Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
COLSON
“Ican’t believe we’re all the way up here and that I’m actually doing this.” Sophie’s eyes connected with mine. “And that you arranged this”—she took a breath—“for me.” She held the rim of the basket we stood in, beneath the large, colorful parachute of the hot-air balloon.
For the last twenty or so minutes we’d been up in the air, there were times when she glanced down at the three thousand feet or so below us and times she focused on the sky, but more often than not, she was looking at me.
“I never want you to forget our first date.” I held her cheek as pieces of her hair flew against the back of my hand. “I thought a front-row seat in the clouds would accomplish that.”
“You think?” She smiled and laughed.
“Look at that.” I nodded toward the sun as it dipped below the horizon.
Within several minutes of it being gone, the baby blue deepened to a light navy in some spots. A bold golden hue came through the center of the sky, and where the azure and yellow met, there were streaks of magenta and lavender, even a bright orange.
“I could stare at it forever,” she whispered.
And I could stare at you for just as long.
My head shook as I finally lifted my gaze and focused on the sky. But it didn’t stay there long. It couldn’t. There was something about Sophie that drew me right back.
The conversation at my house had changed everything. The way I looked at this woman, the way I processed the information I’d learned about her. How I felt. What I wanted.
Dating wasn’t an option. It was a need.
“It’s going to be hard to top something this spectacular,” she said.
“Don’t worry, I have other ideas.”
When she turned toward me, her palms flattened against my chest. She’d taken off her heels as we stepped into the hot-air balloon, making her at least three inches shorter than she had been earlier. Her petiteness made me want to hold her even closer.
“You’re already planning our second date?”
“Unless you choose the option of one and done.”
She lifted all but a finger and poked it into me. “I don’t see that happening.”
A reply I’d suspected, but one I still enjoyed hearing very much.
“Then, yes, I already have other things brewing.”
“Will this one be a surprise too?”
I pointed her face up at me. “If you want it to be. Or I can tell you. It’s your choice.”
She chewed her lip, and all I could think about was how fucking sexy it was. And how impossibly difficult it was not to constantly put my mouth on hers. “Give me a hint.”
“A hint.” I leaned my face into the side of her neck and exhaled, “Water.” Goose bumps met my vision, the tawny reflection giving off just enough light that I could see her skin.
“You’re taking me on your new boat …”
I leaned back to look at her. “Good guess.” I smiled. “And, yes, I am. It’ll be arriving in a few days.”
“I can’t wait to see it.”
“I can’t wait to have you on it for the weekend. That will be date two and three combined.”
She blinked several times. “You mean … with the kids?”
“No.” My hand lowered to her side. “I don’t think the kids should see us spending the night together for a while.”
“Agreed.” She clasped her hands behind my neck. “But what makes you think I’ll leave my daughter for an entire weekend? One night is hard enough.”
I hid my grin. “I might already have that figured out.”
“How?”
My other hand joined her waist. “You’re sure you want me to tell you this part?”
“Considering it’s the most important part, yes.” Her sapphire eyes were always stunning, but under the sunset, they were breathtaking.
“Hayden’s coming into town to watch Abbi.”
“You’re … kidding?”
“I sensed that two nights with Michelle was going to be hard on your heart, so I called Hayden yesterday. I had a feeling tonight was going to go well, and it was safe to put my next plan into play. First, Hayden and I discussed Troy as an option. But Hayden said he’s never had Abbi for more than one night, and two nights might do him in.
” I laughed. “That’s when I asked Hayden if he would come here. ”
“Unbelievable.”
I couldn’t get a read on her. “Are you angry?”
“Not angry at all. I’m just shocked. I spoke to Hayden today. He didn’t let on at all that he knew you and I were going on a date tonight or that we were talking again. He even asked me to come to Lauderdale to visit.”
I laughed again. “I told him not to say anything to you.”
She was shaking her head, smiling. “I can’t believe he listened to you. I’m his sister. He’s supposed to be loyal to me.”
I nuzzled my nose against hers. “He didn’t want to blow the surprise.”
She flicked her bottom lip with her teeth. “Admittedly, it’s the best surprise.”
“He even offered to watch Ellie.”
“Of course he did. My brother is an amazing guy.” She gripped my collar.
“We need to back up for a second. I’m still flabbergasted that you called him and set this up.
” She was gazing at me. “And that you took into consideration how I would feel about a weekend away from my daughter and you did everything possible to ease me.”
“Listen to me.” My hands moved to her ass.
“I know Abbi comes first in your world. I will never challenge that. The same way Ellie comes first in mine. But my promise to you is that I will do everything in my power to protect your little girl. If that means sending my jet to Florida to pick up your brother, then that’s what I’ll do every time. ”
“He’s not taking his jet?” She was trying to hold back her chuckle.
“That bastard said it’s on me—and you can bet your ass I brought up the commission he had made off the yacht sale and threw that in his face more than once.”
“Oh, you two are going to have quite the friendship.” She laughed. “So, the real question is, are you going to allow Hayden to watch Ellie?”
“I thought about it.”
“And?”
“And I checked with Lindsey to see what she thought about it.” I squeezed her cheeks.
“Don’t get in your head about that—I run things by Lindsey out of respect, the same way she does with me.
We have that kind of understanding because we need to keep things as healthy as possible between us for Ellie. ”
“I honestly love that, and it’s so important.” She pulled her hands forward and spread her fingers over my beard. “I hope, one day, I get to meet Lindsey. And I hope when that happens, she’ll get to meet Abbi too.”
“She would really enjoy that.”
Her ass was starting to feel way too fucking good, so I moved her to my side and slipped my arm around her shoulders, pressing my lips to the top of her head.
“You know what’s funny? I can never convince my brother to come here.
He always makes me go there. I suppose that’s because he knows I want to see the rest of the fam, and it’s much easier for me to go east than for all of them to come west. But still, it doesn’t sound like it took much to get him to agree. ”
My eyes closed. “That’s because he wants us together.”
“I know.” Her finger hooked my belt buckle. “He loves to see me happy, and he knows how capable you are of that. And that you’re a good guy.”
“Me? A good guy?”
As she tilted her head up, my lips fell from her hair.
“Well, you’re a little rough at times, but only during the moments when I beg for it.”
“Sophie …” Her stare turned feral, and I felt it right in my cock. “You’re playing with fucking fire.”
“How so?” She ended her question with a grin that made me ache.
“It’s been far too long since my mouth has been on your body. When we have conversations like this—and some of the ones we’ve recently had on the phone—I’m reminded of just how long it’s been.”
“You can change that.”
“Not on date one, remember?” I groaned, knowing it was the right promise, but wishing I hadn’t made it.
“You said we would spend the night apart, and I confirmed I wouldn’t sleep with you. But there are plenty of things we can do besides climbing into each other’s bed and having sex.”
I turned her until she faced me. “What are you saying?”
She took her time scanning to the right and then to the left. “You like an audience, don’t you?”
My growl answered her question, one she had already known the answer to.
“Up here, all of Temecula Valley could be watching.” Her hand had stayed on my belt, even when I moved her. “Is this the one you bring to Lush?”
I let out a whistle of air. This side of her, goddamn it, I couldn’t get enough of it.
“Fuck me, I love how you think. But, no, it’s not.
” Still, I pulled at the buckle, and once loosened, I yanked it through the loops of my jeans until I held the belt in the air like a snake.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t make it work. ”
But before I did anything, I took her lips.
I wasn’t gentle, like I’d been on her doorstep and the times we’d kissed since.
Now, I was giving her a prelude of what was to come.
My tongue slipped through, my lips ravished her, and when I backed up, she moaned, confirming she meant every word she had said.
“How wet is your pussy?”
“Wait until you find out. That’s going to be your surprise.”
“Do you want my fingers? Or my tongue?”
She smiled. “Do you even have to ask?”
It didn’t matter how risky this was, considering we were thousands of feet in the air and anything could go wrong at any moment. I was way past making decisions that didn’t involve her cunt.
My head slowly shook. “Turn around.” When she did as she had been instructed, I ordered, “Put your hands behind your back, Sophie.”
I weaved the belt around her wrists, tucking the end of the leather through several of the layers in hopes that it wouldn’t unravel.
She exhaled, “Yesss. I’ve missed this.”
I tugged at the belt to check its strength. “It’s like being reacquainted with an old friend.”
“No, it’s better.” With the front of my body against the back of hers, her hands were just below my sac—a placement she immediately recognized—and she used the sides and corners of the belt to caress my balls. “You’re already so hard …”
My lips moved to the shell of her ear. “You were fucking made for me.”
With her head on my chest, she tilted it back, raising her chin, until our eyes met. “I was just thinking the same.”
I wrapped an arm across the center of her tits, my fingers tight on her neck. “Look around.” Once her head straightened, I guided her vision, making sure she saw the full range of what was in front of her. “This is your audience. Who and what is going to see you come.”
“Mmm. I want that.”
She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t hesitant.
And that made me want her even more.
“Turn around again, Sophie.”
As soon as she shifted toward me, I knelt on the floor of the basket, and I dragged the material up her thighs.
Because this section of the hot-air balloon was so tall, the top reaching the midway point of Sophie’s chest, anyone looking up wouldn’t be able to see me or what I was doing.
They could only see her face. So, whether she gave them a show was completely up to her.
When the end of the dress was well above her pussy, I slipped off her panties. From down here, I had the most perfect view of the propane tanks that were keeping us afloat and of her cunt—a part of her body I’d been fucking fantasizing about.
“Fuck, I missed you.”
I felt her stare on me, causing me to lock eyes with her.
“There’s nothing hotter than watching you talk to my pussy.”
We weren’t at Lush. I didn’t have endless uninterrupted hours to do whatever I wanted to her. There was a team on the ground, monitoring how much gas was left and when we needed to be lowered. Therefore, I couldn’t take my time to really savor her.
But I did press my nose against her clit, instantly earning my surprise—a wetness that covered my skin—and I allowed myself a few seconds to breathe her in.
The citrus scent of her perfume had somehow made its way down here, and even though the lime-and-orange notes were faint, when they mixed with her, it was the best thing I’d ever smelled.
“I fucking want you.”
As my admission hit the cool evening air, my tongue was already out, and I grazed it across her clit.
“Colson!”
A quick glance showed how much she enjoyed that and just how badly she wanted me to do it again.
I gave her another lick, followed by several more, spreading her pussy a bit wider so I had full access to that sensitive spot at the very top and could massage it just the way she needed.
The quicker my tongue moved, the louder she screamed.
“Oh my God!”
The harder I pressed down, the more difficult it became for her to stand still. Her hips arched and swayed, her shoulders shook, which told me her wrists were straining against the belt. And her bare toes were bending, curling into the floor.
Her breathing turned labored. “Don’t stop! Please, don’t stop!”
She was close. I could feel it.
I could fucking taste it.
And that taste? I’d never be able to get enough.
Since I knew what would send her over that exploding edge, I increased everything—my speed, friction—and I glanced up her body as I combined both so I could watch her unravel.
That sight—fuck—there was nothing more gorgeous in this world.
“Yesss!” Shudders took over her navel. “Colson!” Her head fell back, her mouth stayed open, and a long-drawn-out moan followed. “Fuuuck!”
I held her legs to keep her thighs apart, and I could feel the tremors in her muscles and the ones contracting in her navel and the quivers working their way to her chest.
“Shit,” she exhaled.
I didn’t stop. I flicked her clit until I could tell she was far past the brink. And when her breathing calmed, and she became motionless, and the only thing I heard were tiny gasps from how sensitive she had turned, I stopped.
“You’re a fucking dream,” I admitted when I saw how much pleasure there was in her gaze. “That’s how perfect you are.”
“You’re … wild.” She let out a small laugh. “Did we really just do that?”
I gave her clit a soft kiss and licked her off my lips before I wiggled her panties back up and lowered her dress. “Do you think we’re done?”
It took her a moment to register. “I hope not.”
“What are you hoping for, Sophie?” I stood in front of her, dipping my head so she could taste herself on my mouth, our kiss achieving that. “Are you hoping for more?”
“I want to get on my knees.” Her eyes pleaded with mine. “I want to suck your dick.”
It took every bit of restraint I had not to ask this incredible woman to marry me.