Heartbreak Ranch (20 page)

“I didn’t mean what I said the other night,” she whispered, still embarrassed. “I don’t hate you ...”

“Darlin’, I know,” he said softly. “I’ve been sitting in the next stall over; I heard every word you said.”

“You ... You ...” Graysen stuttered, mortified. Her cheeks felt hot.

“Graysen, it’s all okay, I know you were angry. Hell, I was too ...”

“It doesn’t matter!” She raised her voice a bit, still humiliated, before she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “I’ve come to realize that you were right, Colt. There’s no way to make it work.” She feigned strength to recover from any moment of weakness he had overheard.

Colt stared blankly for a few seconds before his face hardened. “Don’t you dare do that, Graysen, don’t run away from it ...”

“But Colt, you were right! I wasn’t thinking clearly when we argued. All I could hear was that you didn’t want to be with me. I see now though that you were trying to let me down easily because your thoughts weren’t clouded like mine were.”

“Damn it, woman! I just stood a stall over and listened to you tell that foal that you love me.”

“No ...” Her whisper was pained.

“No? Really? Graysen are you going to try to tell me that everything you confided to that horse was all a big, fat lie, are you?”

“No ... That conversation was one you were never meant to hear! I thought I was alone!”

“Well you can’t undo it, baby. I heard every single word. And I’m sure as hell not going to let you take it back!” The pain in Colt’s voice matched hers. “Good God!” he hissed before finally turning away.

“Colt? This is all so confusing,” she whispered, trying to figure out what he wanted from her.

“
You’re
confused?” He turned around, and his eyes were wild as he stared at her. “I don’t know what the hell you have done to me, woman! I thought I was doing the right thing the other night. I tried to square away in my head that it was best to chalk this up to nothing more than lustful infatuation. That’s what my head tells me. Two weeks’ time isn’t long enough to feel like this. But my God.” Colt stood up, pulled his hat from his head and ran his fingers through his tousled hair.

“Graysen, do you know I slept in here last night and the night before?” Colt paced the stall floor in front of her. “I slept here because my damn bed smells like you. I couldn’t be in my cabin. I couldn’t even sit in my living room without picturing you in front of the warm fire, curled up on the rug, bare-naked and beautiful. I couldn’t take a shower without imagining you under the warm spray. I opened the fridge and took out that bottle of cranberry juice you like to steal drinks from, and it was killing me knowing your lips had been on it! You’re everywhere Graysen, and try as I might I can’t put you out of my mind, or out of my heart, for that matter!”

Graysen stood up and took a step toward Colt. He looked to be in agony as she took his face in her hands. This time it was her turn to make him look her in the eye.

Colt calmed himself for a moment before speaking. His voice was slow and deliberate. “Graysen, I was afraid the other night because I didn’t know what this was. But then, when I realized I wouldn’t be with you any longer, when it set in that you were leaving and would never return,” his voice became burdened, “that is when I truly became afraid.”

“Colt ...” she whispered. She recognized the look in Colt’s eyes. It was the same one she held in hers.

“Don’t leave,” he interrupted as he grasped her shoulders, his eyes pleading with her.

“What?” She wanted to make sure she heard him say what she thought he had.

“Please.” His voice betrayed his emotions. “Don’t leave me.”

“But ...” She tried to say something before his mouth caught hers in a soul-shattering kiss, capturing her as if he was trying to keep a part of her forever. She was a goner, and she knew it. Soon she would be agreeing to whatever Colt said. She would do whatever he wanted. Her control waved the white flag of surrender when he put his lips to hers. She didn’t care any longer. She gave in to the feeling. She just wanted to drift away in the wonderful knowledge that he still wanted her.

“Iowa...” His voice was full of emotion as he buried his face into her neck, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “I’ve got no direction without you,” he whispered breathlessly against her skin.

“Colt what are we going to do?” Her voice was panicked. She didn’t want to shatter the feeling of joy that was washing over them.

“We will find a way to make it work,” he said matter-of-factly. “That’s what couples do when they are in love.” He continued, “I’ve never truly been in love before, but if it is what you described when you had that heart-to-heart with my horse, then I love you more than anything a man could.”

“Colt ...” She spoke softly. “Say it again.” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Colt chuckled. “I love you, Graysen.”

He said it over and over, and it was a soft mantra that continued as he placed kisses along her neck and across her jawline. Graysen clung to him. The harder she pulled him into her, the more real everything became. Her hell had just transformed into heaven. In those moments, she knew that a thousand miles of road between them were nothing. They stood there in a tight embrace for a few moments.

“Graysen, don’t you have something you want to say to me?” He moaned against her neck.

She giggled delightedly. “No, why?” she teased, still clutching his head to her. “You heard me say it earlier as you eavesdropped.”

He pulled back slightly and looked at her. “I know you love me.” He grinned like a cat that had swallowed a canary. “But if you won’t say it, I guess I will just have to torture it out of you.” His seductive voice caressed her, and she shivered at the thought of what was to come.

He confirmed her suspicions as he ran a finger down her chest, stopping briefly between her breasts.

“Torture?” Her eyebrows arched playfully as she reached for him. Colt scooped her up in his arms and carried her to one of the empty stalls where he had a couple of blankets laid out on top of the hay.

“What am I gonna do with you?” He wrapped his arms around her after setting her on the ground.

“Love me,” she whispered in his ear, clutching at the collar of his shirt and pulling them both down onto the soft blanket. “Just as I love you with all my heart.”

Colt hugged her tightly. “That goes without saying, Hun.”

“I will never tire of hearing you say it.” The pleasure she felt at his obvious admiration made her heart skip a beat.

“I do aim to please.” His sultry southern drawl was a whisper as he began unbuttoning her blouse. “I love you, Graysen Elizabeth Beaufort. I love everything about you ...”

She sighed contentedly. “Everything?”

“Oh yes, ma’am,” he said, his words heavy. “I love the way your eyes light up when you’re happy.” His hand swept her hair to the side and then his tongue brushed her neck. “I love this cute little freckle that hides behind your earlobe ...” He kissed her collarbone. “I love the way you look when you sleep, and the way you crinkle your nose up when I wake you too early. I love that you bite into that beautiful lower lip of yours when you’re turned on.”

He stroked her bottom lip as he said it. Slowly his hand moved inside of her top, and he glided his fingertips across the curve of her breasts that spilled over the top of her plunging bra. As he reached into the sheer bra and found a beaded nipple, heat engulfed her. She gasped with pleasure and her cheeks flushed with his touch.

He laughed affectionately before whispering in her ear, “And my beautiful Graysen, I love how you still blush at my touch ...” Colt’s words thrilled her. She moaned softly, it was a combination of physical pleasure and sheer joy. Yes, she was blushing, blushing for this incredible man who she loved.

Colt continued to describe how he loved her, his voice thick with want. “I love your full breasts, and how they fill my hands to overflowing. I love how your nipples harden when they’re under my touch. I love how you moan when I ...” He gently began circling the nipple inside her bra, and it rose to meet his touch. When his hand left her breast, Graysen groaned in disappointment. Colt chuckled knowingly. “Don’t fret, Darlin’, there’s more to come, so much more.” He pulled her unbuttoned shirt down her arms. His words were like an aphrodisiac, caressing her, making her long for his touch.

“I love that you shiver with anticipation as I undress you,” he continued as he freed her body of clothing, leaving behind only her bra and panties. The cool air in the barn chilled her, but Colt’s mouth was eager to warm her up by kissing and caressing every exposed inch of her flesh.

They lost themselves in a haze of passion. Colt must have taken his shirt off at some point, because Graysen ran her fingers across hard, bare skin. His muscles rippled under her touch as he held onto her. His hands stopped caressing her to unhook her bra before he turned her around and wrapped his arms around her.

“I love how beautiful you are, Graysen,” he groaned as he swept the hair aside and dragged his tongue against the slope of her neck. “I love your naked body and the way it makes me lose control.” His thumbs deftly slid under the lose straps and guided them down her arms. Once her breasts were free, he snaked her arms behind her and guided them around his neck. Graysen melted under his touch as he continued to move his hands over her body. She trembled with pleasure. The pulse between her legs grew into a relentless throb. She ground her hips against the familiar bulge that strained against his jeans.

Groaning, Colt stilled her movements by firmly cupping her between her legs. “I love how you know just what to do to drive me wild,” he murmured. She held her breath as his fingers moved steadily over her wet slit, which was barely concealed by the small scrap of thin, drenched fabric. “I love that you wear the tiniest panties I’ve ever seen.” He seemed to be amused with her lingerie choice; he slipped his fingers inside the wisp of material and playfully nudged it down to expose the thin line of chestnut curls.

Graysen giggled as he slowly turned her around and gently laid her atop the blankets. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him into a tender kiss, her mouth dancing across his. The kiss didn’t remain soft and sweet for long; soon he began to devour her with his mouth, his tongue darting between her lips in a frenzied, erotic assault. Soon his tongue was no longer in Graysen’s mouth, but inflicting sweet torture on a nipple as the scorching touch of his rough thumbs ignited the delicate skin of her breasts. Immediately, she grasped his shoulders, squeezing and moaning in appreciation. He looked into her eyes, and she stared at him with an intense need.

“I love the way you beg with your eyes ...”

“No ... I don’t do that.” She shut her eyes tightly, refusing to believe she was that transparent.

“Oh yes, my sweet girl, you do. If I can’t see the desire in your stare, I just have to touch you like this to know how ready you are for me.” Graysen gasped as a finger slipped underneath her soaked panties and slid into her warm passage with ease.

They moaned in unison as he used his rough palm to caress her while his middle finger caressed her inner walls. He stroked her dewy folds, feeling their velvet softness. “I love how swollen you become down here when you get excited. I love the little sounds you make when I stroke that little nub that aches for my touch.”

“Colt,” she gasped as he began to circle that tender piece of flesh. “If you keep talking like that, I am going to ...”

“You’re going to do what for me Graysen? Come for me? Well, we can’t have that right now, can we?” He teasingly flicked her hardened nub before he pulled his fingers away and slowly brought them to his lips, sucking them. “I love the way your juices taste … they are like a drug to me.” He licked his lips and closed his eyes as her moisture danced on his tongue.

Colt had her panties off in seconds, sliding them down past her quivering ankles before he grasped her arms and pulled her into an upright position, so she was kneeling. Somehow, he managed to remove his jeans, and once their bare skin met, she softly sang her pleasure to him as he began a languorous journey down her body. As she was still on her knees, he whispered into her ear, “And I love what I’m going to do to you right now ...”

He grabbed her hips and raised her to make some space between her and the blanket. He reclined on the blanket and positioned his head underneath her, between her legs. Firmly, Colt lowered her onto his mouth. Graysen screamed when his tongue penetrated her moist opening. She shuddered, but Colt firmly gripped her, and all she could do was float away slowly on a cloud of ecstasy as his lips moved over the most sensitive part of her body.

Graysen opened her eyes and realized what position they were in, fixed her gazed on the magnificent pulsing member before her and a new desire started to build. With a greed that matched his, she leaned forward on her forearms and feasted on him. There was something about taking Colt’s hard flesh between her lips that thrilled her. Perhaps it was the appreciative moan she received when she first swirled her tongue over the thick head before closing her mouth over it. Of course, she was doing quite a bit of moaning herself. He lapped and sucked between her thighs, and her attention to his erection encouraged him all the more.

They fed off each other, lost in total abandon. Graysen rocked on top of him as the lower part of her body throbbed on his lips. She struggled to maintain a steady rhythm with her mouth. As it was, it was difficult to concentrate when he put his mouth on her, let alone focus on giving him pleasure. The experience was so intense, and she found her senses blurring. Graysen moaned around his engorged erection as his stiff tongue flickered over the apex of her mound. The instant he drew it into his mouth, sucking gently, she knew she was done for.

“C ... C ... Colt ...” She finally whispered shakily. “Please ...”

Colt responded to her soft plea and turned her around so that she was now face to face with him. It was clear that neither of them could hold back any longer. His eyes were wild, staring at her intently, as he took hold of her hips. “I love how you call out my name when you slide down onto me.” Colt kissed her tenderly. Graysen flashed him a defiant look, as if challenging his assertion. He raised an eyebrow and with a mischievous grin, lifted her up and impaled her on his throbbing, stiff member and, as if on cue, Graysen screamed his name.