Chapter Thirteen
S eneca watched the endless green fields pass by through the window of his truck. The blades swayed in the gentle breeze, and she was glad for the first time today that Colton had interrupted the pity party of one she’d planned for herself.
“You’re too quiet.” His rich voice filled the cab of his truck, sliding over the exposed flesh of her shoulders. “What thoughts you got running through that pretty head of yours?”
She took a breath and leaned back into the plush leather of her seat and turned her face toward him.
“Just that I’m glad you pulled me out of the house today. It’s too nice out to not enjoy it.”
He didn’t look at her. Instead, he kept his eyes on the road, but she could still see the corner of his mouth curling into a smile. “See what happens when you listen to me.”
“Don’t ruin a nice moment, please.”
He chuckled, slowing the truck down and then bringing it to a complete stop.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
He didn’t give her the chance to answer, jumping out of the truck almost immediately after the last syllable crossed his lips. She heard him open the tailgate, and shortly after hearing it close again, she watched him disappear, carrying a picnic basket, into a nearby thicket of trees.
“What the hell are you up to, Colton Adams? We could’ve picnicked right here in the middle of the all this acreage.”
Since Colton was gone, she took the time to look around the area.
She’d never ventured this far back and deep onto the property before.
The tall trees he’d entered were a lush emerald curtain that seemed to conceal something majestic.
Whatever Colton was doing, those long branches and verdant leaves made sure to keep his precious secret from her prying eyes.
He reappeared again, this time with empty hands as he returned to the passenger side of his truck. He opened the door, took her hand, and helped her step down out of the vehicle.
“You gonna tell me what you’ve got planned?”
He shook his head, an impish grin putting his full lips on display as his face lit up. “Not a chance. You’ll just have to trust me for a few minutes until you can see for yourself.”
He stepped in front of her, closing what little distance there was between them while bright blue flames in his eyes flashed in the sunlight. “Do you trust me, Seneca?”
Logic said that a resounding hell naw was the appropriate answer, especially after withholding his true identity from her. But even as she tried to fix her lips to utter her intended lie, her traitorous mouth said, “Yes.”
He reached inside the breast pocket of his plaid shirt and removed a red bandana.
He arched his brow, dangling it in front of her face until she offered her compliance with a nod.
He moved around and then behind her, each step torturously slow, ratcheting up her anticipation until the red material covered her eyes and she could feel him securing it at the back of her head.
The moment darkness fell over her covered lids a nervous energy spread through her.
She wasn’t afraid. Even though she questioned whether she could trust him with her heart, Colton had proven several times over that her safety was his top priority.
This wasn’t fear, it was excited expectation.
She could hear the drum of her racing heart amplified in her head.
He gently slid the rough pads of his fingers across her shoulders and caressed the sensitive skin there before giving her a gentle push forward.
As they walked, one of his hands moved carefully down her back until it rested at the small of her back. She stumbled from the crackle of electricity that seemed to start at the base of her spine and turn her useless legs into noodles.
He fastened his arm tighter around her waist, pulling her into the brick wall of his side. “Careful, darlin’, I’ve got you.”
She gave the hand at her side a quick pat, thanking God her clumsy behind wore sensible flat sandals today instead of the do-me wedges that made her legs and ass look fucking amazing.
“I’m good,” she responded. “Just hurry up and get me to where we’re going before I fall and break something out here. ”
“You have so many sexy qualities, woman. But impatience ain’t one of them. Stop your bellyaching and let me do something nice for you.”
She didn’t have time to answer before he was moving her forward again. A few short minutes later they came to a stop and he removed her blindfold.
She blinked, bringing her vision into focus before she took a look around.
They were surrounded by tall, thick trees, but then, just to the right, she saw a small clearing that led to a gentle stream of water sliding over the rock bed.
As she walked closer to it, she found a handwritten sign that read Happy Birthday, Seneca affixed to the trunk of a nearby tree where a blanket and the picnic basket he’d carried earlier rested at its base.
Warmth spread through her chest, climbing up to her neck and face. It was Texas; there was always heat, but this was somehow different. It burned from the inside, threatening to consume her as she took it all in.
“I hope it’s not too much. I just wanted to make the day special for you.”
She couldn’t look up at him, too afraid her emotions would burst free of the fragile control she was holding on to. Instead she laced her fingers through his and squeezed lightly. “It’s not too much. It’s just right.”
Seneca slid her arm around his waist and tugged herself into his side.
“Come on, cowboy,” she quipped, hoping he didn’t notice the slight vibration in her voice.
“Did you bring me all this way to stand around looking pretty, or are you gonna feed me some of this food you were talking about earlier?”
He leaned down, lifting her chin, placing a sweet kiss on her mouth that made her blood burn more than it should have. “It’s your day. Anything you want, you get.”
She frowned. “But I thought you were the one making the rules today? How does that make it my day?”
He pulled her toward him until her breasts were pressed against him.
He claimed her mouth, burying his fingers in the loose strands of her hair so even if she wanted to run, and she didn’t, she couldn’t.
His mouth ravaged hers and when she strained for a necessary breath, his tongue pushed through her lips, demanding entry into the heat of her mouth, battling with her tongue for dominion.
All she could do was moan, and when she did, the sound tore through her, burning a path straight to her folds, making her sex clench and open, begging for that tongue to travel farther down until it was piercing her opening like it was her mouth.
As her body delighted in the memory of what it was like to ride his skilled tongue, he ripped his mouth from hers. His breathing was rapid and choppy like hers, and the flush under his fair skin marked how affected he was by that kiss too.
God, they were like kindling. Even when all they did was kiss, their bodies went up in flames.
“You’re right. You do have to do what I say. And right now, I want you to sit down on the blanket, let me feed you this good meal, and when we’ve walked by the stream to burn some of it off, I’m going to feed you my cock. How’s that for a command?”
She wanted to ask him why the hell they had to even bother with the food, but, as blood returned to her brain and her thoughts became less fuzzy, she remembered Aja had made it. And no person with even the slightest bit of cognition would ever let food that woman prepared go to waste.
With a smile she couldn’t even bother to hide, she simply smiled at him and said, “Whatever you say, cowboy.”
*
“So, tell me about yourself.”
Colton looked up from his plate, chewing on the jaw full of potato salad he had in his mouth.
“You already know the important stuff about me.” He glanced at her, noticing something distant in her eyes that he didn’t quite recognize.
“I know what you do for a living and how you like sex—that’s not really knowing you.”
He shrugged. “Hell, that’s more than most people know.” He grabbed a can of cola out of the insulated picnic basket and handed it to her before reaching back in to get one for himself.
“Colton, you said you want me to trust you with my heart. I can’t do that if I don’t know who you really are.”
It was something about the look of expectancy that settled deep in her brown eyes that chipped away at the concrete box that housed his secrets.
“Where’d you grow up?”
“In a small town just outside of Austin. Jackson, Holden, and I lived in the same neighborhood. Jackson’s dad was the sheriff and mine and Holden’s were deputies.”
Those three men had an unbelievable bond and the only thing that broke it was the death of Holden’s dad.
“Because our dads were so close, us boys were too, and all three of us followed in our dads’ footsteps: military service, then law enforcement.”
“Holden mentioned you were in the army. Did the three of you serve together?”
He shook his head. “No. Holden and Jackson went on to college directly out of high school. I enlisted the day after my high school graduation. The day Holden and Jackson left for college, I left for basic training.”
He finished the last of his food, and after closing the compartmentalized food container, he put it back in the bag. She did the same, handing hers over to be put away too.
When the bag was sealed, he stood up, offered her his hand, and gave her a tug until she was standing on her feet.
“Come on.” He patted his stomach. “If you’re gonna cross-examine me about my life, we might as well walk some of this fried chicken and potato salad off.”
They walked the length of the creek for a few moments before she spoke again. “Did you like being in the army?”
Like? That wasn’t even close to a strong enough word to describe his dedication and near obsession with being a part of army life.