by Emma Castle
“I hit someone.”
Her eyes flashed in surprise. “You did?”
He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, feeling an unexpected wave of shame. “Yeah . . .”
“Care to fill me in on the details?” She held his injured hand and carefully wiped away the blood. It stung, but he’d had worse, far worse. Her gentle fingers on his skin could have eased any pain.
“I . . .” He was going to brush it off or tell a white lie, but he decided against it. “I had a fiancée a few years back. While I was on my last tour, she slept with someone else. I just ran into the guy today at the VA center.”
Ophelia stilled, her hands frozen around his. “You were engaged?”
“Yeah.” He wanted to cup her chin and raise it up. He wanted her to look at him. “It was a long time ago. He was my best friend since we were teenagers. That’s why I punched him.”
Ophelia gently squeezed his hand before she began to spread antibacterial cream on his knuckles. “Oh God, that’s awful.” When she was done, he flexed his fingers. The bruises would be dark tomorrow, but he would heal. He always healed, even if it left a hell of a scar.
“Is she why you don’t date anymore?” Ophelia turned away as she asked the question, and her cheeks darkened with a blush.
“She was.” When she looked back at him, he stared meaningfully at her. “But I was thinking of getting back out there again.”
“Oh?” He could hear her faint response, and he couldn’t resist smiling. This woman made him want to smile all the damn time.
“Yeah. My type, in case you’re wondering, is small and curvy, with doe-brown eyes and raven-black hair.”
Ophelia’s lips parted, and he crowded her against the kitchen island. His hands caged her hips in, and she shivered. The clean, floral scent of her shampoo mixed with her natural feminine aroma went straight to his head. His eyes drifted along her face, from the curve of her kissable lips to the swell of her breasts beneath the tank top she wore and the gentle indentation of her collarbone.
Colt used his finger to tilt her chin up. Then he leaned down to kiss her. The second before their lips met, he felt the heady anticipation of his lips touching hers. He’d never wanted a kiss so much in his entire life. Then the distance between their mouths closed, and the world exploded in a rush of pleasure and sweetness.
The more he kissed her, the more he would crave her, but she was worth the risk. He was a man who’d fought for his country, and now he had to fight for her heart, and that was a battle he couldn’t afford to lose.
4
God, this man . . .
The euphoric thought drifted through Ophelia’s mind as she kissed Colt back in his cozy kitchen. She thought of what he had said, how his heart had been broken and how he wanted to risk love again . . . with her. What woman would be crazy enough to turn that down? She had wanted this man from the moment she had first seen him mowing his lawn.
She curled her arms around his neck and squealed as he hoisted her up and set her down on the polished granite surface of the kitchen island. It brought her mouth level with his for deeper kisses. She spread her legs, and he stepped between them, pushing himself against her as he cradled her head while he ravaged her lips with his. His kisses were rough, hungry, unapologetic. There was nothing better than a man kissing her like he didn’t care about anything else. Her last boyfriend had kissed her like he just wanted to get straight to sex, not like those kisses were fueling his passion.
Colt kissed her like he had to, like kissing her was the only thing keeping him alive. It was a rush unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Her head swam as she tried to catch her breath, and she clung to his massive shoulders.
After a few minutes, their mouths parted and he leaned back to look at her. Then he reached for the hem of her tank top and began to lift it up. His lips pursed as he took his time, forcing some control over the need she knew they were both feeling. He tossed the shirt away and gazed at her sensible bra as though she were a Victoria’s Secret model.
Colt traced a finger down her chest to the edge of the bra cups before he pulled one down, exposing one breast and then the other. Her nipples pebbled in the chilled air, and he flicked one, then did the same to the other. Without a word, he bent his head and covered an aching breast with his mouth, sucking the nipple between his lips. Sharp, violent need pierced Ophelia’s core, and she gasped, the sound filling the silence of the kitchen. He sucked harder, his beard brushing against her sensitive skin, tickling her.
Ophelia was incapable of speech. She could only moan and clutch Colt’s head, digging her fingers into the strands of his hair and tugging in encouragement. Colt tortured each breast with pleasure until her nipples were hard and wet from his attention, and then he laid her flat on the counter. When she tried to rise, he pressed a palm on her chest, urging her back down. He unfastened her shorts and slid them off. She whimpered in anticipation as he peeled her panties off and bent between her spread thighs.
Small, hot kisses to her inner thighs were her only way of knowing what he intended before he kissed her clit, then licked her slit. She nearly bowed off the counter as she lost herself to him, to the exquisite pleasures of this man and the way he used his mouth on her. He ran his tongue over her folds, which were very wet and impossibly sensitive. She’d never been so turned on in her life. There was something about his intense sexual focus and the complete silence from him except for his hard breathing fanning over her sensitive skin. None of her fantasies had prepared her for this, not one.
He licked at her clit while he inserted one finger into her. It was tight, but it felt so good for him to enter her. She just wished it was his cock. She wriggled a little, trying to encourage more from him without using words.
Colt didn’t relent. He drew a gasping climax from her, and just as she started to come down from the rolling waves of pleasure, she felt something nudge at her entrance. She lifted her head to see that he had opened his pants and rolled a condom onto his thick shaft before starting to push into her.
Dear God, he’s not going to fit. He’s monstrous. He—
Colt thrust into her, feeding his cock into her inch by inch. She closed her fingers around the edge of the counter as she struggled to take him in. He was halfway inside when he thrust hard, and was fully seated inside her.
Ophelia couldn’t speak. There were no words to describe the exquisite fullness. There was only him and this feeling of connection. He gazed down at her, his hazel eyes dark with lust. His hands gripped her legs, holding her thighs wide. She’d never felt more vulnerable in her life. He could fuck her ruthlessly, and she was in no position to stop him. Not that she wanted to.
Whatever Colt saw in her eyes, he seemed to see her agree to whatever he wanted. He drew in a deep breath before he began to fuck her hard. She slid on the counter, and he kept hold of her while he jackhammered into her like a man possessed. She cried out over and over, each time he filled her almost to the point of pain. Every fear, every hurt, every heartbreak from the last few months faded to nothing as Colt made love to her wildly, dangerously.
This time her orgasm was so violent, so exquisite, that she actually screamed. Colt roared in response, the sound reverberating clear through her as he unleashed all of his strength into her with a few more thrusts before everything went still. His fingers dug into her thighs, but the hold soon eased and she sank back onto the counter, too limp to move. She couldn’t even lift her head to see his face.
He held still inside of her for what felt like forever, and she almost cried out when he withdrew from her body. She didn’t want that connection to end. He threw the condom away and then cleaned them both with a towel before he helped her sit up. She blushed as he fixed his jeans and then cupped her face to press a slow, sweet kiss to her lips.
When they broke apart, she suddenly blurted out, “Please come over for dinner. I was planning to cook, and I want to cook for you.”
For a moment, his gaze was unreada
ble. Then he slowly smiled. “That sounds nice. What time?”
“Uh, give me two hours?” She needed to shower, then run to the store for a few things, dress up, and cook.
“Okay. Want me to bring anything?”
She beamed at him. “No, just you.” She felt ridiculously happy, and she knew she should be embarrassed, but right now that was impossible.
“All right.” He helped her off the counter, and she put her clothes back on.
“Great. See you in a few hours.” She kissed his cheek and rushed out of his house.
Ophelia showered, dressed, and rushed to the store to get ingredients for an instant pot barbecue beef recipe. When she got back to her car, rain was splashing in torrents down her windows. It was dark by the time she pulled into her garage.
She’d always loved storms and kept her garage door open as she unloaded the groceries from her trunk. The bags were in her arms, and she took a moment to watch the lightning illuminate the street as the rain moved in winding waves across the pavement.
She turned away, but the sight of a battered old car pulling into her driveway made her turn back. She didn’t know anyone who drove a car like that, and she wasn’t expecting anyone either. A chill raced down her spine, and she ran for the garage door leading into her house. She hit the button on the wall to close the garage door, but it bounced back up when the sensors were triggered by movement.
Ophelia screamed as two men rushed her in the dark. She threw the grocery bags at one man and got inside, but she couldn’t get the door closed. One of them had wedged his boot in the door, and then he hit her hard in the shoulder. Pain lanced up her body as she kept trying to get the door shut.
There was a shout on the other side of the door, and suddenly it was flung wide as one of them crashed into it, sending her sprawling on her back. Her head hit the floor, and she groaned as she tried to roll over onto her hands and knees.
One of the men grabbed her head and slammed it down on the floor. “Fucking bitch!” White dots flashed in the blackness behind her eyes.
“Grab what you can and load it in the car!” the man snapped. “I’ll take care of her.”
Pain flowed through her as she became aware of hands gripping her wrists and dragging her along the floor into the living room. She cried out as a boot sank hard into her side. The man was kicking her, though the realization came to her through a dark, frightening tunnel that left her stunned. Why was this happening?
“Pl-please stop!” she begged.
“Shut the fuck up!” A blow smacked her face to the side, and blood filled her mouth from her split lip.
“Stop fucking around, asshole!” the other man said. “I need you to help carry the TV. It’s too big.”
Ophelia tried to breathe. She was being robbed. The men were using the storm to cover it up. While they were busy with the TV, she had only a minute at most to move, to get to her phone or hide. Her fuzzy mind struggled to make a decision.
Phone. Get the phone.
She crawled around the back of her couch toward the kitchen. The sounds of crashing and cursing grew distant behind her. She was going to make it. She—
“Hey, where’s the bitch?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fucking find her!”
She heard footsteps, and suddenly strong hands grabbed her ankles.
She screamed just as a fist knocked her into terrifying nothingness.
Noah was sitting on the couch that backed up to Colt’s living room window. His tail wagged as he saw Ophelia’s car pull into the driveway. Colt scratched the dog behind the ears.
“She must have made a run to the store,” Colt explained to the German shepherd. The rain outside was coming down hard enough that visibility was poor. He had seen only Ophelia’s car lights, but it was enough to know it was her.
Lightning flashed a moment later as an old sedan with no lights on pulled into Ophelia’s driveway. Noah whined and shifted restlessly before he suddenly growled low at the back of his throat. Colt waited for the next flash of lightning, wondering who Ophelia had over. Then he saw two men run into her open garage. Every instinct warned him that Ophelia was in danger. He ran to the front door, opened it, and shouted a command at Noah.
“Protect!”
The dog shot out the door, and Colt was right behind him. Noah would protect Ophelia. He had been trained well with that command. God help whoever tried to hurt her now, because the dog would tear them apart.
Colt reached the garage and saw the open door into the house. Inside he heard a man scream and Noah snarling. The report of a gun made Colt flinch as he crept into the house. His breathing was fast out of fear for Ophelia, but his instincts were still good, and his fists were ready for anything. As he peered around the wall into the living room, he saw the shattered flat-screen on the floor and one man struggling with Noah. The dog had a hold on the man’s arm and was hanging on for dear life.
“Shoot him, Randy!” screamed the man Noah was biting. The other man held a gun and was trying to find a way to shoot the dog to free his friend from the dog’s bite, but Noah was jerking and tugging on the arm, making it hard for the second man to aim at him without shooting the first man.
“I can’t! I might shoot you!”
Colt charged the man with the gun from the side and took him down like he was sacking a quarterback. They hit the ground, and the gun was knocked from the man’s hand. Colt hit the man twice before the sound of Noah yelping pulled his attention away. Noah still hung on to the other man’s arm, but the man held a bloody knife.
Colt surged to his feet and jumped the second robber, grabbing his wrist in one hand and his neck with the other, crashing his head against the wall. The man’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped to the ground.
“Release,” Colt ordered the dog. Noah let go of the man’s arm, and thankfully he didn’t seem to be gravely injured. “Find Ophelia, Noah.” The dog started sniffing, and Colt drew in a deep breath as he pulled his cell phone out and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“My neighbor was attacked by two men. I brought my therapy dog, and we stopped them. I need the police and an ambulance.” He was breathing hard as he followed Noah into Ophelia’s bedroom. He saw her legs sticking out from the other side of the bed and nearly dropped his phone as terror swept through him.
“Do you see your neighbor? Is this person hurt?”
“I just found her. Hang on.” He put the phone on speaker as he came around the bed. Ophelia was lying on her side, her hands bound with an electrical cord that had been ripped from a lamp off her nightstand. A dishcloth was stuffed into her mouth, and her face was bruised and bloody. Cuts and scratches covered her bare legs.
“Sir?” the emergency operator spoke to him.
Colt knelt and pulled the sock from her mouth, then checked for a pulse. His hand was shaking, and his blood was pounding so hard that it took a few seconds for him to calm down. Her pulse was steady but not as strong as it should be.
“My neighbor . . . she’s unconscious. They bound and gagged her. They beat her bad. Please, get that ambulance here,” he pleaded. Noah limped closer, sniffing at Ophelia’s sandal-clad feet. He whimpered softly before he lay down.
“Police and an ambulance are on the way. What is the status of the two men who attacked your neighbor?”
“Unconscious. I’m former military. I subdued them.” His tone reverted to how he would have spoken to his old commanding officer.
“Stay there. Officers are approaching the residence now.” The sound of sirens grew louder. Colt remained where he was on the floor of Ophelia’s bedroom, one hand on Noah’s collar and the other on Ophelia’s wrist to keep monitoring her pulse.
“Here!” he shouted when he heard officers calling from the doorway of the house. “We’re in here!” He waited for the police to enter, the flashlights on top of their guns suddenly trained on him. He already had one hand raised. “I can’t release
my dog, not until he feels safe,” Colt explained with a nod to the dog.
“Understood. What’s your name, sir?” One of the officers approached.
“Colt Henshaw. I live next door.” He slowly stood and backed away so the officer could get to Ophelia.
“Rick!” the officer shouted, looking her over. “Check to see where that ambulance is. Now.”
“On it,” the other officer shouted back.
“Can you tell me what happened?” the officer asked Colt.
Colt had just finished relaying the events when the EMTs arrived. They knelt by Ophelia and checked her over, then loaded her onto a stretcher and strapped her down.
“I need to go with them.” He started to leave, but the officer held him back with a hand.
“We need to take a statement first.”
Colt looked to the man, his hands clenching. “You can do it at the hospital. She’s my girlfriend—I’m going to follow the ambulance as soon as I can get my neighbor to take my dog to the emergency vet.”
The officer’s eyes narrowed. “Girlfriend? You said she was your neighbor.”
“She’s both.” He whistled to Noah, who heeled by his side as they followed the paramedics. While the EMTs prepared to put Ophelia inside the ambulance, Colt knelt and checked out Noah’s injury which didn’t seem that deep.
“You okay, boy?” He murmured as he gently examined the injury. Noah simply panted softly, but he didn’t seem to be in a great deal of pain. Colt hated to have to choose between taking his dog to the vet and going with Ophelia, but Noah seemed in better shape.
“Colt! What happened?” Miranda ran up to him as she spotted him and Noah. He briefly told her what happened and she agreed to take Noah to the nearby emergency vet and call him as soon as the vet looked the dog over.
“Is she going to be okay?” Colt asked the paramedics as they loaded Ophelia into the ambulance. The two paramedics flashed him pitying looks.
“She’s stable, but we won’t know for sure until we get her to the ER.” The siren started up, and Colt rushed to his truck to follow them to the hospital.
