The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (9 page)

Camila had suggested she get Colt naked, tie him to the bedposts and leave him there as payback for playing games. Heather told her that was far too predictable. Besides, she didn’t want payback. She wanted Colt to fall in love with her. She planned to use this night to make him remember how good it was when they were together. She wouldn’t let him go without a fight.

She was taking a big risk. If it turned out Colt only wanted a one-night stand to slake some kind of curiosity about her, she would have bared herself to the worst kind of rejection. It would be hard to continue to live in Chance Creek and watch Colt marry someone else after renewing their intimacy that way.

The alternative was even worse, though. She’d spend the rest of her life wondering if she could have had Colt if she’d just fought a little harder. She thought she knew why Colt was holding back. He felt guilty about being with her when Austin had still wanted her, and about his father’s death, as well. She needed time to convince him neither of those things made it wrong for them to be together now.

Could she do that in just one night?

She hoped so.

Heather pulled up the hood of her wool winter coat and tucked all her hair inside of it, refusing to dwell on the future. Since the coat’s hemline fell well below her knees and it was big enough to wear over her bulkiest winter sweater, it made it seem like she was doing her best to hide her identity. She hoped that Colt would keep to his promise to cover his window and keep the lights off. At the end of their tryst, if he didn’t want to marry her, she needed to be able to pretend that he didn’t know who she was if they were going to live in the same town. Bad enough she’d have to watch him carry out his married life in front of her while Richard shuttled back and forth between them. She needed him to be full of guilt and longing for her each time they met, and she needed to be able to play the innocent, too—even if it was clear to both of them she wasn’t.

Her throat was tight and her hands shaking by the time she found Colt’s room and knocked on the door. She tugged her hood further forward and angled her back to the door when she heard someone turn the handle.

A man’s voice sounded behind her, so familiar and yet so different. “Helena?”

She nodded. Good, he meant to keep to the pretense.

“Come on in. The lights are out, just like you wanted.” He chuckled. “I improvised with duct tape and a sleeping bag. It’s dark as hell in here.”

“Thank you,” she whispered and hurried past him, aware of the trace of perfume she left in her wake. That had been Camila’s idea too. She’d told Heather to dab it on a little heavier than usual to be sure Colt noticed. Then when they met in Chance Creek, her scent would trigger the memory of their night of passionate lovemaking, even if they never discussed it again.

As soon as the door shut behind him she found he was right—it was inky black inside. The unzipped sleeping bag covering the motel room’s single wide window was far more substantial than normal drapes.

“I took you at your word,” he said behind her. “I figure if you’re willing to come here to be with me, the least I can do is make you comfortable.”

“Thanks,” she muttered again. She turned to face him, unable to see more than his outline in the darkened room. She hadn’t realized how easy it would be to recognize his voice—and that he’d be able to recognize hers just as easily. She jumped when he took her hand.

“The bed’s over here. We can sit and talk or we can…”

She couldn’t talk. If she did, it would take all of thirty seconds for this farce to become unsustainable. Heather moved forward, using her hands to find his shoulders and then his neck and then his jaw as she reached up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth.

“Or we could do that,” Colt said when she pulled away, his voice low and husky with interest.

She reached up and kissed him again, willing him to know that was all she had to offer him. She’d love nothing more than to sit and catch up and learn everything about him, but since that was out of the question she’d take what she could get. Would he go along with her plan? Or would he call her bluff right now?

After a moment, Colt returned her kiss, gently at first and then with a hunger she recognized. It must have been a long time for him, too. She moved her hands to his shoulders and braced herself against him as he deepened the kiss and let his need for her show. As he pulled her closer, raw desire bubbled through her veins. It had been so long since she’d done this with anyone and even longer—far longer—since she’d been with Colt.

“This was a good idea,” Colt murmured against her mouth.

“I’m full of them,” she said in a breathy voice, doing her best not to sound like herself.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Heather knew now Colt would play her game. They had all night together and she wanted to make it last, so she kissed him again and kept on kissing him, making out with Colt like they were teenagers. Colt followed her cues, kissing her back for a long time before he slid his hands up between them to undo the zipper of her coat. Heather opened her eyes to make sure he still couldn’t see her and was satisfied when she was unable to discern more than the shape of his face even this close. She let him pull the jacket off her shoulders and toss it aside, then braced herself in anticipation of the feel of his hands on her body. He didn’t disappoint her, sliding his hands down her back and sighing with what sounded like contentment.

“You feel great, Helena.”

She rolled her eyes at his use of her fake name, but didn’t say a word. She trailed a hand over his shoulder and down his muscled arm. Colt had always been in great shape, but his biceps today were big enough to make her weak in the knees. “Strong,” she said, her voice husky.

“Credit the Air Force for that. It whipped me into shape.”

“Sure did.”

Heather leaned forward to press a kiss to his collarbone, tasting the saltiness of his skin. He pulled her closer and cupped her bottom. Her pulse spiked and she pressed herself against him, wanting to feel more. Colt skimmed his hands up again and palmed her breasts. Heather gasped.

“Too fast?” Colt stopped.

“No.”

He chuckled at the desperation too clear in her voice. “That’s how I feel. I want to strip you down, toss you on the bed and make love to you until the cows come home.”

“Why don’t you?”

He stilled. Reached up to cup her chin. “You giving me permission,
Helena
?”

She nodded, unable to speak.

He kissed her again, long and hard. A demanding kiss that left her breathless when he pulled away. He slipped his hands under the hem of the clingy black shirt she wore and tugged it up and over her head. Plunging his hands down her pants, he had them pooled around her ankles in a moment. He palmed her breasts again, skimming his hands all over her body, chafing her skin to warm her as he kissed her again. With a growl low in his throat, he undid the clasp of her bra, untangled her from it and tossed it away. He bent to take a nipple into his mouth and Heather clutched his shoulders, biting her lip to keep from crying out. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed being with a man until this moment. Her whole body responded to the feeling of his tongue on her skin and as he licked and laved and tugged at her sensitive nipple, the ache between her legs intensified.

He moved to lavish attention on her other breast until Heather was trembling with desire, then just when she thought she couldn’t stand it anymore he reached down, tugged her panties down and slid a hand between her thighs.

A garbled sound escaped her and all she could do was cling to him as he teased her into a feverish peak. She shrieked when he picked her up suddenly and made good on his threat to toss her on the bed. Laughing when she hit the mattress and bounced up and down a couple of times, she yelped again when Colt leapt on top of her and pinned her to the mattress.

“I’ve got you now,” he said in a mock growl.

“You do,” she said. She let him lift her hands over her head and shifted beneath him as he settled between her thighs, his desire for her all too evident as he pressed against her. He began a slow exploration of her body, trailing kisses down her neck, to her breasts, to her belly and back up again.

He released her hands and shifted downward, kissing a path down her belly again lower and lower until he found her core. Heather arched her back and twisted her fingers in the bedspread as he teased her with his tongue, his movements making her hum with desire. He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her to give him deeper access. She wouldn’t be able to hang on much longer.

“I have a condom. Should I put it on?” he rumbled against her.

“Please.” She’d long since given up using the Pill.

He moved quickly to fetch it, sheath himself and nudge her thighs further apart with his knees. Taking up his position between them again, he pressed against her with the tip of his hardness.

“You’re beautiful,
Helena
.”

Heather closed her eyes at the sound of the false name on Colt’s tongue. He was goading her to fess up about the truth. He was—

“Oh,” she breathed as he pushed inside of her, filling her with one long stroke. Colt slid out of her and pushed in again, and Heather couldn’t think coherently anymore. She didn’t care what name Colt called her, and didn’t care what would happen next. All she wanted was to be here—in Colt’s arms and in his bed—with him inside of her.

As he thrust again and pulled back out, each stroke lifting her to a higher level of desire, she wrapped her arms around his broad back and held on tight, determined to let him control this ride. As his strokes picked up speed, she surrendered to the sensation of his lovemaking, unwilling to miss a moment of it.

Colt rode her hard, each stroke bringing her closer and closer to her release. When she came, calling out in incomprehensible syllables, Colt grunted and came with her, pounding into her, pushing her into a second orgasm that shuddered through her with earth-shattering strength.

By the time they were done, she was panting for breath, and so was Colt. He collapsed on top of her and she bore his weight gladly, clinging tightly to him so that he wouldn’t pull out and move away.

“Don’t think I’m done with you, sweetheart,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “We’re just getting started.”

“Thank God,” she breathed, laughing a little.

“Not satisfied yet?” he asked, running a hand down the length of her spine.

“Not by half.”

“Damn, Helena. A man could get used to this.”

As Colt made
love to Heather again and then a third time he marveled at the ease with which they had come together, as if the years they’d been apart had never happened. He was able to anticipate her needs and she his until every stroke felt like a choreographed move in an intricate, loving ballet. He’d long since given up worrying about tomorrow. Tonight was all he cared about—being joined to Heather, loving her and being loved in return.

It was after two in the morning when they lay panting in each other’s arms again. As Colt’s heartbeat slowed, a warm glow took hold of him he hadn’t known since before his father’s death. Cradled by it, he floated in the sensation, his mind almost devoid of thought, but after some time passed he began to picture Crescent Hall the way it had looked when he’d gone home for a couple of days for Mason’s wedding last June. By now his brothers would have completed all the repairs on the Hall and outbuildings and would be hunkered down for the winter with their wives.

A wave of nostalgia overtook him and visions of his childhood on the ranch paraded through his mind. Helping Aaron with the cattle, mucking out the horse stalls, running the obstacle course over and over again with his brothers.

It had been a damn good childhood for him.

It could be a damn good childhood for his own children. Was he making too much of his part in Aaron’s death? Was it possible Austin was long over any jealousy he might have felt about Heather?

“What will you do next? After I leave.” Heather still spoke in a husky whisper, as if that could disguise her voice.

“I guess I’ll go home. For a bit.” Curled up with her under the covers in the absolute darkness, speaking in whispers, he felt like a child at a sleepover. His sleepless nights were beginning to catch up to him and he stifled a yawn. “They’re not going to be too happy to see me.”

“Maybe it will go better than you think.”

He frowned, glad she couldn’t see him in the dark. “I doubt it; in my experience life’s never that easy.”

“There was a time when I thought everything would be simple,” she said. “I thought I would meet a man, get married, be a wife and mother. I wonder why it all has to be so hard?”

“I don’t know. Seems simple enough between you and me.” He snuggled in closer to her, loving the feel of her body against his. His eyes drifted closed. He blinked and forced them open again.

Heather chuckled. “Really? Seems pretty complicated to me.”

Was that regret he heard? “Tell me what you want out of life.” His eyes drifted closed again, and he settled in to listen to her answer.

“I want a husband who loves me,” she began after a moment, relaxing too. “A man who wants to be a father. A man who—”

Colt fell asleep.

Thanks to several
years’ practice when Richard had been a fussy baby who had to have her nearby to settle down at night, Heather was a pro at slipping away without waking someone. Richard used to fall asleep just like Colt had tonight, gripping her firmly as if to make sure she couldn’t escape.

She lay beside him for several hours, cherishing this time with Colt, but she knew she had to leave before he woke up. As soon as the sun came up there would be no way to pretend he didn’t know who she was, whether or not the sleeping bag covered the window. Even though she’d asked him what he planned to do next, Colt hadn’t asked her to marry him. He wasn’t planning for a lifetime with her. All she could do now was slip away and hope he came after her.

Her heart ached as she crept from the bed and dressed carefully, finding items of clothing, her purse, her coat, and her shoes by touch. She sent one last longing glance back toward the vicinity of the bed before she headed toward the door on tip-toes. She’d fooled herself into believing her trick would work and Colt would fall passionately back in love with her. She hadn’t pictured herself sneaking out of his motel room the following morning.