Hidden Treasure (8 page)

Chapter Twelve

T
hough Brielle had
never received a look like the one Colt was sending her way now, she had no problem figuring out exactly what it meant. He wanted her, and he was coming after what he wanted. She was frozen where she stood, unable to tear her eyes from his. She absolutely didn’t want this feeling buzzing all through her body to go away.

She had come out to win the men over, and she’d been more than successful — they were practically eating out of her hand right now. But she hadn’t expected the reaction she was getting from Colt. Sure, she knew he wanted her. Hadn’t that been obvious from the kisses they’d shared? But the hunger burning in his eyes was beyond what she’d ever seen before.

Was she afraid? She couldn’t answer that.

His look was sending her body into overdrive and she was more than willing to answer the animal lust in his expression. Her mind was doing its best to tell her this was wrong, was trying to stop her from making a mistake.

Its best wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity of good enough. When he stopped right in front of her, she didn’t care what her brain was saying. All she cared about was how her body felt, and as he placed his hand on the back of her neck, she knew she wasn’t going to tell him no.

The only thing she was going to do was faint if he didn’t lean down and kiss her right this second. As if he could read her mind, he lowered his head, and then fireworks exploded when his lips captured her.

This time, he wasn’t slow. This time, he didn’t ask silently by softly touching his tongue to her lips. No. This time, he was showing her that he was in charge. He was pressing his body against hers and it was already hard and ready and sending all the right signals to her core. His tongue demanded entrance into her mouth, and she was ready for him, too.

Melting against the slick hardness of Colt’s chest, and with his strong arms caging her in, Brielle surrendered happily. She wrapped her arms around his solid shoulders and held on tight while he kissed her more deeply than any other man had ever come close.

When his hand slipped down her nearly naked back and clutched the wet material of her short shorts, she moaned into his mouth, forgetting there was anyone else on the ranch. She ached for his touch, ached for him to quench the flames blazing through her.

When he pulled back, she whimpered, not understanding why he would possibly stop when they were just beginning. “House, now!” was his answer to her unspoken question, and then the breath was pushed from her lungs when he lifted her up and hoisted her over his shoulder.

Brielle was horrified. He was carrying her caveman style into the house, and in front of who knew how many of her workers, but when he slammed the door shut behind them, and she opened her mouth to protest his Neanderthal ways, he simply pressed her against the door and began where he’d left off back at her truck.

Any and all objections faded away.

She was lost as he gripped her thighs and lifted her, letting the door help hold her up as his body pressed against hers and he pushed against her core, making the fire burning deep inside turn her into red-hot lava.

His mouth commandeered hers as he traced her lips with his sure tongue before entering again and making her veins tingle and throb. He cupped her sweetly rounded behind with his hand as she clamped her legs tightly around him.

When he slipped his fingers beneath the hem of her cutoffs and touched her flesh, she moaned, opening her mouth further to his probing tongue.

This wasn’t what she’d planned when she started out of the house late this morning, but as he pushed against her, she understood that plans were made to be broken.
Best-laid
plans
.
This was a much better way to spend her afternoon.

“I need you, Brielle,” he groaned, after barely pulling back far enough from her mouth to speak.

“Then take me, Colt.” She let her head fall back against the door, and he began nibbling down her neck.

“Please tell me you’re sure...”

Why did he need to say this? She didn’t want to think about whether or not she was sure, didn’t want to analyze the situation. All she wanted to do right now was feel — feel everything he was doing to her, and more.

“Yes,” she said, because she was sure that if they didn’t complete this, she would curl up and die.

That settled that. Still holding her against him, he pushed away from the door and began moving to the staircase. She didn’t ask him how he knew where her room was; she was too focused on the way he was licking along her neck.

He climbed the stairs with her in his arms, and he didn’t even grow short of breath. That was something for her to think about later. The sheer strength this man possessed was a huge turn-on for her. She’d never been carried off before. And she’d never felt so sure of anything in her life.

When he reached her room, she was ready for him to rip her clothes right off, but he somehow managed to set her down gently on the bed, then step back and take a long look at the picture she made.

Her flesh was pink, her nipples hard, and her shorts too tight. She wanted all barriers between them gone. As if reading her mind, he reached down and began undoing his jeans. She couldn’t remove her gaze from the beautiful trail of hair that led to the buttons there. Each one that he undid brought her that much closer to seeing his magnificence.

At last, he grabbed his jeans and briefs in tight fingers and pushed them down. She gaped helplessly at his lean hips, the ripples in his abs, and each glorious inch of flesh below that he displayed for her greedy eyes.

Because the denim was wet, it took a little more effort for him to peel his jeans away, but it was worth the wait, because when he freed himself, she gasped in delight.

“Oh, Colt, I’m so ready for this,” she sighed, practically drooling as his manhood sprung forth in all its breathtaking glory. He was thick, solid, and more than primed for combat, and the sheen on the head of all that flesh made her bite her lip in anticipation.

He had to groan, and, hearing that, she lifted her eyes upward to meet his, which were burning with desire. “If you keep looking at me like I’m the main course, I won’t last long enough for either of us to fully enjoy this,” he warned her as he joined her on the bed.

“Colt, you’re not the main course — you are most certainly the best course: dessert,” she replied with a come-hither smile.

And he came hither. With another growl, he lay on top of her and captured her lips once more, ravishing her mouth before turning both their bodies sideways so he could pull the string at the back of her bikini top.

In two seconds flat her breasts were freed and she reveled in the feel of them pressing against his muscled chest. She wriggled to get even closer.

No dice. He pushed her on her back and trailed his mouth down her neck, licking the skin before nipping it and making her cry out for more. Moving farther down her body, he circled his mouth around each of her luscious breasts in turn, teasing her, taking his time to get to the hard peaks she so desperately wanted him to suck.

“Now, Colt. Please.” She lifted her hands into his hair and guided him there. And he was finally fastening on one sensitive bud and taking the pink flesh into his mouth while swiping his tongue across its aching surface.

She cried out as she felt the heat building inside her, felt herself on the edge of exploding, and he hadn’t even touched her core yet. If loving this was wrong, she didn’t want to be right.

He moved to her other breast and gave it ample attention before running his tongue down the center of her cleavage and making his way to her stomach, sucking and licking every inch of quivering flesh.

When he undid her cutoffs and began stripping them away, she lifted her hips from the bed to make it easier for him, needing his mouth where she was pulsing with hunger. He didn’t make her wait long.

After getting rid of her tiny shorts and tinier panties, he spread her legs and licked her inner thighs, growling in his appreciation of her hot scent before he moved upward and ran his tongue along her sensitive folds.

When he clamped his lips onto the pulsing bud of her womanhood, she jerked up from the bed, and the greatest pleasure of all ripped through her in wave after blissful wave.

“Yes,” she cried out, clasping her hands in his hair and holding him there, afraid he would stop before she was ready for him to.

She had nothing to fear on that score. He swept his tongue across her flesh in time with the pulsations of her body, and drew out her pleasure for so long that when it ended, she collapsed against the mattress.

She was spent. There was no possible way she could do more, and it was just too bad for him. As if he could read her mind, he chuckled. “Don’t get too comfortable, Brielle. We aren’t finished,” he told her, and he slipped two fingers inside her hot sheath.

“Oh, Colt, I can’t…” she started to say, but the words ended on a moan, because somehow he was hitting just the right spot to make her body come alive again.

He moved his fingers slowly in and out, building the embers of her fire to a red-hot blaze once again, and she was soon writhing beneath him. His fingers just weren’t enough.

“Colt…”

“Tell me what you want, Brielle.”

He was going to make her say it, and sadly, she didn’t have an ounce of shame as she replied: “You. Inside me. Right now.”

He pulled his fingers from her and then climbed up her body, leaving a trail of kisses all the way to her lips. She tried to turn away, the thought of tasting herself on his tongue making her uneasy, but he gripped her head and plunged inside her mouth, giving her a new sensation as his musky flavor mixed with hers. Not bad, really — she could definitely get used to that. And as the head of his arousal pressed to her core, she opened her legs wider, needing him to thrust inside, forgetting about anything but the two of them making the ultimate connection.

As his tongue grazed her lips, he slipped an inch of his erection inside her, making her tremble with wanting. “Please,” she begged again as she wrapped her legs around him. The anticipation was killing her. She wanted to feel his thickness inside her. She wanted completion.

Then he thrust his tongue inside her mouth at the same time as he drove inside her body, swallowing the scream she released. So full, so possessed. She felt perfect right now, or so she thought.

When he began moving, slowly at first, in and out, and then picking up speed and building her to a fiery peak, she knew this was as good as it could possibly get. Never before had she been so over the edge in passion that the world faded away, but that’s exactly what was happening now as Colt held her willing body.

She could do this forever, and still it wouldn’t be enough. They moved in perfect rhythm as he took her to the very best place she could ever be, and when they came together in a brilliant flash of light and heat, her body shook with the power of the release.

Colt’s groans echoed through the room, music to her ears. The weight of his now relaxed body was a perfect blanket, and in this moment she was in total and utter peace.

Chapter Thirteen

B
rielle felt as
if she were drifting on a raft in a peaceful lake as Colt held her securely against his chest and his fingers traced shapes in her back. The sensation was beyond compare, and if she could freeze this moment, she would be the happiest woman alive.

Okay, maybe not. Reality would soon set in, but for now, her body was sated, her heart was full, and she felt as if she didn’t have a single worry.

“Why do you put on an act, Brielle?”

His tone was soft, gentle, not accusing.

“An act? What do you mean?”

“You’re always pretending to be someone you aren’t.”

“I don’t know where you got that idea. As Popeye said, ‘I yam what I yam.’”

“Very funny, Brielle. Why won’t you open up to me? You did it once.”

“I did that because I’m stupid. And I won’t do it again.”

“Give me something more of yourself,” Colt said.

“I thought I just gave you everything.”

“Only in a sense. Please, give me a reason for this facade of yours.”

To her amazement, she found herself speaking. Was it the way his fingers were working their magic on her back?

“I don’t even know anymore, Colt. I just know that I have to protect myself.” she answered.

“From who?”

“Everyone. When I get close to people, they betray me.” Her eyes drifted shut as she listened to the soothing beat of his calm heart.

“It can’t be everyone, Brielle. What about your family?”

She tensed, but he just kneaded her skin a little bit more, and soon her muscles were relaxing. “We used to be very close. My mother left when I was only three. I didn’t know her, don’t remember missing her. But I did. And when I was thirteen…”

She stopped, her heart racing as she realized what she’d almost revealed. No matter how relaxed she was, that was something she couldn’t speak of — it was something she’d never told another living soul.

“Everything just changed. It didn’t happen overnight. It may be something small, but I remember this well. We went from having dinner together every day to a few times a week, to a couple times a month, to never having dinner with all six of us there at the same time. Some of it was school schedules, some of it was Dad always working, and some of it was when the boys began leaving for college and the house grew more and more empty. But somewhere during that time, it just stopped mattering. It was more of an annoyance when Dad would stop us and ask what was happening in our lives. The days just kept on coming and going, and soon I turned eighteen, graduated high school and left for college. Then, there was only Dad left.”

“But that wouldn’t tear you apart,” he said with justified confusion.

“No. That was just a piece of it. It all happened so gradually, I didn’t even notice it, didn’t notice the walls I’d built, didn’t notice my brothers doing the same. We went from breakfast and dinner together, sharing in each other’s lives, to virtual strangers.”

The sadness began creeping in, and Brielle didn’t want it to. This moment was good, it was pure, it was about feeling something other than pain. She didn’t want to think about her family, didn’t want to think about how it had all fallen apart. Brielle had to change the subject, and to do it fast. “What about you? Why did your parents only have one kid? Wait! I don’t even know if that’s true. That’s so embarrassing. Do you have any siblings?”

She was lying naked with a man who had his hands all over her body, who’d just sated her in the best possible way, yet she knew so little about him. What did that say about her? The euphoria wore off and the defenses she was so famous for began closing in again.

As if he could sense this, he continued rubbing her back and the top of her rounded behind while he spoke. “I had a little brother.”

When he stopped speaking for a little while, Brielle knew what he was about to say wouldn’t be good.

“He was amazing. A miracle baby, actually. My mom had a really difficult pregnancy with me, and the doctor told her she wouldn’t be able to have more children. I never felt alone, though, because, like I’ve said, this is a close-knit community.”

He was quiet again as he gathered his thoughts and Brielle began tracing circles on his chest, offering him the only comfort she knew how to provide.

“My brother came ten years after I was born, and the doctors told my mother she couldn’t carry him full term, told her that it could cost her life if she went through with the pregnancy. She told the doctors she would never sacrifice her child for her own life. So my father babied her, and both of us did all we could to make sure she was healthy and that she’d deliver another healthy child.”

“She made it to seven months, and then her body just couldn’t take the pregnancy anymore. She went into labor and there was nothing the doctors could do to stop it. My brother was born weighing only three pounds, but technology had already come so far by then that he had a fighting chance. His name was Blake. We practically lived at the hospital over the next two months, and I was so proud when I would get to hold him, sitting in the NICU. He was a fighter, right from the start. And it was difficult on Mom, but she was a fighter too, and it looked as if everything was going to work out with a happy ending despite everything the doctors had said.”

He paused again, and Brielle’s heart tightened, anticipating what was coming next. He’d said he
had
a brother, not that he still did.

“Finally, Blake got to come home. He weighed five and a half pounds and had little wisps of dark hair on his head. His eyes were blue, but mom said that could change. I didn’t care. He was perfect. The first month was amazing. I had a little brother, and I adored him.”

Colt collected himself to finish the story. Brielle desperately wanted to stop him, wanted this to be over with a happy ending, but hadn’t she learned long ago that happy endings were made only for fairy tales?

“He was six months old, nothing wrong with him medically. His medical check-ups were great, he was healthy, and he should have had a long life ahead of him. But then one night my mother woke us up screaming. Dad made it to the room first, and I wasn’t far behind. Mom held Blake in her arms while she was sobbing into the phone for an ambulance, but it was already too late…”

His scratchy voice was her undoing, and more tears fell from Brielle’s eyes. She didn’t want to ask, but she couldn’t stop herself. “What happened?”

“Blake was already dead. He was taken in to the hospital, and tests were ran, but there never was an answer. He died in his sleep. They called it SIDS — sudden infant death syndrome. I searched and searched and searched for answers for years. Our home was safe; it was healthy. I needed an answer and I never got one. He just came and went too fast…”

“Oh, Colt. I’m…I’m so sorry.” What else could she say? Nothing. There was nothing a person could say to make this better. It was never okay to lose a baby — never.

“My mom, after months of devastation, came to me one day and the two of us walked to my brother’s grave — such a small grave, such a small casket they’d buried him in. But we walked there and she had a watery smile as she looked up to the heavens. I’ll never forget that moment,” he said, and she felt a warm teardrop fall on her forehead.

“She said, “Thank you for giving me such a gift. I know it must have been hard for you to let him leave your side, even for the six months I was blessed to have him, but thank you for those six months.”

“Oh my gosh, Colt.” Brielle could say nothing more than that.

“Though my brother was never forgotten, we all finally found a measure of peace.”

She cried for what he had gone through. This was too much — it was all too much. Colt had found a way into her heart, and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to repair the damage to the wall she’d spent so many years building.

That was her last thought before sleep gave her some respite from the pain she knew would come her way.