Bad In Boots: Colt's Choice (13 page)

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Elise frowned at the swift knock at her door. She glanced at the clock. Ten o’clock. She’d washed her face, pulled on an oversized T-shirt that reached her mid-thigh and was just getting ready to climb into bed. It had to be Colt.

After she’d finished up with Nan, she heard Colt still talking with his brothers, so instead of intruding, she decided to head home. Now he shows up two hours later. Who knew he was such a talker? Then again, he could’ve been waylaid by May. Her heart sank at the thought. But he’d sounded so adamant when he’d said he was a one-woman man, she reminded herself. The memory of his steely tone calmed her nerves. She believed him.

Great, instead of a sophisticated Elise Hamilton, he would get to see a woman who looked more like a teenager with her hair down, no makeup on, sporting an old Hard Rock Café T-shirt and bare feet.

As she headed for the door, her chest tightening, she thought in defiance,
Maybe that’s exactly what he needs to see. Me at my plain Jane-est. Second best to May, my ass!

Feeling rebellious, yet very unsexy, Elise opened the door.

Colt stood outside, one hand on the doorjamb, waiting.

His cowboy hat hid his face in shadows from the bright parking lot lights. All she saw was his strong jaw with that muscle tic and her heart leapt. When he tilted his head and the light filtered across his face, the sight of his glittering gaze raking her body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, then settling on the peaks of her nipples jutting against the soft cotton fabric, took her breath away.

Damn his smoldering gaze, as if he knew she wore no underwear beneath her shirt. And double damn her traitorous body for reacting instantaneously to his black cowboy shirt and faded jeans covering his tall muscular frame. The visual stimulation coupled with his intoxicating male scent and potent, seductive charisma, made her heartbeat roar in her ears.

“You left without sayin’ goodbye, darlin’,” was all he said, but his tense stance and the distinct muscle jumping in his jaw spoke volumes.

No way would she let him know how much the whole Bess thing had bothered her. Colt had never said anything about commitment, had even ignored her flippant statement about them not being a couple.

He walked inside and shut the door behind him, his look predatory as he advanced on her in long strides.

She answered, her heart racing, “You were busy talking to your brothers. I figured you had a lot of catching up to do.”

Colt pulled his hat off and tossed it on the kitchen table as he continued to stalk her across her living room, his tone possessive, intense, “I had plans, Lise, things I wanted to do…” His voice dropped to a seductive rumble. “To you.”

Right when he finished speaking, the backs of her knees bumped into her Papasan chair and Elise lost her balance, flopping into its deep, circular cushion.

Oh God! The primal look in his eyes and the promise of his words, made her realize her T-shirt had hiked up her thighs, almost exposing her to his gaze. Her breasts tingled and her sex began to throb in tense anticipation.

Grasping the rattan outer edge of the chair, she started to pull herself up when Colt placed his big, warm hands on her naked thighs.

“No. Don’t move,” he ground out as he sunk to his knees in front of her.

Her breath caught in her throat and her heart rammed in her chest as he slowly slid his hands up her thighs.

Massaging her muscles, he pulled her legs apart and moved between them as his deep blue gaze locked with hers. Sliding his hands under the hem of her shirt, his thumbs teased her damp curls.

“I’ve wanted to taste you all day and when I discovered you’d left…” he trailed off, while his hardened expression told her how much her absence bothered at him.

“Colt, I—”

Elise’s words trapped in her throat as Colt slid his hands around and grasped her naked rear, pulling her along the cushion, closer to the edge of the chair.

“Put your feet on my shoulders,” he ground out.

“Colt—”

“Now!” The fierce expression on his face reflected his hunger, his pent-up desire to have her right then.

Elise had barely touched her heels to his shoulders when Colt swiped his tongue across her sex in a slow, deliberate lap, his action a territorial branding that spoke volumes to his intentions.

She grasped the edge of the chair and let out a mewing sigh of pleasure as he teased her entrance once more before delving his tongue deep inside her. While he sucked her juices, he groaned his approval. The feral sound was such a turn-on!

His heated breath bathed her thighs as he spoke, his voice sounding tortured, “Everything about you intoxicates me. Your scent when you walk past, your throaty laughter, and now your taste…” He paused and let out a controlled breath. “It makes me want to have you again and again.” He looked up, his clouded, dark gaze colliding with hers. “I’ve never claimed to be a gentle lover, Lise.”

His intensity sent thrills up and down her spine. “I never asked you to be,” she shot back, panting in expectation.

The look in his eyes shifted to satisfied determination as he lowered his head and found her clitoris. Sucking at the throbbing nub, he alternately nipped and pulled at the sensitive flesh, bringing her to the edge only to lave at her until her impending orgasm abated. Again and again he played her body to his own tune.

Rocking her hips to his torturous onslaught, Elise finally fisted a hand in his thick, dark hair and pressed him closer, hissing out, “You need to add sadist to your list of faults, damn you.”

Colt’s chuckle rumbled against her right before he thrust two fingers deep inside her and sucked hard on her sensitive flesh.

“Yes!” she screamed out at the welcoming sensation as her body began to clench around the fingers pumping in and out of her body. As Elise drew in her breath, her heart hammered and her stomach tensed right before a full-blown orgasm rolled through her in waves of intense pleasure.

Just as the tremors in her body started to dissipate, he lifted his head and grasped her hips. Backing out of the way of her legs, he swiftly pulled her out of the chair and rolled her over on her stomach.

Facing the chair, her knees now on the floor, Elise’s heart raced at her quick change in position. All she could think about was having Colt inside her as quickly as possible.

As she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor, the sound of Colt unbuckling his belt and ripping the buttons of his jeans apart only fueled her desire. Placing one hand on her hip, he pressed the flat of his other hand against her back, silently directing her. Panting in anticipation, Elise complied, bending at the waist as she laid her arms on the cushion of the chair.

When Colt grasped her hips, pressed his erection against her and slammed into her in one swift, deep thrust, she keened out her pleasure at the satisfying feeling of completeness. The sensation of his jeans rubbing the back of her lower thighs as he withdrew and sank back in made her feel wanton yet so very desired.

“Come on, Elise, show me what you’ve got,” he encouraged in a rough rasp as his hips met her rear once more.

Feeling thoroughly challenged, Elise rose up on her hands and used the chair for leverage as she pushed back against him, clenching her inner muscles around his erection.

At the sound of his low groan of pleasure, she smiled and pressed harder.

In response, Colt laid his chest, his bare chest—aaah, he’d removed his shirt!—against her back and slid his hands over hers, clasping her hands and stretching her arms forward toward the back of the chair as he rammed into her. With each penetrating thrust, her nipples rubbed back and forth against the wooden edge of the chair, causing her to moan in delight.

“Damn, Lise, you match me well,” he hissed out next to her ear, male satisfaction evident in his voice.

And she did match him, Colt thought as she sighed with contentment when her orgasm began. He enjoyed the sensation of her warm body convulsing around him and felt his own blood rushing in his ears as his cock throbbed harder with his impending climax.

When she pulled her thighs closer against his legs and clenched her walls around him, he lost all coherent thought as he exploded. He absorbed every single breath, every brush of hot skin against skin, the moisture of her body mixed with his as he slid in and out of her. God, she felt so damn good.

Pulling her against him, he stayed buried deep within her as they tumbled to the floor on their sides. As their breathing slowed and reason returned, he knew a moment’s panic when he realized what he’d done.

“I’m sorry, Lise,” he whispered as he started to withdraw from her, his stomach tensing. “I just realized I didn’t put on a condom.”

She reached behind her and clasped his bare buttock, pulling him back inside her with a throaty chuckle. “I believe after giving me oral sex oh-so-thoroughly you trust I’m clean, Colt. Don’t worry. I’m on the pill.”

His heart started beating again as relief flooded through him. So why did a small part of him wish she hadn’t been on the pill? Colt ignored the nagging question and stroked her breast with his fingertips, replying with a chuckle, “I’m glad to know you’ll match whatever I throw your way.”

She shrugged her shoulder in an unapologetic manner, the action unintentionally sexy, but arousing to him nonetheless.

“I believe in a healthy attitude about sex. How else will you learn what pleases you if you aren’t willing to try new things?”

He grinned, liking her philosophy. Withdrawing from her, he rolled her over and slid his hand down to tangle in the curls between her thighs as he met her gaze. “I’ve decided you’re sexiest with no makeup and just an old T-shirt. Screw lacey underwear. Hard-rock was
exactly
what I was thinkin’ when you opened the door.”

When he finished speaking, Colt shifted to his knees and pulled up his pants. Leaning over, he lifted her in his arms and walked back to her bedroom saying in a suggestive tone, “About those new things you said you’d be willing to try…”

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, Elise didn’t have time to worry about the fact Colt hadn’t spent the night once more. She had interviews back-to-back that kept her busy all day long. And when the day ended and she and Colt went back to her apartment, she didn’t want to spoil their time together by asking him why he didn’t stay the night before.

But when the next several days became a pattern for Colt, she found that her patience had run thin. The last couple of nights, she’d casually tried to ask him to stay, but his reply was always the same, “I’ve got early work tomorrow.”

Feeling bereft all over again as she remembered his response, Elise stood there in front of the office’s main window, staring blankly at the coffeepot and wondering if, after several consecutive nights together, he’d always planned to steal away once she’d fallen asleep in his arms. Waking up alone was somehow worse because she fell asleep with the hope he’d stay the night. The fact he left in the middle of the night bothered her a great deal, because it made her feel as if she were a one-night stand every night.

So what if Colt didn’t want commitment, couldn’t he at least feign that he felt comfortable enough with her to stay the night? Beyond her growing annoyance, she didn’t examine the reason for her deep feelings on the subject.

After all, it’s not like she planned to fall for the guy or anything. No, she hadn’t fallen for him. Not at all, she denied as her heart rate kicked up when she spied Colt walking toward the stables, his chambray shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. Her gaze dropped to his rear end outlined by the chaps strapped to his trim hips and muscular thighs. What an ass the man had! She curled her fingers around her coffee cup. Man, she loved grabbing his hard, muscular butt as they made love.

Oh shit! She’d said it…well, mentally. Made love. But that was how she felt when she and Colt were together. He made love to her. It wasn’t just sex. The way he touched her, rough, gentle—she didn’t care because he was always considerate of her needs—he made her feel loved and cherished, even if he didn’t say the words.

The sight of May trotting out of the stable on Bess’s back drew her out of her musings. May had stopped and spoke to Colt while he grasped the horse’s reins and responded to whatever she’d said. Elise’s stomach churned and her chest felt as if someone had put a vise around it. The constricting sensation made it hard to catch her breath.

Her emotions running high, she turned away and ran right into Mace.

“Whoa,” he called out, steadying her with his hands. “Man, I guess it’s a good thing you decided to forgo coffee this morning or I’d be wearin’ it,” he laughed in a good-natured tone.

Feeling miserable, Elise looked down at her empty cup. “Guess it’s best I skip the coffee this morning.”

“You okay?” he asked, his expression concerned.

She shrugged. “Yeah, just a headache.” Brushing past Mace, she headed back to her office and shut the door.

After she’d flopped into her chair and stared at her computer, Elise let her anger at herself boil to the surface.
Screw second best. I’m going to do something about it, damnit.

Picking up her phone, she called directory assistance and retrieved Josh Kelly’s phone number. Once she punched in the number, she drummed her fingers impatiently on the desk, waiting for him to pick up.

“Hello?” an older man answered.

“Mr. Kelly? This is Elise Hamilton. Is Josh around?”

“No, he’s not, Elise. Josh had a firemen’s conference to attend. He should be back by Sunday. Want me to have him call you?”

Sunday? That was a few days away! Her heart sank at the news. “Yes, please have him return my call when he gets back.”

“Will do.”

Even though she couldn’t reach Josh, Elise felt better. She had a plan. Lightning would be hers by the end of the weekend.

She worked steadily all morning, incorporating the info from the various employee interviews she’d conducted into the website. When lunchtime arrived, Elise took the film to the developer to have it put on a CD so she could upload the photos to the website. Thankfully, her errand kept her away from the office and out of Colt’s sight. She was afraid if she spent any time with him, she’d ask why he hadn’t stayed a single night with her. The last thing she wanted was to come across demanding or clingy.

She’d just finished her takeout lunch and was about to throw the bag away in the trash can underneath her desk when Colt walked in.

“I came by earlier but you weren’t around,” he said.

Crumpling the bag, she tossed it in the trash and turned back to her computer. “I took the film to be developed on my lunch hour.”

Colt nodded his understanding, then grinned. “I noticed you haven’t ridden all week. Come out on the range with me for an hour or so.”

Her heart jerked at the invitation. Time alone with Colt. Outdoors. The fresh, open air blowing in her face. On Bess.

Which made her think of May and second best. Which made her think of him leaving her every night after she fell asleep.

Her heart stuttered and her euphoria died a quick death. Rubbing her forehead, she lied, “I’ve got a killer headache.”

Colt’s expression reflected his disappointment, then turned devilish as he raked his gaze down her white button-down blouse to the rise of her breasts, then back up to her face. “I guess I’ll just have to settle for spending time with you tonight. Want to go out to dinner?”

She shook her head. “Not tonight. I’ll have to pass. I’m tired.”
‘Cause waking up to an empty bed in the wee hours of the morning has a tendency to make me sleep fitfully until it’s time to get up
, she thought with an inward grimace. Maybe if she spent an evening away from him it wouldn’t bother her so much. Now why did she seriously doubt that?

“Just dinner then?”

She shook her head once more and noticed him visibly stiffen at her rejection. Why did she feel like such a shmuck?
Because you know you want to go out to eat with him, find out more about him, then spend the rest of the evening making love until you’re both exhausted and spent, that’s why…you shmuck!

She couldn’t even meet his gaze as her emotions swirled inside her, making her body tense and her stomach ache.

“I hope you feel better tomorrow, Lise,” he replied before he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

His use of her nickname, spoken in a low, deliberately husky voice reminded her when he usually called her Lise—while making love. Her nipples tightened and her sex throbbed in immediate response at the thought. Damn, she was like Pavlov’s dog…just say the
pet
name and she’s panting. Grrrrr!

Gritting her teeth, she willed herself to focus on work while she prayed she didn’t see Colt for the rest of the day.