He kept thinking back to yesterday morning. She was so responsive, so easy to arouse. So wet when he touched her. There were so many things out of his control when it came to her, but he could control this moment.
He kissed lightly around her belly button. Her skin was so soft there, so kissable that he had to work hard to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. He could lose himself in her later; right now he had to follow his plan.
He lightly licked her, loving the soft noise that she made that was somewhere between a gasp and a groan.
“Colt.”
He unbuttoned her jeans and kissed her just where the band of her underwear met her skin. “What?”
“I-I … What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m kissing you.” He pulled her jeans down slightly to reveal her hips. He ran his hands over them first, then his lips. “You have perfect hips. Did you know that?”
“They’re big,” she breathed as he took her skin between his teeth.
“Perfect,” he corrected her. “Remember that night I met you? You had a gun pointed at me and all I could focus on was the way you looked and these hips.” He yanked at her jeans again to reveal her lusciously round bottom.
“Colt, I’m supposed to be giving you a haircut. I’ve got scissors in my hands. This could be dangerous.”
“Then don’t move.” He cupped her bottom, squeezing it between his fingers. It was so erotic, feeling all that flesh. He had been with slender women. Toned women. Women who spent more time worrying about their appearance than anything else. Being with them was … nice, but being with Zanna, with all her wild natural beauty, was special. Getting to be an up-close witness to all this beauty was like an event, something he would keep in his memories long after he was gone.
He bent his head to run his lips over her satiny underwear. He could smell her excitement, feel the dampness that was starting to form there.
“I don’t think my knees can take this.” Her voice trembled as she said it. He took pleasure in that, in knowing he had such an effect on her.
He took the scissors from her and tossed them on the table. “Put your hands on my shoulders and don’t move them unless I tell you to.”
She nodded as he pulled her jeans all the way down. Her thighs were just as lovely as her hips, perfectly plump and covered with all that delicious-looking olive-brown skin. He was like a kid and her body like a playground. He almost didn’t know where to start.
Almost.
He smoothed his hands down the backs of her thighs. “Take off your top.”
She lifted it over her head, revealing her bra. It was black with little red cherries printed on it. He lifted his hand to run his fingers over her cleavage and almost lost control.
All that smooth skin …
The image of her sweet-looking underwear against her bad-girl body made his cock so hard it almost burst through his pants.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “Your bra. Take it off.”
Her hands shook slightly as she moved to do what he ordered. “What if Levi comes in?”
“He won’t be back for the night. I made sure of it. Take it off.” She did what he asked, completely revealing herself to him. His mouth went dry. He had seen her before, but not like this. Yesterday it was rushed and frenzied. Today he was going to look his fill. He was going to savor her, because he knew he wasn’t going to have much time with her.
“Touch yourself.”
She looked unsure of herself, shy almost as she lifted her hands to cup her breasts.
“Show me what you do when you’re alone.”
She stroked her nipples with her thumbs, making his heart pound almost uncontrollably—but he couldn’t lose control. Not yet. He had to get through this.
“I need to taste you. Come here.”
She leaned down, bringing her breast to his mouth. It was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. He sucked her into his mouth and her knees gave out and he knew it was enough. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom.
She reached for him, trying to kiss him as he set her on the bed. He avoided her lips because he knew if he felt them against his, he would get lost. Lost in her kiss. Lost in her scent. Lost in her. He couldn’t afford to do that right now.
“You’re gorgeous.” He couldn’t help but tell her that. “I spend every minute of every day wanting you.” He stopped himself from saying any more. He didn’t trust himself. She made him feel out of sorts. She made him feel … different.
“Come here, Colt.” She reached for him. “Let me touch you.”
“I’m not finished yet.” He pulled off her underwear, leaving her completely naked. He positioned himself between her legs, kissing his way up her inner thigh. She was beyond ready for him, and he touched the wetness that had made it to her thigh. He could feel his control slipping, so he pushed open her thighs and did what he had been thinking about doing to her for the last two days.
“Holy shit,” she cursed as he spread her legs and licked inside her.
He wanted to laugh. She had the power to make him want to laugh but he couldn’t, because he was too focused on what was in front of him. He licked deeper inside her, making his tongue do what his dick so desperately wanted. She moved against his mouth, she moaned and panted and gripped his hair. She was everything he expected in a bedmate. She was everything he wanted.
She was going to come. He wanted to hear it, feel it against his mouth, but he pulled away from her and settled his fully clothed self against her naked body. “You’re so good, Zanna.” He kissed her neck. “Thank you for this. Good night.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
“Good night.”
“Good night?”
He lifted his body from hers, even though it was the single hardest thing he’d ever had to do. “Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?”
*
Zanna lay there for a few minutes trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Colt King had seduced her, stripped her naked, carried her to her bedroom, given her the best oral sex she’d ever had in her life, and then stopped just before she was about to have the most intense orgasm ever.
That couldn’t be right.
She pinched herself, thinking it had to be a dream. But it wasn’t. She was wet between her legs and throbbing. She could still feel his lips where they touched her body; the tingles that were still rushing along her skin.
That had just happened.
He just left her. He called it payback. It was damn effective because she was mad as hell.
“Son of a bitch.” She flew out of bed, grabbing her robe off the back of the door before leaving her bedroom. He was coming out of the bathroom when she saw him, and she went after him swinging.
“Rat bastard.” She punched his arm. “Asshole.” She pinched him. “Where do you get off—?”
He kissed the words out of her. His tongue swept into her mouth and the words went out of her head. “I want to walk away. I want to not want you, but there is nothing you can do to make me stop.” He kissed her a little softer this time, a little longer, a little more erotic, tasting every inch of her mouth. “Tell me you want me as much as I want you.”
She couldn’t speak. His kisses had robbed her of her words so she just nodded. She nodded and prepared herself to be loved by him.
He stepped away from her for a moment, pulling a condom out of his pocket and rolling it onto his hard length with a speed that she found dizzying. “You always walk around so prepared?” she asked, her excitement building.
“No. Only when I’m around you. I get hard just hearing you speak.”
“I want you now, Colt.” She reached out and took his cock in her hand.
He hissed in pleasure and she saw the look in his eye change again. Before she could process what was happening he had backed her against the wall and pushed inside her.
He was big and hard and hot, and he was pumping inside her like a madman on a mission.
The only thing she could do was hold on and enjoy it. Every slide made her wetter, every hot breath he let out against her skin made her want him more. Her eyes wanted to drift shut and let her senses take over, but she wanted to see him.
He was beautiful, like some piece of fine art that should be placed in a museum. Dark hair, angular features, Greek god–like. But there was also a roughness about him, a wildness that made her need him.
She was a woman who liked sex, but she had never needed to be with a man before. She needed to be with Colt. She needed to feel him inside her. It was like needing to breathe.
“Kiss me,” he begged. “Kiss me now.”
They were the three sweetest words to her. She smashed her mouth against his, kissing him as hard and as deep as she could. Her orgasm was building, so fast and uncontrollable it scared her. He pumped harder inside her, her skin stinging where their bodies slapped together, but it felt amazing at the same time and she didn’t want it to end.
All too soon her climax hit and she sank her teeth into his shoulder. He jerked against her, spilling himself inside her.
He held her against the wall, still deep inside her for a few minutes while he caught his breath, but then he let her down slowly, took her face in his hands gently, and kissed her.
This man …
She wasn’t sure if her heart could survive him.
“Did I hurt you?”
“You make it hurt so good.” She smiled up at him, feeling shy again all of a sudden.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen that way.” He brushed her hair out of her face.
“Up against a wall is good. In fact it’s very very good. I’ve never had sex like that before.”
“Me either.” He was quiet for a moment and she would have given everything she had just to know what he was thinking. “I don’t want this night to be over yet.”
“Who said anything about this being over? We are going to have ourselves a good old-fashioned sleepover.”
*
Colt walked back into Zanna’s room a little after five the next morning. He had just come out of the shower and for a moment he considered heading back to his bedroom so he could start his day, but the thought of an empty room didn’t seem as appealing as sneaking a few more hours of sleep with a warm, naked woman.
“You came back.” She lifted her head, giving him a sleepy smile. It was that smile that did him in. It made him want to come back even though he knew he should probably stay away.
“I did.” He climbed beneath the covers and reached for her naked body.
“Mmm,” she moaned as he wrapped his arms around her. “You smell so clean. Maybe I should shower too if we’re going to lie like this.”
“No.” She smelled like him and sex and her own sweet scent. It was intoxicating and arousing. He didn’t want to let her go. “Can I ask you something about your past?”
“Um … Yeah.” The hesitation in her voice was clear. He almost didn’t want to ask her but it had been bothering him since she had mentioned it. “Why did you have to learn how to defend yourself at a young age?”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a beat. “Did I tell you I needed to defend myself?”
“You did. When you were cutting my hair.”
“Oh. You don’t want to hear about that.”
“I do. I asked you.”
“I lived with my mother after my granddaddy died. Her boyfriend had a case of grabby hands. It was no big deal.”
His stomach tightened. “I think it was.”
“It was okay. After I stabbed him in the hand with a fork, he got the idea that I wasn’t okay to touch.”
He exhaled slowly. “How old were you?”
“It was three days after my sixteenth birthday. The legal age of consent in my state. He thought I wanted it. My mother was mad at me because she said I taunted him. I left home after that. I never saw her again.”
“You should have had him arrested. Where was your father?”
“I don’t know. He skipped town when I was little. My grandfather was the only one who protected me. I spent a long time trying to feel safe. I didn’t get that feeling again until I moved here.”
“You feel safe here?”
“I do. I had been running from yet another failed relationship when I came here and Lolly took me in. She gave me a job and a place to stay when that shitty motel I was staying got bedbugs.”
“Bedbugs?”
“Yeah. She came charging in there and moved me out. Of course she wouldn’t let me into her house until I stripped down and boiled all my belongings in the steel tub out back.”
“That sounds like her.”
“They all were nice. Peggy showed me around. Bertie cooked me meals. Annie treats me like I’m one of her own. And it’s not just them, it’s a lot of folks. I’m not from here, but I feel like I belong here.”
He had felt the opposite about this place. He still did. He thought about his ordered office and his spacious luxurious condo. He thought about all the things he had worked so hard to get that he’d left behind when he came here. “I’m glad they were good to you.”
“And I’m sad they weren’t to you. I know you had it rough, but not everybody thought poorly of you. You can’t hate a whole town because a few people called you trash.”
“There’s Duke, too.”
“It’s more than that isn’t it? That’s just a reason to hate the Andersens.”
“My father showed up for work drunk one day and caused an accident that permanently disabled a man and caused the factory to be shut down for a month. The town didn’t like us before, but they turned their backs on us after that. They hated us and we were kids. You don’t forget something like that and you don’t forgive it, either.”
“I’m sorry you had a hard life, Colt.” She pressed a kiss to his throat. He could tell by the sincerity in her voice that she meant it, and it made him pull her a little bit closer.
“Don’t be sorry for me. I have more money than I know what to do with and everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“Do you? Is that why you bought up half the town?”
“Part of it was to piss off Perry, but I’m not in the business of losing money. We were looking into building a racetrack here and decided that this place would benefit from more family entertainment. The mines and the casino are here, but I think if we could build a family-themed attraction with go-carts and indoor batting cages and an arcade, we could bring more jobs to the area and boost the economy. The factory is on its last legs. Two hundred people are going to be out of work when it shuts down.”
“That would devastate this place.”
“I wouldn’t care, but Duke’s kid is here. I don’t know how he’s going to work this out with Grace, but his son has had it hard enough; he doesn’t deserve to grow up in a dying town. Plus if everything works out, it’s going to make us a hell of a lot richer.”
“And I thought money wasn’t everything.”
“No, but it sure is nice.”
She laughed again and disappeared under the covers. He felt her lips graze his lower stomach. His dick twitched. “You want to have more sex?” he asked her as she slid her hand into his boxers and freed him. “I must not have done a good job. I thought you would be tired out by now.”
“You are a very thorough, very excellent lover.” She ran her tongue over his head, causing him to go fully erect. “I’ll be walking funny tomorrow. I just want to make you feel good.” Her mouth was warm and wet, her lips soft. He had never felt anything so good.
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, struggling to speak. “I can make it so it’s good for both of us.” He loved being inside her. He loved the way it felt when her tight wetness squeezed around him. He loved hearing her when she panted his name. He loved …
“Just relax, baby. You’ve been taking care of me all night. It’s time for me to take care of you.”
He did relax then and for the first
time in his life he let somebody really take care of him.
Chapter 12
Zanna walked into the kitchen the next morning feeling sleepy and pleasantly sore. She had never had sex like that in her life.
Never.
Never so many times. Never so good. Never so long, or hot, or sweet. And never up against a wall.
Damn.
She blushed all over, glad that sex like that existed in real life and not just in romance novels or movies.
“Did you two have a good time last night?” Levi asked from the kitchen table. His grin for her was extra wide today.
“What are you…?” It was then she realized that her clothes littered the floor; her haircutting kit was still out as well, as were the leftovers from dinner. It was like a tornado had ripped through the kitchen. “You ever have those moments when you wished a hole in the ground would open up and swallow you? I’m having one of those moments now.”
“Why?” Levi got up and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Colt has it bad for you. It was only a matter of time. I’m surprised you two held out this long.”
“Half the time I think he’s an asshole. The other half…” The other half of her thought he was somebody she really could fall for. “How do you stand him?”
“Good morning.” Colt walked into the kitchen. There was a little ice in his voice, and his eyes traveled right to Levi’s arm wrapped around her.
He couldn’t really be jealous? Of Levi? Especially after last night.
Was she wrong if she admitted it made her feel a little good?
Levi looked at his brother with mischief in his eyes before he set his lips on her ear. “You’re special to him. I know he’s a pain in the ass, but I think he has a shot of being happy with you.”
He let go of her and faced his brother. “It’s not like you to leave a mess, Colty. I think I’m going to tell Lolly on you.”
“Shut up, Levi.”
“You know you said that to me so many times I thought Shut Up Levi was my name until I turned six.”
The Bad Boy CEO Page 14
