by Joya Ryan
She choked on her words when she looked up to see not Lily but Colt reclining on her couch.
“Ah, sugar, you brought home dinner.” Colt’s smile was disarming. He wove his fingers together and put his palms behind his head, getting even more comfortable on her couch.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “Girls’ night.”
Jenna’s jaw dropped. He wasn’t wearing a hat and had obviously showered. The ends of his blond hair were still wet, his blue eyes burning, and…had he actually shaved?
“What is this?”
He frowned. “What’s what?”
“This,” she motioned her hand in his direction and Colt looked down the front of himself.
“I think it’s a shirt. Button-down. A bit fancy for my taste but the ladies seem to like it.” He smiled.
Jenna raised a brow. “Oh they do, huh? Did Yvonne like it?”
Colt’s throat worked a hard swallow but to his credit, he never took his eyes off her. “Yvonne and I had a onetime thing last year when I was visiting Diamond.”
“You don’t owe me any explanation,” Jenna said in a chipper tone, though she felt anything but.
“Then why did you ask me for one?”
Shoot! She had, hadn’t she? Here she was telling herself that she didn’t care and Colt could do whatever, or whomever, he wanted. But the truth was, she hated the idea that Yvonne had been with him. But Colt wasn’t hers to claim, not that she wanted to. She needed to get back to the matter at hand.
“You can’t keep making a habit of this, Colt. This is breaking and entering.”
He chuckled. “Lily has a key. And we McCades share.”
“Where is Lily?”
“She took Alex to a movie. He needed some mama time. She left you a message.” He tipped his chin at her purse. Crap, she hadn’t even heard her cell ring. “I was just ensuring you got it. Wouldn’t want you to worry.”
“Well, thank you. Now that I’ve received the message, you can go.”
He rose and walked toward her. “Now that you have no plans, maybe we can get that dinner.”
“Colt, I’m not trying to be mean. You know this town is small and gossip goes a long way. Just having your car parked outside my house is going to stir a bunch of rumors.”
He put his hand on the wall by her head and leaned in. “Which is why I drove Lily’s car.”
Her heart actually stopped.
“I get it, JJ. I know you’ve got a lot going on and this grant is important. I don’t want to mess that up for you. But asking me to stay away from you isn’t happening either. Not when you admitted that you want it too.”
His lips were so close, breath tickling her chin. “Does anyone else get to see the woman I saw last weekend?”
He reached up, unfastened her hair, and watched it fall across her shoulders. Her heart raced when his fingers trailed down her collarbone to the first button on her blouse.
“I miss that girl. The one who owned herself and her body. The one who was passionate and demanding.” He bit her earlobe. “Remember how you begged me to fuck you against the wall?”
Jenna couldn’t get enough air and her chest was about to implode. Every day, she walked around feeling like a part of her was bland and switched off. With Colt against her, his masculine scent engulfing her senses, the last thing she felt was turned off.
He smiled against her neck. “The only regret I have about that night was that we never made it off the bed. But we can fix that now.”
He pressed further against her until she was sandwiched snugly between Colt’s hard muscles and the cool wall behind her.
He worked the first, then the second button open. “I can keep a secret, JJ.” He licked her collarbone and she moaned. “But if you tell me right now to go, then I will.”
She met his eyes and clutched his shirt. “It’s not that I don’t want you…” Her words trailed off when Colt ran his finger along the swell of her breast. “Every time I look at you I lose my sense. I see your face and have to remind myself why this is a bad idea.”
Colt leaned back and looked her in the eye. He nodded in understanding.
“Fair enough.”
Before Jenna could take another breath, Colt twirled her around so her breasts were now against the wall and her back to him. He palmed her hips and pulled her ass into him, and the hard bulge she felt against the small of her back was unmistakable.
“This better?” he murmured and nipped her neck. She reached behind him and wound her fingers in his hair, tugging him closer.
“You’re an ass,” she groaned when he licked her pulse point and worked the last button of her blouse free.
“That may be, but I’m still waiting to hear the word.”
His hand traveled from her hip down her inner thigh, and the only thing Jenna could say in that moment was, “Stay.”
…
Colt couldn’t have slowed down even if he wanted to. And he didn’t. He wrapped his arms around JJ and dived past her open blouse, beneath the silk bra, and cupped her breasts.
He was rewarded with a throaty moan.
“Your skin is so fucking soft,” he mumbled in her ear before sucking on the lobe. Her nipples beaded against his palms, as if begging him for more attention. He was happy to oblige.
He pinched those sensitive peaks until she arched her back and braced her hands on the wall in front of her. She pushed out and bent at the waist, thrusting that perfect ass into Colt’s crotch. So he pinched harder and she cried out, spreading her legs wide, causing her skirt to ride up, the tight silk playing peekaboo with the cleft of her ass.
This was what he’d been waiting for. To see her ditch that modest, uptight demeanor and lose control.
“More,” she groaned. The edge in her voice made his brain short-circuit, and Colt found it difficult to work his belt open. She was so sexy, so wild, he could hardly believe he was actually seeing this happen.
He was a lucky son of a bitch.
And a woman like Jenna deserved to be pampered. Soft touches and sweeping hands. Colt had been out of his mind for her last time, and this time, with his fly open and his dick ready to go, the night was shaping up to be no different. But he could show her better. Prove that he was a gentleman. Go slow.
JJ looked over her shoulder. “What are you doing? Why’d you stop?”
He ran a hand down her back and she met his touch like a purring kitten. “I just thought I should slow down, take more time.”
JJ blew a lock of hair out of her face. “If I wanted slow,” She grabbed the hem of her skirt and hiked it up to her hips, baring her sweet ass and the tiny black thong that lined it. She bent over once more, hands firmly on the wall, and gifted Colt with the best goddamn view he’d ever seen. “I would have said so.”
She didn’t want slow? Fine.
“Ah, sugar.” He wedged his jeans low on his hips and pulled his cock free. “All you had to do was tell me you liked it quick and dirty.”
“Rough and dirty,” she replied.
“Yes, ma’am.” Colt ripped those flimsy panties off. Grabbing a condom from his pocket, he quickly put it on and positioned himself at her entrance. He wound JJ’s long hair around his fist and yanked. Her head came up, but her palms remained flat on the wall in front of her. He leaned in to bite her ear. “Never accuse me of turning down a lady’s request.”
He thrust into her so hard her elbows bent from the force. But his tight hold on her hair and hip kept her from crashing into the wall.
“Jesus, Jenna, you’re so tight. I missed this.” He stirred himself inside her silky depths, unwilling to retreat yet, even for a moment. His ribs ached a little but he didn’t care. The pleasure far outweighed the slight pain of his injury, especially when she egged him on.
“Colt! Yes, right there.” He knew that sound, knew he was deep and hitting that spot inside that drove her wild.
With a firm grip on her hip, he angled her up just enough so he could
sink another inch deeper.
“Oh, God!” she screamed.
Just the sound tightened his balls, threatening an instantaneous orgasm. And he had hardly moved. He was too busy enjoying the hot, wet depth that currently surrounded him. Paradise he just might never leave.
Short, quick pumps in and out had her panting.
“Deep. You’re so deep. Never before. Never like this. Oh, God—”
Colt grinned and kept going. Loving how her string of statements confirmed he was doing a hell of a job. Christ, did this woman have any idea how fucking sexy she was?
Colt pressed his fingertips to her lips. She instantly sucked on them and a violent tremor shot down his spine. With one hand still tangled in her hair, he withdrew his newly wetted fingers from her hot mouth and trailed down her flat belly and lower.
“Jesus.” Colt groaned when he felt how swollen her clit was. He circled the tiny bundle of nerves and she screamed his name. “Do you know what you do to me?”
He thrust hard while his fingers rubbed her wet flesh.
“Please, Colt.” She reached behind her and gripped the back of his neck.
“You want to come, sugar?”
“Yes!” she begged, clinging to him so sweetly.
“I want to feel it.” He sheathed himself as far as he could and stilled. His fingers worked her clit faster. Harder. Jenna sank her nails into his skin and Colt felt her inner walls instantly flash hot and convulse around him.
“Colt!”
It was the most incredible feeling Colt had ever experienced. Buried deep inside Jenna while her tight little pussy shuddered and sucked him deeper. He felt her from every direction as she came apart around him.
When those spasms started to subside and her body relaxed, he grabbed her hips in both hands and nipped her neck. “You’re not done, are you?”
She craned her neck and stared wide-eyed back at him. He grinned and snagged her bottom lip between his teeth. “I want to feel you do that again.”
“I—I can’t. It’s too soon.”
Colt pulled all the way out before bucking hard back inside. He pressed her flat against the wall.
“Oh!” she gasped.
Colt splayed his hands on the wall, kicked her ankles farther apart, and using all the force in his body, surged upward.
Jenna threw her head back, resting it on Colt’s shoulder. She was panting, mumbling, begging.
“You still want it rough, JJ?” Colt growled as he fucked her impossibly hard.
“Yes, yes!”
“Then take it.” His hips ground against her. “Come for me again.”
“I am.” Her body hummed and Colt felt that familiar tug around his cock. But this time he didn’t stop. He fucked her though her orgasm, and his own.
Wave after wave of intense pleasure hit him so hard his vision blurred. But when he realized JJ was still coming, just from the feeling of his release, Colt would have given anything for that moment to last an eternity.
Chapter Seven
Jenna awoke to the smell of…bacon? She shoved the hair out of her face and sat up in bed. Glancing at the clock, she took a moment to get her bearings. It was three o’clock in the morning, and she may be alone in bed, but she wasn’t alone in her house.
Getting up, she wrapped a robe around her and padded to the kitchen. Colt stood in his bare feet, blue jeans, and nothing else. His hair was slightly rumpled from where Jenna had been pulling on it, but what caught her eye was the large bruise that took up the majority of his right side.
“Oh my God,” she gasped, realizing that she hadn’t actually laid eyes on his chest or back since he was hurt. Last night, or rather, a couple of hours ago, she had been in a few different positions, and none of them faced Colt.
Colt turned around quickly, obviously startled by her presence. She didn’t miss the small wince when he moved.
“I’m sorry if this—” He waved the fork he held over the bacon but Jenna cut him off.
“You can eat whatever you want. I meant ‘oh my God’ your ribs.”
“Oh.” Colt glanced down at his chest. “It looks worse than it is.”
“I’m so sorry if I did something last night that hurt you.” She started shaking her head, recalling how rough she’d been. “I was clawing at you and grabbing and—”
“Whoa, hold up there. I’m fine, sugar.” Colt smiled and the bacon was momentarily forgotten as he took a few steps toward Jenna, not stopping until his mouth was against hers. “You didn’t hurt me. Don’t ever be sorry when it comes to loving on me.” With that, he stole her breath in one powerful kiss that left Jenna weak in the knees and her own chest aching a little.
“I made eggs too if you want to sit,” he said, stepping back to man the stove.
“Well make yourself at home.” She smiled.
“I always do.” He winked and got out two plates, and Jenna sat at the table, liking the situation she found herself in. A sexy, bare-chested man in her kitchen cooking up food in the middle of the night. Her house, her whole life, somehow felt instantly fuller. She hadn’t realized how quiet and lonely it was in her small place until just then.
“Is there anything I can do to help with your injury? Should you be taking some medicine or something?”
Colt shrugged and set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her, then took a seat across the table with his own dish.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said ice and breathing before. The doc said that exercising the lungs was a good way to help my ribs, and sugar, you did a fine job of that already.”
Jenna blushed, remembering how just a few hours ago she was screaming Colt’s name and doing a bit of gasping herself.
Colt took a bite of his food and Jenna looked at him for a moment. Like this, he seemed so normal. Like a man. Not a legend a lot of the town thought him to be. Not to say he wasn’t worthy of such a title, but Jenna knew firsthand that perception and reputation, good or bad, wasn’t always accurate in describing the real you.
Colt McCade was a man. Flesh and blood. One who got bruised and beaten just like any other. Jenna wondered if people actually understood Colt. If she understood him. Maybe not, but she kind of wanted to. Despite the better part of her brain telling her to wrap this up and send him on his way, she took a bite of her eggs and asked, “Were you afraid?”
He looked up at her. When he saw she was gesturing to the bruise on his chest, he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“That’s the best part. Being scared. Being in control and out of it at the same time. Holding on for dear life and hoping to God you have the strength to outlast what’s bucking you off.”
Something in Jenna’s heart skipped. She’d never heard Colt say anything like that, and yet the few words spoke volumes. “Sounds like a rough life. Always holding on to something trying to throw you off. Getting banged up in the process.”
Colt focused on his food. “At least I’m never still.”
“Is that so bad?”
He ran a hand over his jaw but didn’t meet Jenna’s stare. “I don’t particularly care for it.”
“Why?”
“Because a lot of shit can happen when you least expect it. If you’re constantly moving…” He trailed off, obviously not thrilled with this conversation, but Jenna had to know. It was the first time she’d really seen a part of Colt he kept hidden. And her heart ached for him.
“If you’re constantly moving, nothing can catch you,” she finished for him, and judging by the look he zeroed in on her, she’d guessed right.
“Something like that.”
“And it’s bad to be caught?”
He grinned and his demeanor shifted. Gone was the raw, vulnerable Colt and in his place the confident playboy. “Sometimes I like being caught. Especially when it involves a sexy brunette and a wall.”
She smiled and took another bite of her food. Which was really good. “Did you put hot sauce in the eggs?”
He nodded. “I figured you’d like thing
s a little spicy.”
“You guessed right.”
“So.” He put his fork down and his full attention on Jenna. “Tell me about this program you’re going for. Why is it important to you?”
She was taken aback for a moment by his bluntness, but liked that he took an interest, and started with the spiel she typically gave whenever this topic was broached.
“This after-school program will benefit the kids of Diamond by providing experienced teachers willing to—”
“No, no, no,” Colt cut her off. “I don’t want what you tell everyone or your sales pitch.”
Jenna’s mouth dropped. “Excuse me? This isn’t a pitch. This is important.”
“I agree, which is what I asked. I want to know why this is important to you. The real reasons behind the obvious.”
She opened her mouth to tell him he was rude or even to shut up, but only closed it again. Because right then, she realized she’d never said the real reasons out loud before. Mostly because they were more personal than she’d care to admit. But with Colt’s intense blue eyes beaming at her with what looked like genuine care, she couldn’t help but want to open up a little bit.
“I know how it feels to go home to nothing, sometimes worse than nothing.” Like a slap in the face or verbal abuse, she thought, but kept that part to herself. “If I can provide a safe place, help even one kid, then maybe…” She shrugged, instantly feeling like an idiot for even starting down this path.
“Maybe what?” Colt whispered.
“Maybe then what I went through will somehow matter.” Her eyes went wide when she realized she’d said that aloud. “That’s sounds awful, doesn’t it? I’m not doing this for me, I just want to help these kids.”
Colt rose from his seat and walked around the table to kneel in front of her. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then pressed his finger beneath her chin, coaxing her gaze to meet his.
“That doesn’t sound awful at all. What you went through was shitty, Jenna. And when bad things happen, it’s in our blood to try to make sense of it. Find a reason or an answer to the ‘why me’ question.” His fingers lightly skimmed along her jaw, and the heat he left was so powerful it made her blood pressure spike. “You’re strong. And because you went through what you did, it made you the best person for these kids and this program.”
