by Jessie Evans
“Then why don’t we get you out of those clothes and into a shower,” he said, curling his fingers through hers. “And then maybe we’ll be able to get to sleep before two in the morning.”
“It’s not even midnight,” she said, gazing up at him as he pulled her to her feet. “A shower doesn’t take two hours.”
“No, but the things I’m going to do to you after might,” he said, pulling her in for a long, slow, sultry kiss she felt everywhere.
Absolutely everywhere, from her lips to the tips of her toes and everywhere in between. Especially her heart, which thudded faster, knocking on Colt’s chest, bold now that it was pretty certain it would be allowed in.
And then he took her upstairs and joined her in the shower and for the next two hours Phoebe felt very, very loved. And a little scared too, but sometimes that is what happens when wishes come true.
Chapter 14
Colton
Colt woke at seven twenty the next morning, roused by the sound of Phoebe mumbling in her sleep. He lay propped up on one arm, trying to figure out what she was saying, but aside from a word here and there she was clearly speaking Sleepy Martian.
He gave up trying to decipher her mumbles and simply admired how pretty her lips looked in the morning light. He could watch her all day—how had he gone years without noticing the sexy hollow above her lip or that her lashes were so thick and sooty brown?— but by eight he figured he should probably get going.
If he wanted to make it back to his house to change clothes and pick up his running leg before the race this afternoon, he had to hurry. By ten o’clock all the good parking spaces in town would have been claimed and he’d be stuck parking in the mud alongside the highway leading out of town.
But he couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.
He leaned in, pressing a kiss to Phoebe’s forehead, smiling against her sleep-warm skin when she made a happy sound. “Hey, sleeping beauty,” he whispered. “I need to head out.”
She wrapped her arms around his chest, hugging him closer, but her eyes stayed closed. “Do you have to? Stay and I’ll make you breakfast. When I wake up in about three hours.”
He laughed. “I have to run home and pick up a few things before the race. Want me to swing by and get you before I go to Daisy’s?”
“Yes,” she said, blinking sleepy eyes, clearly struggling to focus on his face. “You should stop by and make sure I’m not still asleep. Someone wore me the hell out last night.”
He grinned. “Feel like you were ridden hard and hung up wet?”
Her eyes narrowed wickedly. “The ridden hard part is right, but I’m not complaining.” Her hand moved beneath the covers, brushing against where Colt had woken up hard, summoning a soft groan from low in his throat.
“Behave,” he said, gently pushing her hand away. “No more sex for you until after the race. You have to save your energy.”
She pouted, her bottom lip looking so plump and tempting he wanted to bite it, but he restrained himself. He didn’t have an hour to lose when the nibble became a four-course meal.
Besides, he would have another chance at that lip. This wasn’t a one-night stand, this was something more, and Phoebe had already agreed to stay over at his place tonight. The thought made him so happy he couldn’t resist pressing a quick kiss to her lips before he rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed and reached for the silicone sleeve on the bedside table.
“I had a thought as I was falling asleep last night,” Phoebe said, rolling over behind him, her fingertips trailing back and forth across his bare back. “What if there’s a fire?”
“I’m a firefighter,” he said, smoothing his sleeve on, resisting the urge to roll back into bed and show her just how powerfully her touch affected him. “So you’ll be safer than most.”
“Not me, you.” She sat up, scooting closer until she was sitting on the pillow he’d slept on last night. “What if you can’t get your leg on fast enough and pass out from the fumes? I don’t think I could carry you out. You’re too big.”
He smiled at her, that warm, happy feeling swelling in his chest again. “You’re sweet, but you won’t need to carry me out of any burning buildings. I can take care of myself. And you.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said imperiously, “I’m after hot sex and companionship, Colt, not a caretaker.”
“Is that right?” He cocked his head. “This from the woman who was climbing me like a tree last night to get away from a lizard one tenth her size?”
Her lips puckered to one side as she cast a furtive glance toward the hall where Sir Licks-a-Lot was housed in the warmest corner of the hobby room. “Touché. Okay, so maybe I do need caretaking. On rare occasions.”
“And on those rare occasions, I’ll be happy to take care of you,” he said, kissing her cheek, wishing he didn’t have to leave her alone even for an hour or two. “You still want me to pick up food for Godzilla today?”
She looped her arms around his neck, hugging him closer. “Yes, I would be very appreciative if you would pick up food for Sir Licks-a-Lot. And then feed him. And then lock him up tightly in his terrarium so he can’t escape and hide out wherever he was hiding out before.”
She sighed as she pulled away with a grimace. “Speaking of, I should probably try to hunt down wherever he was shacked up. I don’t want to leave a few weeks’ worth of skink droppings to fester all winter.”
Colt tugged his jeans on and reached for his prosthetic. “If it can wait until I go back to work next week, Seth and I can come over on our lunch break and help you move things around in the kitchen.” He winked at her as he clicked his leg into place. “And I might be convinced to sweep up droppings in exchange for sexual favors.”
Phoebe smiled, her eyes glittering. “You just got fifty percent hotter.”
“Damn, that’s hot,” he said, shoving his arms into his sweater, wishing this dressing business was going in the opposite direction. “How are you keeping your hands to yourself right now?”
“It’s hard,” Phoebe said with a straight face. “But I have to pee so that’s helping.”
He laughed. “Then go, little girl. I’m going to head out—assuming you don’t need any help getting out of your pants.”
Phoebe rolled out of bed and to her feet. “No thank you, sir. These pants are easy on and off.” Sticking her upturned nose in the air, she reached down and pulled her pajama pants out a good four inches, enough for Colt to sneak a peek down the front of them.
“Jesus,” he said, his mouth going dry. “No underwear?”
“I have chosen to embrace going commando,” she said, letting her pants snap back into place with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “If I don’t, I’m afraid I’m going to run out of panties and not have any left when I really need a pair.”
“I’ll buy you more,” he said, his hands closing around her waist. “But surely you realize you can’t show a man something like that and expect him to walk out the door.”
“Is that right?” she said, biting her lip as he lifted her off her feet, drawing her up his body for a kiss.
“That’s right,” he said, setting her back on the bed. “Now, I can’t go until I get another look. A closer look, to make sure everything’s in working order after a night hanging out wild and free.”
She giggled. “Hmm, yes, I hear that it can be dangerous if you let your lady parts get too wild and free. Especially around the holidays.” She hooked her thumbs under the elastic at the top of her pants. “I think a closer inspection can be arranged.”
She slid the pants slowly over her hips, revealing the thatch of silky hair between her legs. The sight made Colt’s cock twitch inside his jeans, demanding to be set free, already wild to be back inside her, to feel her slick heat tight around him.
“If you need to go to the bathroom, go now,” he said, reaching for the close of his jeans.
Phoebe hummed beneath her breath as she tossed her pants away and reached for the top butt
on of her shirt. “I don’t really have to go. It was just an excuse to show you some skin and get you back into bed.”
“Bad girl.” Colton tackled her, rolling her beneath him as she squealed. “You know what happens to bad girls, don’t you?”
“I don’t,” she said, her squeals turning to laughter as he ran his fingers up her ribs, tickling her on his way to her breast. “But I hope it’s something naughty.”
“Oh, it is.” He swatted her bottom with his free hand.
Her breath hitched as she arched into the fingers that had found her nipple and were twisting it slowly back and forth. “Are you going to spank me?”
“Maybe,” he said, squeezing a handful of her beautiful ass. “But I think you might enjoy that.”
She spread her legs, making room for him to fit between them. “I think you might be right.”
“So bad,” he breathed, pinching her nipple tight, drawing a hungry sound from her throat. “When did the sweet little girl I knew become a sex kitten?”
“I think it was around the time you kissed me.” She reached down to shove his jeans and boxers lower on his hips, freeing his aching length.
“God, you drive me crazy, Colt,” she said, the teasing note vanishing from her voice. “I’ve never felt this way before. It feels like I’m never going to get enough of you, even if we do this ten times a day, every day.”
“I know,” he said, fitting himself to her entrance and sliding inside where it felt like he had been made to fit. “But I don’t mind being crazy for you as long as you’re crazy for me, too.”
“Yes,” she murmured, lifting into his slow, languid thrust.
He held her gaze as he moved, loving the way her lips parted and her lashes fluttered, her pleasure so plain—and so beautiful—on her face that he could stare at her for hours and never get tired of seeing the way he affected her.
God, she was perfect—sweet and wicked, silly and thoughtful, a little crazy, but also one of the sanest people he had ever met. She was the good girl he couldn’t have imagined falling for back in his crazier days, but with a wild side she reserved just for him.
Just for him.
Because she was his.
The word echoed through his mind as he began to move, taking her gently—he knew she must be sore after everything they’d done last night—but no less thoroughly for it. And as he reached between them, finding her clit and sliding his fingers up and down in time to his thrusts, he realized that he wanted her to be his.
He wanted to claim her, possess her, in a way he had never wanted to possess any other woman.
That was part of this insatiable hunger to get between her legs. When he was buried inside of her, her softness melting around where he was hot and hard, there was no doubt who she belonged to. For now, Phoebe was his, a fact she proved as she softly chanted his name, voice growing louder as she neared the edge.
“Fuck, Phoebe,” he said, fighting to hold on until he felt her go. “I want you so much. So fucking much.”
“You have me,” she said, fingernails digging into his ass as she ground up into his fingers, his cock. “You have me. Oh God, Colt, I’m coming. I’m coming!”
He groaned as her body pulsed around him and let her carry him up and over until he was drowning in her smell, her heat, and the bliss and wonder she sent shooting through him. She was like a drug, taking him to heights he’d never known existed before her. And he was hooked. He’d been hooked from the first time he slid inside her.
He was going to crave this woman until the day he died.
The knowledge settled inside him as he sagged on top of her, catching his breath as the spine-bowing orgasm finally faded away. He hadn’t bargained for something like this, but Colt had never been one to turn his face from the truth. And the truth was that what he felt for Phoebe was something special, that once in a lifetime thing his brother had warned him about. He might not be completely in love with her yet, but he was well on his way, and in the meantime her pussy was the fix he’d kill to secure for another day.
And another and another.
There was going to be no escaping this. The only way he was leaving Phoebe’s side was if she kicked him to the curb and told him never to come back. He simply couldn’t bring himself to walk away—the mere thought was enough to send a howl of outrage echoing through his head.
Which meant it was time to do some serious thinking about what the future held for him and for the woman wrapping her arms and legs around him with no sign of letting go.
Chapter 15
Phoebe
Phoebe cranked up the Hits From the Sixties channel as she showered and got dressed, singing along to the sappy lyrics about love and loss and boyfriends back with a grin on her face. She shimmied into her thickest spandex running pants, paired them with a skintight long-sleeved pink shirt, and smirked at her own reflection as she pulled her hair into pigtails on either side of her head.
Colt was going to go wild when he saw her.
She’d never been as confident about her body as she was right now when she was still pleasantly sore from a night spent with a beautiful man who clearly couldn’t get enough of her. For the first time in her life, she felt sexy, seductive, and irresistible, and she couldn’t wait to see Colt’s eyes light up as he caught sight of her in head-to-toe clingy fabric.
Heck, who was she kidding, she couldn’t wait to see him again period.
She was falling in love. Falling, falling, falling, drowning in a sticky sweet vat of love honey with no urge to fight her way free.
Even yesterday, she had been careful to keep her longing for Colt purely physical, but hearing him say that he was falling in love with her had opened the floodgates to her heart and sent a tidal wave of emotion surging free. She was in love! In love for the first time and the world was a wild, wonderful paradise full of amazing miracles and nothing could convince her otherwise.
When Colt texted to say he was running late and would meet her at Daisy’s, she didn’t blink an eye because life was good and only getting better.
When she slipped on the ice at the bottom of her front steps and ended up falling flat on her ass and bruising her tailbone, she simply smiled as she cussed the pain, figuring that’s what she deserved for dancing down the steps in the middle of winter.
And when she got to the hardware store to find Daisy and Colt in the middle of a heated discussion near the snow shovel display, she didn’t hesitate to float across the room and put her arms around them both, pulling them into a hug.
“Don’t fight,” she said, releasing them with a grin as they both glanced down at her with startled expressions. “Today isn’t a day for fighting. It is a day for victory. I have our race order all worked out.”
“Oh you do, do you?” Daisy’s brows lifted before she turned to shoot Colt a frustrated look. “Have you told Mr. Bossypants about that? He likes to be in charge, you know.”
Phoebe bit her tongue, resisting the urge to say something about how much she enjoyed letting Colt take charge. She would spare Daisy the innuendo. It was the least she could do considering her friend had yet to experience this miracle of amazingness that was falling in love.
Instead she said, “Colt is bossy, but he knows I’m a master of running strategy. And a wise boss is one who knows when to delegate tasks outside his sphere.”
“I’m not sure this is outside my sphere, but I’m fine with you taking charge.” Colt smiled, the appreciation in his eyes as he scanned her up and down making it clear he was a fan of her race day outfit. “I like the pigtails,” he said, reaching out to tug one as Daisy made a disapproving noise.
“I’m going to get our coffin and lock up for the day,” she said, moving between them and heading toward the back room. “Help yourself to coffee and donuts if you want. Everything’s behind the counter.”
Phoebe watched Daisy go before glancing up at Colt and whispering, “What’s wrong with her?”
“You know, typical Daisy. Always th
inks she knows best.” He moved toward the front door and flipped the open sign to closed, before turning back to her with a strained smile. “You want a bear claw?”
Phoebe frowned. “No, I want to know why you’re being weird.”
“I’m not being weird,” he said, laughing softly as he pulled her in for a hug. “I’m just a little worn out from not sleeping last night. This insatiable sex fiend kept me up way past my bedtime.”
“You poor thing.” She pressed her face to his chest, inhaling the soapy, clean laundry smell of his sweatshirt and the more intimate smell of Colt underneath. “Then I guess we’d better have coffee and donuts. You’ll need a sugar rush to get you through the race.”
He kissed the top of her head before taking her hand and leading her behind the counter. They each had a bear claw and a cup of creamy coffee in hand when Daisy came back in, pushing their coffin, wearing a green helmet with orange spikes sticking up from the top.
“I love it,” Phoebe said, laughing. “You look like a dinosaur.”
“Doing my part to intimidate the competition,” Daisy said with a wink. “Now let’s talk strategy. We should probably have our fastest go first, right? So Colton’s definitely running the first lap.”
“I’m not much faster than Phoebe. She’s an animal,” Colt said, the admiration in his voice sending a flush of pleasure through her chest. “And it takes me longer to limber up. But whatever you think, Phoebe. Your call.”
“I was actually thinking that Daisy and I should push you first,” she said, grabbing a napkin and wiping the bear claw sticky from her fingers. “That’s going to be our slowest lap, simply because you weigh the most. But if Daisy and I are fresh we should be able to at least stay even with the other front-runners. Then, you two can push me next and establish a lead before Colt and I bring it home strong during the last lap.”
Daisy clapped her hands together. “Sounds good. Let’s go find a spot before it gets too crowded. There are fifty teams racing this year. If we get any more entries next year, they’re going to have to have two heats.”
