by Melody Anne
“Oh, Colt, Colt. That was the wrong thing to say.” Brielle stepped to the front of the line, and the boy who was about to throw gladly handed over the ball.
“Don’t throw like a girl,” Colt taunted her.
She fluttered her eyelashes at him, then looked at the target, wound her arm back, and released. The ball flew fast and straight and sank him on the first throw. When he popped back up from the water, his eyes held a look of amazement.
“I’m proud I throw like a girl, Colt. I did tell you that I have four brothers, didn’t I? I’ve been throwing since I took my first steps. I pitched on our softball team in high school, and I was beyond pissed off when they wouldn’t let me play baseball. The girls won the district playoffs and went to state my senior year.”
“I never would have taken you for a ball player, Princess.” This time, princess was spoken with reverence.
“There’s still a lot you don’t know about me, cowboy.” She threw another ball and sank him again, wearing a huge grin while she did so.
After Colt’s turn in the tank was over, she gave him a longing smile when he stepped from the changing tent, his hair wet, his cheeks glowing, and his shirt hugging his damp body. Neither of them said a word as he rushed to her, lifted her in his arms and gave her an explosive kiss.
“We can either sneak off into the woods or go out on the dance floor,” he whispered.
“The woods, please. After seeing you all slick and wet, I’m burning up.”
That was all Colt needed to hear. Grabbing her hand, he led her away to a much more private place.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
COLT FELT LIKE a teenage boy as he slipped off into the woods with Brielle. That’s how she made him feel all the time, lightheaded and excited. He never wanted the days to end — or the nights.
She was passionate and stimulating, adventurous, and just all-around amazing. And how she made him feel about himself was the most thrilling of all. She made him feel invincible.
He would never forget the talk he’d been given when he was getting ready to head off to college and his dad had taken him fishing down by the lake. His father had told him that if he ever found a woman who made him believe in himself, he’d be a fool to let her go, because that was the type of woman a man held onto forever.
Colt had found that woman. He just had to make sure she loved him enough to get past the information he hadn’t given her about himself. Sure, he hadn’t actually lied, if he wanted to get technical. She’d just assumed he worked for her. But not telling her the truth was a lie — some might call it the sin of omission.
He pushed that from his consciousness, because they were now far enough away from the townspeople that he could ravish her, make her forget about anything other than how great the two of them were together.
He’d been playing in these woods since he was a young boy, running through them with his friends, playing cops and robbers, hide-and-seek, and so much more. Sure, he’d kissed his share of women while hiding behind a tree, but he hadn’t made love even once on the soft moss that covered the ground.
He was practically shaking as he thought about stripping Brielle down. Just the idea of seeing her naked under the canopy of blue, with the sunlight streaming over her perfect curves, had Colt pumped up for action.
They reached a small pond that held a lot of memories of swimming, fishing, and swinging from the trees into the water on a long rope. This was the perfect place. It was quiet, well sheltered, and the epitome of the picturesque.
Colt turned to Brielle and lowered his eyelids. Her answering grin made his heart pound. Unable to keep her from his arms for even a second longer, he pulled her close, captured her beautiful pink lips, and felt her sigh vibrate in his mouth.
His hands slid hungrily beneath her blue tank top and moved up the heated skin of her back.
“You turn me on so much,” he murmured when their lips broke apart.
“Oh, Colt, no one can compare to you, or how you make me feel.”
He felt like Superman.
Lifting her tank top up over her head, he tossed it behind her and took in the lacy black bra she was wearing, her lush breasts filling it well and leaving ample skin sticking out for him to swirl his tongue across. He leaned down and sucked on her delicate cleavage, eager for a taste of her pink nipples, but reluctant to rush the moment, and glorying in that sexy bra.
His hands wandered down her back, slipped inside her soft cotton skirt, and easily pushed it down, so she was standing in his arms in nothing but her black bra and matching thong panties.
Taking a step back, he paused, devouring her with his eyes, loving the soft curve of her waist, how her perfect hips flared out just right, loving the indents on the sides of her stomach and the way the soft skin led so tantalizingly to the top of her panties.
He couldn’t help but groan as his eyes traveled down her milky thighs and calves. Toned. Shapely. Flawless.
“I want to look at your body, too,” she told him, and he looked back up, complete satisfaction filling him at the look of hunger and self-confidence in her eyes.
She knew how much he wanted her, and she was no longer embarrassed to stand there nearly naked in front of him. She trailed a long, slim finger down the center of her cleavage and over the quivering muscles of her stomach, spreading her legs open as she leaned back against a tree right behind her.
He wished he had a camera, wished he could capture this moment, but he knew the image would be burned forever in his mind, and all he’d have to do was close his eyes to see her like this again and again.
He threw off his shirt, then began unbuttoning his jeans, never once looking away from her. As much as he loved the bra, he now wanted it far, far away, wanted to see her breasts free and swaying before him. He pointed and said, “Take that thing off.” His voice was gruff, demanding.
Her lips turned up and, without hesitation, she reached up and undid the clasp on the front, then peeled the scrap of lace away. Her breasts slid out, her nipples already hard and waiting for his mouth.
“Beautiful! You are so incredibly beautiful.”
“I feel the same about you, Colt” she whispered, and her breathing stuttered as she shifted, opening her legs even more.
Both of them were so ready for each other, but Colt couldn’t move. He loved the foreplay of nothing but words, of sight.
Every time with her was more exciting than the last, more adventurous. This definitely wouldn’t ever end. He would make sure it didn’t. Colt wouldn’t let this woman go — no matter what it took.
“Do you trust me?” he asked as he stepped forward and his chest brushed the tips of her breasts. A soft sigh escaped her, and then she traced the perfection of her parted lips with her tongue, making his erection jump painfully against the tight confines of his unbuttoned jeans.
“More than anyone.”
Her words gave him pause, but only for a moment. He would soon tell her the truth, but this wasn’t the time. He would make this right.
“Good, Brielle. Now close your eyes.”
“But I want to watch you take off your jeans.”
“Close your eyes,” he repeated, getting more and more hot as he changed the rules, as he took over and braced his hands on the tree on either side of her.
Without another protest, Brielle did as Colt had ordered and closed her eyes. He also had to close his eyes for a second because he was so near to falling over the edge. Picking up her small tank top, he lifted her arms just over her head and positioned her wrists on a tree branch. With quick movements, he secured her hands to the branch, and her eyes popped back open in surprise.
He’d never thought of doing something so erotic before, but he wanted to see her stretched out, wanted to see how her breasts lifted when her arms were raised over her head this way. Taking a step back, he now pulled down his jeans and fitted briefs to reveal what he was feeling. Then he gripped himself and squeezed, trying to relieve the pulsing, trying to make sure thi
s lasted.
The excitement pouring from her eyes was killing him. “You are every man’s fantasy come to life, Brielle,” he told her. And he stepped forward again and kissed her bottom lip before capturing it with his teeth and nipping the swollen pout she wore.
“Then give me a real kiss, Colt.”
“You’re my captive, Brielle. I get to do whatever I want to you.” He let his lips graze down her jaw, and then he sucked on the skin of her neck.
She didn’t argue; she just encouraged him with her sighs of pleasure as he moved down, his hands lifting and holding the weight of her breasts. She wriggled against him, and against the tree at her back, and bit her bottom lip to keep the groans at bay when he sucked on her nipples.
He withdrew again just to look at her, loving the way the sun and shade highlighted her body, the way his saliva on her nipples gleamed just for him. He was going crazy from the little sounds emanating from her throat, the moans of pleasure she couldn’t contain.
Dropping to his knees, he circled his tongue around her belly button and felt her stomach quiver beneath his touch. And he pulled the last piece of her clothing down her long, slender legs to reveal her satin-pink core to his gaze.
No hesitation. He lifted one of her legs, placed it on his shoulder and opened her wide for his view and taste. He ran his tongue along her hot folds, drinking in her scent, her heat, her beauty.
Writhing against the tree and against him, she moaned, encouraging him to go on. He was more than happy to oblige. His arousal pulsed with the need to take her, to push inside her heat and give himself release. But he wanted her shaking, he wanted her whole body pulsing when he thrust inside her. After a few expert flicks of his tongue, she cried out his name and her body convulsed with the power of her orgasm.
Colt didn’t want to lose this moment. He stood, the effects of her pleasure glistening on his lips, lifted her legs around his waist, and drove deep inside her while her convulsions remained strong.
“Colt!” she cried as he sank all the way in, and he had to pause.
Oh so tight.
“Don’t quit!” she gasped.
Colt grabbed her ass and pulled out, only to drive back inside in a move so deliciously hard that they both cried out. He lost control and began thrusting in and out, her little screams of pleasure firing him up even further — as if he needed more firing up.
And when his release came, they shared their groans in a desperate kiss. When the trembling finally subsided, Colt found himself gripping her behind so hard that she was sure to have bruises, but there was only a smile of satisfaction on her face.
“That was incredible, Colt.”
“What you do to me…”
“Want to go for round two?”
Colt laughed and kissed her hard. “Woman! I may not survive you.”
“That would be tragic.”
He reached up and freed her hands, then began massaging the muscles that were surely aching by now.
“One day spent without you is tragic, Princess.”
“Then we’d better not part.”
Colt kissed her again, lavishing all that he was feeling into the kiss. But voices nearby made him panic. No one could find Brielle this way. Her beauty was for his eyes only.
Brielle didn’t panic. She gave him a mischievous grin and slid her hand down to grasp his manhood. “I’m still up for round number two,” she said. “And so are you.”
“You are evil, pure evil,” he told her. “But we’ll have to be good just this once.”
“Oh, you were good. We both were.”
“Dammit, woman, get dressed.” He found her skirt and thrust it into her hands.
Colt didn’t feel at ease until all her beautiful assets were covered. And yet no one came around; the voices faded away. Still, he had to hope no one had heard their cries echoing through the woods.
Hell, he didn’t actually care. All anyone could feel would be envy. And the two of them couldn’t possibly hide their satisfied smiles when they made it back to the party.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
DANCE WITH ME.”
Brielle floated into Colt’s arms as the band played a song she didn’t know. The twinkling lights surrounding the dance floor were reflected in Colt’s eyes, and he began singing the words to her…
…. and though I make mistakes, I’ll never break your heart…
The words made her melt. Okay, it was just a song, and yes, someone else had written the lines, but the look he gave her and his compelling voice brought her to tears.
When he deepened the emotion in his voice for the chorus of “I Swear,” by the group All 4 One, she knew it was all over for her, knew she was head over heels, irrevocably in love with this man. She’d once wondered whether she was capable of falling in love.
Now she had no doubt. She wanted to say it. Hell, she wanted to shout it out, in front of all these strangers, that she never, ever wanted to let Colt go. As the song ended, as the two of them swayed together, her head fell against his chest, the power of their gaze too much for her to take anymore.
He was singing to her, was holding her tight, but he also held a lot back. So she really didn’t know what she meant to him, and she was still too afraid to ask. Could she be reading everything wrong?
This was the insecurity that Brielle dealt with, the sadness of being abandoned at a young age by the one person who was supposed to always be there for a child. Her mother’s betrayal would inevitably haunt her for the rest of her life.
And though Brielle had never had any inclination to have children, she could see Colt’s child growing inside her. She could picture them as a family, and she vowed that if she was lucky enough to have that picture come to life, she would be a much better mother than the woman who’d given birth to her.
When the next song came on and it was a fast number, the rest of the people dancing cheered, and then Colt was dragging her to the front of the dance floor.
“What the heck are you doing?” she asked as he put his hands into his pockets and began moving his feet in sync with the crowd.
“Come on, Brielle. It’s easy — just follow me.”
And so she got her first lesson in line dancing.
Brielle was terrible at it, but no one seemed to mind, and her laughter was mixed with everyone else’s hoots and hollers and yee-haws. She and Colt stayed on the dance floor for nearly an hour, until she was hot and sweaty and in desperate need of something to drink.
He led her to an area on the rolling lawn with blankets spread out, and he sat, pulled her down onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. As the fireworks began, he kissed her neck and whispered sweet promises for later that had her heart pounding.
People all around them laughed, chatted excitedly, and cheered as explosion after explosion filled the night sky with color.
Maggie stood up on the stage when the celebration was concluding, and she thanked everyone for another great year, announced that they’d raised more than ever before for the fire department, and sent out a stern motherly look as she reminded them all to use their designated drivers.
Brielle stood up slowly, knowing that Colt would come home with her, but still reluctant to leave. She found herself wishing for a time loop in which she could replay this day over and over again.
Eventually, the two of them were going to need to talk about where they were headed. Brielle had fought being in Montana, had fought against living this kind of life, thinking she was much happier in a city where they didn’t even know what line dancing was. But she had found something here in Big Sky Country, and she never wanted to let it go. She only hoped that Colt’s feelings mirrored her own.
“I have to say, Brielle, that this has been one of the best days I’ve ever had.”
“I was just thinking the same thing, Colt.”
He drew her into his arms. “I know I’m probably going to scare you to death, but I love you, Brielle. I can’t go a single minute without thinking about
you. I can’t imagine you moving away from here, leaving what we have together behind.”
After a brief silence, she lifted her hand to cradle his face. “I won’t lie and say I’m not terrified to say this, Colt...but I love you, too.”
But was love enough? Sometimes it was, but unfortunately, sometimes it wasn’t.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
IT WAS THE first day of harvest, a process that would take weeks, and Brielle wasn’t as confident as she should have been in her ability to help. But she was bound and determined to give it her best. Though she knew Joe was worried, Colt had told her that a combine was easy-peasy. It was just like driving a car, really — a really, really big car.
Hey, what could go wrong?
After her shower, Brielle dressed and came downstairs in a hopeful mood. The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky and she was ready to get started with the workday. Before her job at the mall last year she hadn’t worked for a paycheck once in her life. She’d gone to school and she’d done a lot of service work with her brothers when she was younger, but she hadn’t punched a time clock. It was one of the advantages of being raised in wealth.
So Brielle was completely surprised by how much she was enjoying running this ranch. Sure, there were some tasks and projects she despised, but she adored others, and all in all, she was happy with her large spread here in the middle of Montana.
Once she made it outside, she watched as her large crew gathered together. She didn’t know whether she was relieved or sad when she didn’t find Colt among them, but it didn’t matter. She would prove to him today that he hadn’t been wasting his time on her, that what he’d been teaching her over the last month was sticking.
“Hi, Brielle. What are you doing up so early?”
“I’m going to help harvest the fields, Joe,” she said with a confident smile. If she appeared to know what she was doing, then surely the men would welcome her help.
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
