“You had no right.” She put a hand against his chest when he leaned into her. She was mad at him. No matter how sexy he was or how he got her blood pounding, she had to remember she was angry with him for … for … interfering, that was it!
Mace leaned in enough to place his lips on the shell of her ear and whisper, “I know, but I told him how hungry I was myself and I think he understood.” Colby felt the heat in her cheeks. She’d never be able to look Martin in the eyes again.
Mace’s tongue barely brushed the edge of her ear, but just enough to make her wet.
His thigh was nestled between hers now. When had he moved? His cock was hard and pressing against her stomach. She shifted her hips and her pussy brushed against his good thigh. She bit her lip and muffled the cry she wanted, so wanted, to scream.
“You look really sexy in that lab coat. Have anything on underneath?”
“Yes,” she hissed and twisted her head away.
He snagged her braid and turned her head back to him. His breath mingled with hers as he murmured, “Not for long,” against her mouth.
Colby melted against the desk. He took the opportunity to grind his thigh tight against her mound, just making enough movement to rub her clit. “Ah… What are you going to do?”
Mace ran his tongue over her lips, dipping it for a quick touch of tongues before retreating. “Do you want me to tell you about it first or just do it?”
She had to get control. She was a professional, for God’s sake. “Mace. This is a lab!”
“I know. I’ll bet it’s one of your fantasies, isn’t it?” He ran his hand under her lab coat and along her blouse until his thumb found one of her hard nipples. He circled, circled, circled, then pinched.
Colby’s toes curled in her shoes. She was going to come and she was still fully clothed. Not possible… “N-no. The door—”
“We’re alone.” He worked his other knee between her legs, making her spread them.
My God, she had to be dripping. Her skirt shimmied its way up to the top of her thighs the farther he spread her legs apart. He pinned her to the counter with his hips, thrusting against her once. Twice. His hands moved behind her thighs and he lifted her up so the edge of her ass was on the counter. He adjusted his hips once more so she could feel the length of his shaft against the soaked line of her panties.
“Mace … oh, oh shit … if we get caught—” Her heart thudded against her chest and her breathing was coming in quick pants. “This is not like the shooting range. I know these people; this is my place of employment.”
She tried to slow her breathing, clear her head, but the hard line of his cock was pressed in just the right spot.
“That’s the excitement. Colby, I want you. I want you so bad it hurts.”
Her thighs quivered and she felt a fresh rush of warmth between her pussy lips.
“Your leg…”
“Forget my leg. That’s not what hurts.”
“Oh, God.” She groaned, “Mace…”
“I know, honey.”
He unbuttoned her lab coat and then her blouse. He nuzzled her neck, right at the delicate spot behind her ear, before unclipping the front clasp of her bra, releasing her breasts. Her nipples were so puckered and so hard they hurt. He lowered his head to stroke one with his tongue. A moment later he gave the other nipple just as much attention. The warm wetness combined with the rough texture of his tongue once again almost drove her over the edge. She dug her fingers into his hair and kept him there while he sucked one then the other into his mouth. Softly nipping, kisses quickly followed where his teeth had just been. She released a low, drawn-out moan.
This was torture. But torture never felt this good.
He impatiently pushed Colby farther back on the worktable, knocking her paperwork to the floor unnoticed. She wanted to protest, but when he slid a finger along the soaked edge of her panties, no words would come out of her mouth. And when he drove one and then a second finger deep into her, she gasped. To hell with her paperwork.
“I’m,” his fingers slid out and slid along her pussy lips, “just,” they drove deep again, “going to,” he curved his fingers deep within her, “take you,” he stroked that spot, “right here,” that sweet, sweet spot, “right now.”
Colby gasped and was going to come. Just when she felt the beginning of the contractions, his fingers disappeared. Damn! He ripped her panties down past her knees.
She tried to kick them off but they got caught on one ankle. She was in no position to fix the problem and frankly she didn’t give a damn at that instant. She heard the zipper of his jeans then, Oh … the naked head of his cock slipped over her swollen clit, making her shudder. One tiny shift of her hips and he would be in her. He’d read her thoughts, he had to have her, because he suddenly shifted, instead sliding his whole hard length against her heated flesh. His cock was shiny and slippery with her juices.
“Do you want it?” He plucked once more at her nipples.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I—”
“How much?” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
Why was he delaying? “A—a lot.”
“You are so fucking wet. Lift your hips.” He leaned back slightly when she did.
Colby tried to grab his hips with her legs to drag him closer. But he was fumbling with his jeans which were pulled down his hips. The denim was framing his rigid cock, the dark curly hair and his balls so nicely. But she didn’t want to see how hard he was;
she wanted to feel how hard he was. Inside her. “Now,” she moaned.
“Not yet.” He dug for his wallet.
“Now!”
“No.” He grimaced when the foil wrapper refused to tear open.
“Mace…” She snagged the condom, ripped it open between her teeth and impatiently rolled it over his hot, steely length, stroking while she did it. When she reached the root of his cock, she cupped his balls and squeezed slightly.
“Christ, Colby!” he panted. He fisted his cock once, twice. His whole body shuddered in response. He grabbed her wrist, breaking the contact of her nails lightly raking his balls. “Fuck!”
He held her hips tightly, tilted them a little higher, and with a grunt he buried himself deep. The breath whooshed out of both of them. Colby forgot how to breathe. He kept himself buried to the hilt and made small thrusting moves against her so his balls teased against her anus, while his pelvis ground against her clit. The tiny thrusts drove her nuts.
She had to come. She couldn’t take it anymore.
With a grunt, he said, “Hold on.”
“I can’t … aaaah.”
“Hold it…” He dropped his forehead to her chest and gasped for air.
Her heart was going to thump right out of her chest if she didn’t come soon. “Mace!”
He cursed, threw his head back while arching his back, and slammed his whole length into her again and again and again. Colby clawed at the counter, grabbing at nothing, and she let out a low wail.
“Now!” He came with force and her contractions drew him even deeper. He struggled to catch his breath. His chest heaved against hers as he lay collapsed over her, the majority of his weight held up by his forearms on the counter.
He kissed her nose, her eyelids, her lips, before licking the hollow of her collarbone.
She was sure it was damp and tasted salty.
“My God,” she whispered when she caught her breath. “That was a hell of a lunch break.”
Mace chuckled softly against her shoulder, still deep inside her. “Your food’s getting cold.”
Colby brushed the damp hair off his forehead. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
Chapter Ten
He had promised Colby he would meet her at the house. They were going to start painting the porch today, but Mace was running later than he thought. The hardware store had been understaffed and overworked. Even worse, his order of eight cans of paint didn’t make them any happier, especially w
hen he wanted them put in the shaker machine first. After they had to mix the custom cream color Colby had fallen in love with.
At least she had enough paint at the house to get her started before he got there. He could picture her already splattered with paint. In her fiery hair, on her clothes, covering the freckles on her cute nose.
As he steered his truck around the corner onto Colby’s tree-lined street, he noticed the back end of an old car sticking out of her driveway. The overgrown brush lining the property’s border concealed the rest. But there was enough of the vehicle exposed allowing Mace to recognize it was an early 90s primer-gray Caprice.
He fought the urge to slam his foot on the gas. To hurry to the house, to get to Colby as soon as possible. Instead, he pulled over to the curb and collected himself. He jammed the gearshift in park before hopping out of his truck.
His instincts kicked in and he lurked along the edge of the property, staying close to the neighbor’s side of the shrubbery. When he got to the back corner of the neighbor’s property, he climbed through the vegetation and carefully snuck through the back door of the house.
———
Colby kept thinking about Mace. She couldn’t help it. She was happy. Really happy.
At least for now. Every time she thought about having sex with him—the best sex of her life—at his house, at her house, at the lab, wherever, she practically melted into a puddle.
But, he was frustrating. One minute he would do something to anger her, the next minute he would turn around and make her heart—and pussy—ache. She was falling deep.
She tried to resist it. Resist him. But after only a couple weeks, she couldn’t. She had never felt anything like this before. Never. It was wonderful. She was in love … with his lovemaking. Only that, she tried to convince herself. She wasn’t going to fall into a similar trap again. She swore it to herself over a year ago. She wasn’t going to break the promise to herself.
She would permit herself to enjoy Mace and all he offered, for now. That’s all. Enjoy his tenderness, his wildness, and his roughness. He didn’t think he’d be around for more than a couple months. She would take those days. And those nights.
As she painted the porch, she took long, sensuous strokes. Long, deep lines of color.
Back and forth. Back and forth. Colby shut her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. She pictured Mace’s body above her, his cock hard and ready, nudging against her, opening her up…
“Hey, babe.”
Colby froze, the paintbrush falling from her fingers. She helplessly watched it fall on the new porch floor and splatter. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Nothing. But she closed her eyes once more and forced herself to take another deep breath. A slow, deep breath between trembling lips.
“What kind of welcome is that?”
The familiar male voice made her world start to spin. She clutched the doorjamb she had been working on. She steadied herself, her nails digging into the wood.
“Aren’t you even going to turn around and give me a hug?”
His hand gripped her upper arm and, with force, spun her around. Colby opened her eyes and looked straight into hell. Craig.
His dirty blond hair was still short and neatly trimmed. He had blue eyes and lean muscle making up his six-foot frame; it was what had attracted her in the first place. But it was mean muscle. And like Mace, he could sweet-talk anyone wearing a skirt. When he wanted to.
“I’ve missed you something fierce.”
Fierce wasn’t the word for him. Evil was more like it. He was the reason she had purchased the gun and learned how to shoot it. He was the reason she had left her hometown—where she had been born and lived her whole life—to move here. Her little newfound heaven was fast becoming her living hell. Once again.
“Cat got your tongue?” he purred. He reached out, brushing a knuckle down her cheek.
Colby bit back a scream of terror. If she showed fear he would only be more brutal.
He liked fear. He fed off her terror. She shook her head, dislodging his hand.
This was not happening. She had been painting too long and the fumes had gotten to her. She was imagining this. Right? Right? Right!
Wrong.
Craig Jones lowered his head, bringing him only a hair’s breadth away, and inhaled deeply. “Your hair smells so good, babe. God, have I missed you.”
“C—Craig. What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
He laughed. To Colby’s ears it was a cruel, biting sound. “It wasn’t hard. There aren’t too many places where a biochemist can find a job.”
“Why?” She pinned herself against the doorjamb trying to get as far away from him as she could. He shifted closer, tilting his head. He planted one hand on the doorjamb, fingers close enough to be able to grab her French braid in a split second.
“Why? What a silly question. I just told you. I miss you.” He gave her a cold smile.
“What happened to Rhonda?”
“Oh, I don’t care about her. I don’t want her anymore. I want you back.”
Colby’s heart squeezed. She was going to go into cardiac arrest. She wanted to have a heart attack. Anything. She had to get away from this man. I want you back.
I want you back.
I want you back.
“N—no!” Colby whimpered and slid down the jamb to the floor.
Craig grabbed her wrists cruelly and dragged her back up, his face just inches away.
He continued to pull her arms until they were stretched out above her, her wrists pinned to the door molding. He held them so tight, her fingers were becoming numb.
“No? Why not, honey? We were good together. You loved me! I loved you. I still do.”
Something inside her snapped. She shouldn’t provoke him, but she couldn’t help it.
God help her, she couldn’t help but poke at the beehive. “Craig, you loved me? Is that why you hit me? Kicked me? Broke my ribs and my arm? You were loving me to death!”
“I only hit you, babe, because you frustrated me. It was all your distrust and your accusations!”
Colby laughed; the laughter sounding even insane to her own ears. “Oh, God, Craig. You had other women behind my back. Why should I have trusted you? All my accusations were true.”
“But, babe, I only loved you.” He said it so slowly Colby fought to keep the nausea in her stomach down. This man was psychotic. Fate had played an evil trick on her when he brought him into her life.
Craig released her wrists so suddenly she fell back against the house siding. Her head cracked against the corner of the jamb. She fought the pain; she had to show she was strong. Otherwise, she was finished. He would never forgive her for leaving him, for sneaking away during the night from the hospital.
He strode away from her before spinning around to pin her with his stare. “You don’t love me anymore?”
Colby wanted to spit in his face. “No. I haven’t loved you since the first time you blackened my eye.”
“Colby, baby, I apologized for all that. I told you I’d never do it again. I promise.”
She laughed again, almost hysterically. I promise. Oh, God, how many times had she heard those empty promises? Well, she had heard them until her ears were ringing from his slaps.
She looked wildly around to the driveway. Her car was there. Inside her car was the gun. And she wanted to blow this son-of-a-bitch away.
She would never make it to the car. Never. She took a deep breath to fortify herself.
“This is my property, Craig. I don’t want you on it.”
He gave her a lopsided smile. “Babe, please, you don’t mean it.”
“Craig, I’m warning you. Get the hell off my property before…”
“Before what? What are you going to do? Who’s going to stop me?”
“Me.”
That single word—those two little letters—brought a sense of salvation to Colby.
Thank God. Thank you, God! Mace’s deep timbre never sounded so
good. She could feel his presence behind her in the open doorway. His strength, his presence, was all she needed. She never needed him as much as she needed him this moment.
She needed him and he was there. He was there.
“And who the hell are you?” Craig shouted. His chest puffed out and he slammed his hands on his hips, taking a step closer to her.
“Your worst nightmare. Believe me, loser, I’ve dealt with more low-life, scumsucking pigs than you. And guess what? I’ve squashed them like bugs, and if you don’t believe me, just try me. I’ll enjoy breaking every goddamn bone in your pansy ass body.”
Mace stepped around Colby and right into Craig’s face. He blocked her with his body. His voice lowered to a deep grumble. “If you ever, ever come or ever even think about coming on this property or bothering Colby again … I swear … you will never walk again. Never. And that’s no idle threat.”
Colby didn’t doubt his words. Apparently, neither did Craig.
For the first time, she saw Craig shrink in fear. She had done it so many times herself. Now the tables were turned.
“Now, you just better get the hell out of here. If I ever see your face again, it’ll be the last time you see mine.” Mace’s words cut like cold steel. Clearly, he was not a man to be messed with.
Colby shuddered listening to the overwhelming strength in those words. She fed off it, causing her to stand straighter and giving her the nerve to look Craig directly in the eyes. “You’d better go, Craig, if you know what’s good for you. Let me make something real clear before you go. I’m not interested. Stay out of my life.”
“Yes, I see. You’ve got yourself a new man.” Craig sneered as he backed down the porch steps. If he’d been a dog, his tail would have been tucked between his legs.
They stood silently until he was out of sight.
The silence was tense, though, and violent energy still permeated from Mace’s body.
She waited.
“Who the fuck was that?”
Colby recoiled. She couldn’t deal with his anger. Not now. She wanted to clutch him to her and sob until she couldn’t cry anymore.
Banged Up Page 12
