by T. S. Joyce
“You’re a noisy little thing, aren’t you?” he murmured in a soft stroke against her ear. “I like when you let me know what feels good.”
“This,” she said honestly. “This feels good.”
“Yeah?” He moved his hand to the front of her leggings, then pushed his way inside and cupped her sex. “What about this?”
“Yep. Yes, keep doing that, too.”
He chuckled and nibbled her ear. Okay, the man was going to make her detonate if this kept up, and she was forming plans. Punting her boots into a corner, she shimmied out of her pants with minimum grace and kicked off the clinging leggings. Completely vulnerable, she grinned wickedly at him and tugged at the edge of his towel.
“Hadley,” he gritted out. “Are you sure about this?”
“Are you asking because we are virtually strangers? Because I’d argue that we’ve been carrying on a relationship for a month. Also, no more talking unless you are telling me yes.”
An amused grin ghosted his lips as she pushed him back onto the bed while holding his towel in her other hand. The plush material slipped away from his hips as he sat, and he leaned back on locked elbows, allowing her a fantastic view of his shaft, standing rigid between his legs. It was red and swollen…ready for her. Stomach churning with need, she dropped to her knees and kissed the inside of his leg.
“What are you doing?” Colin asked, canting his head.
“Kissing you,” she said innocently.
The head of his cock glistened with a single dewy bead, and she tasted it, then kissed it in turn. His legs spasmed, and he reached for her head, like he couldn’t help himself, but stopped before he touched her.
With a patient smile, she pulled his hand around the back of her head. “Now, you tell me what you like.” She gripped his base, then took as much as she was able into her mouth. Retreating slowly, she sucked gently.
“Holy fuck, woman,” he whispered in a shaky voice.
His legs were flexed hard as stones, and his cock swelled in her mouth as she took him again, slowly.
She was teasing him, encouraging him to guide her, but he didn’t seem to want to push her too hard. On she tortured him until his eyes rolled back in his head and a guttural sound came from his throat. She liked it. He sounded like a wild animal, and she sucked harder. His fingers wound in her hair, but he didn’t apply any pressure, like he was still trying so hard to be gentle with her. That’s how she could tell he was a good-to-the-core type of man. No matter how she made him feel, he was determined not to be rough with her. Her heart tethered to him more thoroughly as she tasted another salty drop of moisture from his tip.
His hips bucked against her mouth, like he couldn’t help himself, and she slid her lips over him faster and harder this time, stroking him in rhythm with her hands. His stomach muscles clenched, as if he was losing himself, and he huffed out a helpless noise.
“Not yet, big boy,” she murmured, standing then straddling his lap.
His hands were stony as he gripped her hips, and lifted her high enough so he could slide into her. Her breath shook as he filled and stretched her. He was big, and she was tight, but she’d been ready for that and gripped his hair until the base of his cock bumped her clit. A moan escaped her lips as she rocked her hips and felt him against her sensitive spot again. He dipped down, drew the tightened bud of her nipple into his mouth, and lapped it to the rhythm of her rolling hips.
“Hadley,” he pleaded in a broken whisper.
She loved this, owned this. She felt powerful in his arms. Beautiful. Pressure filled her, pressing against her insides as the friction of their joining became more intense. “Oh!” she called out, arching against him as he brought his lips against her throat.
Colin bucked against her faster now, like his control was slipping. The bed creaked under him, and she clung tighter to his neck. And as the first wave of pleasure crashed through her, she brushed her teeth against his shoulder, tasting his skin.
“Hadley!” he gritted out as his hips froze.
Warmth shot into her, and he thrust erratically into her as her body pulsed around him. Breath ragged, he rubbed her back like he couldn’t get enough of the feel of her. His heartbeat against her chest slowed as his hips stilled, and at last, he pulled her back onto the bed, still burrowed inside of her, and cradled her against him.
And that was the moment for her.
All of the witty banter and late night chats with him online were nothing compared to this connection she felt with him now. He was everything, consuming, mysterious, and gentle enough to hold her after what they’d done instead of push her away. He was different. Down to her core, she knew he was different from any man she’d ever met—from any man who she’d ever meet again. Everyone would be compared to Colin from here on, and none would match up.
“Hadley?” he murmured against her ear.
“Hmm?”
“I know you don’t much like the holiday, but tomorrow I want to take you out. Will you be my Valentine?”
Her chest felt too small for her heart. She wanted to cry at his sweetness. She wanted to hug him up tight and never let him go.
With a gentle kiss to one of the curved scars across his shoulder, she whispered, “I will on one condition.”
“Mmm,” he said in a sleepy, satisfied voice, his voice rattling against her cheek as she rested it on his chest. “And what’s that?”
She inhaled deeply and hoped she wasn’t pushing too hard or too fast. “I’ll be yours if you let me in.”
Chapter Four
Hadley studied the picture on the wall nearest the kitchen. There were probably fifty men, women, and children in different states of chaos. One woman reached for a child who was streaking out of the picture, one man lay in front of the group on his side with a comical grin. A blond-haired woman sat atop the shoulders of a short, stalky man. And on the end, a man who looked suspiciously like Colin leaned on a stoic looking bruiser, holding bunny ears behind his head.
“Is this you?” she asked, pointing.
Colin turned from the fragrant, steaming pot of chili he was cooking over the stove. His look darkened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Yeah.”
“Is this some sort of camp picture?” The row of cabins in the background made it look like a wilderness retreat. Perhaps these were his coworkers, all out for a weekend event.
“Those,” Colin said with his back to her, “were my people.”
“Your people,” she repeated, staring at the glossy eight by ten. “What does that mean? Was it a family reunion or something?”
“I used to live with them before I moved up here.” His tone had gone cold and emotionless, and it conjured chill bumps across her arms.
“What happened to them?”
He turned empty eyes on her, eyes that had darkened noticeably to a stormy blue. “They’re dead.”
“All of them?” she whispered, pain slashing through her chest as she dragged her eyes across the photo of the children’s smiling faces.
“Almost all of them.” Colin’s dark brows lowered, and he suddenly looked exhausted. “It hurts to talk about them.”
He turned back to stirring the chili, and she swallowed her questions down. She didn’t want to hurt him by dredging up an obviously painful past. She wanted to make him happy, like he made her.
Padding across the wood floors, she bit her lip against the tears that stung her eyes. He’d gone through so much more than she could’ve ever imagined. The scars on his skin weren’t the only clues to his secrets. He’d lost people he loved. She wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head between his shoulder blades. “I won’t mention them again. When you’re ready, I’ll be here to listen.”
The muscles in his back relaxed, and he rested his hand over hers, as if to keep her in place, holding him.
“So a blacksmith, huh? Because I have to tell you, I honestly thought that only existed in the Old West.”
A soft chuckle reverberat
ed against her palm, and she relaxed as the tension seemed to drain from him. “It’s hard to find nowadays, but it leaves room for knife makers like me to make a decent wage. You can buy a knife at any sporting goods store, and know you’ll get a sharp, durable tool, but it won’t be custom. It’ll be just like ten thousand other knives made in its likeness in some factory. When people want custom weapons or tools, they track down someone like me. I ship the orders out a few times a week in town.”
“At the post office. That’s why you always carry all those small boxes inside. They’re knives.”
“Yeah,” he said in a bewildered voice. “Have you been watching me?”
Hadley kissed his back and leaned around to taste the steaming spoon of chili he fed her. “It’s perfect,” she said as the rich flavor of tomato, beef, and spices burst against her tongue. “And yes. You did something nice, chivalrous really, by paying for my lunch last month, but then you wouldn’t even acknowledge me when I saw you in town. I was curious about you.”
“Mmm, curious about the town recluse?”
“No, just you. Why didn’t you talk to me when I passed you at the post office or when you walked past the front door of my store?”
He sighed and took the pan off the stove, then pulled two bowls from a cupboard and began to spoon chili into them. “I thought if I just talked to you online, it could be enough. But all that did was make me want to be nearer to you in real life.”
“Why would that need to be enough? We’re both single and open to dating.”
“Because I meant it when I told you earlier you deserve better. My life is…complicated.”
“Accepted. I accept your complicated life, Bearman.”
“You wouldn’t if you really knew me.”
“Enlighten me, then. Let me get to know you, and I’ll make my own decision on whether this is all too much for me.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” He looked down at the bowls in his hands with a frown, then set them on the table while she made two glasses of ice water.
“We made a deal. You want me to be your Valentine, you’ve got to spill some beans.”
She sat down and placed his glass of water in front of him. The table was small, so she stretched and rested her ankles in his lap. Absently, he stared out the window and massaged tiny circles against her calves, which were bare, thanks to her leggings being in the dryer. Currently, she was wearing his navy sweater that hung to the middle of her thighs, panties, and nothing else. She spooned some of the thick broth and blew on it. He was quiet for so long that she thought he had shut down completely, but still, he massaged her legs.
“I heard you in the Dash Inn when Vona was telling you she’d set up the profile on the online dating site.”
Hadley’s spoon clinked against the bowl as she set it down carefully. “I saw you there that day. You were sitting in the booth across the restaurant.”
“My hearing is really good,” he said, giving her a significant look she didn’t understand.
“Is that how you knew when to pay for my food?”
“I heard you say you wanted to take your food to go so you could get back to work. And then you talked to me outside and I felt…well, I felt, and it had been a long time since anyone had looked at me like you did out in the snow that day. I went home and for two days convinced myself I wouldn’t track you down, because it was wrong, violating your privacy like that. But I ended up on my computer by the third day, searching every online dating site for Flowerlady26. You know, there are a lot of dating sites out there.”
“Was everything you told me true? This last month, in all of our conversations, I feel like I’ve gotten to know you. Was that all a lie to get closer to me?”
“No. For the first time in a long time, I felt like myself again talking to you.”
“Did you like me before the day at the Dash Inn?” The answer was important. It would change how she saw their relationship. No, it would cement how hard she was falling for him if he answered her the way she thought he would.
“I’ve liked you for three years. I just couldn’t muster the nerve to go out on a limb and invite you into my life.”
A shaky sigh left her lips, and she leaned back in her creaking chair. “You’ve wasted both of our time, Colin.”
His face fell, and he dropped his gaze to his steaming bowl.
“Because we could’ve been together long before this,” she said thickly.
He lifted his lightened eyes to hers with such a look of hope, it broke her in two. She stood, settled into his lap, and then wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. “You should’ve asked me out. I would’ve said yes.”
“To a reclusive mountain man who nobody knows anything about?”
“You’re a good man, Colin Cross. Whatever you’ve been through, you deserve companionship. Now tell me about your eyes. They change colors like a mood ring. Is it the light up here? Or are you sick?”
He pulled her palm to his lips and kissed it gently. “It’s how I was born. They used to stay dark blue, but after everything…well, they don’t stay steady anymore.”
“Does the light hurt them?”
“No.”
“Then why the sunglasses?”
“Because, Hadley, not many people would be as understanding about my eye color as you are.”
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“I’m good at keeping secrets.”
He was a little too good at keep secrets. It was obnoxious. She narrowed her eyes but let it slide. “I like that I’m the only one who gets to really see you. You feel like all mine.”
“Hmm.” He eased back and searched her face. “That sounds like the bond talking. Go eat your chili, woman, or I’ll take you to my bed again.”
“What bond?”
“Nothing you have to worry about.” He kissed her nose, then her mouth, and before he pulled away, sucked gently on her bottom lip.
He patted her bottom as she stood, then waited for her to sit down before he began to eat his own meal. Hadley had been starving, but her appetite couldn’t touch Colin’s. He ate three bowls before she finished her first, but he probably had to eat like that so he could work as hard as he did.
“I think blacksmithering is hot,” she said through a cheeky grin.
He snorted and wiped his mouth with a napkin, then leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin. “Blacksmithering isn’t a word, but yes, it’s really hot. The fire to heat the metal takes the blame for that.”
“No, ridiculous man. I mean, it’s sexy.”
“What’s sexy is you prancing around my kitchen in one of my shirts.” He pulled her feet back into his lap and relaxed into his chair while she finished eating. “What time do you work tomorrow?”
“Talking about work is very unsexy.”
He laughed and said, “I have a reason for asking.”
Pushing her bowl away, she wiggled her toes against his stomach and stretched. “Five in the morning.”
“Whoa, that’s early.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day, remember? Plus, I cut out a little earlier than I usually would today so I could come up here. I still have a lot of orders to put together and will probably have a lot of last minute orders tomorrow, too. Men tend to forget it’s Valentine’s Day until the day of. That’s what I’ve learned in my five years at the flower shop.”
“Did you always want to be a florist?”
“Yeah, since I was a kid. My mom was really good at gardening. She used to take home awards from the city for our yard. I remember she was obsessed with orange tulips. She planted the bulbs, and every spring, we had orange tulips pop up everywhere. I spent weekends helping her in our flowerbeds. When she passed, it was the best way for me to feel connected to her.”
“She died?” His face looked stricken as he asked the question.
“Yeah.” Hadley swallowed the sadness down and tried to keep the tears from her eyes. Talking about Mom brou
ght up a whole slew of emotions she tried her best to keep buried. “We knew it was coming for a long time, so we were prepared as much as we could be. She was ready by the end.”
Colin’s gaze drifted to the picture on the wall and back, like it was an unconscious motion. As if the ghosts there beckoned his attention.
“You’re a special kind of woman, Hadley. You’re nice to people, but strong. You make me…” He ran his hand over his hair and looked embarrassed.
“I make you what?”
He cleared his throat and began shredding the paper napkin on the table. “You make me want to be better.”
Oh, what that man did to her insides with declarations like that. Churning and butterflies and roller coaster dips, and she was too far away from his warmth for comfort. She stood and folded into his lap again, then held him for a long time.
Resting her cheek against his shoulder, she inhaled a long, steadying breath. “You make me want to be better, too.”
Chapter Five
Hadley stumbled to the front door of her shop. It was a horrific hour to be awake. The street lights on Main Street were still on, casting a yellow glow over the parking spaces that lined the main drag. Her little hatchback was the only car here besides a police cruiser parked in front of the precinct a couple of doors down.
Bleary-eyed, she fumbled with her keychain for the key that would open her building, but a package on her front stoop drew her attention. It was small, the size of an envelope, but three inches thick, at least. Squatting down until she felt the stretch in her calves, she lifted the tag that was fluttering gently in the breeze.
Flowerlady26, it read.
An instant smile took her face as she scooped up the package. Hurriedly, she unlocked the door and flipped on the lights inside before locking up again.
He’d come down his mountain, all the way down that winding road at the ass crack of dawn to put this present here before she arrived. An excited squeak left her lips, and she set the package on the counter and plucked the handwritten note from under the brown twine that held the box together.
