His eyes narrowed on the top of her robe, as if just by concentrating, he could make her release that death grip and give him a peek at what lay beneath. Damn, the woman was going to kill him.
“I’m, uh, going to take a shower,” she said and took a step back from him.
Colt’s eyes narrowed on her. “Are you steady enough to do it on your own?”
Her eyes went wide at the implication that if she wasn’t, he was going to help.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, taking another step backward. He could have told her that a few feet of distance wouldn’t be enough to put out the flames snapping between them.
Then she was talking again, her words coming quickly, almost breathlessly, as she tried to make her escape. “I’m tired of washing up. And they said I could take a shower sooner than this, I was just nervous about it. So now I’m not and I really want a shower.”
Hot water, sluicing across her body, cascading over smooth skin, soap bubbles sliding down the length of her amazing legs. Colt cursed silently. If he kept up this train of thought, he wouldn’t be able to walk. He wanted her badly, but he was also worried. What if she got into the shower and needed help?
His inner cynic snorted at that one. He wanted to be in that shower with her, but it wasn’t help he wanted to give her.
“It’s not safe for you to be in there on your own,” he said, a part of him actually believing the statement. “I’ll help you.”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head hard enough for her long, dark red hair to swing out from her shoulders. “Not gonna happen.”
“Don’t argue.” He took her arm and steered her down the short hall to the bathroom. “We’re adults, Penny.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, “that’s the problem.”
He gave her a wicked wink. “Are you saying you can’t trust yourself around me? Can’t control your raging desire to rip off my clothes and take me? Take me hard?”
Her lips twitched and he grinned back at her.
“That’s exactly right, Colt,” she said, sarcasm dripping from every word. “I don’t want to take advantage of you in your weakened state.”
“Very thoughtful,” he assured her and walked into the bathroom, also designed for people a foot shorter than Colt, keeping a firm grip on her elbow. “Look, seriously, you need a shower and I’m not going to let you risk falling or something.”
“What am I, ninety? I’m not going to fall. I’m not an invalid,” she told him as he turned on the water and waited impatiently for it to heat up.
He let go of her, but blocked the only exit so she couldn’t sidle out of the room. “All kidding aside,” he said, “you can argue and we can be here for hours, or we can just get this taken care of.”
She thought about that for a long minute or two, the pitiful sound of the low-water-pressure shower in the background. “Fine. You can stay in the room, but no looking.”
He snorted. “I’ll try to control myself.”
And it would be an effort, he thought but didn’t say. The room was so small, they were practically standing in the same space. The short, narrow sink dug into his thigh as he moved aside to let her get to the shower.
“Turn around,” she ordered.
He did and found himself staring into the mirror—something she clearly hadn’t considered. Behind him, she was reflected in the glass as she slipped out of her robe. He gritted his teeth as his gaze followed the line of her spine right down to the curve of her truly amazing behind. Her hair danced across the top of her back as she moved and he wanted to tangle his hands in that thick, soft mass as he had before.
His body throbbing, aching, Colt held his ground, though it cost him every last ounce of his self-control. Never before had he been forced to not take what he wanted. To stand back and let the woman driving him insane slip through his fingers. His teeth ground together and his breath came short and fast. Still, he couldn’t look away and was rewarded—or tortured—with a glimpse of her breasts, high and full, as she pulled the striped curtain back and stepped into the tub.
The water ran and he heard her blissful sigh and that was nearly enough to push him over the edge. Colt looked at the curtain and imagined her behind it, naked and wet, tipping her face up to the stingy flow of water. He couldn’t help wondering what she would think of the shower at his place, with its six massaging heads and the heated seats carved into the granite enclosure. In his mind, he laid her down on that wide seat, parted her thighs and—
“Ow.”
“What?” he snapped, dream dissolving instantly. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I just moved too fast and I’m still a little sore, that’s all. I’m fine.”
He didn’t believe her. If she pulled her stitches out, they’d be back to square one.
Pulling the curtain aside, he looked at her and instantly knew it had been a mistake. His imagination had nothing on the reality of a slick, wet, naked Penny. Her long, dark red hair hung in thick ropes over her shoulders. Drops of water clung to the tips of her hardened nipples and her face was flush with warmth and surprise. She looked like a damn water nymph and his body’s reaction was instantaneous.
The tiny window over the shower was open, allowing a cold breeze to whisper through. The sea-green paint was peeling on the ceiling and the porcelain on the ancient tub was scratched and pitted. Yet all he gave a damn about was the wet, naked woman looking at him with raw desire in her eyes.
She shook her head and chewed at her bottom lip before saying, “Go away, Colt.”
“No,” he said, unable to tear his gaze from her. There was no way he was leaving. If it had meant his life, he still would have stayed exactly where he was.
Raw, frantic lust pumped hot through him. Desire clutched at his throat, making breathing nearly impossible. But then, he asked himself as he reached out one hand to cup her breast, who needed to breathe?
She gasped at his touch, and rather than moving back, she stepped closer and licked her lips, sending a lightning bolt of need slicing through him. Then she covered his hand with hers, holding him steady against her breast. Struggling for air, she whispered brokenly, “We can’t. We shouldn’t. I mean, I shouldn’t. I mean—”
He knew what she meant. She’d had surgery a few days before. Everything between them was a mess, with neither of them happy with the other at the moment. And yet... “We’ll be careful....”
“Colt—” she gasped again as his thumb caressed her hardened nipple. “Oh, my.”
He smiled to himself, then stepped back long enough to shed his clothes and toe off his shoes. Then he was joining her in the made-for-munchkins shower.
Suddenly, he was liking the small space. She couldn’t have backed away from him even if she had wanted to. And one look into her eyes told him she didn’t want to.
“This is so not a good idea,” she whispered.
“Stop thinking,” he said.
Seven
Then he kissed her.
As the trickle of water splashed over their entwined bodies, he kissed her long and deep, losing himself in the taste and feel of her. When she parted her lips under his, he took the kiss deeper, tangling his tongue with hers in a frenzied dance of need and want. Here it is, he thought wildly. That amazing jolt of passion that he’d never felt for anyone else. The elemental, nearly primitive need to touch and take and have.
Only with her. Only with Penny.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, her breasts sliding against his chest. He ran his hands up and down her body, the slick feel of her skin beneath his hands a match held to the dynamite crouched inside him. “Damn, you feel good.”
“You, too,” she whispered. “Blast it, you, too.”
He smiled against her mouth. She didn’t want to want him, he thought. But
she did and that was good enough. Colt turned her so that her back was to the water tumbling from the narrow, outdated showerhead. She looked up at him as the hot water landed on her shoulders to roll down her body in rivulets.
“Colt—”
“Let me touch you,” he whispered, sliding one hand down from her breast. His fingertips trailed along her rib cage and down over her abdomen.
She shivered, closed her eyes and hissed in a breath. “I don’t know...”
“I do,” he said and kissed her again as he dipped first one finger and then two into her tight, wet heat.
She gasped and clutched at him, hands grabbing at his shoulders. Her breath came fast and shallow, small puffs against his skin. He touched her deeper, stroking her intimately until she rocked into his hand, reaching for the climax he was pushing her toward. His thumb moved over the heart of her, that one nub of sensation that fueled the fire inside her until it became a raging inferno.
She spread her legs for him, welcoming his touch, his caresses. Then she slid one hand from his shoulders, down the length of his body until her long, delicate fingers closed around the hard length of him. Then it was Colt’s turn to hiss in air and tremble under the onslaught of too many sensations.
“That’s cheating,” he said softly.
“All’s fair—you know.” She groaned as he stroked her again, rubbing the core of her harder while his fingers delved deeper inside her body.
He took her—and she took him. Her fingers moved on him until it was all Colt could do to keep his feet. His vision blurred as completion roared toward him. But he wouldn’t do it. Wouldn’t surrender to what she was making him feel. Not until he’d seen her shatter in his arms.
It didn’t take much longer.
He kissed her hungrily, allowing her to feel everything he felt. He wanted her to know what she was doing to him. Her breath quickened. She tore her mouth from his. Her eyes went wide and wild and she shouted his name hoarsely as her climax slammed into her.
Colt held her close until the last of her tremors had passed. Only then did he think about himself and the fact that his body was aching for the same release she’d just experienced. Then Penny looked up into his eyes and smiled. Her grasp on him tightened and he surged into her hand. Her thumb moved over the tip of him and that sensation nearly sent him over the edge. His self-control was unraveling. Fast.
No other woman had ever affected him like Penny could. From the first moment he’d met her, there had been an electricity between them. A single touch was all it took to shower them both with sparks that they could find nowhere else. Everything about her was...more. She excited him, infuriated him and aroused him more than he would have believed possible.
But when he came, it was going to be inside her. He pulled away from her only long enough that she was forced to stop rubbing and stroking him, though the action cost him. Aching need clawed at him and he read new desire in Penny’s eyes, too. They had always been explosive when they came together and it seemed nothing had changed since he’d last seen her.
“That’s it,” he muttered. “Bed. We need the bed.”
“But we shouldn’t—” Her mouth might be saying no but her eyes were shouting yes.
“Is it safe for you to have sex?” he muttered thickly, saying a silent prayer that she would say yes again.
“They said as soon as I felt ready.”
“Please tell me you’re ready.”
“Boy howdy.”
He grinned at her quick response. Dropping his forehead to hers, he muttered, “We’ll be careful. You can be on top. You set the pace. That’s my best offer.”
“I’ll take it.” She swallowed hard, reached behind her to turn off the water, then allowed Colt to pick her up and carry her out of the bathroom and into her room.
The bed was narrow, but Colt didn’t care. All he wanted was a damn flat surface. He flopped onto the mattress and watched as she climbed up to cover his body with hers.
She was so small-boned. So delicate. So damn sexy.
“Wait,” he ground out. “Condom.”
“Yeah, because it worked so well before,” she said wryly.
He snorted. “Good point.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I’m covered.”
“Best news I’ve heard all night.” He lay back again and clamped his hands onto her hips.
As she went up onto her knees, he took a breath and held it. She looked like some warrior princess from ancient tales of Ireland. Her dark red hair streamed wetly across her shoulders to lay across the tops of her breasts. Her green eyes flashed with intent and her pale skin shone like the finest porcelain. She was damned magnificent and he wanted her more than his next breath.
* * *
Penny trembled from head to foot. This was a bad idea and she knew it. But there was no way she could stop now. She had to have Colton King inside her again. She needed to feel the thick, hard length of him filling her body completely. She’d worry about tomorrow when it reared its ugly head. For right now, she was going to live in the moment. This one, amazing, incredible moment—she was going to take everything she could from it.
“You just going to torture us all night?” he asked, his voice a low, throaty growl of contained passion.
“That’s the plan,” she murmured, gaze locked on his as she slowly lowered herself onto him, taking him into her body inch by glorious inch. Penny watched his ice-blue eyes flash with heat and the last lingering whisper of reason in her mind faded away.
She knew this was stupid. She knew nothing had changed. Colt still wouldn’t stay. They had no future. But for this one perfect moment in time she was going to forget all of that.
She’d wanted him, needed him, missed him and now he was here. In her bed, looking at her as if she were the only woman in the world. Desire quickened, her breath came faster and feverish bubbles of expectation rose inside her. She moved on him, felt him catch her rhythm and move with her and she surrendered to the inevitable.
Colt King was the only man she would ever want. Damn it, the only man she would ever love and this might be all she ever had of him. How could she possibly deny herself what she found only with him?
She took him deep and when he was fully sheathed inside her, she sighed a little as her body stretched to accommodate his. Excitement rippled through her system, lighting fires that had been simmering for nearly two years. What she’d had with Colt would never truly be extinguished. One touch from him and those flames had erupted and consumed her in an inferno of sensations. It had been like this between them from the start.
They fit so well together it was as if they had been meant to find each other.
She rocked her body on his and heard his swift intake of breath. Penny trailed her fingers across his chest and down, loving the feel of his hard, muscular body beneath her hands. Dark hair dusted his chest and trailed down his abdomen. The muscles in his arms flexed as he reached up to cup her breasts in his palms. Sighing with the intense pleasure soaring inside her, she tipped her head back and gasped as his thumbs slid back and forth across her hardened nipples.
Penny’s head tipped back and she felt the cool slap of her still-damp hair against her skin. He touched her and she spun out of control. He moved inside her and she only wanted more.
Her body ached a little as she moved on him, but that tiny pain was lost in a dizzying parade of feelings that had nothing to do with discomfort.
Darkness crouched outside the window and a soft wind rattled the tree limbs against the side of the house. Inside, though, it was all heat and magic and straining breathing and racing hearts.
Penny felt the lost time without him in her life melt away until only this one moment existed. The passion she remembered roared up stronger, sharper, more overpowering than before and she gave herself up to it. Stari
ng down into his eyes, she moved on him, loving the feel of him sliding in and out of her body. He filled her so completely, the slightest movement created a friction that left her breathless. Again and again she moved on him, setting the pace, watching his eyes flare with heat and desire. Her blood pumped fast and furious, until it became a roaring in her ears, shutting out every other sound. An exquisite, oh so familiar tingle of expectation began to build deep inside her.
Colt’s hands moved over her body, touching, exploring, tantalizing her with more and more sensations. He moved beneath her, picking up the rhythm she set and meeting her at every stroke, pushing them both faster and higher.
She groaned, braced her hands on his broad, muscled chest and raced to meet the climax that was hovering just out of reach. She climbed the peak in front of her quickly, desperate to reach the top and then tumble off the other side.
“Come for me, Penny,” he whispered and his voice was a caress on every raw nerve ending. “Come for me. Let me watch you fly.”
Throat tight, air strangling in her lungs, she was almost there, her body alive and simmering with want. Need. Her eyes flew open, locked with his, and when the first tremor shuddered inside her, she raced to meet it.
Colt shifted one hand to where their bodies were joined. His thumb caressed that one spectacular spot and as he watched, Penny shattered into a million jagged pieces.
Her mind was still spinning, her body still buzzing when she felt his body explode into hers. She heard his guttural shout, felt the tension in him coil and then release as, locked together, they crashed into oblivion.
* * *
A short while later, Colt rolled out of the cramped bed, pulled on his jeans and left her sleeping, curled on her side. He stared down at her, his gaze tracking the curves of her naked body, and hunger grabbed him by the throat again. She was beautiful. And amazing. And dangerous.
He laid the faded, flowered quilt over her, then slipped out of the room. The house was quiet. Too damn quiet, if truth be told. He wasn’t used to this. The world he lived in was noisy, crowded and rushed—a place where no one got too close and he could move through crowds of people without ever being touched by any of them.
DOUBLE THE TROUBLE Page 10
