by Seton, Cora
“You feel great, Helena.”
She rolled her eyes at his use of her fake name, but didn’t say a word. She trailed a hand over his shoulder and down his muscled arm. Colt had always been in great shape, but his biceps today were big enough to make her weak in the knees. “Strong,” she said, her voice husky.
“Credit the Air Force for that. It whipped me into shape.”
“Sure did.”
Heather leaned forward to press a kiss to his collarbone, tasting the saltiness of his skin. He pulled her closer and cupped her bottom. Her pulse spiked and she pressed herself against him, wanting to feel more. Colt skimmed his hands up again and palmed her breasts. Heather gasped.
“Too fast?” Colt stopped.
“No.”
He chuckled at the desperation too clear in her voice. “That’s how I feel. I want to strip you down, toss you on the bed and make love to you until the cows come home.”
“Why don’t you?”
He stilled. Reached up to cup her chin. “You giving me permission, Helena?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
He kissed her again, long and hard. A demanding kiss that left her breathless when he pulled away. He slipped his hands under the hem of the clingy black shirt she wore and tugged it up and over her head. Plunging his hands down her pants, he had them pooled around her ankles in a moment. He palmed her breasts again, skimming his hands all over her body, chafing her skin to warm her as he kissed her again. With a growl low in his throat, he undid the clasp of her bra, untangled her from it and tossed it away. He bent to take a nipple into his mouth and Heather clutched his shoulders, biting her lip to keep from crying out. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed being with a man until this moment. Her whole body responded to the feeling of his tongue on her skin and as he licked and laved and tugged at her sensitive nipple, the ache between her legs intensified.
He moved to lavish attention on her other breast until Heather was trembling with desire, then just when she thought she couldn’t stand it anymore he reached down, tugged her panties down and slid a hand between her thighs.
A garbled sound escaped her and all she could do was cling to him as he teased her into a feverish peak. She shrieked when he picked her up suddenly and made good on his threat to toss her on the bed. Laughing when she hit the mattress and bounced up and down a couple of times, she yelped again when Colt leapt on top of her and pinned her to the mattress.
“I’ve got you now,” he said in a mock growl.
“You do,” she said. She let him lift her hands over her head and shifted beneath him as he settled between her thighs, his desire for her all too evident as he pressed against her. He began a slow exploration of her body, trailing kisses down her neck, to her breasts, to her belly and back up again.
He released her hands and shifted downward, kissing a path down her belly again lower and lower until he found her core. Heather arched her back and twisted her fingers in the bedspread as he teased her with his tongue, his movements making her hum with desire. He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her to give him deeper access. She wouldn’t be able to hang on much longer.
“I have a condom. Should I put it on?” he rumbled against her.
“Please.” She’d long since given up using the Pill.
He moved quickly to fetch it, sheath himself and nudge her thighs further apart with his knees. Taking up his position between them again, he pressed against her with the tip of his hardness.
“You’re beautiful, Helena.”
Heather closed her eyes at the sound of the false name on Colt’s tongue. He was goading her to fess up about the truth. He was—
“Oh,” she breathed as he pushed inside of her, filling her with one long stroke. Colt slid out of her and pushed in again, and Heather couldn’t think coherently anymore. She didn’t care what name Colt called her, and didn’t care what would happen next. All she wanted was to be here—in Colt’s arms and in his bed—with him inside of her.
As he thrust again and pulled back out, each stroke lifting her to a higher level of desire, she wrapped her arms around his broad back and held on tight, determined to let him control this ride. As his strokes picked up speed, she surrendered to the sensation of his lovemaking, unwilling to miss a moment of it.
Colt rode her hard, each stroke bringing her closer and closer to her release. When she came, calling out in incomprehensible syllables, Colt grunted and came with her, pounding into her, pushing her into a second orgasm that shuddered through her with earth-shattering strength.
By the time they were done, she was panting for breath, and so was Colt. He collapsed on top of her and she bore his weight gladly, clinging tightly to him so that he wouldn’t pull out and move away.
“Don’t think I’m done with you, sweetheart,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “We’re just getting started.”
“Thank God,” she breathed, laughing a little.
“Not satisfied yet?” he asked, running a hand down the length of her spine.
“Not by half.”
“Damn, Helena. A man could get used to this.”
As Colt made love to Heather again and then a third time he marveled at the ease with which they had come together, as if the years they’d been apart had never happened. He was able to anticipate her needs and she his until every stroke felt like a choreographed move in an intricate, loving ballet. He’d long since given up worrying about tomorrow. Tonight was all he cared about—being joined to Heather, loving her and being loved in return.
It was after two in the morning when they lay panting in each other’s arms again. As Colt’s heartbeat slowed, a warm glow took hold of him he hadn’t known since before his father’s death. Cradled by it, he floated in the sensation, his mind almost devoid of thought, but after some time passed he began to picture Crescent Hall the way it had looked when he’d gone home for a couple of days for Mason’s wedding last June. By now his brothers would have completed all the repairs on the Hall and outbuildings and would be hunkered down for the winter with their wives.
A wave of nostalgia overtook him and visions of his childhood on the ranch paraded through his mind. Helping Aaron with the cattle, mucking out the horse stalls, running the obstacle course over and over again with his brothers.
It had been a damn good childhood for him.
It could be a damn good childhood for his own children. Was he making too much of his part in Aaron’s death? Was it possible Austin was long over any jealousy he might have felt about Heather?
“What will you do next? After I leave.” Heather still spoke in a husky whisper, as if that could disguise her voice.
“I guess I’ll go home. For a bit.” Curled up with her under the covers in the absolute darkness, speaking in whispers, he felt like a child at a sleepover. His sleepless nights were beginning to catch up to him and he stifled a yawn. “They’re not going to be too happy to see me.”
“Maybe it will go better than you think.”
He frowned, glad she couldn’t see him in the dark. “I doubt it; in my experience life’s never that easy.”
“There was a time when I thought everything would be simple,” she said. “I thought I would meet a man, get married, be a wife and mother. I wonder why it all has to be so hard?”
“I don’t know. Seems simple enough between you and me.” He snuggled in closer to her, loving the feel of her body against his. His eyes drifted closed. He blinked and forced them open again.
Heather chuckled. “Really? Seems pretty complicated to me.”
Was that regret he heard? “Tell me what you want out of life.” His eyes drifted closed again, and he settled in to listen to her answer.
“I want a husband who loves me,” she began after a moment, relaxing too. “A man who wants to be a father. A man who—”
Colt fell asleep.
Thanks to several years’ practice when Richard had been a fussy baby who had to have her nearby to settle down at night,
Heather was a pro at slipping away without waking someone. Richard used to fall asleep just like Colt had tonight, gripping her firmly as if to make sure she couldn’t escape.
She lay beside him for several hours, cherishing this time with Colt, but she knew she had to leave before he woke up. As soon as the sun came up there would be no way to pretend he didn’t know who she was, whether or not the sleeping bag covered the window. Even though she’d asked him what he planned to do next, Colt hadn’t asked her to marry him. He wasn’t planning for a lifetime with her. All she could do now was slip away and hope he came after her.
Her heart ached as she crept from the bed and dressed carefully, finding items of clothing, her purse, her coat, and her shoes by touch. She sent one last longing glance back toward the vicinity of the bed before she headed toward the door on tip-toes. She’d fooled herself into believing her trick would work and Colt would fall passionately back in love with her. She hadn’t pictured herself sneaking out of his motel room the following morning.
She found the doorknob and was about to turn it when a light switched on.
“Heather, where the hell are you going?”
Heather froze. Footsteps behind her told her Colt had climbed out of bed. When he touched her shoulder and turned her around, she closed her eyes.
“Too late for that,” he said, smoothing a thumb over her cheek.
She couldn’t think of an answer and he chuckled. “Come on, you knew I knew who you were.”
“But I didn’t know if you knew that I knew.” She opened her eyes and found him gazing at her with affection.
“Christ, woman, what were you trying to prove?” His hands fell to her waist and stayed there. His presence had overpowered her when she couldn’t see him. Now that she could, his raw maleness set her heart beating.
“I wanted… I wanted you to remember me when you married that other woman.”
“Hell, I never stop thinking about you. How’s a fake marriage going to change that?”
This time when she closed her eyes, it was from the pain. He meant to go through with the fake marriage after everything they’d done together. She reached blindly for the doorknob, but Colt stopped her. “Hey, I’m talking to you.”
“I can’t do this.”
“What can’t you do?”
“I can’t watch you marry someone else.”
His hands came up to cup her face. Before she could protest, he bent to kiss her thoroughly, sending her pulse racing and scattering her thoughts until he pulled away.
“Who says I’m going to marry someone else?”
“But—” She stared in shock as Colt lowered himself to one knee. Naked, he was more magnificent than a man in a tailored suit. He had no ring, but Heather didn’t care.
“Heather Marie Ward, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
It had to be a dream, but when Heather blinked he was still there, still on his knees, still looking at her like she was all he’d ever wanted. A tear spilled down her cheek. “I…”
“Say yes,” he coached her.
“I…”
“Y…E…S,” he said slowly. “You can do it, baby.”
Heather laughed. “Yes!” A fleeting image of Richard flashed through her mind. She should say something. She should tell Colt he was a father. But Colt surged to his feet, tossed her coat and purse aside, and pushed her up against the door as he bent to capture her mouth with his again. Helpless to withstand his passion, Heather forgot everything else as he kissed her senseless, the taste of his lips and tongue overriding all of her instincts. He tugged her shirt up and over her head and captured her wrists in one hand as he unhooked her bra. When he lowered his head to cover her nipple with his mouth, Heather was lost.
They didn’t make it back to the bed. When she couldn’t wait another second, Colt lifted her up, wrapped her legs around his waist and took her right there. His thrusts bumped her up against the door, but she didn’t care what the neighbors thought. Possessed by him, brought to the brink of ecstasy, she gave herself up to his touch and when she went over the edge into her release, Colt cried out and bucked against her in the throes of his own.
Long after they returned to bed and Heather slipped into a light sleep, Colt realized he was shaking. At first he thought it was from his time outside of the covers naked in the cool room, but while his skin warmed the fine tremors that slipped through him didn’t stop.
Was this…? Colt shied away from the word fear. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Scratch that—he was afraid of losing Heather again now that he finally had her.
She’d said yes.
He couldn’t describe the emotion that had filled him when she’d agreed to be his bride. It was like time had reversed itself and he was sixteen again, whole and happy just to be alive.
That didn’t mean all would be smooth sailing, though. He wanted to be with Heather and after touching her again there was no way he’d give her up, but he still had to face his brothers when he took her home. Even if Austin was married to someone else now, he might resent it if Colt was with Heather. And Austin and Mason might be angry about what he’d done the day Aaron had died, too.
If tensions ran too high between him and his brothers, he would need to convince Heather to move away from Chance Creek. He supposed she would agree to that once he had a chance to explain things to her. They didn’t have to go far, after all. They could land in any of the towns between Billings and Bozeman, close enough to visit her mother and his family from time to time. He’d find work on a ranch. She could get whatever job pleased her. Still, even when she woke and they kissed again, he found himself reluctant to discuss that possibility.
“Now what do we do?” she asked, sitting up. The covers slipped down, giving him a view of her beautiful breasts. Colt sighed. He guessed they couldn’t make love forever.
“I think it’s time to go home.”
She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and stiffened. “You’re right. I’ve got to get to work.” She scrambled to her feet and began to pick up her clothes.
“What do you do for work these days?”
“You’ll never guess.” She moved toward the bathroom and a moment later he heard the shower come on.
“Then tell me.” He got up and followed her.
“I own Renfree’s Home Décor now,” she said when he joined her in the shower. He grabbed the soap, lathered up, but when he went to soap down her body, Heather wasn’t having it. “I’ve got to hurry. My employee is opening for me, but at this rate I won’t get there until after lunch,” she said, but stood on tiptoes to kiss him.
Colt sighed. “An entrepreneur, huh? I always knew you’d do well for yourself.”
“It’s harder than I thought it would be. Sales are down from last year. I’m afraid the store won’t be a success.” She made quick work of washing her hair and scrubbing her body, then stepped back to give him a chance under the shower. Colt followed her lead and didn’t linger.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Just keep looking at me like that.”
He knew what she meant. It was as if for the moment they shared a protective cocoon of love, and it was all the more precious because it was fleeting.
When he was done, Colt turned off the shower, then moved around the motel room packing while Heather got dressed. She used the blow drier that came with the room to dry her hair, then quickly pulled it up in to a ponytail.
“I like your hair that color. Blond suits you,” Colt said.
“You don’t think it’s too much?”
“I think it’s perfect.”
She smiled, gazed around the room and nodded. “I think that’s everything. I guess I’ll head out and see you soon, then.” She shrugged on her winter coat and strode to the door.
“Wait. Hold up, there. I meant let’s go back to Chance Creek together.” He crossed the room to block the door. “What’s your hurry?”
“I told you, I have to work.” She
didn’t meet his gaze and for a second he wondered if she was having second thoughts.
“We need to go to Crescent Hall and tell everyone our news.”
“Right now?”
“Why not?” Colt suddenly felt energized. Why wait a moment longer to face down the demons of his past? He’d carried his guilt with him for far too long. It was time to finally set that burden down. If his brothers were angry with him he’d find some other way to make things right. With Heather by his side he could do anything.
“But I have work.”
“It won’t take long.”
“But—”
“But nothing. Let’s go.” He grabbed his bag and jacket and hustled her right out the door. A quick stop in the motel office let him pay his bill and he walked Heather to her truck, eager to get on their way. “Follow me, okay?”
“Of course.” But she didn’t seem happy. She raised a hand to tuck back an errant strand of hair and Colt realized why.
“First things first. You need a ring.” How could he have forgotten that? He pulled out his phone and searched for the nearest jewelry store.
“Colt, I—”
“You don’t have to say anything. I know; I’m a complete idiot for forgetting.”
“That’s not—”
“Just follow me. We’ll get the prettiest ring they have.” He kissed her cheek and jogged to his own rental car, knowing Heather would feel better as soon as he’d put a ring on her finger. He had to remember this was as strange for her as it was for him. He wasn’t going to give her enough time to think of all the reasons it couldn’t work.
Fifteen minutes later, both of them pulled into the parking lot outside of the store. Taking her hand when they met up, Colt hurried her through the door and tugged her to the jewelry cases that featured a selection of rings. The store was empty of customers so early in the morning, but Colt figured that worked to their advantage.
