take him deep. The spicy scent of his bodywash flooded her senses. His lips trailed fire over her skin. She tilted her head to give him better access to the extremely sensitive area he’d sucked on earlier.
When his lips hit the sweet spot, her desire amped up higher and higher. The light filtering into the room cast him in a golden glow, highlighting the strength of his biceps, shoulders and chest.
She twisted her mouth against his skin, needing to taste him too. When she grazed his pec with her teeth, he let out a low growl. She felt his movements grow jerky, disjointed.
“Take me, Colt!” Her orgasm hit, bowing her off the bed.
He grasped her ass and yanked her into him in quick thrusts at the same moment his release struck. The tight knot in her core snapped, and his liquid heat spread through her. The dark whip of sensation inside her felt like a heartbeat of its own.
She watched pleasure play across his rugged features. The cords in his neck stood out, and a vein pulsed under his tanned skin.
Holding him close, she let her fingers patter over his spine, down to his carved ass. When he collapsed on top of her, half rolling to the side so he didn’t crush her, she studied his face.
A curl tumbled into her eye, and she pushed it away, not wanting her view of him obscured at all. The lines of stress etched around his eyes had smoothed out, leaving him looking rested.
Satisfaction spread through her entire body. A sudden giggle bubbled up her throat, and she did a terrible job of squelching it.
Colt turned his head to pierce her in his deep gray gaze. “Do I want to know what you’re laughing at?”
“I was just thinking that if I’m going to write up a contract for this place, I’m going to have to ask you to add working smoke detectors…because that sex was a five-alarm blaze, and not a single one went off.”