Chapter Sixteen
H aving a woman sit on your face had to be one of the greatest gifts God gave to humans. Fuck fire and penicillin, the nectar dripping from Seneca’s beautiful cunt, currently spread open as she held on to the headboard squatting above him, was the essence of life.
Eating her pussy was like devouring a mango.
It was messy, deliciously so. Juice ended up everywhere: your face, your hands, even your neck.
And the best part was the sweet, sticky flesh against your tongue.
God, he loved mangoes, but not nearly as much as Seneca’s sweet pussy that he was currently sucking as he buried his face in her open slit.
“Fuck, Colton.” She said his name on a long deep breath that vibrated straight to his dick. “I’m coming again.” On his daddy’s barbecue abilities, nothing satisfied Colton like the taste of Seneca’s orgasm. Sweet and tangy, the perfect treat, and he’d never get enough of it.
She lifted her leg, dropping next to him in the bed as she worked to catch her breath. She turned to her side, propping herself on her elbow, wiping her excess juices from his face.
“God you’re a mess.”
He took her hand, kissing her wrist gently before licking her fingers clean. “I’m your mess.”
She chuckled as he shrugged and continued to savor the taste of her. What else could he do? It wasn’t like he could let all that sweetness go to waste.
She pressed herself impossibly close to him, her deep brown eyes gazing into his as if she was searching for something precious. “For the moment.” Her bright eyes dimmed and the post-orgasmic smile she wore dripped off her face. “You certainly are.”
“Seneca?”
She placed a quieting finger of his lips. “I want so badly to give in to you, to give in to this power you have over me that makes me forget all the bad I’ve witnessed throughout the last nine years of my life.”
He gathered her into his arms, cupping her cheek, and left a chaste kiss on her lips. “You still have doubts, and I get that. But I have belief enough for the both of us. Just let me in.”
Colton watched the battle she was waging inside. She wanted this. It was written in every touch she shared with him, every moment she breathed his name.
He hated that life had taught her to expect disloyalty in the men she was intimate with. He especially hated that men like Hastings—who abused their authority—made sure he was painted with that same brush in her eyes.
“Baby,” he whispered, staring down into eyes haunted with pain. “Whatever you need me to do to show you I’m not the people who hurt you, I’ll do it. I’m not going anywhere. You’re worth the wait, Seneca. You’re worth the fight.”
She closed her eyes and a single tear slid down her cheek, breaking the seal on all the emotion he was holding on to. He knew if he said any more it would be too much for her. But even if he couldn’t speak what was in his heart, he could show her.
He reached up, wiping the tear away with his thumb before pulling away from her to grab the condom on the nightstand. He pressed it into her hand. “Get me ready, darlin’.”
She didn’t hesitate, taking the condom from him.
But instead of opening it and covering him, she placed it on the mattress.
“For later,” she replied to his lifted brow as she leaned in for a quick kiss.
She reached between his legs, covering his cock with her hand, circling it with her fingers and giving him a torturously slow squeeze.
She slid down his body, settling between his legs, and then she pressed a sweet kiss to the head of his cock before swirling her tongue around it. His eyes tried to shut, but he forced them to stay open. He needed to see and feel her as she took him into her mouth.
Her thick lips spread so lovingly around his girth nearly took his breath away. She might not know it yet, but everything about her, from her smile, to the way every inch of her body loved on him, even that gorgeous mouth wrapped around his cock, it was all proof she was made for him.
“That’s it, baby,” he groaned as he widened his legs to give her room to work. “Get me nice and wet and take me deep.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair, the strands were so soft against his skin. It was the perfect representation of her: dark, strong, beautiful, and so silky he wanted to keep her and it blanketed against him at all times.
She was sucking him in earnest now, her cheeks hollowing every time she pulled up to his crown and his hips were moving on their own, fucking her mouth, needing as much of her wet heat as he could get.
When his balls started tightening, he gripped her hair tighter, pulling her completely off, stopping to rub the domed cap of his tip against her swollen lips.
Her eyes lifted, meeting his gaze. There was hunger and lust, and something deeper that grabbed on to his heart and reaffirmed he needed to do whatever he could to convince her of what he already knew: she was his.
He released her hair, grabbing the condom and covering himself quickly. Before she had time to say anything, he had her on her back and he covered her body with his as he slowly entered her.
When he bottomed out, he stared at her and worried when he saw her furrowed brow.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded and he stroked the top of her head. “Your words, darlin’. I need them.”
She swallowed, touching a shaky hand to his face. “I’m fine,” she answered. “I just don’t know why you look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m everything to you.”
His heart raced as he took in the sensual picture she made. Her hair was fanned out against her satin pillow, her eyes were wide with arousal, need, and the slightest bit of confusion, her lips were swollen, and her skin was flushed.
“You are everything to me, Seneca. You’re worth everything to me. I know you believe that about yourself. But it is so obvious you doubt that I believe it too. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. Will you believe in me?”
She placed a hand on either side of his face, staring into his eyes.
“God help me,” she responded. “I do.” She pulled him down into a passionate kiss, her hands sliding from his face, to his shoulders, down his back, until they were cupping his ass, pulling him forward, demanding he move and give them both what they needed.
He pulled away from her lips, kissing her jaw and moving down to the curve of her neck as he kept the pace of his strokes slow.
It was killing him not to pick up the pace, his skin pulling tight as his entire body ached for more.
But her words, they were a gift to him, something he treasured more than anything, even the orgasm threatening his senses.
He knew this moment was different. With every slide of his cock inside her body, he could feel their bond strengthening, tethering him to her.
Fear tried to tug at the back of his mind. It tried to remind him her belief in him wasn’t the same thing as a resounding declaration of love. But he blocked it, focusing instead on the way her pussy clamped down on his cock as she broke apart beneath him when her orgasm took hold of her.
And then he was lost. Her fall into bliss triggering his own, his hips picked up speed.
He shoved his hands beneath her ass, grabbing hold and pressing himself as deeply inside of her as her body would allow.
His climax curled his toes as it spiraled around the base of his spine.
And when release finally came, when that first powerful jet of come shot into the latex barrier between them, it was her name on his lips as she wrapped her entire body around him.
When he was able to control his own body again, he opened his eyes, finding her soft features filling his vision. In that moment he understood, fear be damned, this was where he belonged.
*
Seneca stared at the large arm sprinkled with tawny brown hair and came to a shocking realization.
This wasn’t happiness she felt as the big man lying next to her slept without a care in the world.
This was contentment. She felt it, soaking deep down in her bones like water on rich, crop-bearing soil.
Every cell in her body drew in the much-needed nutrient like oil soothing cracked, sun-scorched, dry skin.
Whether she wanted to admit it or not, this was what she’d been aching for. This connection you only had with people who care about you.
She glanced over at her nightstand and cringed at the lateness of the hour.
She should be sleeping, replenishing all the strength that dissipated as Colton exhausted her body with one shattering orgasm after another.
But instead of falling into a well-earned slumber, she lifted her hand and let her fingers graze the soft hair on his forearm.
Even in his sleep, Colton held her protectively, keeping her safely tucked against the hard wall of his chest.
You always protect the people you care about, don’t you?
She didn’t need to speak the words into the air and wake him for a spoken answer. She knew he’d say yes. He was programmed that way.
Knowing that, she understood how difficult it must have been for him to lose the woman he loved, how helpless he must have felt as his men held him down to keep him from sacrificing his life too.
He’d lost his woman, the career he loved, and nearly his freedom too. And through all of that, he’d rebuilt, and found enough bravery to open his heart to someone else and tried to protect her too.
She turned to her side to get a better look at him. The moon filtered in through the window, providing just enough light for her to make out creamy skin and hard angles.
Who protects you, cowboy? Who puts it all on the line to make sure you get what you need?
Her phone vibrated once, indicating a new message.
She pulled away from Colton and peeked at the screen to see Holden Eames’s name.
For a brief second, she wondered if she should pretend she never saw it and just snuggle into Colton’s heat instead.
It was a tempting thought that made her hesitate for a moment longer before swiping her screen and opening her messages.
Holden: “Need to talk to you.”
Holden: “Now.”
Seneca: “What?”
Holden: “Calling in two minutes.”
God he was a pushy son of a bitch.
She slid out of the bed, grabbing her robe, and headed down the hall to the living room. Just as she sat down in the armchair, her phone vibrated again, and she answered it on the first ring.
“It’s after midnight. What do you want, Agent Eames?”
“Ahh, we’re well past the formal stage, Seneca. Please, call me Holden.”
God, even over the phone he was a smug bastard who seemed to derive pleasure from getting on her nerves.
“I need to know if you’re going to help me or not.”
She looked toward the hall to make sure she was alone. “I already told you no. I promised Colton.”
“Ahh,” he responded, as if he were just figuring out her dilemma. “Colton still doesn’t want you getting mixed up with the likes of me?”
“You said it.”
His humorless laugh filled the line and she couldn’t help feeling like she was in the part of the horror movie when everything seemed fun and normal, just before the ax murderer jumped out of the bushes and chopped everyone’s heads off.
“Well, Colton has always played by the rules except for the one time he didn’t. But I believe I already mentioned that to you. Did you take my advice and ask him what he did?”
She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “Yes… I did.”
He laughed again. The sharp sound sent a chill down her spine. “Then you know that he doesn’t do the best thinking when women are involved. And you also know, his professional reputation can’t take another hit after that entire fiasco in the Middle East.”
“Holden,” she sighed. “I don’t like playing games. Get to the end already or I’m going back to bed.”
“Someone’s feeling herself tonight. Did spending a little time with a Texas Ranger give us a little more confidence?”
“I’m hanging up.”
“I wouldn’t,” he warned. “I’m about to get to the best part.”
Her heart beat hard against her ribs and her stomach plummeted as she waited for him to drop whatever bomb he was waiting to set off in her life.
“Colton’s up for a big promotion. He should’ve been given this chance ages ago, but the powers that be were a little leery of promoting someone who had a dishonorable discharge on his record.
So, he had to work twice as long and as hard as some of his other rangers to get an opportunity like the one his superior is offering him. ”
He was dragging this out and stretching her last nerve at the same time. She blew out a frustrated sigh into the phone. “Holden—”
“I know, I know,” he said so nonchalantly no one would ever guess how serious all this was. “Here’s the long and short of it. I’ve already told Colton that if he wants that promotion, he’d better stay away from my case. That includes preventing a potential confidential informant from helping me.”
The acid in her stomach churned and bile rose up her throat as she waited for him to continue. “Now, I’m gonna tell you the same thing. You either help me take Hastings down, or I’m going to report our favorite Texas Ranger to the review board for obstruction.”
“Holden—”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he clucked his tongue like he was chastising a small child. “I told you I needed your help and you wouldn’t give it to me. Now, I’m demanding it. If your freedom isn’t enough of an incentive, perhaps Colton’s career is.”
He rightfully took her lack of response to mean she was in agreement. What else could she do but agree when Colton’s career was in the balance? And that’s exactly why he pushed you to ask Colton about his past. He knew once you were aware, you’d never be able to walk away.
“Get dressed,” he demanded. “Bring your laptop and that pretty little hacker brain of yours and get your ass down to the all-night gas station just before the inlet to the highway. I’ll be in an unmarked blue sedan. See you in ten minutes.”
When he didn’t end the call, she called his name. “Is there anything else you want?”
“Yeah,” he said cheerfully. “Happy belated birthday.”
She snatched the phone away from her ear when his sadistic laugh filled the line. She ended the call, sitting with her legs tucked into her chest as chills spread through her body. Colton was right. Holden was dangerous and tangling with him would undoubtedly get her into serious trouble.
“Happy fucking birthday to me indeed.”